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Editor's Note: Petya Dikova is a reporter for the newspaper, 24 Chassa, or 24 Hours in Sofia, Bulgaria. She covers international news and European affairs for the newspaper. First published in 1991, it sets the standard or post-socialist era newspapers in Bulgaria. Dikova is spending four months in the United States as a member of a group of fellows under the auspices of the World Press Institute, headquartered at Macalester College, St. Paul. She spent four days at the John and Kathy Augustine farm in rural Goodhue, and four days at the Republican Eagle before the fellows traveled to New York City.

I remember how my American professor in essay writing in the university described the United States. This is a country that is a continent, she said. She was telling us how she went on a vacation with her daughter and they traveled several days by car till they reached their destination.

That was very strange for me. My country Bulgaria is a small one. You can cross it by car in less than 10 hours from east to west and in even shorter time from north to south. So I came here for this fellowship journalistic program with the expectation to see a country that is really big.

I've been here for almost a month already and what I have seen really surpasses my expectations. And it is only the beginning!

On Saturday we start our big journey around the country, sponsored by the World Press Institute, based in St. Paul. First we fly to New York. I have never been to New York, said a man I was talking with in our hotel in St. Paul. I was puzzled a little bit. Then a friend from Ely told me the same - she hadn't been to New York but she would like to go there some day. Now, that was really strange.

Before that I took it for granted that everybody knows New York; all my colleagues go there when they visit the U.S. Now I understand that for many Americans it is not a vital necessity, and they are pretty happy living where they are.

There is the difference. In my country everybody has visited the second largest city, or the third largest one, or our most famous resorts. But not here.

Welcome to the United States, people tell me, laughing, almost every day. Now I begin to understand that this is a country with many countries in itself, many people, many cultures and languages.

And I think I should not look for something like "the face of America," or "the average American" because there is no such thing. I will try to find for myself as many parts of the big mosaic as possible. I think this is one of the purposes of this fellowship.

What we know in our country about the U.S. is the policy of the Bush administration, the position of the U.S. Embassy in our capital, Sofia, and what we hear from CNN or the press agencies.

When I arrived here I realized that these are only tiny particles of the whole mosaic of different opinions. Maybe to some extent Bulgarian journalists are to be blamed for that. In our newspaper we do not have the time and the space to cite all the editorials and all the articles in different American newspapers and magazines that would reflect the polarity of views in the U.S. society.

On the other hand, even if you read all the editorials, you cannot get the same picture as when you travel around the country.

What gives substance to this picture is a talk with a farmer while he milks his cows or a conversation in the grocery store or a bicycle ride around the lakes in the Twin Cities. This is the big benefit from this program and I'm looking for the meetings with people wherever we travel during the next three months.

This year's program coincides with the presidential elections. This is of special interest for me as I work on the International News Desk in our newspaper.

What strikes me most is that people are so polarized in their attitudes towards the candidates of the Republicans and the Democrats. Another thing that you cannot see if you are abroad are the TV ads in the campaign, and they are really interesting. I am looking for the debates between the two candidates. I am expecting a real fight.

One thing that I realized in my first month here is how difficult it is to elect a president in this country.

When the candidate goes to West Virginia he should be careful what he speaks about coal mining, in Detroit he should avoid speaking about car pollution, but in Alaska I guess it will be all right to speak about the industrial pollution. And it should be really difficult to win both the votes of people that are pro and con abortion or pro and con gay marriages.

The U.S. has so many faces but just one president!