Bulgarian Hospitality

Tuesday, 21 June 2005

Before I joined the Peace Corps and came to Bulgaria my father warned me about traveling abroad. Actually, he had concerns more about living abroad rather than traveling. He had spent a fair amount of time back in the eighties in Finland and England and did not enjoy his experience. He told tales of being the only American around and the discomfort that brought him. In one instance when he was in Finland he went to bed one night by saying goodnight to the desk clerk like he had every night before. The clerk was polite and affable as always. But when he awoke the next morning and came into the hotel lobby the same clerk accosted him calling him a terrorist and accused him of murdering women and children. Aparently during the night American planes had bombed Libya killing a number of Kadafi's children and his wife.

I was talking with him earlier this week and he brought this back up. I had disagreed with him at the time stating I didn't think I would face the same challenges, and even if I did it would be something I could handle. He asked me this Sunday if I finally understood what he had been concerned about since I've been in Bulgaria for over two months now. I haven't been confronted in the same manner, but I do understand better where he was coming from with his worries.

Overall, however, I have to say that I've found my time thus far abroad to be different. Bulgarians are curious people, but they will only stare as you pass unless they know you. Many has been the time that I've felt those stares from afar and know what it's like to be different. This is especially true in a country that hasn't seen too many tourists or other foreigners around (although I can't recommend enough how wonderful this country is as a place to visit). But should you get to know Bulgarians, they are some of the most outgoing and friendly people I've ever met.

Take for instance this past weekend. I went to a small town called Trigrad in the south of Bulgaria with a number of other Volunteers to see the mountains and a few caves. We ended up staying at a hotel in a small town called Borino. We at dinner at the resturant and drank beer and coffee well into the night. The manager of the hotel, after being introduced to us by the PCV serving in the town, came by a number of times to check on us and ask us what we would like made for us for breakfast. The hotel, more of a pension really, was opened up to us completely.

Another example came yesterday. Our group in Septemvri has a project due for Peace Corps titled "People and their Environment. Karen, Lucia and I pass by a Honey (Med in Bulgarian) farm daily on that walk I mentioned in my last post. Karen came up with the idea of profiling the people and this place for the project so we stopped by, not knowing them, last week and asked if we could interview them. Much confusion followed as they didn't understand what we wanted. They kept offering us med (5 Leva per Kilo - not a bad price). So Karen had her Baba (Gaina) come down and ask for us. We happened to be walking home when she was talking to the wife of the man who works there. We were properly introduced and yesterday we went for the interview. We spent two hours there whilst the man, Dido (I think) showed us how honey is seperated from the hives, how the bees work and how they bottle it. He was patient, kind and very knowledgable. At some point during the interview, it became a Na Gosti and we had beeswax coated in honey served along with some apricots and coffee. At the end Dido gave us each a kilo of honey as a present and refused our attempts at paying him.

Tonight, my host family will hold a Na Gosti for all the PCT's here and our Language trainer, Vesi. I suspect that many of those people on my block will come as well, since I made it clear to Yulia (my host mom) that more people the better. I've been told that the red carpet will be rolled out, with food a plenty and homemade wine, Rakiya (Bulgarian's infamous homemade brandy that could peal paint) and sweets will be served. I'm sure a good time will be had by all.

Now, this doesn't mean I won't face those things my father did back in the eighties. But I think that by assimilating into the culture, knowing Bulgarians and being open to talking with them that I can truly enjoy these next two years.

Oh, and on a side note - I got my GSM phone a week or so ago. My number is 0885285117. You can sent me up to 15 text messages a day for FREE by going to the MTel website and signing up for an account. I'll look forward to some text messages ya'll promised me.