week ending Dec12th

I don’t think life is ever going to be slow or boring for me in Bulgaria..but that’s a good thing, because I have just been having so much fun. There’s always new foods to taste, new places to visit, new people to meet, new holidays to celebrate, and good friends to hang out with.


First, I just have to say I love Xora classes. These are Bulgarian traditional dances, and they are crazy good workouts (especially when you do them for 2 hours), and they are as fun to dance as Salsa..and if you know me, you know I love to salsa dance. I have to take a clip on my camera some time so you can see. These are some really complicated steps. When you participate in a Xora..you don’t ‘dance’ a Xora, you ‘play’ a Xora..so when I got there, I think it’s kind of funny they ask играйш ли? (Meaning do you want to play?).

Then, I recently had an interesting invite ‘na gosti’ to celebrate a ‘Свински празник’ – that is Pig Holiday. Yep, the lucky pig was slaughtered. If you look in my pictures, you’ll see a picture of the pig’s butt and also the pot where the pigs head was boiling..sounds tasty right. Luckily I was teaching this morning and did not watch the slaughtering of the pig. This celebration is similar to others including lots of new foods and lots of alcohol with good friends.

And today, oh lucky me, I have a kids party to go to. Hmm..I think I forgot I am supposed to be attempting to make a pumpkin pie from pumpkin. Oops.

Oh..the best thing though to happen is the snow! It finally snowed here and it is beautiful out. I think I’m going to have to breakdown and join the gym here since I don’t think I will be able to run at the stadium in the snow..but that’s completely okay..I love the snow!!

One last thing..before I go, during our Pre-service training we had to learn a couple of phrases to say if we attract unwanted attention and I have to say that I am very glad they make us practice these phrases..because for the first time I had to use one of the phrases, and I knew what to say..and you know what, it worked. So, a big thanks to Peace Corps for this training.

Village visits, and also Nikolov Den

I really like these visits I get to make to the village with my friends. It is a whole different way of life than in America. This is the way I understand it..when a person reaches retirement age here, they don’t retire to a nursing home..instead they move to the village from the city for two main reasons. First the pension they receive is usually a pretty small amount, so they have bountiful gardens full of fruits and vegetables, and many times animals like goats, sheep, cows, horses, and dogs and cats. This helps offset the lack of funds during retirement. And then second reason I often hear from my friends is, “What are they going to do, sit around and drink coffee all day..”. So, they enjoy tending the garden and animals. It keeps them active and oftentimes their children come to visit on the weekends. This is where I come in. I have visited a couple villages where my friends parents live, and I just have to say it is soo relaxing in the village. There is yummy food always cooked by the mom, and there are naps, and interesting conversations, sometimes a long hike..and no computer.

This Sunday was the Name Day NikolovDen..so, I got to see first-hand how this is celebrated. This is the name day for a Saint who watches over the fisherman and sailors, so on Sunday everyone eats fish, and there is a special way they sometimes prepare it stuffed with rice, walnuts, raisins, and I forget what else. For some people here, the celebration of their their Name Day is bigger than the celebration for their Birthday..but not always. So, on this Name Day, everyone who is named Nikola, Nikolai, Niki, Kolyo, Neno, Nena, and Nenka celebrate their Name Day

So, i had an absolute fantastic weekend, and I hope everything will go smoothly this upcoming Thanksgiving weekend. I had originally planned to go back to visit my small village that I lived in during training (since all my winter stuff is still there)..but my friends convinced me to stay in town, and it was completely worthwhile. Katia helped me teach English Saturday morning, and then her mom picked us up and took us to their village, and made a most delicious meal. Everything was spiced just right. Then her mom brings in blankets and pillows (because most rooms in Bulgarian houses have small beds in them) and we took a nice long nap after chit chatting and watching American television; and this was followed by coffee and dessert. It was just such a relaxing day. And the next day a group of us went to Nicopolos ad Istrum.

Greece and Spain

I have to say..and I’m sure I’ve said it before, I could never get through the Peace Corps without my really good friends; Both in the USA and in Bulgaria. Often, I get messages from you all, and when I do, it really makes my day!
So, the past couple months have absolutely flown by and I’m sure the next two will also. So, you ask..what have I been up to lately? Oh..too many things to write, but here is a quick, okay maybe not so quick, synopsis:
Halloween party for the kiddies, turned into a real disaster, but I survived to leave that evening for Greece, with the teachers of one of the schools here, and from there I went to the coast of Spain to visit my brother and his girlfriend.

I hate this..i think the mouse in the kitchen is trying (successfully) to terrorize me. I was being brave and going into the kitchen to finish dishes..and I feel this tap, tap, tap on my slippers..thinking, I'm spilling water while doing dishes I casually look down..and there's this mouse, it keeps running and throwing itself at my foot, of course I can't stop screaming. So, I fix the mousetrap that I bought, wondering if it can really work. I decide that I have to eat, so I'll rush in finish the one dish left to wash grab food and rush out; only when I go to turn on the water, this friggin mouse jumps out at me from the counter where the sink is. I'm scared..really scared now, almost to the point of accepting one of my friends cats.