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.
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.
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