15 November 2011

Halloween


 Friday’s Halloween party at the school was a success! The kids’ decorations looked great and they loved the games. I woke up early to finish mixing gross things for the mystery box and to make sugar cookies. At 10, Jordanka and I began putting up decorations. By 12:30 kids were already hanging around the gym where the party would not begin until 2. Before the party, the scouts gathered in our room to be treated for their hard work (green sugar cookies, popcorn, and borax slime making). A few mummies also needed to be wrapped in toilet paper.


The party began with Jordanka and Palma explaining Halloween and its associated traditions. Then each student paraded their costume in front of the other students and our judges (the director and administrators). Then they milled around carnival style to look at the pumpkin exhibition, bob for apples, play the candy corn guessing game, and reach into the mystery box (spaghetti, olives, gelatin, red food dye, a plastic glove frozen full of water). After the winners of the costume contest were announced, we began the piñatas. FYI: Fishing line is not sufficient for piñatas. There was so much candy… no leftovers. Especially popular with the kids and the adults were the bags of candy corn and candy corn pumpkins my mom sent. They decided they looked more like teeth (they certainly don’t resemble corn). More than a few kids were walking around with orange, yellow, and white vampire-ish fangs.


Once the floor was picked over for candy, the kids colored until it was time to hike to the kindergarten. We brought just enough candy to treat the little kids and the ladies working there. Proceeding through town in costume must have been quite a site for local residents. I’m glad everything went well. I felt bad for not celebrating Halloween with the school last year. This year, Halloween was definitely celebrated.

09 November 2011

Halloween Prep Time


Halloween is coming to Chiprovtsi!!! The scouts have been working hard with the preparations and decorations for the party this Friday. We'll have a Mystery Box, bobbing for apples, art corner, Monster Mash dance, relay games, costume contest, pinatas, and guessing games. When the party finishes, we'll parade in our costumes through town to visit the kindergarten.


Best slime recipe
Ingredients: Elmer's Glue, Borax, Water, Food dye

Combine 1/2 cup Elmer's Glue & 1/2 cup warm water. Add food dye if desired.
Combine 2 Tablespoons Borax & 1 cup of water in separate container until Borax dissolves.
Add borax-water to the glue mixture slowly, by the spoonful, while stirring. It will start immediately changing consistency and you probably won't need all the borax water. With less, it's exactly like the Gak stuff I remember from the 90s. With more, it is Silly Putty. With serious bounce.

Name Day: Angel, Mihael, Raicho...

I'm a day behind, the name day for people named after the Archangels, aka Michaelmas, was yesterday. In Chiprovtsi, I was given cherpi'd with candy, led a scouts meeting, and taught adult English. A typical Tuesday. According to this website, which sends me reminders on namedays and explains their background, Archangel day is a special name day. 

This is pretty much directly from the website's explanation:

At the table, the oldest man breaks the bread in four places and pours wine on it from a clay bowl. The woman of the house catches this wine in her hands and sprinkles it around the house while praying: “Saint Archangel, Saint Nicholas and all saints, help us. We pay homage to you and cut the bread like a cross so that wheat grows up to the waist! This year what we could, and next year what we want! Now with a bowl, next year with the kettle!” 

Then she gives everybody a piece of the bread. The piece is taken with both hands and a blessing is said: “As much wheat in the piece of bread so much heaps of wheat and health in the house! Amen!”

It is important to celebrate Michaelmas and honor the Archangels, because Archangel Michael, it is believed can make a persons death quick and easy or long and suffering. If a person is smiling when they die, it is because Michael is handing them a golden apple before he takes their soul. If they're suffering, it is because he is late. 

I'm not exactly sure how this fits, but Rangel is one of six brothers who divided the world among themselves. Rangel received the land of the dead. 

05 November 2011

Vitosha


Already in Sofia for training, today I went hiking on Vitosha with some other volunteers. We had hoped to take the ski lifts halfway up and then hike to the peak at Cherni Vrux (7,513 feet). Unfortunately, the lifts were not working so we hiked straight up instead. We made it to the Aleko Hut (6,040 feet). Weather was perfect and the views were beautiful, but I am sooo tired now. It was a long day.

Yikes. Zurich.

I just saw this commercial on CNN International and couldn't quite believe it was for real.


Zürich_Tourismus_Expat from Reto Caffi on Vimeo.


I found the link to its video at thepresentperfect.wordpress.com She had a very similar reaction to my own.

02 November 2011

Halloween - VT


I spent the weekend in Veliko Tarnovo to celebrate Halloween with other volunteers. It was so great to see everyone and relax together for a few days. I even got to see a movie (my first since last November!!), go bowling, and play air hockey. All in all, a fantastic weekend. Plus, my spiderman costume was awesome. 

01 November 2011

Elections

Chiprovtsi elected a new mayor this past Sunday. One of 9 original candidates, he won the runoff election by 17 votes. I was impressed by community involvement. Held on consecutive Sundays, local voter turnout for the elections was 67% and 69%, respectively. What was the voter turnout in your last elections? Louisiana's voter turnout in 2010 was below 40%.