Goodbyes in Zhelezna

The village 1 kilometer from Chiprovtsi, Zhelezna, is where one of my closest friends and the local English teacher, Palma, is from. I spent a lot of time with her and friends in the village. We celebrated holidays (and my 25^th birthday!) together, pickled vegetables, and went for hikes and picnics. I can’t count the many days I spent chatting, gossiping, and venting with Palma. Though I probably would have survived, the stressful times in my service were more tolerable and the good times were much richer thanks to Palma and my friends in Zhelezna. With them, I felt I had a break from always being the “American,” and am so grateful for it.

 

During my last few weeks in Chiprovtsi, I spent several evenings in Zhelezna. 

We played soccer in center and Palma made dinner for a group of us making way better use of the microwave than I ever did. 

I introduced jello shots to the village. This was clearly part of the Peace Corps 2^nd goal: increasing the understanding of Americans in the host country. I also brought frozen daquiris. 

No worries, there weren’t any girls gone wild moments; we spent the evening playing games like modified charades and the one where everyone gets a famous name on their forehead and has to ask yes/no questions to guess their person. I was Michael Jackson.

We also had a bonfire to get rid of all my unnecessary Peace Corps files (and law school personal statement drafts!). And I made banitsa in Bulgaria one last time.