28 December 2011

EGYPT

Cairo from Citadel of Salah Al-Din 

After Christmas, we travelled to Egypt for a vacation. Flying from Sofia to Egypt took nearly an entire day, with a five-hour layover in Istanbul. When we arrived, our tour guide helped us through customs, and chatted with us during the drive through Cairo to our hotel in Giza city. Giza and the pyramids are on the opposite side of Cairo, across the Nile from the airport.  

Cairo traffic is wild. With a population of more than 20 million, everything seems to be in motion. People are cooking, eating, chatting, and working down every street. Car horns are used as a part of the language of driving, announcing a vehicles presence, alerting an unseen danger, or just adding to the cacophony of noise the competing donkey and horse carts, mini buses, trucks, three wheeled tok-toks, and pedestrians create.
Cairo Street
Our guide in Cairo was Mauhmud, from Memphis Tours. An Egyptologist, he was a fantastic guide and interesting to get to know during our trip. He shared his story of the Revolution, during which he brought his son to Tahrir Square and helped guard the Museum of Antiquities from looters. Listening to Mahmoud talk about the Revolution, describe the pride he felt in changing his country, was inspiring. 

We almost didn’t go to Egypt because of the protests during their recent parliamentary elections. I’m so glad our apprehension didn’t prevent the trip. There was no threat to us the entire time and the few protesters that remained camped out in Tahrir Square were peacefully drinking tea whenever we passed by (we didn't seek out the square, it's across from the Egyptian Museum). 

Tahrir Square

26 December 2011

Christmas in Chiprovtsi

For my second Christmas in Bulgaria, my parents visited from the U.S. It was really really great to see them! We had an excellent time celebrating holidays and relaxing with my friends in Chiprovtsi. 
Our only snow before this week was an early fluke storm at the beginning of October.  Two snow days made up for this a bit and we had a white Christmas. Dad and I on a walk through town. 


Holiday presentation at the local school.

The first time Mom and Dad visited Bulgaria, we stopped by the monastery and chatted with the priest. He mentioned American apple pie and Mom has wanted to bring him some since. We brought over warm apple pie on Christmas Eve and he shared some of his drenki (they're like sour cherries) infused rakia. 

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Elsa and Stalin. Dinner was delicious. According to tradition,  Christmas Eve dinner is vegetarian, and Elsa had made many of my Bulgarian favorites: sarmi, peppers and beans, and three kinds of pumpkin/squash. There was also a 'kismet loaf' with a small coin for luck hidden inside. When her grandsons arrived, the loaf was broken into 10 pieces, each guest taking one. Mom found the coin in her piece. She should put the coin above the door frame in her house to have luck for the rest of the year.



15 November 2011

Halloween


 Friday’s Halloween party at the school was a success! The kids’ decorations looked great and they loved the games. I woke up early to finish mixing gross things for the mystery box and to make sugar cookies. At 10, Jordanka and I began putting up decorations. By 12:30 kids were already hanging around the gym where the party would not begin until 2. Before the party, the scouts gathered in our room to be treated for their hard work (green sugar cookies, popcorn, and borax slime making). A few mummies also needed to be wrapped in toilet paper.


The party began with Jordanka and Palma explaining Halloween and its associated traditions. Then each student paraded their costume in front of the other students and our judges (the director and administrators). Then they milled around carnival style to look at the pumpkin exhibition, bob for apples, play the candy corn guessing game, and reach into the mystery box (spaghetti, olives, gelatin, red food dye, a plastic glove frozen full of water). After the winners of the costume contest were announced, we began the piñatas. FYI: Fishing line is not sufficient for piñatas. There was so much candy… no leftovers. Especially popular with the kids and the adults were the bags of candy corn and candy corn pumpkins my mom sent. They decided they looked more like teeth (they certainly don’t resemble corn). More than a few kids were walking around with orange, yellow, and white vampire-ish fangs.


Once the floor was picked over for candy, the kids colored until it was time to hike to the kindergarten. We brought just enough candy to treat the little kids and the ladies working there. Proceeding through town in costume must have been quite a site for local residents. I’m glad everything went well. I felt bad for not celebrating Halloween with the school last year. This year, Halloween was definitely celebrated.

09 November 2011

Halloween Prep Time


Halloween is coming to Chiprovtsi!!! The scouts have been working hard with the preparations and decorations for the party this Friday. We'll have a Mystery Box, bobbing for apples, art corner, Monster Mash dance, relay games, costume contest, pinatas, and guessing games. When the party finishes, we'll parade in our costumes through town to visit the kindergarten.


Best slime recipe
Ingredients: Elmer's Glue, Borax, Water, Food dye

Combine 1/2 cup Elmer's Glue & 1/2 cup warm water. Add food dye if desired.
Combine 2 Tablespoons Borax & 1 cup of water in separate container until Borax dissolves.
Add borax-water to the glue mixture slowly, by the spoonful, while stirring. It will start immediately changing consistency and you probably won't need all the borax water. With less, it's exactly like the Gak stuff I remember from the 90s. With more, it is Silly Putty. With serious bounce.

Name Day: Angel, Mihael, Raicho...

I'm a day behind, the name day for people named after the Archangels, aka Michaelmas, was yesterday. In Chiprovtsi, I was given cherpi'd with candy, led a scouts meeting, and taught adult English. A typical Tuesday. According to this website, which sends me reminders on namedays and explains their background, Archangel day is a special name day. 

This is pretty much directly from the website's explanation:

At the table, the oldest man breaks the bread in four places and pours wine on it from a clay bowl. The woman of the house catches this wine in her hands and sprinkles it around the house while praying: “Saint Archangel, Saint Nicholas and all saints, help us. We pay homage to you and cut the bread like a cross so that wheat grows up to the waist! This year what we could, and next year what we want! Now with a bowl, next year with the kettle!” 

Then she gives everybody a piece of the bread. The piece is taken with both hands and a blessing is said: “As much wheat in the piece of bread so much heaps of wheat and health in the house! Amen!”

It is important to celebrate Michaelmas and honor the Archangels, because Archangel Michael, it is believed can make a persons death quick and easy or long and suffering. If a person is smiling when they die, it is because Michael is handing them a golden apple before he takes their soul. If they're suffering, it is because he is late. 

I'm not exactly sure how this fits, but Rangel is one of six brothers who divided the world among themselves. Rangel received the land of the dead. 

05 November 2011

Vitosha


Already in Sofia for training, today I went hiking on Vitosha with some other volunteers. We had hoped to take the ski lifts halfway up and then hike to the peak at Cherni Vrux (7,513 feet). Unfortunately, the lifts were not working so we hiked straight up instead. We made it to the Aleko Hut (6,040 feet). Weather was perfect and the views were beautiful, but I am sooo tired now. It was a long day.

Yikes. Zurich.

I just saw this commercial on CNN International and couldn't quite believe it was for real.


Zürich_Tourismus_Expat from Reto Caffi on Vimeo.


I found the link to its video at thepresentperfect.wordpress.com She had a very similar reaction to my own.

02 November 2011

Halloween - VT


I spent the weekend in Veliko Tarnovo to celebrate Halloween with other volunteers. It was so great to see everyone and relax together for a few days. I even got to see a movie (my first since last November!!), go bowling, and play air hockey. All in all, a fantastic weekend. Plus, my spiderman costume was awesome. 

01 November 2011

Elections

Chiprovtsi elected a new mayor this past Sunday. One of 9 original candidates, he won the runoff election by 17 votes. I was impressed by community involvement. Held on consecutive Sundays, local voter turnout for the elections was 67% and 69%, respectively. What was the voter turnout in your last elections? Louisiana's voter turnout in 2010 was below 40%. 

26 October 2011

Dimitrovden


Bulgarians celebrated Dimtrovden on October 26th. Dimitrovden, besides being a big nameday holiday for anyone named Dimitar or Dimitrina (the third most common Bulgarian name) is also celebrated as the holiday that marks the start of winter. St. Dimitar, legend has it, rides a red horse and brings frost alongside, snow falling from his white beard. St. Dimitar is also the patron saint of builders and carpenters. Houses and construction projects should be finished by this date and the fieldwork brought to an end. A traditional gift for a Dimitar or Dimitrina are white flowers bound by a red thread—the white flowers symbolize a mellow winter, the red thread the health of the recipient in the coming year. If there is a full moon on Dimitrovden, it is believed, the winter will be mild, spring will come early, and the bees will fill the beehives. Graves are cleaned and fresh bread is brought to the graveyard.

St. Dimitar was born to a Christian family in Saloniki in the late 200s. His family’s beliefs, however, were not public and upon inheriting wealth from his parents, he was made a town chief by Emperor Diocletian. As town chief, Dimitar was supposed to persecute Christians. He did not do this and was caught preaching to townspeople. He was thrown in to prison, tortured, and, on 26 October 306, killed. His remains were transferred to a small church and are believed to be responsible for curing ill people and saving Saloniki from conquest.

St. George and St. Dimitar are popularly portrayed in folklore as twins or brothers. Georgovden (St. George’s Day) in May marks the start of summer, Dimitrovden the start of winter.  Below is a popular legend about them I found on  http://bnr.bg/sites/en/Lifestyle/Folklore/Pages/2610Dimitrovden.aspx

There was once a poor man who used to go finishing every day. Once he caught a small fish. It spoke to him with a human voice and begged him to let it go. The man was merciful and went back home that day with nothing to eat. Some time later, he caught the same fish but it was now bigger. He let it go again. The same thing happened a third time. The man decided to release the fish again but the it spoke to him: “Poor man, don’t let me go this time. Take me back to your house and cook a meal for you and your wife. Then, bury the bones under the mangers of your mare”. 

The poor man was feeling sad for the fish but obeyed its words. Soon, his wife gave birth to two boys, and the mare to two foals. One boy was named Dimitar, and the other George. The boys grew and became strong and handsome lads. One day, they saddled their horses and set off to travel around the world. They reached a crossroads. Georgi took the left road and Dimitar - the right. Some time passed and Dimitar received a sign that his brother was in danger. He headed to look for him but all he could find was his horse – Georgi had been eaten by dragons. Dimitar managed to make the dragons return the soul of his brother. The twins mounted their horses and became saints. Thus they soared to heaven and started helping ordinary people on earth.
 

21 October 2011

School Work


Along with cold weather and first snow last weekend, I came down with my first cold of the season. But, thanks to nightly election gatherings and concerts I had three whole nights without scheduled activities this week to recover during. I winterized my apartment and made some much needed progress on law school applications.

Work at the Municipality was understandably slow this week. Elections are on Sunday. There are nine candidates for mayor. That is a lot for such a small community and it seems like everyone is somehow personally involved. I’m interested to see what changes occur after the election results. I helped make a powerpoint of nature reserves and eco-paths in the area for some visitors from Macedonia. But, on a much more exciting note, I SUBSTITUTE TAUGHT for a teacher’s 5th, 7th, and 8th grade classes! I loved it. The 7th grade English class was the toughest: it’s the biggest class at school (18 kids) and a lot come from other villages so I don’t know them real well. Even so, it wasn’t bad. We reviewed homework and I introduced the present perfect tense.

I can’t believe how much I enjoyed substitute teaching. I’ve taught adults and I’ve taught kids in non-classroom settings, but this was my first time as a ‘real teacher,’ even if it was just as a substitute. Before I became a Peace Corps volunteer, I never really spent time with kids-I didn’t babysit or family members nearby with children younger than me. I never thought I would enjoy being around kids, but they’re great and I look forward to my activities at the school. It helps that the teachers and school director are fantastic, but beyond that, I love the general happiness and enthusiasm of the kids. It never fails to put me in a better mood when I walk to the school and hear a student call my name from the windows or run across the yard to meet me.

 I’m sure if I taught every day, it’d be a lot more difficult, but the kids behaved quite well.  Teaching them isn’t too different from teaching the adults, except the kids are  a lot easier to discipline. With older adults, it’s sort of awkward when they behave poorly and they are way worse about speaking out of turn or interrupting a struggling classmate.

With the scout groups, we worked more on Halloween. The older group discussed fundraiser ideas, made a poster for counting bottles, and talked about ideas for the Halloween party. They saw the half finished piñatas the younger group made and wanted to do the same, so that’s what we’ll work on next Tuesday.  I never would have guessed I’d be doing this much paper mache… While making decorations, the younger group went wild over the sequins and plastic googly eyes I received in a care package.
Once a week, I help lead an elective geography/ecology class for 5th and 6th graders (CIP class). This week, I tried teaching compass use. I’d observed another volunteer teaching it during a summer camp. He made it look so easy! My efforts sort of worked. I should have probably gone over it with the teacher ahead of time, because when I finished explaining and showing everyone how to use them and started asking them different directions to practice with; she re-explained and showed a different way.  They mostly ended up confused and lost interest. I’ll try again with the older scout group at a later time and see if it will work better, then maybe attempt again with the CIP.
After collecting the compasses, I passed out sidewalk chalk and a list of items that can be found in nature (something scary, something young, something without purpose, etc.).  The students selected three items to draw and then presented how they chose the images and discussed similarities/differences among the drawings. I think being outside and enjoying the mild weather made this activity a lot more popular than orienteering.

15 October 2011

Scouts and Halloween prep


 The rest of this week flew by. The only night I don’t have scheduled activities is Thursday, and this week I spent it testing recipes for paper mache and silly putty recipes in advance of the littler scout group’s (1st-4th graders) meeting.  [Lessons: For paper mache-use white flour, not grainy whole wheat flour, and hot water works 10,000 times better. For silly putty, epsom salt is not a substitute for corn starch, but pudding mix is.] 
Future bat pinata.
The director at the school here is great. Yesterday, she decided the scout groups need their own room and gave me the key to an unused classroom. We wasted no time in putting it to use. The little group started making Halloween-themed piñatas. For Halloween, the scout groups are helping with preparation for a party at the school and brainstorming ideas for a coinciding fundraiser (no ready-made cookie/magazine subscription infrastructure in place here). This coming week, the big scouts (5-8th graders) will be working on collages and we’ve already posted scout laws and mottos. Having a classroom is also way more convenient for me, now I don’t have to haul two bags of activity materials to and from the school each time I visit.  

Nine new adults showed up to my beginner English class this week. I love having new students and am impressed by their interest, most are well over 40 years old. I hadn’t expected it, since the week before no one new attended. Like last year’s beginner group, there is a wide range of levels: some know a handful of words and simple present tense grammar, others need the alphabet. It's fun, and a lot easier after a year of practice; plus, my old students were super helpful. 
I brought home my half of the jars! So far, no indication of spoiling (no puffed lids).

East of the West: A Country in Stories, by Miroslav Penkov

East of the West: A Country in Stories is a collection of short stories by Miroslav Penkov, a Bulgarian expat living in America. It came out this summer, and was recommended to me by a new Fulbrighter-thank you Marty! East of West is a good selection of stories - one was previously published in The Best American Short Stories of 2008, edited by Salman Rushdie; but, the relevance of Penkov's characters, conversations, and lives to those with a connection to Bulgaria make it an especially worthwhile read. 

11 October 2011

The last few weeks

Summer to Winter: Canning and Hiking in Chiprovtsi
September and the beginning of October went by in a blur. It wasn’t until the shock of cold weather over the weekend that I realized the second month of fall is almost half over. Now the signs are everywhere. Bright reds, yellows, and oranges cover the mountains, the tops of which received their first snow last night. I’ve moved my basil, cilantro, and jalapeno plants indoors where they will die slightly more slowly than on my balcony. Pumpkins, potatoes, and apples from neighbors are filling my spare room and the smoke from roasting peppers has come and gone. The days are noticeably shorter and my fingers are dyed a dark brown from shelling walnuts. I know I’ll probably be wishing for a hot, sunny day in a few months, but this weekend I was grateful for a few days of dreary rain. It felt like it was about time. We haven’t had hardly any rain these past few months and these were the first rainy days in months.


Besides the weather update, what else is new? Well, as you can see in the awesome slideshow, I canned and pickled vegetables for the first time. One of my personal discoveries in Bulgaria is that I love the pickled carrots, cauliflower, and red peppers. I’m happy I learned how easy it is to make since a suitcase full of it probably won’t make it through customs. 


With friends from Chiprovtsi, I went on a fantastic day hike in the mountains nearby. I’ve been hiking around here a lot of the past year, but this was my first time going to the mountains with a jeep-an adventure in itself. Our hike didn’t even begin until we passed the tree line. It is easily one of the top 5 most beautiful places I’ve ever been. They’re relatively unknown in tourist world, few visitors even from Bulgaria come to see them. The two pictures below are from Plamen Petkov. 






School starts, activities around town
School started on September 15th with opening ceremonies and flowers for teachers at schools nationwide. I’ve been spending a lot more time at the school this fall. With the teachers, I’ve organized two youth/scout groups. I’m lucky how great the kids here are: they listen and are eager to participate in everything. With the older group, we’re working on a couple of projects and discussion themes. Now, we’re talking about communities (how we define them, which ones they belong to, etc.) and collecting bottles to make a greenhouse. 


The younger group is making paper mache this week. The women and girl’s fitness group is going strong, still meeting 3 times a week. Participation has also grown and some of the women stay late to help teach gymnastics to the younger girls. Adult English classes have restarted after a few week hiatus. Attendance fell during the summer and when garden work picked up, it made the most sense. Before Bulgaria, I’d never taught a language, organized youth activities, or led a fitness group. Now, I do at least one of these things almost everyday and absolutely love them. 
15 September is an important day, especially for 1st graders. 
In the news...
Bulgaria is in full campaign mode for the elections at the end of this month. It’s interesting working in a municipal office during a local election year, there are constantly things coming up. There are so many candidates, it seems everyone is somehow personally involved. With the America’s election season beginning more than a year in advance, I don’t know how anything gets accomplished.


Tension with Bulgaria's Roma communities have been in the news lately. Though rhetoric and recent drama has been unpleasant, it has drawn attention to an important issue that will have to be addressed, not just in Bulgaria, but across Central and Eastern Europe.
Scores Arrested in Roma Protests 
The Return of the Gypsies - Transitions Online

Bulgaria: Attractive Tourist Destination
On Monday, my counterpart and I went to the Sofia airport for the opening of a photo exhibition. Last winter, I sent in pictures to an online contest for “Bulgaria—Attractive Tourist Destination.” Two of my pictures were selected to be among the top 30 displayed in the exhibition. The exhibition will be in the airport until the end of the month. It moves to Sofia University in November, and then to Pleven in December. 
A friend of mine from Chiprovtsi also submitted photos that made the final cut. I’m thrilled that of the 30 photos chosen to represent attractive tourist destinations in Bulgaria, FOUR are from Chiprovtsi. Put another way, 13% of the images of tourist destinations in Bulgaria show Chiprovtsi. 10,000 people pass through the terminal each day, which is pretty good free advertising. I received an award, gave an awkward tv interview, and enjoyed free snacks with my counterpart and the driver. The pictures can be found at: http://phototourismbg.com/


On the way to Sofia, we came across an accident. A semi truck full of beer had spilled cases of beer all over the highway. No one was hurt at the scene, but a highway full of free beer could lead to lots of things. 

Back to the topic of weather...
The unusual hot weather that persisted until Friday is referred to locally as a “gypsy summer,” similar to how “Indian summer” is used in the states. I had never given much thought to it before, just assumed it wasn’t a nice term. After hearing its parallel in another language, I need to let you know: it’s offensive and it should not be used. Think about it: the term originated from the colonial belief that the Native Americans (Indians) were deceptive and untrustworthy. We no longer use leaches to bleed sick people or burn witches at the stake, so please, don’t use Indian summer. It’s a linguistic example of how racial prejudices once permeated American culture, affecting even the names of weather patterns. If you want a replacement phrase to describe unseasonably hot weather in the fall, I recommend: “Golden October” (Germany/Austria) or “a tiger in autumn” (China).

04 October 2011

Canning and Pickling


This past weekend Palma and I made five types of turshia (pickled vegetables) plus lutenitsa (tomatoes and roasted peppers)—40 jars in total! It took all day, but will be completely worth it this winter. Here are a few pictures and recipes from our super productive day: 

18 September 2011

Sirene: Behind the scenes


Pictures are from Didi Ignatova.

15 September 2011

Bulgarian Cuisine

Great information, reflections, and experiences related to Bulgarian food. Hoppin John's Blog 

14 September 2011

Stamboliski Dam Camp



I travelled this past week to Stamboliski Reservoir for a summer camp organized by two PCVs from towns along the Danube. The 20 or so kids that participated camp were older (middle-high school aged), and had lots of responsibilities. I was so impressed: they cooked, cleaned, and cut firewood. 
The location was perfect. Our tents were set up right by the reservoir and I was got to go swimming for the first time in over a year! It felt amazing to be in the water. The kids also boated and fished. One day we hiked to the top of the cliffs overlooking the reservoir. The views were spectacular.
It was a longer camp and there were quite a few learning sessions for participants including ones on compasses and orienteering, knot-tying, starting fires and safety, and peer pressure. It was great to see how some of the topics were taught so I can share them with the kids in Chiprovtsi. I also learned to juggle. Seriously. With three tennis balls in the air at the same time. I’m up to 6 throws without dropping. So, if the whole law/grad school plan doesn’t work out… 

07 September 2011

Holiday of the Balkan Mountains



The celebrations began on September 1st with the opening of an exhibition for local artisans. Wood carvings, books, metalwork, and woven tapestries and carpets were displayed in the exhibit hall of the municipality.

September 4th was the “Three Chuki” bike race, organized by Adventura Ltd. and the municipality.  The race is an annual event, with elite and children's categories. More information on the course and how to participate next year can be found here: Bike Race


 For me, the real celebrations began on Monday, September 5th, with the Banitsa Festival held in the town center. Despite super hot weather, tons of people showed up to try traditional foods from Chiprovtsi, surrounding villages, and Acenovo. The center was so full of people!



In addition to the various local cuisines, there was a table dedicated to Chiprovtsi-style banitsa, homemade jams, yogurt, and cheeses for sale, and an area for kids to learn about birds and make their own toy from Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB).


The Banitsa and food was followed by a children’s presentation and folk festival in the center. Visiting dancers and singers, decendants of Chiprovtsi’s pre-1688 uprising, performed to traditional Banat-Bulgarian, and Romanian songs. This was followed by a commemoration of the 410 anniversary of Peter Bogdan. Bogdan, a Catholic Bishop and important National Revival figure, is one of Chiprovtsi’s major historical heroes. In the evening, a concert by the “Bulgare” was held in the Cultural Center.



On Tuesday, I went with Jordanka and her family to celebrate the Festival of the Gushovski Monastery on the mountains. The carpets were displayed on top of the mountain like last year and the weather was gorgeous. 

First we lit candles at the stone crosses at the foot and top of the monastery hill. Then the Bishop from Vidin gave his blessings. 
 Next came the shkembe chorba, or tripe soup. We picniked at Jordanka's family's hizha nearby. 
After xoro dancing, we hiked back to town. 


September 6th is celebrated nationwide in Bulgaria as Unification Day. This article gives a good explanation of the holiday. http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=131825


03 September 2011

Dragodonovo Birthday and Gurkovo Donkeys

Getting ready for the donkey races in Gurkovo

I travelled to Dragodonovo on Friday to celebrate Neysa’s birthday with her village.  We chatted with friends in the village center and she cherpi-ed drinks and snacks for everyone. She showed me the building where she and colleagues are working on a PCPP project to create a rec/fitness center for the community. It looks fantastic. Later in the evening we went na gosti with friends for her birthday dinner, practicing our xoro dancing skills in the garden until late.
Gurkovo Biorali
The next day, we departed for the Gurkovo Donkey Races. Way more than just donkey races, the annual Biorali included donkey soccer, donkey tug of war, and theme decorated donkey carts. The Peace Corps volunteer in Gurkovo arranged volunteer accommodations and decorated a Peace Corps donkey cart. The Peace Corps donkey, Pencho, didn’t participate in most of the events (he’s 18 years old-a very old donkey). He did, however, receive lots of cheers during his introduction and loop around the racetrack.
Donkey Tug-of-War
Twenty-four donkeys participated in the events. Awards were given for best decoration, rapid harness/un-harness, cart race, strength (tug-of-war), and naked riding (without a harness). The winner, champion of the biorali for the 6th time, took home 500 BGN cash, a baby cow, bio-fuel (alfalfa, hay, etc.), and wooden boards. Several thousand spectators attended and there was a large vendor area with cotton candy, BBQ, and other bazaar-type items. Gurkovo began the Biorali in 1971 and is also home to a donkey museum.
 
Donkey Futbol

01 September 2011

Celebrations Begin: 25th Birthday


Celebrating my 25th birthday in Bulgaria was fantastic.
I was super excited about the cake that Palma and Vladi made. It was awesome. The candles read "2-5"     
The day before, I prepped two family size pans of brownies for cherpi-ing* at work and made banitsa and tarator for my cousin’s arrival. My cousin, Brett, was in town for a few days during his epic trip around the world. Unfortunately for him, all my cooking skills were used on adding oil and eggs to the brownie mixes--the brownies were excellent. The banitsa (way too salty) and tarator (way too much garlic and dill) were awful. I also prepared bags of drinks, snacks, and more brownies to bring for my birthday party in the neighboring village. 

*Cherpi-ing basically means ‘treating.’ As in, it’s my birthday, so I’m treating my friends and colleagues to chocolate, cola, chips, or whatever you choose (chocolate is more or less mandatory though). In return, they shake your hand and wish you a happy birthday, with health, happiness, good luck, love, lots of babies, etc. It’s tradition to ‘cherpi’ not only on your birthday, but also your nameday, or whenever something wonderful happens to you (new grandchild or winning the lottery). 

My dear friend, Didi, wove this bag to give to me for my birthday. It's too beautiful to use. I'll keep it forever to remember friends from my time here. 
My brownies were a hit at work and I spent some time googling and translating recipes for colleagues. Between handshakes and cherp-ing, preparations for the celebrations on the 5th and 6th of September kept me super busy. I was able to get away for lunch with Brett at Torlacite (not wanting to attempt cooking again) and to take him to the Historical Musuem. After I finished work, we hiked to Velin Del, a mountaintop overlooking the border peaks with Serbia, then carried supplies to the neighboring village for the birthday party one of my friends organized.

Brett and I eating with friends before the party. 
It meant a lot to me how many people remembered that it was my birthday (even if Facebook is to thank). The birthday flowers, presents, and wishes from my friends in Chiprovtsi were very special. And I’d never imagined someone would throw me a party. It was a day when I truly felt that this is real life, my real friends, real experiences. A great birthday.