Holidays in Bulgaria

Holidays in Bulgaria

Today is Thanksgiving!!! Bulgarians don’t celebrate this American Holiday, so volunteers are often left to find a way to celebrate themselves. Although I am away from the states I am not too far to celebrate with friends! Volunteers that live close to my town invited my site mate and I to dinner. I just got my stove two days ago so I decided to make my favorite holiday food (i.e. pumpkin pie, dressing with gravy, deviled eggs, and cornbread). This was a huge task to accomplish!!!

First I had to go to the store and find cornbread. I knew that had it in VT because the volunteer that was here before me left a half package full. I went to about two stores on Monday and did not find any. Yesterday, I decided to go to another store after my tutoring session. My language instructor kept asking me if I wanted her to go with me, which was a little annoying because I know how to buy things from the grocery store. Anytime I don’t know the name of an object I either write it down in Bulgarian before I leave my house or describe it to the clerk in Bulgarian words that I know. Anyhow, I found cornbread and everything else that I needed from the local market ALONE.

I started to cook the Pumpkin pie first. Peace Corps has a cookbook for volunteers, which has recipes and shows how to substitute items that are not in Bulgaria. I am so proud of myself. I made the entire Pumpkin pie from scratch! That includes the dough, and the Pumpkin Puree. Secondly I made the cornbread. Cornbread is not that difficult to make so it was a blast. My third task was to make deviled eggs while the cornbread cooked. As the eggs boiled I mixed the second batch of cornbread for the dressing. When the deviled-eggs were done and I put them in the refrigerator. The last item I made was gravy to go with the dressing. If you don’t know, dressing is very similar to bread filling except we use cornbread in the place of bread. This is everything I made for thanksgiving with my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers. I hope they like it!!!! The only problem is that now I have to get the food to my friend’s apartment by train. Its about noon here know, the party is at 6pm!!!! I will let you know how it went.

Thinking of a feasible way to transport food by train with limited Tupperware,

Crystal

P.S. I don’t now if I will be able to take pictures, because something is wrong with my camera! The stupid lens thingy will not go back in. I am so pissed because I have only had the camera for six months!!!! Urggh… Who told me to buy Nikon?!


HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!!

Being in Bulgaria

I feel like a complete idiot. I live in one of the best cities in Bulgaria and I live in the best neighborhood in my town. My street has some of the oldest houses, apartments, and stores in the entire region. My town has a castle, theaters, cultural centers, clothing stores, supermarkets, and even a large mall.

When I got to site my apartment was not ready and I was very disappointed. I complained about the injustice of having to stay a week with a Baba (grandmother) because I was looking forward to having my own apartment. When I finally got my apartment I complained about how dirty the volunteer that lived there before me left it. When my host organization cleaned the apartment and painted, I complained that the paint job was horrible and repainted my bedroom myself (I am currently in the process of painting the other rooms). After they gave me furniture (bookshelf, wardrobe, and two couches) I complained that I would have to buy decorations to “make the place feel like home”.

I went to dinner with a Bulgarian friend and brought her home to see my horrible apartment to understand the injustices of life. As we walked to my apartment I noticed she was cold in her thin leather coat, so, I offered her my scarf. She accepted and proceeded to tell me how she needed a winter coat but she couldn’t afford it because it cost 160-206 leva (Bulgarian dollars). She just started a job that required her to dress professional. I could relate because I wouldn’t pay that amount for a coat. We walked on complaining about the cost of clothes and the quality of clothing until we started to reach my apartment. She seemed to get quiet as we got nearer to my door. I unlocked the downstairs door and ushered her in. As we walked up the stairs I could tell she was thinking. I unlocked my door and her immediate response was “you have a big apartment”. This is the response I always get from Bulgarians when I describe my apartment. To me it isn’t that large. I have a mini kitchen, a bathroom, a small living room, a closet, and a bedroom.

She walked from room to room in surprise. I could tell she didn’t understand way I was complaining. In fact I saw myself through her eyes. I became that American that has everything and complains about paint on the wall or things that don’t matter because I have nothing else to complain about. To her my apartment needed to be organized room by room but it wasn’t anything serious. She offered to help me paint and decorate until everything was they way I wanted it.

I felt like a complete idiot because as I looked the apartment over through her eyes I realized that I actually do have a wonderful apartment!!! It needs to be decorated because I just moved in, but the place is wonderful. I have never experienced being “the rich person” and I don’t know if I like it. IS THIS REALLY THE PEACE CORPS!?!!?

Yes I live in an apartment with running water, and electricity. Yes I have most of the modern conveniences found in the western part of the world, but life isn’t any easier. Bulgarian culture is very different from American culture. I think I will write about that next time though because as always this is too long.

Humbly,
Crystal

VT All the Way....

I have been in Bulgaria for about three months and I am still trying to integrate. There are many things about the culture that I still don’t understand. Being in the Peace Corps is all about taking things one at a time and learning as you go along.

I just moved to Veliko Turnovo Thursday. This town is absolutely wonderful! The people appear to be very proud of their town and of their accomplishments. For now I am spending a lot time in Cafes with my site-mate. She is pretty cool…

I have not moved into my apartment because it is not ready, which is a little annoying. But, hopefully everything will be ready by Friday this week. After I move in I am going to make it as homey as possible so that I will be comfortable.

Nothing else to write about!

Thinking of my apartment,

Crystal

Simply the Best!!!!

In about two weeks I will be in Veliko Turnavo. I am both excited and scared at the same time. I am afraid that I will have to make transitions all over again. I am very familiar with my community in Rila. People are used to seeing the black American running around town, asking weird questions, and mumbling to herself in English. VT is a much larger metropolitan city, about 80,000 people, with many British, German, Chinese etc tourists. I don’t think I will stand out so much there but I have to transition from living in a small town to a larger town. Peace Corps is full of transitions. Speaking of transitions…

I have lived and worked with the same PCV volunteers for the last three months. We shared every aspect of our lives together such as American food, successes and failures, stories from home, even clothes. Although we started out as strangers, we became friends fast out of necessity. I can remember the first time I meet my group I said to myself “why did PC Bulgaria Staff pair me with people that are so different from me, this will be a long three months”. Now, in retrospect, I am glad they paired us together because otherwise I would not have learned to work and live with people that are different from me. I am going to miss “Simply the Best” group including our language instructor.

Missing my new PCV friends already,

Crystal

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

Just wanted to let you all know that I am no longer sick!!!! I can hold my food down from both ends.

My B-day is around the corner (October 19, 2006) OMG I will be the BIG 25….. Who will I celebrate with? Some people hate getting older while I have been looking forward to 30 since I was 18. I am almost there and now I can’t wait until I am 93. I want to be the old wise person for once in my life instead of the young wise person hehehehehe…

I think I am becoming one of those weird Peace Corps people. Being out of American (and other Western European Countries) is teaching me about many injustices in the world. I am changing as a person in a weird way that I haven’t processed yet.

If you were in America and where my twin what would you want for your B-day? My twin sister is going to have a B-day as well but I can’t think of the perfect gift…..

I went to Da Club for the first time in Bulgaria. It was great….

Sick and Wet

They say the most common sickness for a PCV is diarrhea, which I am finding to be true. I have been sick this week with the runs and a really bad stomach ache (yea i know it sounds gross). I could not eat or sleep for about three days. The people in my town said that a virus was circulating because of the change in the weather. One other volunteer at my site was sick as well. Today I am 100% healthy. Well maybe not 100% because I still have a little headache and I lost my voice.

I have the funniest story to tell....

One morning my host mother told me she was going out somewhere (i am not too sure where) and left the house early. I was leaving my house to go to language class when i noticed that water was running out of the water fountain in the garden. I attempted to turn it off only the water came out faster and started to spread everywhere. The water began to get bigger and stronger, I was soaked within five minutes.

I panicked because I was the only person in the house and I did not want to be the "American that broke the water fountain". I had no way to reach my host mother so I hysterically called my language instructor. He thought I was deathly ill and came running over to "save me" only to fine me soaked to the bone fighting back water. He looked very relieved to see that I was physically ok and turned the water off from the main unit. He than explained that this was just a minor problem and to make sure that I told my mother about the problem.

Later that afternoon I ran into my host mother in the center of town with my language instructor and he explained in Bulgarian about the water. She said it was not a problem and would have it fixed the next weekend. She laughed about me being nervous and thanked my language instructor for his help.

Ahh another day in Bulgaria,


From underneath the water,

Crystal

Ten Things

I have been in Bulgaria a little over a month and now I understand what it means when they (former PCVs) say “this job is the toughest job that you love”. It is hard being in the Peace Corps yet I am enjoying every moment of it. Life is hard because everyday is different from the next. Sometimes I feel like a complete idiot because I know very little Bulgarian while other days I feel empowered because I made a sentence in a different language and a native person understood me!

I have so much to say but I don’t know where to start or how to share…. I guess I will go back to the ten things I learned about myself in Bulgaria. This is not in any particular order.

I LEARNED THAT…..

1. I can wash clothes on my hands….The volunteer that lived with my host family before me came a couple weekends ago and taught me to wash clothes on my hands. Now I wash my clothes on my hands because I enjoy it most of the time.

2. I can hike…. Last week we hiked through the Rila Mountains. This was a tremendous task indeed. We climbed about 4000 feet to the top of the several mountains, which overlook seven lakes. I was totally excited because this was my first time hiking up mountains. My legs hurt for days but I learned the value of hard work. I linked climbing the mountain to my purpose in life, which gave me the energy to keep going. While we climbed I stopped many times to catch my breath and rest, however, I was always one of the people leading the group. After we climbed the mountains I even climbed a waterfall which was even more difficult with the slippery rocks! I am surprised and proud of myself at the same time. Hiking will be my new hobby!!!! Pictures are available just click on the link.

3. I can wear the same clothes over and over again….The woman I will work with once I officially become a Peace Corps volunteer invited me to stay longer during my permanent sight visit. A permanent sight visit is when a PCV goes to see where they will live for two years once they are officially a volunteer. I will get my volunteer status after 2 ½ months on October 19, 2006!!! Anyhow, she asked me to stay longer and I only had three days of clothes with me. Instead of panicking and running to the store to buy more clothes I simply wore the same outfit a couple times. It wasn’t a big deal at all. In fact wearing the same clothes a couple days in a row isn’t a big deal in Bulgaria.

4. I can catch a bus across country with limited Bulgarian….Once I left my permanent site I had to catch a bus home (to Rila) across the country with another volunteer. It took me about three buses and six hours to get home. We both speak limited Bulgarian but it was exciting figuring out the Bulgarian bus system on our own. During the entire trip I learned patience and that I know more Bulgarian than I think.

5. Sometimes I get annoyed very easily….Speaking of patience sometimes little things really bother me. It could me a comment by someone, the way someone chews their food, or a late bus. I was talking with another PCV and she said she didn’t know how irritated she got with people until she came to Bulgaria. I feel the same way. Sometimes people simply get on my nerves. Other times I am completely fine and oblivious to people’s annoying habits. I am learning patience….

6. I can make homemade pizza….One of our integrating projects was to purchase food from the store and cook a potluck dinner with other volunteers. I decided to make American style pizza and I did….with the help of my host mother. I am a good cook but she insisted on helping me through the entire process. The pizza came out fantastic!!!! I have pictures so click on the picture below.

7. I can use a Turkish toilet….If you don’t know what a Turkish toilet is you are missing out. Essentially it is a hole in the ground. When I first came to Bulgaria I thought that I would not be able to use this type of toilet but now they don’t even faze me. When you have to go you have to go…. I have a picture of this phenomenon click on the link.

8. I look for Black people….Imagine being in a world without Black people? For some of you this is the norm but for me this is abnormal. There are always African Americans near me or that I am in contact with. I thought I was the only one here until about a week ago. I was in a town called Dupnista when I saw a woman with braids in her hair walk by me. I didn’t think much of it because there are a lot of European woman here with braids until I notice the curve in her hips and her light caramel skin tone. I did a double take and yelled for her to stop. She looked at me and smiled. We proceeded to have a conversation in broken English and Bulgarian. Turns out that her father is Nigerian and her mom is Bulgarian. She spoke very little English but smiled a lot and seemed just as happy to see a black American as I was to see a mixed Bulgarian.

I ran into another black person a couple days ago in the town next to my hometown. I was on my way back from my permanent site visit. I saw him as I was going into the bus station to find out where to catch my last bus home. I looked at him and he looked at me. We smiled and I walked up to him to introduce myself. He came to Bulgaria, and I quote, “many years ago, even before I was born from Ethiopia”. He was staying in my town for two more weeks and had seen me walking around before. I think he lives in Northern Bulgaria with his family. He barely spoke English but we caught the bus home together. I even got him to take a picture with me, which, of course, is available through the link. Maybe we will go for coffee one of these days?

9. I love cafés but not coffee… the Coffee here is really strong but the atmosphere in the café is fun. The coffee in Bulgaria makes me high literally I get really dizzy and sick if I drink too much of it. I learned my lesson the hard way. When I first got here I was drinking a shot of espresso at about 8:30am and another coffee at 10am almost everyday until I started to feel dizzy. One day in language class after my second coffee of the day I had to put my head down because the entire room was spinning. One of my peers suggested that I stop drinking so much coffee, and it worked. I drink tea or soda water instead.

10. I miss going out…. I am not a huge club/disco/bar fan but I definitely want to check out the club scene in Bulgaria. I have been so busy with PC people that I haven’t had the opportunity to hang-out anywhere but the cafés.

There are many other things that I learned but I think this blog is long enough. I hope you got some idea of what I have been doing in Bulgaria for the last month or so.

Writing from inside of the café and drinking tea,

Crystal

I made this Pizza

Wow A Month

A lot of things have been happening these past few weeks. I found out my permanent site in the Peace Corps (Veliko Turnovo), I went hiking, and I am getting really close to my host family. When you get a chance please google Veliko Turnovo. I will be working with Nonprofit and youth development.

I have learned ten things about myself since I have been in the Peace Corps. That I can not share with you right now because I am on my way to my site. However, I will have pictures and the ten things next time.

WOW I have been here a MONTH!!!!