On Tuesday, August 27th, we got on the tour bus, met our driver, Ilya, and headed south. Eventually, we arrived at Dupnitsa, a town of about 40,000 inhabitants. There we visited a school. It was not in session, but one of the teachers and a small group of students came in to sing and dance for us.
Then we went to the very poor Roma neighborhood which was home to most of these students. The Roma used to be known as "Gypsies" in English-speaking countries, due to the belief that they originated in Egypt. Actually, they came to Europe from northern India in medieval times.
We got onto the bus and drove up the into the mountains to the remote Rila Monastery, the most sacred and nationally important religious site in Bulgaria. We would stay overnight in rather spartan quarters in the monastery itself. After an orientation tour, we went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant, but got back inside the walls of the monastery before the gates closed for the night.
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