Life in a village

My normal shop where I buy my chicken was sold out, and I really had been looking forward to chicken..so, as I was shopping at the shop I buy fruit, I noticed they had fresh marinated chicken for sale..so I pointed to the four pieces I wanted..it looked good.  That was until I got it home, and started to try to cut it into pieces..that’s when I realized just how fresh this chicken was..it wasn’t all nice and clean of fats and tendons?, like it is when I usually buy it frozen. 

..and as I was trying to cut it up into pieces, I was reflecting about all the chores I have helped with in my time in Bulgaria..spending a day at a factory dividing up frozen raspberries so that the bags exported only include the ‘pretty’ raspberries, gathering / picking fruit and making compote, preserving tomatoes, baking and peeling peppers, learning to make rakia, gardening..and it really hit me how much easier my life is than many Bulgarians, even while living here.  Many Bulgarians living in villages and small towns don’t have a garden and a few farm animals because they enjoy it..it is a way for them to support their families on their meager salaries.  Many of them work a full-time job of working at a factory job of manual labor, not even receiving minimum wage of 290 leva – a little under $200 / month (less than $2,400/yr) and oftentimes in down months not receiving their full salary and having to take unpaid vacations; then they come home to garden, and preserve foods, feed the animals, do housework, cook; and many of my friends also help with community events as well.  With all of these chores I start to understand why families are closer..to help out.

While I have been allowed a glimpse into their lives, cultures, and traditions..I cannot imagine a life where I make my own yogurt after milking my cow or goat, or have to let my sheep out for the shepherd in the morning and be there in the evening when they return again, or killing, de-plucking and cooking my own chickens, or using a torch to run over the pig’s skin after killing it, to be eaten later, and jarring containers of pig lard, or stuffing it’s intestines.  Not to say it is not tasty..I have eaten many new things in Bulgaria..some bizarre sounding and looking, but most of the dishes are pretty tasty.

And, this is not to say this is how all Bulgarians live, but I just think there are so many many small villages throughout Bulgaria with less than 1000 people, and many of them do live like this..and if they don’t live in a village, oftentimes there parents do.  I have a lot of respect for the work the hard-working people of the older generation, and people living in these smaller towns and villages.