Sofia, Bulgaria!

And finally, the grand finale, my last trip in Europe! My bestest friend is from Sofia, Bulgaria; a place I never knew about prior to our first encounter freshman year of college. I even remember a funny situation where we both went to Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and Fallon was conducting some type of question game with a member of the audience. One of the questions were, "What is the capital of Bulgaria?" LOL and Bory YELLED it out then quickly covered her mouth. There was a likelihood that nobody else knew, that's why it was a question lol. The whole audience, including Jimmy, looked our way and I thought it was freaking hilarious. Fallon made a joke about it! Lol good memories. I recognized her love for Bulgaria because I have the same for Jamaica.

And now, we're here!

When I arrived at the airport, I saw Bory's mom, dad, and brother waiting for me! It was so sweet to me because I see that in the movies all the time lol. My family is always all over the place, we love you, but at the same time we're ALL over the place, NEVER on time, ALWAYS trying to do 100 things at the same time. Typical Jamaicans (MY family at least). So when I saw this cute family waving their hands and smiling at me with so much love, probably being like the only black girl at the airport, I felt special. I'm like, "is this real?" It was too cute. Bory was still in NYC and would come within the next few days. Until then, it was quality time with my Bulgarian family. xxoo

P.S. To give credit to my mom, she was at JFK Airport INSIDE waiting for me, making a commotion when she saw me. Deon and Zaggy was in the car...chillen. Lmao. Still wouldn't trade 'em.

The picture above is a statue of Saint Sofia, whom the capital is named after. She is so beautiful and bodacious in person. In my head I'm like, "Why does she look so sexy?"

It was time to explore with mom and bro! There were like nooo black people there, as I expected. Whenever we went on the train, people would look at me with curiosity; not with disdain, but I understood. In my head I'm like,"here is my black skin guys!"Lol. It's always cool to go to places with unfamiliar faces. Both parties can learn a lot. My best friend's brother is an architect/artist (extremely bright) and he knew every freaking thing about Bulgaria's history while they were giving me a walking tour. Mom and bro did an EXCELLENT job of showing me around and I loved it. Next time I go back, I don't think there is anything else to see or do but to have some nightlife fun (and we all know how much I love having fun)! I'm already looking forward lol.

There is a lot of world war history here, something I never knew. There were many artifacts that venders claimed were real, some of them were, not all lol (thanks to mom's judgement). But I was so dead set on buying the Nazi knife seen below. It was at a ridiculously cheap price (by this time, I ran out of ALL money in Europe) but I thought it was freaking gold. I was going crazy! In my head I'm like, "is this a real Nazi weapon? WTF!" I just refused to believe that it was that easy to get a piece of history! A lot of my schooling consisted of a looooot of World War 1 and 2 history. We're slowly coming into a new age where all people living in this era are slowly leaving us. I've had the privilege to hear and see survivors from Hitler's era share their tragic/heroic stories, so the fact that there's possibly still artififacts around like this will make them valuable. When I return, I'm finding something real and bringing it back just so I could have a piece of history in my room! IDC IDC IDC!

We visited the national church and university also.

Mom took us out for lunch at an Asian restaurant (which she later told me was basically blown up after an accident last year--unfortunately). Such a sweet, kind woman. You know those people you wish you could just give the world to because they're so naturally grateful? That's her! My mom too. People come in all different colors, shapes and sizes but a pure heart is just a pure heart.

 Mom and I! Bro doesn't like the camera. Neither does my real brother lol. I understood immediately.

I love this picture!

Bory's HERE!

A bajillion medals and trophies accumulated throughout the years

Of course, the family cooked a delicious meal!

 Sofia is a beautiful city and my family did such a good job of showing me so much in so little time. I'm already planning to go back with Bory the next time she goes. I already feel welcomed by mom and dad so the comfort zone is expanded. I know there's a lot of fun things to do in Bulgaria, including climbing the mountains which definitely sounds like me. I also now know that Bulgaria and Greece are next to each other (and the Lord knows how badly I want to swim in and see that beautiful Greece ocean, whatever ocean is over there lol...or maybe I'm talking about the boys lol). I will definitely be back! I have another place to call home.