Problems? No, opportunities!

From January 2013 to September 2014 I lived in Sofia, Bulgaria capital city. If you want to explore the city main landmarks but you don’t have enough time for accurate sightseeing, you can join a free tour of Sofia in English. This is what the volunteer members of Free Sofia Tour do every day, twice a week. They show tourist around (the tour takes about one and a half hour) in English and for free. I had the honour of attending a tour in January 2013 led by one of the leaders and funders of the gropu, Martin. Not only was the tour pleasant and interesting, it also taught me a lot about Sofia and life. Martin concluded our tour explaining why they decided to carry out the Free Sofia Tour project and said ‘If you see only problems, then you’ll end up complaining. But if you see problems as opportunities, then everything changes!’. Bulgaria is full of problems (highest corruption level in Europe, low salaries, low government subsidies, unemployment, poor infrastructures…), but for Martin and his friends they are an opportunity to improve, to move on, to use their creativity and commitment for something good. I’ve recently read that ‘Free Varna Tour’ has been started (after Sofia and Plovdiv), so I wish these young people all the best for their adventure and thank them for the example they set.