Travel: Bulgarian Style

I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with 18 other volunteers and one Englishman. I traveled across the country to Yablanitsa, a place known for its Bulgarian sweets. This little adventure began in Razgrad where I was supposed to catch a bus for a nearby city. I went up to the counter and asked, "Do I buy the tickets for Shumen on the bus?" She looked at me and responded, "What bus?" I desperately pointed at the large timetable nailed to the wall, "It says there's a bus at 6:30!" That was my first mistake.

I called my colleague, desperate and stranded, and her brother-in-law agreed to drive me the 45 minutes to Shumen. When I arrived and met my friend, we had time to catch a drink. That was my second mistake. We realized we were running late so we grabbed our bags and ran through the streets of Shumen to be four minutes late for our train.

Luckily, we caught the next one an hour later. I had worn a t-shirt under my coat in preparation for the sauna-like train cars. That was my third mistake. We found an empty cabin and settled in for our overnight ride. We waited for the heat to kick in but it never did. All plans of sleeping went out the window, as we sat there for five hours shivering and attempting to look out the frosted window.

Once we left the train we still had a bus to catch to Yablanitsa. We bought our tickets, found seats and tried to close our eyes before the sun would start to peak over the horizon. It's not easy to sleep on a bus that plays 80s pop-rock but we set our alarms to 7:30 when, according to the timetable, the bus was supposed to arrive in Yablanitsa. Some time around 7am we stopped in a town and I remember remarking on how pretty the Christmas lights were. The bus drove on and about ten minutes later the woman who took our tickets turns around and says, "Weren't you supposed to get off at Yablanitsa?" That was my fourth mistake.

So the bus driver pulled over on the side of the highway and opened the compartments below so we could get our bags. He points down the road and says, "Go straight and follow the signs." So there we were, walking on the side of a Bulgarian highway, with the sun just rising and the ground freshly slick from a recent sleeting. We walked a ways, with me falling once quite hard on the ice, but finally made it to Thanksgiving. As people arrived everyone had their own stories of wrong timetables, missed buses and walking on the highway.

It was worth it though, everybody brought food and we even had a 9 lb turkey and stuffing. Tobias had streamed NFL on his laptop and Neil brought his football. And finally, after much preparation, we were ready to eat after Angelo's moving speech, "I'm in Bulgaria, dammit!", and Billy's heartwarming toast to our new PC family.

Returning home wasn't nearly as difficult, except for the 10 leva fine I got in Sofia for not punching my bus ticket the right way: "There are supposed to be three holes, not two!"

 

Mr. America

 

 

Shannon, the Birthday girl.

 

Snuggling and football always go together.

 

 

Billy posing in front of the delicious turkey he prepared.

 

Angelo's speech.

 

The Thanksgiving spread.

 

The dessert table.

 

 

That's some cheap vino Kasey has.

No Longer Incommunicado

I now have the internet in my house, the only one in my village. When I first logged on, I almost wanted to embrace my laptop, like a long lost friend who had returned. It wasn't long after that when I realized how much my friend annoyed me. Do you remember dial-up? Well my internet is slower. Luckily I can IM so if you have skype then do a contact search and I'm on there.

So much has happened so I will give a quick overview of some things.

Trip to Plovdiv
I went with my colleague and her daughter to Plovdiv, a bigger city, to watch a children's singing competition. We took an 8 hour overnight train ride which was tons of fun. I hope you picked up on that e-sarcasm. The train was like hell, literally, it felt like hell. They have this new heating system and it felt like a sauna in our cabin. I wanted to open the window but I couldn't because of the superstition here that you will catch a cold and die if there is a breeze. It's called techenie, and it exists people. Plovdiv was gorgeous with its ancient theater, classic architecture and honey vendors.

 

Kids waiting for the competition to begin.

Moved into my house
It is a beautiful, bright yellow house with three rooms and a bathroom. Now that it is getting cold, at night I use my wood burning stove to make my house nice and toasty inside. So far I haven't burned it down so job well done!

 

My Birthday
I turned 23 and I was pleasantly surprised by the kindness of others to make my birthday special. I was given flowers and candy at the kindergarten, then my colleague invited me to her house for our own celebration. Her family and her neighbors were there. They brought over food and a plant for me. We had a delicious meal, a cake and they even sang "Happy Birthday". I felt so loved that night. A friend visited me the next day, in all my isolation, to update me on the news (the world series of course) and to give me a bag of invaluable goodies (two 500 piece puzzles, books, candy and basil).

 

Halloween
I threw an amazing Halloween party for the children in my village. How do I know it was amazing? First, the kids begged me to throw one again next year and secondly, it was in the newspaper (of course). The kids came dressed up, mainly in homemade costumes. I was pleased to see even the older kids as excited as the younger ones. We played mummy wrap, bobbing for apples, pin the nose on the pumpkin and blind self-portrait. It didn't cost anything because each kid brought a roll of toilet paper, some apples and a handful of candy. I also made a piñata, with the help of my kindergarteners, and we filled it with candy and they had a great time beating that thing apart. Then, when it was all over, the whole group sang "Happy Birthday" to me. A perfect ending to a great day.

 

Smili as Harry Potter.

 

 

Village Holiday
We had a religious holiday in my village since it was the feast day of the church's namesake. I went to the church in the morning where people, mostly elderly woman, were coming in with flowers and food. During mass there were men chanting, a monk swinging an instrument that burns incense, and a priest who said some words and blessed us. After the service we walked to the cultural center for a meal of vegetables, sweets, cabbage salad, lamb soup, and lamb and rice. It was the weekend after the elections so everyone was talking about Obama and congratulating me on my new president. They knew that both he and I were born in Hawaii so I'm pretty sure they think I have Obama on speed dial. The celebration was in the newspaper the next week with a section dedicated to the fact that Obama and I were born in Hawaii. They called me "Hawaiian" throughout the article although I left when I was two and have no memory of my time there.

 

Baseball
In the northeastern region of Bulgaria there are baseball leagues and my friends in a nearby village coach a team of 5th to 8th graders, the Tigers. I went to the end-of-the-season pizza party. They gave away donated baseball tees at the end and the kids danced to music (mostly Chris Brown and 50 Cent). I was surprised by how many baseball terms they knew (like doubly play!). When the party was over we walked outside and they all started chanting, "Practice! Practice! Practice!" So Coach Joe said we could get the gear and have one last game. We played on a soccer field where some men were kicking around a ball. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait until the season starts up again in February.

 

Awkward moment of the week: Last Tuesday I was riding the bus on my way to Razgrad and it was packed beyond any legal or safety standards. I had to stand at the front, with my foot wedged behind the clutch and my back pushed against the front windshield. The bus driver asked me where I was from and when I answered he yelled, "George W. Bush!" We had a pleasant conversation and I'm pretty sure everyone in the front of the bus was listening. He asked me how many kindergarteners are in Pobit kamak, my village. I paused, because it embarrasses me a little to say this, and said, "Four." He starts laughing, and so does the rest of the bus. The sad thing is, we only have four kids two days of the week since one kid commutes from Razgrad with his baba.

I Survived PST

So I swore in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer on October 9th and traveled to my new village and then have been in a state of technological isolation. I am working on getting internet in my house (fingers crossed) and should know by November 13th. There were things I never got to talk about, like the grape harvest. My host family harvested grapes a few days before I left, clipping them from the vines and gathering them in pails. Even little 9-year-old Ana Maria was running around with a large knife and joining in on the fun.

 

 

 

Here is Valentine mixing the grapes and he even handed me a glass of fresh grape juice which might have been the best juice I ever had.

 

Celebrating the wine season at a winery in the beautiful Melnik.

Then of course was the swearing-in ceremony in Sofia. The U.S. Ambassador spoke, two of the B-24s gave a speech and there were a few TV cameras and cameraman to preserve this day in history. It was an enjoyable ceremony. The speeches were touching and succinct, it ended quickly and the food was good at the reception afterwards.

 

Those are some nice outfits.

 

Callie giving her speech while Tobias waits.

 

Before I went to my permanent site, I spent the night in Razgrad, a nearby city. I went to a piano concert featuring the Philharmonic of Razgrad. Finally I was able to go to my village but my house wasn't quite ready. And by that I mean it had no hot water, toilet, shower, stove, sink or fridge. But it was painted yellow and my bedroom is a vibrant orange pastel. I walked up to my house to find eight people working hard to prepare my new home (including an 82-year-old). They went above and beyond. They made me the nicest bathroom in probably the whole of Peace Corps, painted my rooms (even put up art and curtains), put down new floors and put in my guest room a nice futon and wardrobe. I worked in my garden with a baba and diado who were teaching me how to till the soil and were showing me where we are planting the winter food (onions, garlic, potatoes, lettuce). Then the women took a break to prepare lunch, which was quite a feast. We cooked up meat patties and sausage, made potato salad, peeled hard-boiled eggs, mixed tomatoes and onions with oil, the baba brought mekitsa (fried bread), we had fresh bread and of course beer and homemade rakia. The Bulgarians certainly know how to enjoy their breaks.

 

The Philharmonic in Razgrad.

 

All over the country you see row after row of these Soviet bloc buildings.

 

Paradise in a bloc.

 

I owe these men a lot!

 

My little garden.

 

My first Monday here my village threw me a little party at the museum. Some were dressed in traditional Bulgarian costume and they offered me pitka, which is a sweet bread given to guests. Babas demonstrated for me how they make rugs out of corn leaves and how they weave rugs with yarn. They told me that some day they will teach me too. Then we sat down for a small meal of banitsa, pitka and a sweet alcoholic drink traditional to the region. Even with the language barrier I really enjoyed myself and everyone was so excited to have me there.

 

Me with the kindergarteners. I swear they love me now.

 

I have been spending my days with the kindergarteners, all four of them. I'm getting to know them, I am planning English lessons and I am organizing a Halloween party for the kids in my village. The other day I left the kindergarten to go pick mushrooms for a few hours with two babas. Sometimes as we passed people their voices would hush and I knew I was missing out on some really good gossip. One night three policemen came to visit me to make sure I am living in a secure house. They checked my locks, made sure I had the emergency number in my phone and said they hoped I would get the internet since my phone coverage goes in and out. Everyone knows about me here. Even the editor of the local newspaper in Razgrad found out about me and sent a reporter. I was in the newspaper yesterday, on the front page. They had two pictures of me at my welcoming party and described where I am from, where I was born, where I graduated, what I am doing here and even my upcoming birthday. I'm trying not to let this new found fame go to my head but it's not everyday I make the front page of a Bulgarian regional newspaper.

Awkward moment of the week: My awkward moments have involved me returning to my childhood. Everyday I go to kindergarten and I do everything they do, including making turtles out of play dough and singing songs. Then at lunch I sit at their tiny little table, on a tiny little chair and eat with them. After lunch it is nap time and a few times my colleges have offered to pull down a bed for me. I kindly say no and think to myself, "I know I am small but come on this is kindergarten!" After nap it is snack time, which I always enjoy. One of the kindergarteners has even said he is going to marry me.

I want to wish a Happy Birthday to all those I missed. Happy Birthday Uncle Tom, which was a long time ago but I still thought of you! Happy Birthday Jaynell, I really wanted to send you a message but I hope you had a fun 21st! Happy Birthday Kelly, I will miss our joint celebration this year but eat some pudding in my honor! Happy Birthday Aunt Lisa, I am sure there is going to be some delicious gravy and cake for your b-day!

And finally a Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary to my Grandparents! And a Happy Birthday to my Grandpa! I really wish I could've been there to celebrate with you because I am sure you guys had a wonderful time.