Good day today....long day but very productive.
First thing we had a meeting at Vesta - this is the agency working in Bulgaria and the partner with AGC - the American agency that helps American couples adopt internationally.
We had to go over logistics and protocol because this interview was really a first for the vice-minister. Apparently government officials in Bulgaria don't speak very often to press so this was unusual to say the least. We didn't want to offend her or damage any relationships with Vesta so it took some planning.
After the planning meeting, we headed off to an orphanage in Sofia. There we interviewed the director of the orphanage and we got to shoot some video. Everything went well there too.
Next stop, the vice-minister's office. After a quick security check we were ushered upstairs to her office. We chatted briefly and laid out a plan for the interview. She was very receptive to us and the interview went on much longer than we thought it would. She was great and the interview was priceless!!!! Everyone was happy!
None of this could have happened without our translator Laura. She was amazing going back and forth and was able to translate long passages in one take. We are using her voice as the main translator for the documentary. She wasn't scheduled to come with us but...more on that later.
With the success of our interviews, the folks at Vespa took us to dinner. It was the first time Mike and I had eaten all day. Dinner was with about 14 including a bulgarian supreme court judge and a family with an adopted bulgarian 5 year old girl. We also met a great guy who is a friend of Petko - our main contact with Vesta. His friend Lubo actually lives in the US and teaches mathematics at Barry College in Florida. We had a great time with him and that was before dinner came around. Dinner was very good.... I have grown very fond of Shopska salad.
Tomorrow we're on the road for a while.
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