Cows on the loose

I left almost 2 weeks ago and I can't believe that now I live in a small village of about 1200 in Bulgaria. I walk the streets and pass herds of goats, crowing roosters, horse drawn carts and cows. Monday night I was playing basketball with the village kids and some cows came to the edge of the court to chew on grass.

 

I live with my host mom Vania, her mother-in-law Mama Ani, her 9-year-old niece AnnaMaria, her 18-year-old daughter Ani and 20-year-old son Malin. They have a family business, a small bar behind the house where people from the village come to drink, smoke and gossip. Most of the time I sit and listen. They just look at me and shake their heads saying, "She doesn't understand".

 

I like to go to БаБа Elka's house (baba means grandmother). Babas are highly respected for their years of wisdom and their skill in the kitchen. Baba Elka often talks to me like I can understand her, I give her a confused look and she gives me a big smile with her 4 teeth.

 

On Sunday Billy (another trainee) and I helped Ani and Baba Elka shuck beans for hours and Baba cooked some great Moussaka (мусака - eggs, meat, onions, potatoes). Everyone here has their own garden. Every night I have soup that only has ingredients from the garden: краставици (cucumbers), боб (beans), чушка (peppers) and more.

 

One of the most confusing things is one of the most simplest: No (не- Ne) and Yes (да- Da). For them it is the opposite way around, they shake their head for yes and nod for no. The first few days I tried my hardest not to move my head at all.

Bulgarians have a traditional dance called the horo (хоро) and there are many types. Before coming to our sites we spent a week in a mountain retreat going to classes and we learned 3 horo dances. During our final celebratory meal ("yay, you survived a week!") we got on the dance floor with the Bulgarian horo dancers and stumbled our way into the Bulgarian culture.