Babas make me wiser

Last Sunday my group and I had an informal meeting with some village kids. We are doing a project to promote community pride and reading amongst the youth. This is kind of how it went (except it was in Bulgarian):

Peace Corps Trainee: Do you like basketball?
Kids: No. Hate it.
PCT: Do you want some chocolate?
K: From you? No way.
PCT: Do you have any ideas? Activities you'd like to do?
K: --blank stare--
PCT: Umm, do you want to play games that day?
K: -----tug-of-war?
PCT: Yes, alright! Anything else?
K: Soccer, three-legged race, sack races, drawing, arm wrestling, volleyball, egg relay!
PCT: Wow, thanks for your help.
K: I see you have a basketball, want to play?
PCT: I thought you hated basketball!
K: Oh, yeah, and we'll take that chocolate now.

 

Then on Monday we went to a school gym to hear our permanent sites announced. They made a map of Bulgaria on the floor, announced our names and gave us a flower. I felt kind of like a secret agent because they gave us folders with our "Assignment Description" inside. Then it self-destructed in 30 seconds.* I am going to a village of 350 people and working with an NGO called Future for Europe Association.

*That is a bold-faced lie.

 

 

 

Those of us in northeastern Bulgaria; Greg, me, Theron and Glenn.

You read correctly, I said there are 350 people in my village. And, gosh darn it, I am going to know the life stories of each of them. They were excited to have me there and every baba has made it her personal goal to take care of me, which includes teaching me how to cook, teaching me how to knit, and finding me a husband. I've already learned a lot from Baba Dora, who I spent the week with. She taught me how to make homemade french fries, how to hand wash clothes, how to make homemade jam and how to use a wood burning stove. And what did I teach her? How to slam a frog in a door. I'd say we both learned a lot.

For the next two years I will be working a lot with children, creating after school activities and teaching English to the kindergarteners, also to the municipality. I will help attract tourists (they have a wonderful museum and cultural life) by creating a website. And so much more I don't even know yet.

Some pictures of my village:

 

The town square.

 

The Bulgarian Orthodox church.

 

Baba Dora heating up jars of jam on the wood burning stove.

 

Me and the police officer. I repeat, the police officer (and he commutes).

 

Babas and diado hanging out in front of the store. They call me "their volunteer".