Sunday Morning Walk

On the photo page (see link in the column to right) I have posted 3 photos from a morning walk. I went to a nearby town and back – out walking for about an hour and a half.

The first image is Sunday morning in a small village – a woman on her way to the fields carry a hoe, a man walking toward town, a horse-cart crossing the bridge and a couple younger woman standing on the bridge having a conversation. It was a typical scene except for the two Americans walking their way with a camera. As we walked toward the bridge we helped round up two sheep “pre-teens” for the woman they escaped from. Even if an American dresses like a Bulgarian (which I don’t yet) they will look different…differences in gestures, stature, presence, etc. It’s like being able to discern a foreigner on a road in the US. They (we) just look different.

The next is a view of village life – laundry drying on the line, horses in the field, people tending their yards.

Of course I have to have a couple photos of a stork in a field with flowers. I’m pretty sure there are eggs in the stork nests – but maybe not babies yet. One stork always stays with the nest. I’ve seen them grooming the nest in the mornings and late afternoons – cleaning, checking on the eggs, and maybe just standing after a lot of time sitting. Days and nights are definitely warmer. We have rain every few days which keeps everything green and lush.

A Holiday and the Bulgarian Language

May 24th is a big national holiday. It is known as the “Day of Bulgarian Culture” or “Cyrilic Alphabet Day.” Every year Saints Cyril and Methodius are honored. They invented the Cyrilic alphabet around 863 AD. The whole country partakes in festivals and parades celebrating the alphabet. Today there are approximately 9 million people who speak Bulgarian (and 40 more American Peace Corps volunteers fervently learning). Bulgarian is part of the South Slavic family of languages (not the Romance Language family like Spanish, French, etc.). It has been influenced by Turkish and Russian. English has had a newer influence in recent history (especially 20^th Century terminology – computer, weekend, etc.)

In 2007 Bulgaria joined the European Union and had the honor of introducing the 3^rd official writing system to the EU alongside the Roman and Greek alphabets.

One aspect of Bulgarian that is easy (Ha!) is that generally words are written just as they are pronounced – silent letters are rare. In English there are many hidden letters – for instance Patricia would be Patrisha in Bulgarian. Or reading would be reding; phonetic is fonetik; feel is fel; – no silent letters. Generally there is only one sound per letter – C only sounds like s – if the sound is like a K then the letter is a K. Just a few examples to give you an idea.

One thing I found out this week is that my Dell computer came with a number of keyboard capabilities including a Bulgarian “phonetic” keyboard. That means if I want to type a Bulgarian word like “Patricia” (Patrisha), “Chauffer” (shofer) or “Stop” I simply choose the Bulgarian keyboard option and type how the words sound in Bulgarian „Патриша“ „Шофъор“ „Стоп“ .

O.K. so on your end it probably sounds confusing but on this end I’m very excited because I already know the QWERTY keyboard in English and can use that to type words in Bulgarian with only needing to learn a few new letters instead of a whole new keyboard set-up. And it’s an example of how the Bulgarian spelling is a bit easier because it is phonetic.

The same principle applies to reading – I can sound out almost any Bulgarian word letter-by-letter even though I have no idea what the word means!

So thanks to St. Cyril and St. Methodicus for that. I’m not ready to thank them for their ideas on grammar yet!

Here are a few words that sound very similar in English and Bulgarian:

Action - ЕкшЪн, Author - Абтор

Baggage - Багаж, Biography - Биограпия,

Canyon - Канъон, Card - Карта,

Champion - Шампион, Cosmos - Космос,

Date - Дата, Diagram - Диаграма,

Diplomacy - Дипломация, Farm - Ферма,

Professor - Професор, Project - Проект,

Race - Раса, Restaurant - Ресторант,

Season - Сезон, Social - Социален,

Stomach - Стомах,

Tradition – Традиция, Zoo - Зоопарк.

I was given a list of 300 such words and all the letters after F and before P were missing. So this is another plus for learning words! I’ve had a few funny times of trying really hard to understand what someone is telling me before I realize a word sounds a lot like and English one.

For the holiday - Z has her home and garden in tip-top shape. From what I can tell, she's expecting 15 - 20 family and friends to visit tomorrow for the holiday. She's been working really hard and everything looks beautiful.

Site Visit - My New Home

Last week I found out where I will be living for the next two years. It’s a village of about 2000 people near Veliko Turnovo, which is a former capital city of Bulgaria. It’s slightly north and east of the center of Bulgaria - about 3 ½ hours by bus east of Sofia. Lots of green rolling hills, agricultural fields and of course fields. When I visited my village I felt like I was in parts of rural Wisconsin or Iowa. Because the bus rides are long – there are movies available. One way they played two American movies with Bulgarian sub-titles “Robo Doctor” (with Alan Thicke) and another one about a starlet that joins the army. Going the other direction it was an action movie – Bulgarian I think. While it was tempting to study using the subtitles, I was too busy watching the scenery!

Geography – there is a river running through town and it is clean and many frogs call it home – quite a chorus these days! Like most villages there is a town center with a park, monument, and plenty of trees for shade on summer days and benches to sit for a spell to people watch or chat with friends – new and old. Someone also mentioned to me that the train to the Black Sea coast comes very close to the village – and it’s only a two hour trip! Ha! Two of the volunteers who arrived at the same time as I did have sites in towns on the Black Sea so I have friends to visit down the road!

My apartment – I’m in a “block” which was built during the communist times. It’s a smaller version of the ones that are in the cities – only 24 units and 4 stories high. It’s near the town center so I can walk everywhere. Someone has put a lot of love into this apartment – it has tile and laminated wood flooring and a gorgeous, wood built-in unit in the master bedroom. There is an open balcony which will come in handy for drying laundry and a glass-enclosed one which will let light in in the winter. I have two bedrooms (room for guests – Peace Corps or otherwise), an electric stove and refrigerator, Internet and an indoor bathroom. Yippee.

(A little aside here…..I must admit there are times I appreciate having an outhouse with a toilet to sit on. Yes, I said it – despite the obvious negatives – I like it at times. At night I like sitting and looking at the stars as long as it’s warm. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but the way you know if the outhouse is in use is if the door is open! It’s in a private spot so no need to close the door – it’s only closed when not in use. AND I am also loving brushing my teeth at the outside sink in the garden surrounding my blooming iris!)

My work – I will be working in my hometown 3 days a week and in two neighboring villages one day a week each. At this point I’m focusing on teaching English and computer skills as well as website help. I’ll be working with cultural centers, schools (kindergartens mostly), pensioners clubs, and women’s clubs. Also there is need for networking and sourcing funding for projects – like buying computers for the public to use in the library. My work will be a work in progress as I settle-in and get used to the language and communities. One village doesn’t need my help with English classes because there is a community of 30 British families living there. Of course, it could be fun to co-teach a few classes to give the “English” version and “American” version of words and events.

A Peace Corps volunteer has been visiting two or these three villages for one day a week for the past year. I was privileged to meet her last week and she is wonderful. She’s extending to stay a third year here in Bulgaria in the same region. And by the way, her name is Tricia – so it should be easy for people to remember my name when they meet me. I will be on my own to develop classes and programs with my contacts in the villages, but she will be available to answer questions as I get up and running. I’ve met so many nice people – Bulgarians and currently serving Peace Corps volunteers. The volunteers have been very helpful by their willingness to share their experiences – both wonderful and challenging. I find it reassuring because overall they love Bulgaria and Bulgarians.

This visit did a few things for me – one is to make me feel excited about the next chapter – living on my own, eating the way I want to (most of the time) and personal space. It has given me an introduction to the people and the place where I’ll be soon. The visit has brought home the reality of committing to living here for 2 years – thinking about rental contracts, a phone contract, an internet contract and all the details of life which have been suspended for the past 2 1/2 months.

And what surprised me was that I have a new appreciation for Z. She’s opened her home to me – a stranger from another country, and she’s embraced my presence – language barrier and all. Most of the time she is patient as I practice learning her language and I feel she is an advocate for me here in a land strange to me. As I look forward to living on my own, I will miss the positive qualities of being part of a household and family as much as I will appreciate being on my own. I don’t know how relationships will unfold in my new town, but I trust I will find friends and will overcome my hesitations about the language. Heck, if I have Internet access and I get stuck – I can always turn to Google Translate!

Amending my previous post

22 May 2011

I have now been in Bulgaria for 56 days. Spring is in full bloom here and I have so much to share but I will try to just keep it to the highlights.

First I just re-read my lists of likes and dislikes and already I have to amend them. It occurred to me last night that I have not smelled any fires for several days – maybe even a week – so no icky burning plastic smell. Please know that the people here have reasons for doing what they do like people anywhere else. The town I staying in has regular trash pick-up twice a month. There are small dumpsters on the streets around town, accessible to all. They are utilized – they are always full by the end of the two week period. The town is responsible for paying for the pick-up services so it’s available to everyone who lives in town. Also I think I have mentioned that there is no recycling in place here. They are hopeful to have it one day and are trying to train the public to sort trash into glass, plastic and metal recycling bins (mostly in the larger cities and towns). The idea has migrated to the smaller villages yet.

Learning the language is still challenging and will be probably for most of the time I’m here so I won’t be-labor the idea. I do know more now than I did when I arrived and I can communicate basic needs and desires. Everyday more Bulgarian words stick to my brain cells and some days I’m even feeling cocky about it. Of course the next day is often tough and allows me to become humble once again. In two weeks we have our “final” – an oral discussion with a Bulgarian, in Bulgarian. It covers basics which we have been learning.

Where are you from?

What is your address here?

What is the address of the Peace Corps Office in Sofia?

What is your house like?

What do you eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner?

What is your favorite Bulgarian food?

What do you like about Bulgaria?

Role-play getting from point A to point B asking for tickets, fares, times and costs.

It’s easier to speak when practicing these things over and over again, I’m much less confident winging it during a conversation.

Our “graduation” is the swearing-in ceremony which is the second week of June – less than 20 days away. We say good-bye to our host families and community and we move to our site where we will be living for 2 years. I’m grateful to have had this “practice run” with a Bulgarian family so I’m a little more clear on how I want to move forward – for example setting boundaries around drinking beer, wine and Rakia (their favorite homemade vodka-like beverage) and smoking (or not) in my presence (outdoors preferred). It’s better to start at the very beginning with my preferences rather than trying to change them later after compromising more than I’d like to, trying to be a “polite” guest.

A friend at the Cafe

Likes and Dislikes

Here I share my personal opinions – of course…..

My List of 10+ Favorite Things About Bulgaria

1. The country side is so green and beautiful

2. The people I have met are very friendly and welcoming

3. Village folks love and care for their ample gardens

4. Chickens, sheep, turkeys, guinea hens wandering through the streets (gotta watch where I walk – if it squishes, I wasn’t watching)

5. Horses munching on grass by the river or in the park

6. Hanging out in a café on a sunny day or mild evening

7. The wide-eyed enthusiasm of so many kids (and adults) at meeting an American

8. The ritual of sipping a cup of espresso

9. So many gorgeous flowers and trees in bloom in the Spring

10. I’ve learned that if you spill something oily on your clothes, immediately rub salt on it to pull it out of the fabric

11. The challenge of learning a new language

My 7+ Not-So-Favorite Things About Bulgaria

1. The smell of burning rubbish, especially plastic (daily)

2. Piles of trash dumped by the river (and ignored)

3. Sipping espresso out of soft plastic cups

4. Trips to the outhouse on cold nights (and you think the seat is cold in the house?)

5. Turkish toilets…..how can a female NOT splash??? (At least I don’t have to worry about a cold seat)

6. Frequently served soda that tastes like carbonated Kool-Aid

7. The harsh treatment of so many animals

8. The challenge of learning a new language