I fought the law and the law won...for now

I made it for Bulgaria or rather I should say I have successfully been deported to Sofia, Bulgaria and I'm staying with Lily and her family in their fantastic apartment here. The magical bus trip from Istanbul to Sofia was interesting to say the least. I nervously hopped a service bus from Kadikoy, after saying very hasty good-byes to Hazel, Gurkal and Ozlem (which was probably better because if I had taken the time to conceptualize that I was saying good-bye for possible 3 months I would have been a complete basketcase) and after about 45 minutes of driving I was dropped off at some other bus station on the Asian side. I got off the bus and realized that I wasn't actually at the Buyuk Otogar (the main bus station in Istanbul) only as my service bus was driving away and the little old lady who had been sitting behind me was anxiously asking me where the car was. I politely (or rather selfishly as the case may be) smiled and said that I did not know but I was going to go inside and ask someone. I wandered around, what can only be described as a dirt parking lot with a few random shops and a big Metro (the bus company) waiting room, desperately trying to find someone who would know what was going on. I went inside and asked the man behind the counter (of course prefacing my question with the obligatory turkish, I'm going to ask something phrase) what exactly I am supposed to be doing at this lovely roadside stop and why I'm not at the Buyuk Otogar. He gave me the typical 'Oh this foreign girl is speaking Turkish' look and plainly told me that I had to wait a hour and a half and then another service bus would come and take me to the Buyuk Otogar and then wait another half hour and from there we would go to Sofia. How silly of me! I should have known that I would have to take 2 service buses, 3 1/2 hours before my real bus left, and wait at random bus stops throughout Istanbul.

The bus trip itself was relatively smooth. There was no traffic and we made it to Bulgaria in about 6 hours. However when we got to the border we were subject to about 4-5 different security checks, each at which I waited in horror to see what the guards would say about my passport. Thankfully I passed all the checks without any problems and after the last one I practically ran back to the bus anxiously wanted to get to Sofia and get this show on the road.

However I was apparently the only passenger who simply wanted to cross the border...everyone else wanted, no needed, to go to the duty free shop and load up on cigarettes. The Turkish woman behind me asked me if I was going to buy cigarettes. The verb she used also meant to have and to take so I stupidly replied that I did not smoke and I did not have any cigarettes (keep in mind its 2:30 am and all I really want to do is sleep). She repeated her question about 3 more times, each time saying it a little louder because apparently when people say things to foreigners louder its easier for them to understand (?). Eventually she gave up on me and muttered something about annoying foreigners to her friend as they left the bus. Thinking I had dogged a bullet I happily closed my eyes and attempted to go back to sleep. Maybe about 2 minutes later I was josseled awake by the bus driver who was telling me it was time to leave the bus and buy cigarettes. The bus driver was clearly speaking Turkish with a Bulgarian accent and I was hoping that maybe he was just confusing his sentence structure, like I often do. But no, it was definitely time for me to wake up and buy cigarettes. He told me to get my passport and get off of the bus. Ok...? I got by passport and mindlessly began following him to the little duty free shop. The rush of cold air woke me up a little and gave me enough courage to explain to him that I do not smoke and I do not want to buy cigarettes. He simply smiled and said, no you are buying cigarettes for me, for me, with your passport. Having never made the border run by bus I still had no idea what he was talking about but I figured it was probably easier for me to do what he says quickly so I can get back to the bus and go to sleep. He handed me a little shopping basket, which he filled with about 10 10-packs of cigarettes and ushered me to the cashier. He bought about 4 packs first and then told me to hand the cashier my passport while not so stealthly giving me 100 euros under the counter. The woman packed up the bag, gave me change and told me I had to carry the bag out of the store. Way past the point of caring, I took the bag and returned to the bus only to be met by the angry stares of the two women sitting behind me, who I then realized also wanted me to use my American passport to buy cigarettes for them. Apparently a Turkish or EU passport has restrictions on the number of cigarettes (or possibly other goods) one can purchase from duty free. The thing one learns when crossing the Turkish-Bulgarian border...

When I arrived in Sofia I was super anxious to get to the Turkish Embassy but it was only 6 am and I knew there was no way the Embassy would be open before 8. I went inside the bus station, bought something that looked like a cheese filled roll and attempted to order a coffe but ended up with a plastic water cup with probably the most disgusting espresso I have ever tasted. At 8:30 I took a taxi to the Embassy, which was a pretty unappealing building that was covered in huge metal grates/gates/I don't know what to call them. It looked like a former military office that hadn't been used since the fall of Communism and I began to worry that I had been taken to the wrong place. Luckily a man walked out of the building and I was able to talk to him in Turkish and find out that I was in fact at the right place and it would open at 9:30.

I had a good hour to kill so I wandered around a little and found a pretty park to sit in and watch the people as they went about their morning routine, walking the dog, going to work, one man was going for a run and collecting leaves (in leather shoes, a sweater and slacks). I went back to the Embassy at 9:30, which of course was still closed, and waited outside with a number of other Turks until 10ish. Some man walked up as they were openning the doors and tried to cut me in line but I yelled at him in Turkish (probably more forcefully than necessary) and told him we had all been waiting a long time and he had to do that same. We were ushered into a tiny room that resembled a ticket office and I presented my case to the one and only open window. The man smiled at me and told me that I had to talk to his friend (who was sitting in the other window drinking tea and looking disinterested). He didn't really want to deal with my broken Turkish and called in a woman who spoke English, who was unsuprisingly terribly unhelpful. I won't trouble you with the details of my conversation, as ridiculous as it was, but basically they would not give me a visa because I did not have a Bulgarian residence permit. Blah.

So now I'm here in Sofia. I don't really know what I'm going to do with my life. I may be stuck here for 3 months. I'm trying to get the Embassy in DC to issue me a new visa but goodness only knows what they are going to say. My boss in Istanbul gave me a number of a Turkish man who a friend of a friend and is the principal of a school here in Sofia and said that he would help me. I haven't called him yet but there is a good chance I might be taking a 3 month vacation from my Istanbul wonderworld and living in Sofia. I'm trying to keep positive but I'm really just annoyed. Annoyed at the school for not doing what they were supposed to, annoyed with myself for standing by at letting this happen, annoyed that Hazel gets to stay in Istanbul comparatively problem-free, ugh just annoyed. Ok I've been on Lily's computer for a long time so it's probably time to venture out and face my Bulgarian reality.