I have never been a big user of hair dryers, but it is soooo chilly, I want don't want icicles in my hair. :>) I'm not sure how long the one I bought is going to last. I put it on the lower voltage setting when I used it the first time and within 30 seconds, I had sparks and smoke and it shut itself off because it overheated. Hmmm. I went to work with wet hair. I am now wearing layers which include turtle-necks, sweaters, a puffy, fiber-filled vest (which I bought at the pazaar a few months ago) and long underwear.
The days are also hours shorter. It's still dark at 7:00 in the morning. Being cold and dark makes it really hard to want to get out of bed! Sunday morning Bulgaria has it's time change, so now I'll only be 9 hours ahead of Arizona instead of 10.
The pazaar doesn't have as many fresh fruits and vegetables as it did during the summer, but there are cabbages (some of the biggest ones I've ever seen - basketball size), leeks, peppers, and apples. Someone gave me a fruit called medlar (or cornel) which I have in a dish waiting for them to get a little rotten looking so I know they are ripe and can eat them. Online, it says the Japanese medlar are also called loquat. I've never had one - I'm looking forward to trying it. I bought some fresh, dried St. John's wort at the pazaar to make into tea to help keep the winter blues at bay and it's also good for clearing lungs. That seems to be a big deal here, which is no surprise given the huge numbers of Bulgarians who smoke - a lot. I wrote down the names of the other herbs this woman picks in the surrounding hills and sells. I think one is rosehips and another is oregano. I have to translate them so I know what they are.
Good things about colder weather is there seem to be fewer fleas, and it doesn't matter that I have a small fridge any more - I can keep things cold on my enclosed balcony.
I'm very excited about one of my recent purchases. I looked and looked and couldn't find it and people kept telling me they aren't used in Bulgaria. But I found one in my small village pharmacy. What is it? A hot water bottle.....yippee. I've used one for years to heat up my bed before climbing in. It makes all the difference. A lot of people use electric blankets - I guess they don't leak. The one I found was made in China and I had fun reading the English translation of the directions. But I am happy to have a warm bed. Sometimes it's the little things in life that make the difference between smiles and frowns. I'm smiling these days.
Another wonderful autumn food is the fresh walnuts. I've been eating a lot of them. I'm almost out of my "shelled" supply and will have to begin cracking shells soon. Honestly, they are some of the best and most beautiful walnuts I've ever had. I put them in my oatmeal, or mix them with yogurt, molasses and honey or simply grab a few and pop them in my mouth. Mmmmm. The down side is that if I don't pay careful attention, there can be pieces of shell in with the nuts. About 10 days ago I bit into a shell and hurt a tooth. I gave it a few days to get better because I didn't see any cracks or chips, but by the third day I had some excruciating pain that made me just want to scream.
I didn't scream but I did call my Peace Corps advisor and ended up going to Sofia to see the dentist. I was nervous about the pain that came in waves, and I was nervous about going to a new dentist. I am nervous about going to the dentist anyway, but at least the ones I know have been gentle and kind. It turns out there are gentle and kind dentists in Bulgaria too. It was a really positive experience - especially since a digital x-ray (are they still x-rays if they are digital?) showed no physical damage. The dentist (who by the way, grew up in Sweden and went to school at the University which gives out most of the Nobel Prizes) thought I had traumatized the tooth and it would just take time to recover. Now a week later, it is still a bit tender, but no long painful. Peace Corps was very responsive and supportive in helping me get care.
It's a 4 hour trip to Sofia from my village. I had a late afternoon appointment with the dentist and couldn't make it back in time for the "end-of-the-day" transportation back to my village, so I spent the night in the big city. I had an unexpected response to being in a city again. I loved it. I like living in the village, but the busy-ness of the city, the stores, the traffic, the sushi, all made me very happy. I walked around a little in the early evening and enjoyed seeing the varied mix of people. In the morning, I wanted to find my way to the Peace Corps office and hopped on the #8 bus ending up on the wrong side of town. It should have been the #8 tram. Eventually, with some help, I found my way. But I was ready to return to my humble village.
There's a problem with sitting down to write blog entries only once every couple of weeks. There is too much to say for only one entry. But I don't want this to be so long that it's a pain to read. So I think I'll call it a night. I'm going to upload some photos and a video. The 30 second video is for those of you who don't have the opportunity to stand in the country and have sheep walk by and would like to. Enjoy.(Well -- it appears that I have some learning to do about uploading videos. It didn't work, so look for it at a later date - maybe).
