After almost 10 years in Bulgaria, there I was singing a song and picking my nose, in Fat Hog City, when I notice that the Bulgarian LV was dropping on the 1st of May of 2002 from a high of 2.35 LV’S to the dollar, I didn’t think much about it, because the it was normal for the LV to fluctuate up and down over a period of three or four weeks. But by the 1st of June 2002 and the Bulgarian LV was still dropping and it caught my attention. You know, what was going on here??!!
Now it was July 2002 and the dollar was still going down and now I wondered if there was something that I needed to do about my dollars, but what?? So I was watching the rate exchange a lot more closely, but still I was not hurting yet, so I just tried to ignore the change rate but not really!!
In September of 2002 there was the idea of a family reunion in Zion, Illinois for October of 2002 and this took my mind off of things here in Vratza. So I went to this reunion as I had not seen some of my brothers and sisters for over 13 years, just after my mother and father had died. Father in 1988, and mother in 1989.
While in Zion I did a stupid thing. I borrowed 3000 dollars, so that I could pay for the trip and put 1500 dollar of the 3000 in the Zion bank for a special account for Sasha, for Sasha’s future education. I was able to bring about three hundred of this, 3000 dollars back to Vratza and so I did not realize that I was in financial trouble yet.
Time went on for several months, until I got the dumb idea to upgrade my computer, because it seemed rather slow to me. In reality, I was just impatient and there was no problem, but in retroflex, I made it a problem, in my mind.
As soon as I bought the new insides of the computer, I realized that I was in trouble and I really don’t know what to do. In effect, I would have been in trouble anyway but this computer deal just brought everything to the forefront.
Now what to do?? I have no idea, except I feel I need to move back to America. But this presents many, many problems!! I am more then likely just panicking!!
Over the last almost ten years I have brought many, many things to Bulgaria from America. I have many hobbies and I would like to do these things, but everything is so, so hard to do here in Bulgaria. Nothing is set up to engage in the pleasures of hobbies. A person can’t go to the local store and buy hobby supplies, here in Bulgaria!! I have both HO gage and N gage trains and I would love to make a display case to exhibit trains and make model tanks, airplanes and boats, but where to find these kinds of things, in Bulgaria. Not one person in 200, engage in these types of hobbies in Bulgaria and so there is not the hobby supply stores around. Only if a person knows someone who is engaged in these hobbies and then maybe a person can find these type of stores and even then maybe a person would have to travel half way across Bulgaria to find these things, and maybe not at all!!
Anyway, getting back to the main problem, about my finances. Right now I have a much bigger problem in that my wife is resisting any move to America and yet I spent almost 10 years in Bulgaria. I don’t think it is fair that Yura doesn’t want to try to live in America. I can see her problem, in that Yura’s parents are not in good health, but I would be willing to let Yura take care of her parents until they don’t need her anymore and then Yura could move to America. In the mean time Sasha and I would be already living in America. I feel Sasha needs to go to school in America anyway, because Sasha must go to university in America or face a life of not much value. The schools in Bulgaria are pretty good, up to the age of 18 years old, but then Sasha must go to university in America as the diploma for university’s in Bulgaria are not worth the paper they are printed on.
Yes it would be difficult to live in America on the money from my pension plus any money Yura could earn in any type of job that she could do in America.
I have now made a decision and will try to live with it. I will stay in Bulgaria until Yura’s parents don’t need her anymore and then we will move back to America.
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