Vasil Siromahov '21 (center) with two foreign exchange student friends during spring break.
By Charlie Polk '21
Vasil Siromahov ’21’s spring break trip included whirlwind visits to Los Angeles and Las Vegas and a short bout with COVID-like symptoms before heading home to Bulgaria.
He and two fellow foreign exchange students, also from Bulgaria, arrived in Los Angeles with an unorthodox plan. Prior to the trip, Siromahov contacted a woman from his home country via Facebook, and they stayed in her home while exploring the city.
Siromahov spent the first day walking across the entire city, visiting sites like the Santa Monica beach. “What struck me about it is the smell of weed,” Vasko said when he stepped onto the beach. The following days, Siromahov and his friends headed to Disneyland, Universal Studios and a Los Angeles Lakers game. They ended up unknowingly going to the last game of the Lakers’ season.
Siromahov said goodbye to his friends the next day and met up with some of his family in Las Vegas. Soon after landing, he developed some COVID-like symptoms with a fever and cough, but nothing serious. Being only the third person in his family to ever visit Las Vegas, Siromahov made sure to make the most of his time there. He enjoyed visiting Caesars Palace, a luxurious casino in the heart of Vegas.
Instead of returning to Richmond, Siromahov stayed in Las Vegas for nearly 10 extra days to prevent spreading the virus.
Once back in Richmond, he was in touch with ASSIST, his exchange program, whose representatives urged him to return to Bulgaria. Although he was extremely passionate about staying in America, he could not ignore the seriousness of the pandemic.
He posted on his Instagram story and asked people to stop by STC's senior lot to say good-bye before leaving the following day. He flew back to Bulgaria in late March and was placed under a two-week lockdown in his house to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Siromahov looks forward to a “return to normalcy” and wishes the best for everyone.