This summer has been full of tomatoes, travel, camps and good-byes.
I will start off with the first one; tomatoes are the heat of summer for me in Bulgaria. I have been waiting all winter for something besides potatoes. To be honest nothing is better than Bulgarian tomatoes, they fight over who has the best, the brightest color, and shape. I have come to find that the crazy no circle shaped ones are the best; that my American view of the perfect tomatoes is well sad, good ones are not perfect red or round for that matter. The best are almost pumpkin shaped and dark pink and they also are grown from the middle of Bulgaria. You might think that I’m crazy but I have seen Bulgarians not buy them if they find out where they are from aka Greece. September is also the best month for tomatoes, they are so juicy and cheap; about 1 leva for a kilogram. (And yes I can also give you amounts for all other food in my local store) My conversations have not changed if you notice from home- Nebraska. This time corn is not the topic but gardens, from cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, the rain, no rain, heat are all daily words I now use.
This July I had a wonderful opportunity to work outside of my site. I worked at the American University here in Bulgaria. I taught creative writing and English for three weeks each morning. With afternoon and evening activities ranging from teaching students how to make an apple pie, which in turn was the largest I have ever made, to arts and sports such as flag football. What made this so amazing was that we had 120 high school age students from 14 countries ranging from Bulgaria, Kosovo, Spain, Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Most days I also heard five different languages in my classroom, with some students speaking 4 different ones at a time just to talk in each other’s native language. We were there to teach them but they showed us so much about their countries, their past, their histories, and how bright the future looks for each of them.
Good-byes have started. I’m now down to the last 5 weeks here as a Peace Corps volunteer. In August we had our last conference where my group, B24 met for our last time. It was time to meet, talk over the last two years, think about the future, and say good-bye to each other. It is hard because even if we are separated by over an 8-hour train trip one way from each other we are close and have lived through something that will bond us forever. I also had the chance to go back to my host family site, where I lived the first 3 months, to say good-bye to all the old ladies who cooked and taught us for that time.
During our conference we talked about what we miss about the states so I will share mine:
- Family and Friends
- Food-- mostly Mexican and steak
- The ability to get anything and everything I want in one store or even find it at all
- Driving a car. Getting in a car, stopping when you want, and just going somewhere.
- Nebraska football and all other sports
- Sitting at a baseball game while eating nachos and sunflower seeds
- Understanding what is happening around me
- Speaking English and not having to ask if people understand what I just said
- Pet dogs inside a fence or chained up
- Riding my bike, swimming pools
- Roads that are clean, plowed during the winter, that don’t flood during rain storms
- Public bathrooms, or at least a gas station bathroom
This week marked my first visit to Dren to meet everyone and see where I would be living for the next two years. It’s hard for me to think about it all because time here is going so fast but also it’s been so long since then. So much has changed during my past 26 months here in Bulgaria.
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