Blagoevgrad

I know it’s been a while since my last update. I’ve been crazy busy with Peace Corps admin, friends, and Bulgarian family. It’s wonderful, but also exhausting! Last week I was in Blagoevgrad for a Peace Corps training session on EU grants and teaching English. The topics were really interesting and it was fantastic to see all of my fellow trainees after our first month at site. Although some programs might be useful, the EU, with all its bureaucracy, committees, and oversight bodies seems a bit more like an employment agency than an effective experiment in supranational governance…

Blagoevgrad is in southwest Bulgaria, near Macedonia. It takes about 5 ½ hours, by bus for me to get there from Chiprovtsi…if everything is on schedule and I don’t have a layover in Sofia. Blagoevgrad has been inhabited since the Thracians settled there in 300BC. It is currently home to the American University and has lots of shopping, restaurants, AND a movie theater.

Center Square in Blagoevgrad

Although we hardly had any time to wander around, a herd of us did taxi to town for a movie one night. We saw Inception, which was good, but the experience itself was even better. I’ve been craving movie theater popcorn and a fountain soda for a while…they didn’t have fountain sodas, but they did have beer and fresh popcorn. I couldn’t have asked for more. Sitting in the dark theater surrounded by fellow volunteers, eating buttery popcorn, drinking coke light through a straw while pretending it was a fountain soda, and watching Leonardo DiCaprio on a giant screen made for a perfect evening.

One day, a few of us skipped lunch at the hotel where the conference was held (several kilometers away from town) to have dyuners at a Dyuner King near the city center. Dyuners are unlike anything else. They sort of begin as a gyro, with either chicken or lamb inside of a large pita-ish bread wrap, then I you choose salads to add, I like it with beans and cucumber salad. There are also cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, French fries, ketchup and maybe a few other sauces inside the bread. There’s a lot going on in a dyuner, but they are great and keep you full for a long time. The other volunteers seem to be dyuner experts, it was a new experience for me. They are common in the larger towns in Bulgaria, but never really appealed to me. This is a picture I found online. Mine was a lot fuller and messier looking, but it still conveys the dyuner concept.

Fudge & Баница

I've found relatively easy and cheap gift to bring when I go na gosti: fudge. I’m not much of a cook, and the first few times I tried making fudge it failed to become fudge. First attempt, it turned into a plastic-like rock; then, it never became solid. After trial and error and several bags of sugar, I figured it out and everyone loves it. There isn’t anything quite like fudge available here and since it lasts for a long time, I can bring it again and again without having to buy or make anything new. I’ve even taught fudge making to some Chiprovtsi colleagues…Not an easy task without a dictionary, conversions from cups to metric, or any way of conveying certain parts of the process. For example: I know that when the boiling mixture turns into a slightly malleable ball if dripped in cold water, it must be removed from heat. This is a difficult thing to explain.

A lot of fudge...there are 6 cups of sugar in there

In return for the fudge lessons and the promise to demonstrate making apple pie, I also have been given more canned fruit, vegetables, and random foods than I’ll ever be abe to eat alone. People must think I’m starving (I’m definitely not), because they bring me food all the time. I’ll be jogging at 6 am and will here a voice calling ‘girl, girl’ followed by a baba carrying a bag of raspberries and a bunch of grapes. It’s very difficult to run while carrying grapes.

My fruit compote and pepper cupboard. The rest of my fresh fruits, jams, and veggies are elsewhere. I'm pretty sure I'll never go hungry in Bulgaria.

I’ve also been taught to prepare a few new Bulgarian dishes: Chiprovtsi banitsa and pumpkin banitsa. Below are the recipes for traditional banitsa and pumpkin banitsa. Both are awesome and are super fast and easy to make. The pumpkin one is like a pumpkin pie pastry and the cheese one is, well, like a sweet cheese pastry. I’ll restate this below, but I don’t have exact measurements, whenever I've been present, it has been prepared without measurements and to taste. The recipes are very flexible. I made up the measurements for you below as close as could guess.

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Rolled Traditional Banitsa...The top one was my first attempt, below is what it's supposed to look like.

Layered Traditional Banitsa

BANITSA RECIPE FROM KRAVODER

I’ve learned several different ways to make traditional banitsa, but this is by far, my favorite. I prefer it puffy, without much sugar, and with lots of eggs, cheese, and yogurt. You can completely leave out the yogurt and decrease the eggs if you want.

The banitsa in Chiprovtsi uses a dry type of phyllo (which is called suxi kori za banitsa, other phyllo is called kori za banitsa) that is wetted just prior to layering and uses 4 eggs, same amount of cheese, no yogurt, no baking soda, more oil, more sugar, and more orange soda on top. It is also sliced in the middle before pouring on the orange soda. Most banitsas don’t use yogurt in the recipe, but I think its better with yogurt. I’ve also had slight variations of all ingredients below since they use whatever they have at the time.

Use either store bought phyllo or the recipe for homemade phyllo below. I’d recommend the store bought. I’ve only had homemade once and it turned out a bit tough. I’ve had it made with thick phyllo rolled in a circular pattern and many layers of thin phyllo. Both are can be incredible. So, if the store has the slightly thicker phyllo, use it to roll burrito style then wrap in a growing circle starting from the middle of a large circular pan; if they have the thin stuff, layer it. You might need two packs of store bought. Follow cooking directions for the phyllo on package, or try 400*F and adjust to what works best.

Filling:

- 5 eggs

- 1 ½ cups plain yogurt

- 2 ½ cups crumbled of Bulgarian sirene (any white brine cheese or feta can be substituted)

- 1 Tablespoon baking soda.

- Sugar to taste, start with maybe 2 tablespoons or so

- 2 Tablespoons oil (sunflower is what is most prevalent and commonly used here, I don’t think I’ve had it made with any other type)

- Pinch of salt

Mix 5 eggs, yogurt, cheese, baking soda, sugar, and oil together. Add the cheese last, it shouldn’t be smooth, the cheese can either be crumbled or grated large, but shouldn’t be beat in with the eggs and yogurt, just stirred around a bit. Leave oil and sugar out, you’ll need a bit more for the top. In oiled pan, place first layer of dough, spread a few spoonfuls of filling evenly, add next layer, and continue until last layer of dough is on top.

On top: (if you have extra filling, you can that instead, but add a bit more baking soda or soda water)

- ¼ cup soda water or orange soda if you like it sweeter

- 1 egg, beaten

- ½ Tablespoon oil

- Sugar to taste

Beat 1 egg; mix with soda water and ½ tablespoon oil; pour over top layer. Sprinkle with sugar to taste. Cook. Banitsa should puff up and turn light brown. Remember, if you use the homemade dough above, you won’t be layering, but spreading a thicker layer on the dough and rolling it up like a burrito. You’ll need more working space to spread mixture on dough and transfer to pan. Still prepare the extra egg/soda water mix for on top. All of the measurements are guesses, I’ve been shown many times how to make banitsa and each time is a bit different and never have measuring utensils been used. Adjust to preferences and let me know if you like it!

Layered Traditional Banitsa, sliced to serve

PUMPKIN BANITSA

Kori/Phyllo Dough:

(It might be easiest to use store bought phyllo dough, but you should look for the thickest available if you want to make it in rolls. If you have to use the thinner stuff, you’ll make it with lots of layers. Process explained below).

Mix all ingredients together and knead the dough on floured surface for 5-7 minutes. Set aside under newspaper or towel. Do this before grating the pumpkin. That will take a while and give the dough a chance to set.

- Flour, a lot, maybe 4 -5 cups. You’ll need to end up with three balls between softball and baseball size of dough. There will be a bit left over.

- 1 teaspoon salt

- water, until good consistency. More flour if sticky, more water if dry

- ¼ cup oil

- 2 Tablespoon apple or white vinegar

Prepare the pan by coating the bottom with oil. Heat oven to 375*F. This may need adjustment, so watch the banitsa while it cooks. It could take between 35-50 minutes. It should turn medium brown on top.

Filling:

- 1 med-small pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and grated. You can probably use canned pumpkin instead. I don’t think it would change cooking time too much

- Oil, around 1 cup. You’ll use it to coat the pan and a bit on top also. Only put around half a cup in the pumpkin mix. If it seems dry, add more; if using canned, add less.

- 1 cup sugar (to taste, I prefer much much less, you could substitute some sweet potato for healthier version...though with the oil and dough not sure it'd make much difference)

- 1 cup chopped walnuts (to taste)

- ½ teaspoon cinnamon (to taste)

After you’re done grating the pumpkin, cut the dough ball into 3 equal balls. Spread first ball flat with hands as thin as possible. It should be pretty big. Like super large pizza size. Don’t worry if there are a few holes, it's not a big deal. Trim off the edges of the dough with a knife. Spread a third of the pumpkin mixture evenly on dough then roll up like a burrito. In the center of large circular pan wind around in a circle starting from the middle. Repeat with other two balls. Pour a little oil on top and sprinkle with sugar. Serve with ice cream or plain yogurt.

If you’re using store bought phyllo dough, prep the pan with oil and lay first sheet on bottom. Spread a small amount of filling thinly and evenly on top of dough. Repeat until dough and filling are finished. The top layer should be dough. Pour a little oil on top and sprinkle with sugar. Serve with ice cream or plain yogurt. You can also try the circular way, but with tighter circles. If you’d prefer individual servings, use store bought dough and make miniature banitsas on a cookie pan. Decrease cooking time. Use 2-4 sheets of dough per banitsa.

Thursday

After my language lesson yesterday, I stopped by the carpet museum and tourist information center. I’ve been running into the lady who runs it around town and hadn’t visited since I arrived. I’d like to work with her in the future and wanted to spend some time chatting with her about her work….Well, my meeting turned out much differently than I expected. She dressed me up in the national costume and had me pose for pictures throughout the museum with different props. It was in the 90s yesterday, I was wearing rolled up jeans and a shirt underneath several layers of wool dresses and I didn’t have a clue how she wanted me to hold the different carpet production props. She seemed to have a blast instructing me and taking photos. It was sweaty and awkward, but also awesome, I mean, when else could this possible happen? When I returned to work, we exchanged pictures from our impromptu photo session and different ones she’s taken of the area over the years. I plan to return soon to talk about tourism and to learn how to weave carpets.

After horo dancing at the cultural center, I went na gosti at a colleagues last night. Na gosti literally translates as: ‘to go be a guest,’ but means so much more and is a huge part of Bulgarian life. Bulgarians do it everyday. You don’t call ahead, but you usually bring a small gift, like chocolate or flowers. The host will supply food and rakia and it’s expected that you arrive hungry, thirsty, and ready to talk for hours. My colleague brings me fruit and vegetables from her garden often and has offered to let me use her washer machine. I figured it was due time to go na gosti and I wanted to return some of the hospitality. I attempted to bake chocolate chip cookies using my electric hot plate, this plan failed miserably, but I headed to her house anyways.

When I arrived, banitsa was in the oven and a table in the garden was ready for guests. We sat under the grape vines drinking a beverage mixed from homemade elderberry syrup and soda water. Elderberries grow in the mountains here. Their flowers are used for teas and syrups, their berries make natural dyes for carpet weaving. My colleague has an amazing garden and a huge cellar full of compotes, canned vegetables, and wine barrels. Shortly after the banitsa was cooled and placed on the table, her husband, neighbors, and two grown sons appeared. Her sons had with him the orthodox priest who runs the Chiprovtsi Monastery. All of us sat in the garden, eating banitsa and salads and talking until late. It was fantastic.

We made plans to picnic at the monastery and go blackberry picking. I am also expected to make pies, demonstrated in her kitchen, for the monastery. This was decided during dinner. The priest is very well read and knows quite a few English words. He mentioned pie, which all of them had seen on television and knew to be a ubiquitous American dish. Of course, they agreed, I must be skilled at preparing pies and since I don’t have an oven, I should prepare it here and teach at the same time. This should be interesting. I rarely cook or bake. I’ve never made a pie before. The only things I make regularly are variations of egg scrambles and three ingredient peanut butter cookies. But, I’m excited to learn. If I’m learning how to prepare Bulgarian food, dance horo, and weave carpets, I ought to have something to teach in return…something besides English and more interesting than using advanced features on Microsoft Excel that is. I returned home with a bag full of cucumbers and apples from the garden and a cola liter bottle full of fresh sheep milk. Can’t wait to find out what comes next.

Integration Tipping Point

Something clicked this week with integrating in my community. So far, everyone has been very warm and welcoming, but I was still spending a lot of time alone in my apartment or simply exchanging pleasantries on the street. I hadn’t been able to make the jump from acquaintance to friend. However, this week, the process changed and it seemed everything began at once. Tuesday was the tipping point.

I didn’t realize it, but my counterpart’s brother installs internet service so it was super easy to get it in my apartment. While on a coffee break with my counterpart and a colleague, my colleague mentioned I must be bored-no TV, internet, etc. My counterpart called her brother, we met him at the apartment, and, after a few hours of him rigging a cord through my balcony window and directing expletives towards my Mac (they're uncommon in Bulgaria), I had internet in my apartment! Having internet alone is fantastic, even if I’ve hardly had a chance to use it, but what was also nice was that during the several hours it took him to figure out the installation, my counterpart and I chatted and shared photos-excellent bonding time in a more relaxed environment.

On our walk back to the Obshtina, we ran into Isabel, a Bulgarian teacher at the school in Chiprovtsi, who also speaks English. We went to the café and now I have an amazing language tutor. My first lesson was yesterday and was exactly what I wanted. It was held in her house and had the perfect balance of grammar, speaking, and reading comprehension. I’ll have lessons everyday until mid-September when school begins. Although we’ll scale down the frequency of my classes when she returns to work, I’ll start helping once a week or so with the English classes at the school. It will be a great way to stay in touch with the kids I met at the camp, maintain my relationship with her, and add an peer exchange component to between the school here and the 6^th grade class I correspond with in America.

After work I went to dinner at the house of a retired couple in town. The husband’s name is Stalin, like Josef. Their grown son’s name is Elvis and he sings opera in America. They are an amazing family. I will have dinner there weekly and help her with her pronunciation. She can read English, but wants to be able to sing psalms. No worries, I won't pretend to be able to assist with the singing component.

I had just returned to my apartment when there was knocking at my door. Outside was a group of 6^th and 7^th graders from town wanting to go to the café. I knew some of the girls from the camp and I’d chatted with them and their friends around town. We went to the café, drank Fanta, and exchanged Skype details. They are so funny and message me all the time. I’m really excited to help them with their English and work with them in the future. I feel a bit overwhelmed with na gosti and picnic invites, but couldn't be happier.

Hiking around Chiprovtsi

Chiprovtsi is literally nestled in a valley with steep inclines on all sides. The hills are crisscrossed with narrow trails used for livestock (mostly sheep and goats-sadly, there are no water buffalo here). When the sun is rising, the mountains to the west turn pink and mist forms above the river that winds through town. At this time of day, Chiprovtsi looks like a fairy tale village, or like it belongs in a snow globe.

I live in the center of town. Walking in any direction will take me on a paved road bordered by closely built houses, a few small storefronts, and some empty buildings. After a few blocks, gravel and dirt roads will split off leading to the gardens that surround the village. Unlike Kravoder, where most of the homes had large yards with gardens, the houses in Chiprovtsi are close together, with little room for gardens. Many of the families have plots in the surrounding hills or homes in nearby villages with larger gardens. Beyond the gardens are the dirt paths winding up the mountains, leading through forests or meadows that the shepherds use or at one time did.

Since I’m not supposed to run along the paved road that leads in and out of Chiprovtsi because of stray dogs, I’ve been hiking and running on the mountain paths. I carry a whistle and a big stick when I go on long hikes just in case. I rarely see anyone else on them. Occasionally, when I’m close to town and the road is still wide and flat-ish, I’ll pass by a horse cart carrying wood or manure, or a person walking to their garden, but usually I’m alone.

There are so many trails in the hills surrounding Chiprovtsi, each one splitting off to somewhere else. I’ll often come across small shepherd sheds along the way or find the trail twists back onto itself. I don’t see many shepherds when I go hiking, but I also don’t seek them out. The sound of sheep bells carries far over the mountains and valleys and is a good warning signal. There are usually several large dogs scouting around the flock to protect it from the wolves and other predators in the forest—not something I want to meet on a walk. Some of the paths also lead to old monastery ruins or natural springs.

Leten Lager

Our hike to the Gushovski Monastery

The camp was excellent! The first day was the most challenging, but even that wasn’t so hard. I led the introductions and used some easy ice breaker games we learned during training. Then, we divided the 37 kids into three groups, one of which I led, to plan performances for the evening bonfire. Motivating a wide range of kids that don’t really know each other to come up with an idea that they will have to perform in front of a large group is a challenge under any conditions, but when your language skills are still in the ‘developmental’ stage, it’s really hard. Luckily, I have the best colleagues and one of them helped me with that activity, the kids were also really patient. The rest of the camp flew by: we hiked to a 17^th century monastery, played a ton of Bulgarian dodgeball, swam in the river, painted rocks-it was perfect. Even when it rained, the kids were easy to be around; they were plenty entertained trying to ask me questions about life in America, testing out random English words, or just playing cards in the giant army tents.

Painting rocks and making art from found objects

I’m really proud of myself for how it all went-not for planning or anything, I mostly just observed that, but for my role in interacting with the kids. I was intimidated about working at the camp. I’ve never been a camp counselor, or anything similar, before and despite living with an 8 and 2 year old for the last few months, I’m still nervous about being around children. My fears were totally unfounded! I got along great with them and they respected me. I even led a hike with all 37 of them by myself to a natural spring a kilometer away, no one cried or died on my watch. I’m excited about next year and am really looking forward to planning activities with the school in town.

Tents and sleeping mats before we put them together

I was very impressed at how well everyone did with the rustic conditions. There was no running water or even outhouse style toilets. We brushed our teeth in the river and the bathroom was the forest behind the last tent; yet no one complained and the food was incredible. Without a kitchen, vehicle, or fancy camping cooking gear, I was expecting a Bulgarian equivalent to mass produced spaghetti, powdered mashed potatoes, and peanut butter sandwiches; instead, we had fresh salads, grilled chicken breasts, roasted potatoes, kufteta, karnachi, banitsa, and fresh honeydew or watermelon for desert. One woman made all the food for three large hot meals and two snack breaks for 43 people each day over a fire with a makeshift grate and she didn’t seem to break a sweat about it. I helped was the dishes in the river and marveled at her culinary skills.

First week of work

My first week of work was great! Even though most of what I did was working on personal logistics—getting my alien resident ID card, borrowing the Obshtina’s vacuum cleaner, etc.—I was able to help with planning for the 3 day sleep away camp we’re having next week and participate in some work parties. So far, 37 children, aged 7-12, have signed up for our camp. We wrote the food budget, planned activities, found tents (we’re borrowing 10 person ones from the Army), and took a day trip to Montana for supplies this week. I will be leading introduction activities and sports games at the camp. I’m nervous. I hope my language is good enough to communicate. It will be an intense couple of days

My counterpart, who is my guide, mentor, and primary working partner at my assignment, is great. She's smart and fun and has the two cutest kids. I share a large office with her and two others in the Obshtina. The Obshtina has 40 something employees. Of those I've met, everyone has been super nice and patient. My counterpart's birthday was on Tuesday and she brought in sweets and soda to treat everyone. There was also a retirement party on Monday. The retirement party lasted all afternoon and included beer, rakia, and wild boar. It was my first time eating wild boar...and I liked it. I did think this was an interesting fact: in Bulgaria, the retirement age for men differs from that of women. Anyways, I love celebrations in Bulgaria. Since name days and birthdays are celebrated by treating those around you, and everyone has both, you have a pretty good chance of encountering someone who will give you chocolate.

Every Thursday night the cultural center in town has horo dancing. Horo is the traditional form of dance in Bulgaria. Everyone holds hands and follows the leader in synchronized steps to the beat of the music. I think I included some pictures in an earlier post where we danced the horo in Neysa’s backyard for her baba’s birthday party. I attended the horo dancing this past week and had a fantastic time. There were about 30 women and girls, from around ten years old up to babas, and two musicians, one on keyboards, one on the horn. The horos started off easy, steps I was familiar with thanks to parties in Kravoder and evenings with the family. But, about half an hour into the 90 minutes of dancing, it got tough. Like REALLY difficult, with kicks and shuffles and hops. I tried my best and laughed a lot, as did everyone else, and had a really good time. Though I’m confident no one was impressed by my dancing skills, I’m pretty sure they were pleased I knew some horo and wanted to learn more. It was a lot of fun and I plan to make a habit of it over then next two years.

Not a Towel

I’m planning to buy most of my supplies this weekend in Montana—it’s the nearest large city, about 45 minutes by bus, and is similar in size to Vratsa— but wanted to get a few things around town so I could bond with the local shop owners etc. One of these items was supposed to be a bath towel. Although the apartment had a towel, it’s more of a hand towel size and it’s pretty chilly in the mornings. I wanted something to wrap myself in and planned on using the hand towel in the kitchen. Well… I went to the magazine (magazines are Bulgarian stores) that sells some household goods, with my list in hand. Of course, I should have translated it to Bulgarian first, but most of the words I knew and I figured it wasn’t that big of a store, I could just point something out if I wanted it. In these types of smaller stores, you usually don’t get most of the items yourself—no carts and aisles, you tell the cashier the items you want and she gets them for you from behind the counter.

After getting most of my list taken care of: clothespins, cutting knife, can opener, dish soap, etc., I pointed at what appeared to be a giant fluffy towel in clear plastic wrapping. The clerk raised her eyebrows and asked me if it was what I really wanted. “Yes,” I replied. “It’s for the bath, right?” She nodded and added it to my tab. Next, on my list was a bucket with holes to use for holding my shower stuff. The shower sprays everywhere and doesn’t drain very fast. I needed something to put my shampoo in so it wouldn’t float away that wouldn’t get soggy from water. They didn’t have anything that would work, but the conversation was difficult and lasted a solid 10 minutes. I was getting sort of stressed and ready to go when I asked for the bill. It was higher than I’d expected, but I figured that maybe things were just more expensive than I’d calculated.

When I returned to the apartment and took the ‘bath towel’ out of the plastic wrap, I saw that it was, in fact, not a towel, but an expensive bath/lounging robe. It was already dark and I didn’t feel like enduring the embarrassment of walking back across town with a opened robe package to explain to the attendant, who had just endured a 10 minute conversation about buckets with holes in broken Bulgarian with me, that I thought the Hugh Hefner style robe was actually a towel, and could she please give me refund. So, now I have a fancy robe, that doubles as a bath towel. It’s really quite comfortable and even has a hood that I can sort of dry my hair with. I wear it as much as possible to get the full benefit of every Lev I spent on it.

New Apartment

My new apartment is huge and really nice…definitely a bit more ‘posh corps’ than Peace Corps…I’ll move into very ‘Peace Corps-ish,’ place on the second floor of an unused building in October. The temporary apartment I’m in until then is where the Obshtina usually houses its visitors. I have 8 beds and 45 rakia glasses, but no water glasses and, for the first few days, no stove or refrigerator either. Of course no internet, TV, or washer machine—I was living the high life in Kravoder. For entertainment, I bought a clock radio. It sort of picks up two stations: slow 50s and 60s American pop and one that sounds like soap operas. I tried out sleeping in different beds the first few nights and have decided to mostly live between two rooms and sleep in the kitchen. Yes, there is a bed in the kitchen. I’ll try to take some pictures of it soon…it needs to be cleaned a bit more.

Sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer

Leaving Kravoder and finishing PST was sad, but I'm looking forward the upcoming experiences I'll have during my two years of service. My host family drove me to Chiprovtsi on Sunday. The drive went by much too fast. It took less than an hour, but I feel much farther away. I'm very far away from what had become my 'Bulgarian Comfort Zone.' However, this past weekend was filled with so much; I hardly had time to think twice about the new reality I’d be entering.

Friday was the swearing in ceremony. It was held in the Obshtini (government building) in Vratsa. Despite being early in the day, it was super hot. I felt like a sweaty mess before it even began. Sitting in the front row on the crowded stage (all 85 trainees plus our director, the ambassador, distinguished guests, etc.) trying to be very careful not to move around too much or slide out of my chair was tough, but the ceremony was great. It was quick and well executed. The two volunteers that prepared a speech on behalf of all of us did an excellent job. Charity, one of my good friends from Kravoder, sang ‘Moya Strana’ at the end of ceremony, bringing many in the audience to tears. Moya Strana is sort of the ‘America the Beautiful’ of Bulgaria, but holds probably an even greater importance to the Bulgarian people. Charity sang beautifully and we followed along during the refrains.

Here is a link to a news article that has recordings of the song and speeches: http://dariknews.bg/view_article.php?article_id=565086

We also made the nightly news:http://tv-vratsa.bg/index.php?lang=bg&r=home/tvvratza/t140/t308

After the ceremony everyone was bouncing between conversations, trying to make plans, say goodbyes, take photos, hugging, crying, etc. During training we’ve all become very close and rely on each other for support. Now, we won’t see each other for three months and will be on our own, without our families, language trainers, or each other. It’s a bit overwhelming. My training group will be 6, 8, 10, and 13 hours of bus/train travel away. I don’t much like rushed goodbyes in huge groups, and didn’t mind when my host parents were soon ready to depart. I’d said most of my goodbyes earlier and knew I’d see a few people later. My host parents took me to lunch at a peaceful restaurant near Vratsa. It was lovely-just the three of us sitting at a table overlooking a lake and the Vrachanski cliffs.

Group Kravoder. My host family and I before the swearing in ceremony.

When we returned to Kravoder, I dressed up in the traditional costume they’d bought me. It’s beautiful. They had several colors at the place where I was fitted, but the bright red I chose is traditional for the Kravoder region. That’s where I consider my Bulgarian home to be so I thought it appropriate to choose that color.

The rest of the Kravoder group departed for their permanent sites on Friday and Saturday. Since Chiprovtsi is so close and my family drove me, I had an extra day. Nevertheless, I’m grateful I didn’t have to spend it in my room thinking about being alone. We spent the day at a family member’s 80^th birthday party in Cherni Vruh (Black Peak). It is a tiny village an hour and a half away, with no mountains or peaks in site. It’s named after the 4^th biggest mountain in Bulgaria, and is one of the most visited by tourists. The northern village we went to is flat and I didn’t see any tourists. It was nice to be around some of my extended host family. My two host brothers, who have been with their other grandma this past week, as well as their cousin Sarah, were there.

My party buddies.

I spent most of the day in Cherni Vruk helping Kristian with his summer math homework and playing with the little kids. Kris is brilliant at math. He’s only 8, but is doing 5^th grade math with very little instruction. He needed some assistance with word problems and it was nice to feel like I was helping, but I was mostly just someone the kids could spend time with. They don’t have as many neighbor friends there as they do in Kravoder and it’s a much more rustic setting. Leaving at the end of the day was difficult. The kids didn’t want me to leave and I knew I wouldn’t see them again.

Kiril and I prepping the looty chushki (spicy peppers).

Packing didn’t take too long. Since Chiprovtsi is so close, I was able to leave some of my winter clothes and random things I don’t need there to pick up later. I had to leave room for the box of vegetables and fruits, the dozen jars of homemade water buffalo yogurt, and the three-dozen eggs my host family had prepared for me to bring to my new home. I am so grateful for them. I must have the best host family ever. It is a big risk to welcome a stranger into one’s home, especially one from another country who doesn’t speak their language. I hope they realize how much I appreciate all they have done for me and their incredibly generosity.

Nearing the end of PST

This picture was taken from my bedroom window. It is a water buffalo. It walks past my house twice a day.

Only a few days left before I officially swear in as a Peace Corps volunteer! Today was my language proficiency exam, a 30 minute individual Q & A with a Peace Corps Bulgaria staff member designed to assess if we’ve learned enough to stay in as a volunteer. It was intense, but I don’t think I’ll be on an early flight back to America. Next week this time, I will be in my new apartment after a full day of work at the Obshtina in Chiprovtsi!

The past 10 days have been full of activities: trying to stay cool (my bedroom was 85 degrees when I woke up this morning), fighting a losing war with fleas, studying Bulgarian, and finishing up the final pre-service training assignments.

Even though I’m anxious to start my new job and move to my permanent site, I’m a little sad the end of PST is so near. The past 11 weeks has been a really unique time. When else do you have the opportunity to live in a completely foreign environment with a family that, despite not being related, takes care of you and your primary responsibilities are to trying to learn to speak a new language and integrate into a new culture—tasks most easily accomplished by hanging out at cafes and playing soccer with local kids? I can’t think of any other such opportunity. I also am fully aware that next week I will be living by myself in an apartment without my Bulgarian family or American friends nearby, without a garden that produces more fresh fruit and vegetables than I could ever eat. That I will have to go to work everyday in an office with colleagues I still can’t really understand and will have to really start figuring out how to do community and organizational development in a small village. I will also have to do laundry without a machine. Knowing this makes want to appreciate every moment of training: my host family, my training group, my language trainer-they are amazing.

English Lesson

On Saturday, my training group and I taught an English lesson in the Roma mahala. It went well. I’ve never taught a class before, but we’d received some instruction on lesson planning during one of our prior conferences. We made posters with translations and phonetic pronunciations of basic phrases: “Hello, my name is…” “What is your name?” “I’m from Bulgaria” “Where are you from?” It took 90 minutes to get these sort of down. About 10-15 people attended our lesson. It was held outside and anyone who wanted to could attend. Our students’ ages ranged from a few 5 year olds that just wanted to play with us to a woman in her mid-40s. Some of the kids were sort of familiar with English from school, others really struggled. It was rewarding when I ran into one of the men who’d attended the lesson this morning at the cafe and he said, “hello, my name is…” in English. I’m not sure he would have gotten the “Where are you from” question, but it was neat to hear him speak words in English that he didn’t know prior to our class.

Bulgarian B-day

We had regular language classes until Friday when we headed back to Vratsa for another session with the community and organizational development group. This time the focus was tourism promotion and small business development. It was very interesting and inspiring. There is so much I want to do at my permanent site. It is such a beautiful place. I want people to want to visit, stay in one of the bed in breakfasts in town, take a carpet weaving class, hike or mountain bike to the waterfall or one of the old monasteries, eat homemade cheese, drink homemade wine, buy a carpet or two. Anyways, now I have even more ideas about future projects for the next two years and better understand the resources that are available to me.

After the conference, we celebrated the birthday of one of host mom of one of the volunteers in my my training group. Birthdays are celebrated a bit differently in Bulgaria. It is the responsibility of the person having the birthday to treat everyone else. They usually carry chocolates with them and hand them out to people that wish them ‘Chestit Rozhdenden’ throughout the day. Then the birthday person prepares enough food, wine, and rakia for any well-wishers that stop by. People still give presents to the birthday person, like clothes or flowers. But, if you give flowers in Bulgaria, they should be an number, even numbers of flowers are given only at funerals. I made peanut butter cookies for my gift (thanks for care package with Jif!). The party was a blast. All the neighbors came as well as her family and the training group. We ate outside at a long picnic table and danced different variations of the horo, the traditional Bulgarian dance until late.

Birthday Toasts...Dancing the Horo...Bread: the ever present companion to all meals...

If you toast with a non-alcoholic beverage in Bulgaria, it is believed you will have ugly children.

Sofia in a Day

On Monday, my training group took a cab to Vratsa at 5:50 am to catch the 7 am bus to Sofia. It was full. The 7:15, 7:30, and 7:45 buses were also full. We had to be at Peace Corps HQ by noon and were getting tight on time. So, we walked to the train station and took a train instead. After this experience, I want to always travel by train. The views were incredible-no cars that may or may not swerve out of their lanes, no hairpin turns, no potholes, no diesel fumes-there was also plenty of space to stretch your legs and walk around. Plus, the slight breeze from the windows on the train was far superior to that which I’ve experienced on the buses.

In front of the Presidential residence in Sofia.

After we arrived at the Sofia train station, we took two trams to the Peace Corps Headquarters where we had our final interview with senior staff. These went well. Then we went to McDonald’s. I wasn’t a fan of fast food when I lived in America and didn’t really want a big mac and fries, but I had been craving a fountain soda and an ice cream cone. Plus, sitting down to your big mac on an outdoor terrace in a European capital city is a much different experience than driving through the golden arches stateside (I know it’s really not, but it makes me feel better to qualify the experience in this way. I am already suffering from flea bites and don’t want to dwell on it). Anyways, it was worth it.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Sofia is a big city, much larger and more spread out than I’d realized when I flew into its airport 3 months ago. It is the 12^th largest city in the EU and has a population of 1.4 million people. It’s also an old city, having been continuously inhabited since the 7^th century. Its center is paved with yellow Viennese cobblestones. There are quite a few destinations to see in Sofia. We rode the trams and walked to a bunch of the big sites: the president’s house, National Assembly Square, Kentucky Fried Chicken-Bulgaria, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Eagles Bridge, a commemoration statue to Russian liberation (from the oft-referenced Turkish yoke), etc.