Summer Arrived

So today was super hot...like Louisiana hot...very unlike the cool weather we've had since I arrived in country. The best thing to eat on a hot day (or, I think, anytime) is the cold Bulgarian soup: Tarator. It is my new favorite food and is super easy to make. TARATOR 1/2 cucumber, peel it, then grate it using a cheese grater 1 garlic clove, minced or smashed 2 cups plain yogurt 1 cup water 1 teaspoon (or more is better) salt 1 tablespoon dill, finely chopped 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil Mix together and serve! You can also chopped walnuts and all the amounts can be adjusted to taste.

Lamb Liver and Celebrations!

Oh my, so came back from my run today to see an skinned lamb hanging in garden with its head and feet next to the sink. After my shower, I ate its liver. I don't think I've ever had any liver, especially not super fresh lamb liver....it was actually pretty good. Yikes! The reason the lamb was killed was in preparation for May 24th celebrations. We are having a ton of guests and have enough food to feed pretty much the entire town. May 24th is a national holiday in Bulgaria to mark Saints Cyril and Methodius Day, creators of the Cyrillic alphabet, and to celebrate Bulgarian literature and culture. It is also an important day for my village because it is the day of their 'sabor,' which, according to my understanding, is like a village wide family reunion. Children that were born in the village and then moved on, return with their families to eat and drink all day. It's fantastic.

No fish in the river

23 May 2010 Tried to go fishing today with one of the other volunteers. I had showed my host parents pictures of my family and friends. In one of them I am fishing, so when we stopped by their flat in Vratsa they gave me their grandson's old fishing pole and bag of tackle stuff. It was a mess of tangled line and random lures. I spent several hours yesterday trying to untie and salvage the line and then even longer figuring out how to tie a hook that has no hole in it to the line. Bait was another problem. Tried balls of bread, turkey, cheese, no success. Am convinced there are no fish in the river.

Football

20 May 2010 We went to our neighboring village for technical training this afternoon. There are 5 other trainees there. When we finished with class, the ten of us went to the school and played soccer with the local kids. It was exactly how I imagined Peace Corps to be like. It was amazing.

18 May 2010

Klisurski Monastery and Varshets Went to the Klisurski Monastery with my host parents and C. It was very nice and peaceful. A bit of history from Wikipedia: The Klisurski Monastery was founded in the 1240 during the Second Bulgarian Empire. It was repeatedly destroyed during the Ottoman rule. In 1862 it was burned down and the monks and pilgrims were killed by a Turkish pasha and his soldiers. The monastery was reconstructed in 1869 and the church was officially consecrated in 1891. On the way back to K-village, we stopped by Varshets to fill up water jugs from the hot mineral springs. The water smelled sort of sulphury, but supposedly, once it sets for a day or so, the smell goes away and it's excellent drinking water. The town is known as a spa town in western Bulgaria, but seemed pretty empty when we were there. I think I am the luckiest volunteer with my host family. They are sooo patient and kind and spend hours going over basic words with me until I understand. I feel like I've already learned sooo much. They also gave me an awesome room and have a great house and yard.

Day trip to the Vratsa

17 May 2010 Today the five of us took a trip with our language trainer to Vratsa to purchase cell phones and other necessities. There were such funny stories from the other volunteers. In B's room, photos of scantily clad women had been hung next to pictures of kittens on the walls of his room. When his Baba was giving him the tour of the house, she proudly introduced the women. He took the photos of women down, but left the kittens. N.'s family began unpacking her luggage for her. Baba, mother, and sister pulled out each item of clothing, including underwear, and repeated the Bulgarian word for wrinkled. An interesting thing in the village are all of these memorial photos of family members and friends that have died. They print out pictures and what are basically obituaries of loved ones on 8x10s and hang them on their gates, the bus stop, and in windows to mark the 6th month, 1 year, 2 year, etc. anniversary of their deaths. It's nice, but also sort of eerie.

5-16-2010 Oh my goodness! Tonight is my first night with my host family! It is so unbelievable. My host parents are lovely. My host mom is a nurse in in a nearby town and my host father is not employed. They have a son in America and a daughter who is a doctor in Sofia. They also have a huge garden with chickens, three dogs-Topcho (little Bull), Betty, and Jack, and a brand new kitten we’ve named Tommy. I arrived at my new home after a 4 hour bus trip from Panischiste. Ugh. I thought the bus was going to break down the entire way… I don’t think we ever got out of 2nd gear, but at last we arrived. I rode from Vratsa to my new village with my host mom and one of the other volunteer's Babas. His Baba sat behind me and talked and pinched me the whole way to the village. I didn’t understand a word, just kept repeating dobre (good) and da (yes). They wouldn’t let me carry any of my own bags (which are really heavy). I felt bad, but was also impressed at the enormous strength of the Babas. So funny and awkward! My town is an absolutely incredible place. It is a bucolic farming village of about 700 people. Its translates to mean cow skinning. I live in one of the nicest homes in town with 24 hour hot water, an indoor bathroom, and a regular toilet!!! So good! There are 4 other volunteers at other homes in my village. Two of them have Turkish-style squat toilets outdoors and another has an outdoor latrine. I feel very spoiled. When I walk through the door to the house I take off my shoes, like we were instructed to do and am presented with my own pair of flowered crocs for inside shoes. All Bulgarian households I’ve been in thus far have a collection of various slippers inside the door for themselves and guests to wear inside. I brought with me gifts: pralines, postcards, magnets, and a picture book from America. It’s sort of awkward to give, but I get a lot of kisses and the magnets go directly on the fridge- next to a large ‘Don’t Mess with Texas’ magnet. The host families have been prepped to expect us to have strange “American” needs like privacy and daily showers, apparently being tired was also one because at 7:30 pm after chicken, cucumbers, and tomatoes, I was promptly sent to bed…via sign language. Sign language is very useful, so is drawing pictures, but one thing that gets me is the nodding of the head. It’s reversed in Bulgaria, so when someone agrees with you they move their head left to right. It’s not really a shaking of the head like we do for ‘no,’ but more of a figure eight type twist. It’s very funny and also mildly unsettling.

Going to my village!!!

I received my satellite placement this morning. I will be spending the next 11 weeks in a small community (population 1,036) near from Vratsa. I am soooo excited and nervous to meet my host family! The awkwardness of the first dinner will, I’m sure, be great. They do not speak English and my Bulgarian is VERY limited. I’m nervous about giving them my gifts, cross cultural faux-pas, and figuring out basic things like shower times and laundry. I brought pralines from Louisiana, a picture book of America, and a magnet with the Washington Monument on it that also functions as a F/C thermometer. Four other community and organizational development volunteers will be with other families in the same community. My fellow group members are great and I'm so excited to get started!

Bulgarian Mountains

The mountain resort town where we’ve been having our pre-pre service training, is fantastic. This morning, I woke up early for the second time to run to an old ski trail and climb to the top of the mountain with another volunteer. It started raining during our ascent, but the view was still spectacular. Our descent was a bit tricky, but we made it back in time for another delicious breakfast and the first training session. Our days have been full of meetings, interviews, shots, and Bulgarian language lessons. Tonight is our last night before we are transferred to our host families in the satellite communities. There will be a large dinner and a local group will perform traditional Bulgarian dances. Yesterday, we were taught a few basic dances in the front of the hotel. They are performed in a circle with lots of kicks and jumps. I have a feeling that the performance tonight will look a bit more impressive…

Our traveling was largely uneventful. No delays. No bad weather. BUT our arrival was a big deal. I was one of the first to walk through customs control, where I was met by what seemed to be the entire Bulgarian press corps--cameras, microphones, the WHOLE deal. It was super intense. Being interviewed on camera is a surreal experience...especially after 24 hours of traveling....

I have arrived in Bulgaria!! B-26 (I am part of the 26th group of Peace Corps volunteers in Bulgaria) pre-pre service training has begun. We are staying at a mountain retreat outside of Sofia. It is beautiful. There is a waterfall outside my window and snow on the mountains.

Less than a week

Sorry for the long delay between posts. I've been busy tying up my volunteer job in DC, saying goodbyes to friends and family, and making my way back to Louisiana. The past two months have been so great. But, now that I've said most of my goodbyes, bought everything on my packing list, visited the dentist, and even ordered Mother and Father's Day gifts for my parents, I'm starting to get anxious.

It's an odd feeling--I have 6 days to spend doing whatever else I need to do before I leave the country for 27 months and I'm a bit at a loss. I'll read a few chapters of Bulgarian history, then decide to put all my clothes in separate ziploc bags, stop part way through and make language flashcards, then give up and sit by the pool. I keep imagining what it will be like, but I have no idea. I know I'll be spending the first few months living with a Bulgarian family in a town near Vratsa (in the northwest of the country) for technical and language training, but I won't find out until late June/early July what I'll really be doing or where I'll be living for the next two years.

Packing two 50 lb suitcases for two years without really knowing what to expect is a challenge. Do I need a suit or hiking boots? Are waterproof pants really necessary or would another pair of flats for work be more appropriate? I have yet to get down to the acceptable weight for either bag on my trial packs, but I'm not too concerned...I have time to sort out a few pairs of shoes and remove some books.