I Really Need to Learn This Language...

Warning: I have discovered how to turn on the Bulgarian language feature on my computer, so in reading this you have thus been warned you are now at the mercy of my burgeoning language skills. It’s way more fun if we all learn together anyway, right?

So last week Ryan had IST (In Service Training) whereby he traveled to the town of Kazanluk to participate in engaging and educational activities with his fellow B-20s (so named because his is the 20th group of PCVs to come to Bulgaria). Although I’ve been attempting to sort out employment and absolutely love living here, I’m still left with a lot of free time. It’s been a good learning experience for me, though, as I’ve come to the conclusion that I am just not cut out for the role of “housewife” and, as such, am growing rather bored with my daily schedule. Primarily it consists of:

7:45 AM – The alarm goes off; Ryan hits snooze.
7:55 AM – The alarm goes off; Ryan hits snooze
8:05 AM – The alarm goes off; Ryan hits snooze.
8:15 AM – The alarm goes off; Ryan hits snooze.
8:25 AM – The alarm goes off; Ryan decides it is time to get up
9:15 AM – Ryan goes to work.
9:20 AM – Time to check e-mail! Let’s see who loves me today!
9:22 AM – Errr… how about I scour the Internet for items of interest…
9:45 AM – Hummmmmmm….
9:46 AM – Maybe I should tidy up or something….
10:20 AM – You know, Spider Solitaire is sort of fun. I think I’ll play that for a bit.
10:30 AM – Oooh! I know! I can paint my toenails! Won’t that be fun?!?

And so on. I confess I really like the part of the day where Ryan comes home for lunch. That's always nice. But - and my former roommates Jenn and Laura knew this already - I really do not like doing the dishes to begin with and here it involves washing everything by hand. In fact, it sorely tempts me to reenact the much loved Shel Silverstein poem "How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes". (The only thing that stops me is Ryan only has, like, four plates total and I think he'd be a little distraught if I deliberately smashed them into tiny little pieces.) And since I still haven’t figured out how to operate the washing machine and Ryan is ever so much better than I am at wringing out the clothes and hanging them up to dry, I let him take care of that. However, it must be said, I am truly a genius in the kitchen and I thoroughly enjoy the cooking dinner part of my domestic duties. Most recently, we were super thrilled with the meal of buffalo chicken strips, boiled potatoes with butter and shopska salad I made last week. Ryan is a lucky man indeed.

Ahem. (For the record, I am very, very, VERY lucky too… particularly since he puts up with me telling him how lucky he is.)

Needless to say, I was quite excited about the opportunity to travel outside of Stara Zagora to see a new locale, as well as meet some of Ryan’s friends. This is when it occurred to me that I really need to work on learning Bulgarian. I did a fine job of making it to the bus station and asking for a ticket to Kazanluk. Incidentally, if you ever find yourself in a similar position, you should say “може ли един билет за Казанлък” (pronounced roughly “Mozha lee adeen belette za Kazanluk”, meaning “May I please have one ticket to Kazanluk.) So that went fine. I got my ticket. I boarded the right bus. I didn’t wind up in Mongolia or something.

But when I got to Kazanluk, I inadvertently got off at the wrong stop, which meant a slightly longer walk. Ordinarily this would not be a problem since I really do like all the walking I am doing, being that I don't have a car and I'd be scared to drive anyway since everyone here drives like me. But I misunderstood Ryan when he told me I needed to turn left once I got off the bus and so kept looking for the appropriate side street to turn down. (I later found out he meant as I come down the stairs of the bus, I should turn to my left as opposed to my right. Whoops!) This confusion, of course, resulted in me asking a bunch of people I couldn’t begin to understand for directions.

It was vastly entertaining, actually. I would approach a pleasant looking person and say in an upbeat and hopeful manner, “извинете. къде е хотел Казанлък” (“Eezvanetay. Caday ay Hotel Kazanluk?” or, in case you’re curious, “Excuse me. Where is Hotel Kazanluk”) They, in turn, would respond in a friendly and enthusiastic manner: “анохъсугв ьяавхэ ьасехов ьванесохфвл”. (Cyrillic gibberish.)

I understood absolutely none of it.

I decided at this point unless someone raised their eyebrows and said in a horrified manner “какво? хотел Казанлък?” (“Kakvo? Hotel Kazanluk?” or – for the non-Bulgarian speaking among you - “WHAT? Hotel Kazanluk?”)… followed by wild gesturing in the opposite direction, I would just smile and say… “мерси” (“Merci.” Same as in French. "Thank You")… and keep on going. It went on like this for a while. I’d stop. Ask someone where the hotel was. Nod my head exuberantly as they explained it to me. And continue walking in the same general direction operating under the assumption I'd know it if I headed right on out of town.

As an aside, I now need to explain that the nodding, in itself, is poor form, since here people nod sharply to indicate “no” and either shake their head or bobble it from side to side to say “yes”. So by waggling my head up and down at everyone, I was essentially saying “No. No. You’re wrong. That is NOT the way to Hotel Kazanluk.” or perhaps, “No. Please don’t give me directions. No! I said NO!” Fortunately for me, I gather most Bulgarians are used to idiot Americans doing this, so it wound up being okay since I also beamed widely to show everyone I was a nice person. Absolutely clueless, perhaps… but totally harmless. No, not dangerous at all. Really.

So it went until finally I came across two women crossing the street and I asked them – say it with me now - “къде е хотел Казанлък.” They looked at me like I was clinically insane… and pointed directly behind them. “Right here,” they said in English.

Oh.

As it turns out, it was a pretty big building right in the center of town and I probably couldn't have missed it if I tried. Anyway, I was actually staying at Hadzhi Eminova Kashta, a quaint (read: cheap!) little hotel near the Thracian Tombs, but Ryan and the rest of his group had accommodations at the now infamous Hotel Kazanluk, so that’s where we met up. At this point I was immensely pleased that Ryan skipped out on his luncheon to help me check in to my hotel, since it wound up being rather challenging to locate and - given my recent history - I would have likely wandered around for weeks before finding it. Also, I stupidly forgot the guide book, so I had absolutely no idea where I was staying. As you might imagine, Ryan just loved this part. Through our superior investigative skills, we did manage to track down both the name of the hotel, as well as its location (We used Ryan’s cell phone to call the number through which we’d made our reservations). It turned out that although the hotel was not as nice as where Ryan had been staying, it definitely had character and I was overall extremely pleased with my choice of lodging. I will confess I was initially a little unnerved by the padlock on the door to prevent unwanted midnight guests, as well as the blaring chalga music throughout the afternoon, but I got over it pretty quickly since it really was a cool little place.

Ryan headed back to training then, and I took a jaunt up to the Thracian tombs. A tour of the actual tombs is challenging (and expensive) to arrange, and they were closed, it appeared. This I gathered from all the bars covering the windows. I briefly debated paying to see the full-scale replica, but in the end opted not to. Following Ryan’s day of training, we took a walk through Old Town and then returned to my hotel for a quick nap, meeting up later with some B-20s for dinner and drinks. Everyone I met was very friendly and I enjoyed myself immensely. All in all, I had a great time during my brief stay in Kazanluk and look forward to returning – perhaps during the Rose Festival in the spring. And, most importantly, I was successfully able to duplicate my hotel-finding strategy on my way to the автогара ("Avtogara" i.e."Bus Station") the next day! Woo freakin' hoo!

The traveling is just beginning, too. This past weekend Ryan and I went to Veliko Turnovo... an absolutely spectacular town north of Stara Zagora. Although the weather has taken a turn for the decidedly cold, we had a great time traipsing all over the Tsarevets Fortress.... as well as frequenting the myriad (warm!) restaurants of Veliko where the food is delicious, the beer is plentiful and the views are breathtaking. I highly encourage everyone to visit me so I can return repeatedly to see more of this fabulous city.

In closing, I leave tomorrow for my month-long stay in Sofia for CELTA training. This experience should be good fun and hopefully advent the beginning of the end of my career as "Housewife Extraordinaire". Let's hear it for the possibility of gainful employment!

Mother Nature and Red Tape

I freely admit I am a temperature wimp.

I love crisp, cool mornings and warm, breezy afternoons, which is why, living in Florida for the past five years, I relished October – the segue from almost unbearably hot, muggy weather to the reason for which the term “snowbird” was coined. I spent as much time as possible during the Floridian falls, winters and springs outside.

Now, summers… summers, I firmly believe, are meant to be spent in the luxury of air conditioning. Or, if I must (for the sake of female bonding), lolling about on the beach slathered in SPF 30 lotion, sipping a cold beverage and reading a book while secretly fretting over whether I’ve yet crossed the fine line between “delightfully rosy” and “positively charred”.

I have not had to really think about true winter for some time. When I first moved to Florida, I laughed at the people who moaned about the cold whenever the mercury dipped below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The next year, I was one of them. And so I remained until I decided to move to Eastern Europe.

And when I initially arrived in Bulgaria, it occurred to me that Karma can be a wicked thing… because here? It was cold. Numb toes, runny nose, wish to God you had brought thermal underwear or tights, I don’t know, maybe leg warmers or something… really, really freaking cold. But since that first week we have been enjoying what I’ve been told is the warmest winter in years. We’re talking 50s every day. The nights can get chilly and dip into the upper 20s or mid 30s… but for the most part this has not been nearly the frigid winter I thought it was going to be. Of course lower temperatures could still be in store for us, but I’m holding out hope that I brought a bit of Orlando with me when I moved here and it is here to stay.

It’s not just the cooperation of Mother Nature… everything else is going well here, too. Er, for the most part. Specifically, there seems to be quite a bit of that proverbial red tape as it pertains to the job hunt, but hopefully that will all get sorted out shortly! I’m certain of it! Yesiree!

Okay, so it’s in fact been very frustrating. Although Bulgaria has recently joined the EU, it’s still tremendously difficult for a non-Bulgarian to actually work here. If I were a resident of one of the EU countries, things might be moderately easier, but since I am not, I must abide by the myriad rules and regulations that govern the hiring of an American. First hurdle – no more than 10% of any Bulgarian company may be a foreigner. But I really can’t find fault with this as the unemployment rate is fairly high (albeit declining) and, by all rights, a Bulgarian also meeting the needs of the organization should be hired before me. Second hurdle – I do not (yet) speak Bulgarian. I may be qualified in all other respects for a position, but unless the company deals extensively with English speaking clients, or involves actually teaching English, I do not stand a chance. Now, despite this, I’ve found a few companies/schools that are willing – and eager! - to bring me on as an employee, but as it turns out there are third hurdles and fourth hurdles… and also even fifth, sixth and seventh hurdles.

While I can understand the reasoning for the bureaucracy, it doesn’t make it any less aggravating. The biggest thing I am trying to accomplish now is to have my diplomas (both undergraduate and graduate) notarized and affixed with what is known as an Apostille by the Secretaries of State in both Florida (Masters Degree) and Maryland (Bachelors Degree). I had no idea this process even existed, but apparently it is designed to protect, rather than hinder. Luckily my totally awesome Mommy is aiding me enormously in taking care of this. Once that’s done, the documents can be sent to me whereupon I can have them translated into Bulgarian and legalized. Then they must be certified by the relevant Ministries in Sofia. At that point, I can have a school and/or company obtain a work permit on my behalf. The good news is, with a work permit in hand, I can go about obtaining a D-visa which is the gateway to being able to stay here in Bulgaria. But there’s a catch… I cannot get the D-visa here… I have to leave and visit a Bulgarian Embassy outside of the country. This means traveling to Bucharest or Istanbul or Thessaloniki… and probably staying there for the two weeks to a month that it takes to process it. After getting the D-visa, I can finally pursue obtaining my lichna karta (a national identification card required for long-term stay) which means I get to remain in Bulgaria. For little awhile, at least.... until I have to renew it, that is...

But here is yet another challenge. Without that magical lichna karta, I can only spend 90 days out of every six months in Bulgaria. Because these things take time, I’m trying to figure out some sort of a game plan if all of these processes take longer than hoped. I may wind up having to spend a month or two in Israel with my godparents as it’s much cheaper to fly there than the States… but I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I’m just trying to enjoy myself without stressing too much about the details… Ryan keeps telling me it will all work out… and I believe he is right (Although I definitely have my moments where I envision myself clinging desperately to a border guard pleading with him to let me hang out in Bulgaria for just a few more years!) At the very least, I’ll get to do some really cool traveling… and I can’t complain about that!

Frustrations notwithstanding, the rest of my stay here has been amazing. Stara Zagora is terrific… and naturally I am thoroughly enjoying spending time with Ryan. In recent weeks I’ve hung out at the Peace Corps Country Directors’ house with some of Ryan's fellow PCVs indulging in arguably the finest chili and guacamole in creation… gone to a Bluegrass concert at a bar in Sofia… engaged in some exceedingly bad bowling (on my part) at Caribi, a super cool disco bowling alley…

...and completed a 10-mile hike through the hills of Stara Zagora with Alex, one of Ryan's site mates...

This afternoon I am going to Kazanluk to meet up with Ryan who is there for his In-Service Training. Also, this upcoming weekend we have a romantic and fun weekend planned in Veliko Turnovo, purportedly one of the most beautiful cities in Bulgaria (and possibly all of Europe).

And the adventure is just beginning. I’ll be heading to Sofia next week for a month to attend class at AVO-3 in my goal of obtaining my CELTA TEFL certification. At the very least it will be both an interesting and intense experience, but with any luck, this will broaden opportunities for me. Keep your fingers crossed! And while they are crossed, as Sofia can be quite a bit colder than Stara Zagora, let’s hope this gorgeous weather holds out!

I'm loving it...

…First - A Public Service Announcement: I had every intention of updating this sooner and more regularly. Truly I did. But as it happens, time (made swift with the excitement of a new experience) has gotten away from me. I do upload pictures fairly frequently, so if you scroll down a bit to click on the Flickr Pics! link on the left hand side or any of the pics here in the blog, it will take you directly to my Flickr account featuring many more photos that are hopefully as interesting for you to view as they have been for me to take. It's also my goal to try to update at least once a week as Bulgaria is a tremendously fascinating place... and if I do my job right, perhaps I will persuade at least a few of you to visit me...

Now onto your regularly scheduled programming…

I left Maryland on December 21 having packed everything I possibly could into two suitcases, a backpack and a laptop case… not a lot of space for what I presume will be two years, but, overall I was pleased. I became slightly less pleased as I trudged my way through the myriad lines and security checkpoints and downright concerned as I waited at the gate for United/Lufthansa to assign me a seat. Apparently the flight was overbooked. For a few anxious minutes, I was worried that I would be left behind, and briefly pondered if pleading my way into the cockpit might be an option… would cleavage work… or would I have to resort to a cash tip? Gosh, maybe if all else failed they could strap me to the wing and provide me with a blanket and an oxygen mask? Perhaps, if I was really lucky, a pillow too?

But all the worrying was for naught because eventually one of the representatives handed me a boarding pass. As it happens, they had even upgraded me free of charge and I excitedly made my way onto the jet ahead of all of the coach passengers feeling oh so rich, undeniably suave and, it must be said, very, very sexy. Until, that is, I arrived at my seat and realized almost instantly I was going to have to work really hard to keep my cool as my first instinct was to jump up and down, grab my cell phone and call everyone I know squealing, “I am in first class! I am IN FIRST CLASS!!” They checked our coats. They gave us champagne and a little dish of warm nuts at take off. They plied us with free wine, green salad, crab salad, filet mignon, potatoes, fresh asparagus, ice cream and a goody bag with warm socks, a toothbrush and one of those sleeping masks. We had even had what amounted to Air Beds with fluffy pillows, extra long blankets and our own private TVs. Later I learned I was actually in Business Class. I can’t even begin to imagine what the First Class passengers had that we didn’t… probably they got to take home, like, Prada handbags, Sony Play Stations or, I don’t know, maybe Plasma screen TVs or something. Regardless, I thus decree this should be my new method of travel forever and ever... provided it is free. I knew I was missing out on something by opting to pursue my career in the nonprofit sector.

Anyway, following a nice (albeit brief) rest and an incredible breakfast of croissants and fresh fruit, we landed in Frankfurt. I have to say I detest this airport. It’s positively sprawling… it took me forever to find a place to buy a water… the bathrooms are super tiny… and people are smoking everywhere. Welcome to Europe! However, my distaste of my layover location was strongly tempered by the knowledge that I was but a two hour flight away from my ultimate destination.

The second flight was not nearly so luxurious… and I had the dreaded middle seat… but I chatted amicably with the two Bulgarians on either side of me and proceeded to get more and more excited as we flew over the Alps. Once we landed, I traversed easily through the passport checkpoint and made my way to find my bags. After watching the same bags circle aimlessly for 45 minutes, presently I realized, unlike me, my suitcases evidently had not made it to Sofia. Given the number of people grumbling unhappily at the luggage carousel, I was not the only one in this predicament. Regrettably I could not find someone who could explain what I needed to do in English, so I fretted and paced and fretted some more hoping that I could somehow spontaneously learn to speak fluent Bulgarian. After about ten minutes of this – and still no miraculous Bulgarian skills gained - I changed some money so I could use the pay phone, but as it turns out – go figure - all of the pay phones are in Cyrillic, so I couldn’t decipher what I was supposed to do or, for that matter, how much I was supposed to pay. I should clarify, I place the blame for this confusion solely on my shoulders. A few months ago I took pains to learn the Cyrillic alphabet and a few important phrases, but under pressure, everything I had learned simply disappeared from my head and I grew more and more agitated. I knew Ryan was waiting for me, but I couldn’t call him to tell him what was going on, nor could I exactly gaily sail on past Customs to tell him in person. To add to my stress, for all I knew some hairy, sweaty, burly man in Frankfurt was now happily sorting through my sweaters and trying on my lingerie.

Swell.

Thankfully, several people who spoke English took pity on me. A young girl of about 12 or so took me by the arm, leading me to the line of people waiting to claim lost luggage and a man kindly let me use his cell phone to inform Ryan that I was here, but was officially immersed in lost luggage hell. Ultimately I was told my suitcases had been left behind in Frankfurt, but that they would deliver them to our hotel at about midnight that evening. Satisfied with this outcome, I made my way through Customs... and through the crowd of people milling about, Ryan stepped forward and gave me a huge smile, hug and kiss. Call it cheesy if you will, but after five months of separation, the reunion absolutely made everything worth it!

We checked in to the Hotel Jasmin, which was excellent, and enjoyed a very nice dinner... not to mention just being with each other. I was so excited so see Ryan… and to actually be in Bulgaria… that I wasn’t even tired. We stayed up as late as possible, catching up, making a valiant (and, as it turns out, successful) effort at helping me avoid jet lag. The next morning, Ryan and I headed to the bus station. It was jam packed and we wound up having to wait about four hours for a bus to Ryan's site in Stara Zagora, so we sat on my suitcases and munched on slices of pizza. The ride from Sofia is quite scenic as you drive past mountains, rivers, small towns and lovely (but bare, given the season) countryside. Additionally, my fears of sharing bus-space with chickens or other domestic animals were completely unfounded; in Bulgaria public transportation is generally clean and, on longer trips, may also include a beverage service and movie.

Since my arrival in Stara Zagora, we have spent a lot of time just hanging out… as well as introducing me to the local establishments. Stara Zagora is a truly beautiful city of about 180,000 people and features Neolithic dwellings, the Roman Forum, an opera house, and numerous outstanding restaurants and bars. Additionally, Ryan lives right off a tree-lined street close to the center of town, making it very convenient. If you click on the videos below, you can catch an idea of what the elevators are like in his building (scary)…

…and his apartment (huge)…

Christmas was wonderful; we spent much of the day just being lazy and opening presents and stockings generously sent courtesy of Santa and Ryan’s mom (Thanks Gloria!) Later we joined Shane, one of Ryan’s site mates, for dinner at Venezia, an Italian restaurant with tasty pizza and cheap wine.

New Years Eve was one for the proverbial record books. A few of Ryan’s friends and fellow Peace Corps Volunteers came to Stara Zagora and we spent some time trying to find an open restaurant. Most, however, were either closed or designated for private (and expensive!) parties, so we wound up grabbing some duners and heading back to Ryan’s apartment. For those of you who are curious, duners are one of my new favorite foods and are composed of a warm pita filled with a spicy yogurt sauce, French fries and rotisserie style chicken or lamb shaved off a spit… similar to a gyro, they are yummy and cheap! Anyway, we came back to Ryan’s apartment and shared some laughs, as well as wine, homemade rakia (Bulgarian moonshine), and a few games of Apples to Apples.

Shortly before midnight we went onto Ryan’s balcony to watch the absolutely amazing fireworks unfold. The most spectacular displays were launched from the roof of the Municipality, but enthusiastic amateur pyrotechnics fired off their own fireworks all around the city so we were presented with a 180 degree show for at least 30 – 40 minutes. The clip below is only a small portion of what we saw. I had to cut out a great deal as I tended to repeat myself over and over again with articulate and enlightened phrases like “Wow!” and “This is incredible!" and "Wow!" and "It's, like, 360 degrees!” and “Sh*t it’s cold!” And, of course, the ever popular "Wow!" Plus a smattering of very creative and emphatic curse words. (It really was very cold). Anyway, in the interest of editorial conservatism, I ended up with what you’ll find below.

After the show ended, we went down to the town center to find live music and everyone dancing the horo. It reminded me very much of Greek dancing and in my inebriated state, I felt certain I could join in… so we grabbed hands with fellow Stara Zagorans and horo we did. It was great fun, although I was hardly Dancing with the Stars material…. as it turns out my memory of the exact steps was somewhat faulty, so a lot of what I did was smile and kick my legs around as I moved in a circle, much less competently I assure you, than the folks in the video below.

Anyway, our night ended with us heading back to Ryan's place to crash. And the fun hasn't ended there... all in all I am having a terrific time here. Trying to get a job is somewhat challenging as I sort out work permits, D visas and long term residency. It is a complicated process, but I feel confident it will all work out. I do have a cell phone, as well as an address to which you can send stuff (if you’re so inclined)… big thanks to Laura and Jessica/Nick who have sent a package and card respectively, so if you’d like to join in with mailing long distance love, send me an e-mail and I’ll give you the info! However, that aforementioned long distance love also comes across quite well via Skype - and that's free, so sign up for an account today so we can chat!

I have quite a bit more I want to share, but this is running obnoxiously long at this point, so for now I will sign off with a hearty "приятна вечер"(pronounced "Priatna Vecher" and meaning, naturally, "Have a Good Evening").