Sunny morning, peaceful after the storm.

In the middle of the kitchen, which for two days has been the site of constant activity, there now remain only two lonely packed suitcases. Vladimír is catching up on sleep, since the night storm has again proved the roof’s leakiness and his bed got all wet, this time thoroughly.
Katka, Tomáš and Martin report from Vienna.
We, too, are slowly beginning to get ready. We buy oil for the car in Varshets and also something for us – the usual: bread, yoghurt, ljutenica and beer. For a brief period, the scorching sun breaks through the clouds.
The goat festival in Bela Rechka continues in its second day; Murat teaches belly dancing; our “oralists” enjoy their moments of fame. Instead of the planned hour and a half, their discussion of techniques, projects and project outcomes goes on for three hours. There is a lot to talk about.
Again thunder, lightning and rain. More people arrive, a lot of them students, some of whom sleep in tents above the village. They often ask us about our “bukvyte”. People switch languages as needed – Bulgarian, Russian, English and also Czech. There are locals, students from Sofia, Plovdiv, foreign visitors… The bar can’t keep up, even running out of beer for a while. A new shift of family members takes over at the bar.
And again people dance. An energetic Balkan brass band, again a classical Bulgarian circle dance. This time Roman even dances with Agnieszka, or at least tries to. Their polka is a bit more of a success; there even is applause. Standa concludes today’s festival programme with kino nočne (night cinema) about his eco-pilgrimage to the Near East. The festival audience listens carefully and Standa’s pictures receive well-deserved acclaim.
Then we sit together for a while before parting with Mirek and his “oral bunch” (they’re planning to leave in the early morning on an equally fun trip back to Prague, via Sofia and Vienna, using all possible forms of public transport).
A peaceful discussion with students on whether it is okay for Slavs to communicate in English was interrupted by a macho challenge – who wants to dive into the Bela Rechka river? The two Bulgarian bogatyrs, who look a lot like professional Greco-Roman wrestlers, accept. The rest of us stick to intellectual challenges. It’s drizzly and cold. Then we go to bed; we’re leaving the next day.
Lightning again.