I saw Mommy Kissing Mrs Klaus

Life in VT is treating me well. Nothing new on this end except for the fact that I saw two women kissing in the street a couple days ago. YUP it was NOT one of those friendly kisses either. They were using tongues and all. I know this because I was staring the entire time in shock. This type of behavior is not normal and on some ends downright unacceptable in Bulgaria. Once the women were done they grabbed each other’s hand and proceed down the street. Women holding hands in Bulgaria is normal so that was not a shock as much. The funny thing is that I had more of a reaction than the Bulgarians that were on the street with me. To be honest I don’t even thing they noticed! I am not sure why though. Maybe they thought the women were friends and giving each other a kiss out of friendliness. I have seen women kiss each other on the lips as friends but never with the tongue. I wonder what would have happened if they were men! I think that would have caused much more attention than anything else. Speaking of attention… I am picking up Bulgarian mannerisms, which is probably normal since I have been here for six months.

One of the major changes is the fact that I stare at people that I think are weird or out of place. I am originally from Chicago that has a population of about 65 million people. We do not stare at folks. In fact we try to mind our own business because its all about personal space. Of course, that is not the way of life in Bulgaria. Everyone is in everyone else’s business. Life is more fluid where work relationships extend to deep personal friendships. I don’t know why I started to stare at people. Maybe it’s my defense mechanisms to cope with the amount of attention I get in one day. Maybe I am trying to subject others to the things I am subjected to everyday of my life in Bulgaria. Nonetheless, I am staring. Normally it’s at the people with the deep blood red or platinum blonde hair, with knee high red leather boots over leopard print pants. I am impressed with their tenacity and gull to wear such a custom. This outfit is not limited only to young women but people of ALL generations parade themselves around in such garbs. I actually saw a guy with his pants tucked into a pair of red boots. WOW how cool is that? Speaking of guys I have to tell you all about the gym I go to.

I decided to run a marathon (the Athens or Berlin) in the fall. This will be my second marathon in my life but my first outside of America. I am really excited about the prospects. I love going to the gym because there are so many interesting people. The guys at the gym are hilarious. I don’t talk to them but I have little stories about them in my head. One guy, who I will call “Playa Playa”, brings a different girl to the gym every time he comes. The time before last he brought one girl that cried the entire time she was there. He kept going to see if she was OK but she would not respond to him. She stayed the entire time he worked out and finally went home, with him, when he was done. Huuummmm. There is another guy that I call “skinny legs”. Why do guys think it is OK to workout their upper body and not focus on their legs? This particular guy always wears spandex shorts with sandals while he lifts. I have NEVER seen him workout his lower body. There are three guys at the gym that I simply call “The Gorgeous”. The are all over 6’2” feet tall and I think two of them play soccer. When I say they are gorgeous I mean they are gorgeous! Speaking of gorgeous I just braided my hair!

Yup I braided my hair last week. I did another PCV’s hair and decided to do my own. The people at my job were surprised at first but they really like it. I actually started braiding during Super Bowl weekend and finished about a week ago. I like my hair braided because I don’t have to do much to it besides wake up and go. It’s wonderful. I think braided hair is accepted here more than its accepted in America. I have seen more Caucasian women with micro braids here than in America.

Well that’s all for now…

Thinking about arranging a meeting with “The Gorgeous”;-),

Crystal