Winding Down

The intensive Peace Corps Training period is winding down. We have one week left and we are focusing all our attention on review of the vocabulary and grammar we have learned since arriving and practicing speaking. We have our final “test” next week and it’s oral – we have to talk about topics in Bulgarian. We’ve been studying vocabulary for foods, family, money and numbers, clothes, transportation and numerous other things. So we’ll ask and answer questions about these topics in present, past and future tenses.

There are 5 of us in my training group here in the small village. We all know a lot more Bulgarian now that we did when we arrived early in April. We have different learning styles and I must say we’ve been really patient with one another. One group member is the more gifted one and does a great job carrying on a basic conversation but we all continue to learn every day. The cool thing is that we can’t flunk our test next week. If we do well, we continue with language tutoring at our new home (maybe one or two hours a week). If we don’t do as well, we continue with more tutoring at our new home (maybe two to four hours a week).

At this point in our journey, we’re weary of our living situations as well as language learning . It’s been helpful to live with Bulgarians as we began our journey here. All our families have made us feel welcome and opened their homes to us. However, being the Americans we are, we’re all looking forward to living in our own space again. And I think our families may be just as ready to return to their “normal” living situations. Remember the saying about “After 3 Days, Fish and Guests….” Imagine 10 weeks. Again, I want to acknowledge the patience, tolerance and camaraderie on both sides as we prepare to fly the coop.

Thursday we our group went to Sofia for the day. I traveled by train for the first time and really enjoyed it, especially standing at the window with the wind blowing through my hair looking at the gorgeous green countryside flying by. One of my favorite flowers is in bloom – red poppies – a nice contrast to the green. In Sophia we traveled by tram to the Peace Corps Bulgaria Headquarters. On the way we made a stop at McDonald’s for one of our members of the group craving a “quarter pounder.” We walked down a couple unidentified streets (the scenic route) before we found the right one. And on our way, at noon, sirens all over the city (and country) sounded. Wikipedia says “Every year at exactly 12:00 on June 2, air raid sirens throughout all of the country resonate for a minute to honour Hristo Botev and those who died for the freedom of Bulgaria. People everywhere stand still for 2 to 3 minutes until the sirens are stopped.” We stood quietly on the sidewalk.

Next it was time for lunch…..Abtin recommended a restaurant he had been to before so we hopped a bus and headed back toward the center of the city. It took a little time but we found it and sat inside because it looked like rain was on the way. The food was great and someone smoking indoors which we found odd because there are laws here too about not smoking in public buildings. The man heard us talk about it and told us in American, that it was o.k. because it’s an electronic cigarette. O.K. this was news to me – have you heard about this invention? Apparently they are big in L.A. They are allowed in public places because there is no second hand smoke from a burning cigarette. However the smoker still gets a nicotine fix by inhaling. The smoke s/he exhales is considered less toxic (legally) because the carcinogens stay in the lungs. Great! By the way, this American is a producer from L.A./Hollywood and just happens to rep the cigarettes.

It’s true that in Bulgaria, smoking is a popular pastime with many, many people. It’s seems to be the exception when someone doesn’t smoke. I’m grateful Z, my host mom, does not smoke. It’s part of the culture – along with drinking – to socialize and “have a good time” or to bond by going outside for a cigarette an coffee break. There are education programs about the hazards of smoking as well as warnings on cigarette packages, largely ignored except by a few.

After lunch we walked around the town center and saw many of the famous sites – churches, monuments, the parliament and the president’s residence. We also saw them setting the stage and lighting for the 2011 Balkan Music Awards! Because we are still a “group” we did everything together even though everyone of us would have had different ideas on what to do in Sofia for a day. So that was one more indicator that we are ready for a little more personal space from one another as well as our family situations. The PC has done a good job of orienting us to Bulgaria ­– the country, the culture and the language – now it’s time for us to jump in and create our own experiences around our work and lives here.