Our children both being in school during the day, I began working part-time (very part-time) teaching English to pre-schoolers in a private school with several бази (locations) in Sofia. One of these was in the Овча купел (Ovcha kupel) neighborhood. Овча купел is a large neighborhood. Its name derives from the sheep that not only gamboled in the meadows, but apparently happily waded through the hot thermal water that leached up through the surface—and even gushed up after the 1858 earthquake. Hence, the area was a овча къпалня (sheep bath).

Though less than 10 kilometers due west from where we lived near Sofia’s center, it was a long ride on маршрутка #27 or #29. The маршутка (marshrutka) is a mini-bus with a specific route but no specific stops. You stand along the route, flag it down like a taxi, hand the driver your money, and cling for dear life to…