letter1

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am here! And Heather was right, the first couple of days are VERY hairy! I haven't had any way to get in touch with ANYONE. But, nevertheless, I am having the experience of a LIFETIME!!! I LOVE it here and I know that it was totally right for me to come here. I have been totally enjoying every moment and I have been becoming quite good friends with the other volunteers and I have been experiencing another completely different culture to the fullest extent. I have made friends from all over the united states in my B11 group! And most of us are in this internet cafe right now! I actually had a letter ready to send you, but I haven't a clue on how to mail letters yet!!! E-mail is much quicker anyway. And, now that I now where the Internet Cafe is, I can do it much more often!

Anyway, I have officially survived my first day of training. The last few days have just been a whirlwind of activity! Bulgaria is prettier than any of us had ever imagined and it is so GREEN with amazing mountains. When we got here, it was raining, so we marveled in the beauty of the fog-covered mountains and amazing country. You ARE coming to visit me in the next two years because you HAVE to see and experience Bulgaria. I would give ANYTHING for you to see what my eyes have already seen and experience what I experience every day in this amazing country. The Bulgarian town are so uniquely European with very old buildings, cobblestone streets, outdoor cafes, lavish gardens, open-air markets, sheep/goatherders, and so much more. It is not uncommon to see old men herding their animals right through the narrow streets, horse-drawn carts carrying hay, and old women hanging their clothes out to dry. On Friday night, we faced the monumental task of meeting and greeting our host families. I was placed with the Kostovi family and they are awesome. I live with Katya, my host Mom, Georgi (Ye-orgy), my host Dad, and Dimitar, who is 10, and Iva, who is 7. Right away, the Kostovi's welcomed me into their comfortable home. In Bulgaria, you remove your shoes before entering a home. I have a comfortable room with lots of space, as it is a requirement that PCT's have their own rooms during training. And you should see the view from my bedroom! It's absolutely beautiful! When you come to visit, I'll bring you to the wonderful town of Panagyurishte to meet my host family! Communication is somewhat tough right now, but it improved some after a weekend with my host family. I was amazed at how much Bulgarian you can learn after ONE weekend with people who don't speak anything but! It takes time and patience, but I'm doing fine. Though, the Cyrillic Alphabet is going to take a little more work!

On Saturday, I went to the market in the center of town with Katya, my host Mom. The market sells fruits and vegetables daily, but every Saturday, they sell clothes, shoes, and other odds and ends in little booths. Nearly the entire town gathered to purchase the necessities as little old Babas with scarves on their heads and others attempted to sell their merchandise. I met many people and my feeble attempts at Bulgarian do earn the occasional laugh! I also saw many of my Korpus Na Mira friends with their families at the market, experiencing the same amazing experience. After a drink at a cafe, we went to the Kostovi's fish (Arriba) shop where Georgi was working. Whole fish with bulging eyes were just lined up in this cooler and people came in and bought bags of fish that weren't cut, wrapped, cleaned, or anything, fish I'm sure were caught in the local river. Being here is much like being in a fish bowl also, because everyone is anxious to meet "the American" and there have been many welcomes, video debuts, and applause! We even had a dance team perform for us traditional Bulgarian dance on our second night in Bulgaria! We even danced with them some!

Anyway, on Sunday, five of us (my host mom and dad, host aunt, and host cousin) piled into a compact European car to go to Baba's, who basically lived in the sticks, to pick up my host sister, whom I hadn't met yet. As we winded through narrow, rutted, European streets at 80-95 miles an hour (no joke!), dodging potholes the size of the Grand Canyon, horse/donkey drawn carts, other erratic cars, bicyclists, and a flock of ducks, my first
thought was, "The Number One killer of Peace Corps Volunteers is automobile accidents!" But, we made it to Baba's safely!!! Baba basically lived in poverty with here parents on a farm in this tiny town. They had chickens,
goats, a dog, and a turkey. Speaking of turkeys, I also experienced my first turkish toilet at Baba's house! Now THAT was an experience! You have to come to Bulgaria to experience a turkish toilet! I haven't quite
mastered the art of it yet! It was this tiny, dirt hole in the ground and I kinda pulled this diagonal number, removing one leg completely from my pants! My host sister, Iva (E-va) is awesome and she is like the sister I never had! She is seven and she warmed up to my right away, I was her new best friend. She is DARLING and she took me by the hand and dragged me around the farm to further my Bulgarian. She pointed at things both inside
and out, let me touch and taste things, and showed me things, as she told me the words in Bulgarian. We picked fresh raspberries, cherries, and black berries right off of trees and tasted them, she had me hold a frightened
chicken, and she introduced me to the goats and the turkey. I can't wait to get home just to see Iva! When we got home, she was my "teacher" as we practiced the Cyrillic Alphabet and then she painted my nails with an awful glitter polish. The whole family was also VERY amazed by my talking parrot! I'm glad I brought it.

And now, I am here in the internet cafe. One of the most shocking things is seeing young kids around 12 and 13 drinking and smoking openly as they are now. One of my host cousins is 13 and he drinks and smokes right along with the adults! Training was great today and I learned a lot. As I said, I do need to practice that alphabet! But, I LOVE what I am doing and I have no regrets. I probably have a huge meal waiting for me at home though because
the Bulgarian people really do feed you! Needless to say, I learned the word for, "Full"! I love the Bulgarian Polchinki, or pancakes! As I was typing, I just had three little boys staring over my shoulder . . . privacy
is not apart of the Bulgarian language! They asked me if I am from America and one of them spoke perfect English because he live in Denver for three years! They were cute.

Oh, by the way, I showed my host family my pictures and they were shocked to see our dog in the house and on the beds and furniture! Treatment of pets in Bulgaria is not great and their dog is outside on a little chain next to
a makeshift doghouse. I miss my puppy! But, hopefully Heather will have a kitty for me. I e-mailed her just now and asked her to save me one. Tomorrow, I have my Preservice interview and we are going to visit a school.
Later in the week, we will witness actual PCV's teaching English! Anyway, I'm paying for this and I have some more e-mails to write. I DO miss you guys ALOT. It's almost like my life back home has ceased to exist because I
haven't been in contact and I am so far away going through so many changes. But, don't worry about me. I am WONDERFUL and I really am having the experience of a lifetime. I just wish you all could experience it too! I
love you! Tell my brother hi, read this to him and Nana and whoever else you want to, and give my pup a big kiss for me. And tell him to be nice to my pig! I love you! Write soon! Save your pennies!

Love,
Your Daughter