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.

Sporten Den!

I swear it is not my fault that I didn't update my blog- it's the internet's fault. I haven't been able to send e-mails either, or log on to Facebook, so it's been a sad existence. I have been very busy as my training comes to a close. Next Thursday I swear in as a volunteer and move to my permanent site.

First, it went straight from summer to the dead of winter. This week we saw some sun but about two weeks ago the cold and bitter rain invaded Bulgaria. Everyone said it would get warm again but it never did. There were nights where I was shivering under 4 layers of blankets. There was no respite from the cold because even indoors I couldn't feel my fingers. Then this past weekend my family installed the wood burning stove in the living room and my host mom gave me a heater for my room (so glorious!). Throughout the village you can hear the splitting of wood as families prepare for the winter season.

Baba Elka showed us how to make banitsa but it will take two years for me to learn how to do it myself. Banitsa is delicious wrapped up in filo dough which is usually filled with cirene (Bulgarian feta cheese) and eggs. It is impossible to make a recipe for banitsa because it can only be made from measurements and skills learned from a baba.

 

Baba Elka showing Shah how to roll the dough. You lift up the cloth and the dough rolls itself.

 

Hot banitsa straight from the oven.

We had a Roma minority culture day and we went to a village where the Roma people are very integrated into the community. Roma people are also known as gypsies but that is an outdated and even offensive word. They come from a region in India and there are four castes of Roma living in Bulgaria. They tend to be very traditional, many are poor and they live in separate communities called the Mahala. Many PCVs work in Roma communities and they try to elevate the Roma communities' own opinion of themselves and to bring about more tolerance and cooperation among the Roma and Bulgarians.

 

There were about 3 cameras there filming us. Here Billy is being interviewed.

 

Roma girls dancing the kyuchek, a traditional dance that involves a lot of hip shaking.

Last week I went to a local village to help a group of trainees with their community project. They painted a large mural on the wall of the cultural center with the help of people from the village. They also got the kids to pick up trash in the center with the incentive being a nice soccer ball. The mural was along the main road so many people turned their heads to stare at us. A baba and diado pitched in, one kid cried but managed to paint a star and the media showed up to film us (check it out on Rila TV).

 

These girls helped out a lot. Notice the 'Best Friends Forever' face paint?

 

The beautiful mural.

 

Here is Daniel doing a wonderful job of picking up trash. He made me proud when he went out of his way to clean up the fountain in the center which was filled with floating bottles and bags.

This past Saturday was our Sporten Den (Sport Day), also known as the Sport Extravaganza! We did some really good advertising. Someone had the genius idea of passing out fliers as the kids got off of the school bus. So on Wednesday we had fliers in hand as the bus rolled up and we talked up our Sporten Den. Luckily anything we Americans do is already considered new and exciting so we had that on our side. The next day when they returned home from school we had candy and as we passed it out we reminded them about our super cool Sporten Den.

Saturday came and we had 5 bottles of Derby Cola which is about the nastiest soda in existence (the lemonade flavor tastes like Pine Sol, or at least my idea of what Pine Sol tastes like), but hey the kids like it. We had tons of sweets and Billy baked some chocolate chip cookies. About 26 kids arrived and it was a wild good time, with emphasis on the wild. We started off with dodgeball which they had never seen before. We did a demonstration for them and as they saw us hurling balls at each other their faces lit up in anticipation. Next we did an egg relay which was fun but due to some minor cheating no winner was determined. After that we did a three-legged race which was quite amusing. A lot of the older kids got their strings undone but they all still enjoyed the game. Then we did tug-o-war which was the most fun to watch. The kids loved this game even though they sustained minor rug burns on their palms. When a side lost some volunteers would help them the next round so we had volunteers going back and forth and getting into the game as much as the kids.

Lastly, we broke up into four teams and had an hour long photo scavenger hunt around the village. We gave each team a list of 30 items with varying points attached to them. An example of things you had to take a picture of: a baba (2 pts), the waterfall (3 pts), someone working in the garden (3 pts), everyone standing on one leg (1 pt), etc. The team with the most points won prizes. I had three girls on my team, Borislava, Svetlana and Petia. The moment the timer started every team raced off. My girls were amazing. We made it to the waterfall and back before anybody else, Borislava convinced her shy aunt to come out and pose in the garden for us, and the girls actually climbed into a horse cart for one picture. We made it in second place but had enough prizes for them. The kids were so excited by the end that it was hard to say the Sporten Den was over. Now when we walk around the village we know all of the kids and they never hesitate to come up and say hello.

 

Lining up for dodgeball.

 

Some cool kids!

 

An intense game of tug-o-war.

 

We had to take a picture of someone on a bike so here are two kids from my host family, Anna Maria and Asen.

 

My girls spelling "juice" in Bulgarian, which is sok (in Cyrillic of course).

 

They convinced the man to let them on the horse cart!

 

Me and my team.

On Monday we made a quick day trip up to Sofia which is about an hour and a half away. It was a nice day to walk around the city and visit the PC Bulgaria headquarters. For lunch we went to an American themed restaurant and had delicious burgers and fries. Then we went to McDonald's for some McFlurries which was kind of McDisgusting because it was mixed with Nesquik. Here are some pretty pictures of the sites there:

 

The National Theater.

 

The National Cathedral.

 

This is the yellow brick road which covers the streets all throughout the city center. If you are ever lost in Sofia, just follow the yellow brick road…literally.

 

The presidential offices.