letter34

Dear Family and Friends,

Here is a letter to all of my esteemed contacts (such as yourselves), in which my Mom wrote after her visit to Bulgaria during the holidays. Read it and see another side of my experience here (the less "sugar-coated side!) . . . it really is poignant, honest, and definitely brought a few tears to my eyes!!!

Bulgaria From A Parent's Perspective:

Having just returned to the U.S. after a two-week visit with Chantel in Bulgaria, Mike and I wanted to send an e-mail to all her friends and family to share our perspective of Bulgaria and Chantel's mission in the U.S. Peace Corps.

Chantel's good friend, Faith, thought it would be interesting to hear our perspective, and, after having experienced just a bit of what Chantel's life in Bulgaria is like, we felt it was a great idea, especially since Chantel's correspondence home has been a bit "sugar-coated" and she tends only to share the fun times to keep us laughing and entertained.

We arrived in Bulgaria on a bitter cold Friday afternoon to below zero temps, knee-high snow, and a very happy daughter who was thrilled that we had finally arrived. Unfortunately, our luggage did not arrive with us! We had a layover in London the day prior and, somehow, our bags were left in London. It wasn't so bad for me because I was able to borrow some of Chantel's clothing. Mike, however, had to wear the same dirty clothes for a couple of days.

When we arrived at Chantel's apartment, I have to admit that I was in shock. There is really no way to accurately describe her living conditions. She is living in an old rundown communist block apartment with very little heat and virtually no hot water. As we entered her "block" through a huge metal door, broken glass, and crumbling cement, Chantel boisterously made her way
toward a smaller metal door, which she flung open and yelled, "Come on mom, let's take the elevator." At this point my jaw about hit the floor as I exclaimed, "I am not getting in there!"

The elevator, a tiny box about the size of a bathroom stall, illuminated only by a dimly lit light bulb overhead, was definitely a sight to behold. Chantel quickly closed the elevator door behind her and up she went, while Mike and I opted for the crumbling cement steps instead. Four floors up and there we were-home sweet home!

Probably the most distressing aspect about Chantel's apartment was the fact that there was no heat, no hot water, and no food! Needless to say, I did not get much sleep that night. I tossed and turned on the makeshift bed we had arranged on the floor, as thoughts whirled through my head and I pondered her reason for being in Bulgaria, in a country so far from home, so far from family, so far from the comforts and freedom of America.

We were not at all prepared for this new experience. We had to keep reminding ourselves that Bulgaria and its people have only been freed from communism for a little over 10 years. The poverty and strife we observed was unbelievable. Perhaps the most difficult thing was to see our daughter living in poverty right along with the rest of the country. We were told that Bulgaria has progressed tremendously over the last 10 years. In my mind, I cannot even imagine what it must have been like before.

I was amazed at Chantel's resilience, determination, and positive attitude. She is there for a reason and she is determined to complete this mission, no matter how difficult it becomes. She seems to just deal with the situation at hand and go from there. I wish I could say the same for Mike and I. We probably did not do her any good at all by visiting because it was an extremely difficult adjustment for us.

We did, however, have a great time with Chantel's host family on New Year's Eve. They are a wonderful family and treated us like royalty. It was really great to share in this festive holiday with them. As soon as we arrived, they were stuffing our faces with food and filling our glasses with wine, which, by the way, you cannot refuse. They just continued to fill our plates and glasses even if they were already full. The only way they seemed to realize that we were full was when we left an entire plate full at the table! Iva and Mitko were absolutely delightful. Iva is so full of life and energy. We enjoyed just watching her interact with Chantel and everyone else around her; we enjoyed experiencing her joyful reaction when she received her first Barbie, that we had brought for her. Chantel amazed us with her ability to communicate. She translated for us the entire night. By the end of the evening, she was speaking Bulgarian to us, and English to her host family! That night she was talking in her sleep in Bulgarian and shouting, "potatoes" in English. Perhaps this may have been because we actually found a big bag of potatoes to last her through the winter months and she hadn't seen any in her community since late fall!

In fact, when we arrived at her apartment the only food to be found was a frozen carton of milk and a jar of fig jam. So, we searched high and low until we found a decent grocery store in the city and we stocked her cupboards full before we left. We also did all of her dirty laundry for her, which was still frozen stiff when we departed from Bulgaria! Her P.J.'s were actually standing on their own!

Needless to say, Chantel is not living in the lap of luxury. She may, in fact, have to move soon because of the extreme danger of fire in her apartment due to issues with her fuses, which seem to blow every few minutes or so. She literally has to choose between hot water, heat, and refrigerated food because she cannot have all three appliances running at once. Heaven forbid if she chooses to use her stove! I guess the good thing is that it is so cold that her refrigerator still keeps things frozen whether it's plugged in or not!

These are just a few of the many fun things we discovered during our visit:
�If by chance the water is working, you can only fill the tub about a 1/3 of
the way up. Needless to say we all bathed in the same bath water! Poor
Mike was third!
�Chantel owns only one towel that never does get dry in the winter!
�Toilet paper in Bulgaria is like sandpaper in America!
�Freshly laundered clothing freezes within an hour and does not dry for a
week!
�Attempting to speak Bulgarian when you don't know the language can be
dangerous!! (Mike somehow lead Chantel's host mom & dad to think that we
wanted to do a little partner swapping and Chantel did not know what to say
in Bulgarian to convince them otherwise).
�Eating a meal at a typical Bulgarian table can take 4 hours or more!
�Bulgarian's drive like American's eat-fast and furiously!
�Walking on ice can be treacherous; sking on ice is virtually impossible!
(Chantel proved this!)

In closing, thanks for taking the time to read this letter. To those of you who have been keeping in touch with Chantel, sending her e-mails and care packages, we cannot tell you how grateful she is. While we were there, she received packages from her good friends in Georgia and family in Arizona. She was absolutely thrilled! She is so appreciative of every e-mail and package she receives from home. Imagine getting excited over a jar of peanut butter, a bag of marshmallows, a beanie, warm socks, a new dvd, and an e-mail from Ralph! (Thanks Faith, Jen and Michelle; you Georgia girls really do show kindness and generosity!)

Please remember Chantel in your prayers. Pray for God's protection over her, as well as the other Peace Corps volunteers all over the world. Their mission for humanity really is a great calling.

All The Best,
Kelly and Mike Sloan