Introduction

First i would like to clarify, what this blog is all about. The idea of going to the States was born 2 years ago, while talking to my friend and "adash"(which means-having the same name, in Bulgarian) Kiril. He had a green card and was working at the Grand Canyon.

   " Why don't you come over?, " he said.

" It would cost a lot of money, which i don't have, and also have no idea how to save, " i replied.

One year after that talk, i had found myself mesmerized by motorbikes, and was on my way to saving for one. And of course as you can imagine, i hit the wall. My dad was having none of that, i knew his concerns, and i must say, if i had a kid i was going to be worried too. So my saving scheme switched from the bike to the trip, after all...you can always buy a bike, and this trip was once in a lifetime opportunity.

  The year started slow, and around the middle of March i wasn't sure if i was going to save the 1000$ i needed for my plane ticket. But as time passed by, all of a sudden it was the end of September, and i had just saved enough. The next step was, filling the application for the tourist visa in the American Embassy. That set me back around 120$, and that's the fee for them to just look at the documents, without any guarantee of a positive outcome.

D-DAY for my interview came, and wearing my best suit, i headed to the American Embassy. I was around 30 minutes early, which is not at all surprising for the people that know me. I spend around 10 in my car listening to music, and then i started towards the building. After waiting 15 minutes, and wondering why there aren't any other people waiting, i figured out that i was waiting at the wrong entrance, but i managed to get to the right one 3 minutes before the time i was allocated for my interview which was 10:15am.

   There was a big line of people, it turned out that the hour of the appointment was just suggestive, and people were going in by first come, first go basis. After completing my interview, i was informed that my visa was approved and that i will receive my passport tomorrow...

   The next day, after i received the envelope from UPS, i discovered something quite shocking...after filling the period during which i wanted to travel, and mentioning that to the consulate, it seemed that they didn't pay attention, or just disregarded my wishes, and although i was given a visa, it was for a very different period of time. My visa was supposed to be for April, and mine was from the fifth of October to the fifth of December...

I was, pretty upset as you can imagine, a whole year of saving, and dreaming of that trip was going straight to hell. But then i found out, that the ticket prices where the same for 3 weeks later as 6 months later, so i decided to go for it!

Before i go on with The Story itself, i would like to thank my friend Ira, for buying me a notebook in which to write my thoughts and impressions from the trip. Without that i would not have the opportunity to share this story with you.