Mimicking Without a License

My Christmas in Varna was wonderful. Great people, old and new. We had a gift exchange (I got a beautiful new scarf from Kerri along with some kick-ass American candy, which I consumed within 24-hours), ate amazing food, played games, and enjoyed the unique holiday atmosphere that is Peace Corps Bulgaria.

Italy was amazing. A stark difference from Bulgaria in terms of people and culture and I swear I actually experienced a bit of culture shock. But in a good way. We mostly ate. And ate and ate and ate. I pushed my stomach to the limit and am really proud of the amount of pizza I can eat in one setting and the fact that I can always manage to squeeze in some gelato. I’m like a pro.

I won’t go on and on about that trip cuz I know that type of thing gets boring so I’ll just highlight:

• There was a two-story, paper frog in the center of Bologna. This frog was set on fire at the stroke of midnight and we all cheered and kissed and watched it light the sky ablaze while Italian firefighters and policemen patrolled the area. It was surreal. Our new hostel friend, Richard kept saying, “There’s a f*ing frog on fire. I mean, there’s a f*ing frog on fire!” It was epic.

• An Italian boy ran past me when we were walking down the streets of Bologna so, naturally, I start to run after him in a mocking fashion. He suddenly turns around, sees me chasing him, and then I burst into convulsive laughter because I was totally busted. He mocks my laughter, grabs my shirt sleeve, and marches me down the street saying something about a “magistrate” before I realize he’s taking me to the police station. He’s basically putting me under arrest. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. We later saw the same little boy dancing the cha-cha in the town center surrounded by 50 or so people. I chose the right little boy to mock.

• We ate a lot of pizza. Pizza is good.

• Where’s Matt? We never knew.

• We saw the statue of David. Well, kinda.

• Lots of girl talk. It was fun.

• We found the most delicious beer in the world called Kwak. Yeah, Kwak.

All in all, I had an amazing vacation and have spent the entire day today in bed recovering from it. You always know it’s a good vacation when you need to take an extra day off just to sleep in until noon.

Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Time to get back to work and make the world a better place!

-Age

Drinkin' Outta Cups

So, I recently went to a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with some lovely Bulgarian and Peace Corps friends and took some fun pics. We had a GREAT time - I missed family and friends from back home but Bulgarian Thanksgiving was uniquely fantastic and I'm excited to do it again next year. After Thanksgiving, we all traveled to our In-Service Training which was also a lot of fun as well as highly informative. I'm also giddy with excitement when I think that in just a few, short weeks I'll be celebrating Christmas in Varna and New Years in Italy!!! Does life get better than this? I don't think so. And one more thing: it's not snowing. (Well, not yet anyway)

We ate

We smiled

We cheered

We made awkward faces

We laughed

We ate some kick-ass cake (thanks, Evan!)

We played Dirty Mind (of course)

We were drinkin' outta cups (but not bein' a bitch)

It was a lovely time at Red-Headed Mary's!

-Age

Do Bulgarian Teachers Wear High Heels?

I got a package today from my mom. It was a bit bulky and oddly shaped, stretching at the cardboard seams and, upon examining this box in the small post office in my Bulgarian village, I was quite intrigued as to what my mother had sent me. I’d given her a list of things I wanted but my mom doesn’t always listen to me and it was very possible that this package either contained everything I asked for or a magic set and a signed poster of Tom Selleck.

Here’s what I got:

• · A book based off of Pride and Prejudice
• · Numerous office supplies (awesome!)
• · 5 dresses (one of which is actually a Halloween costume – Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, naturally)
• · A bracelet with a small owl charm cuz owl’s are my favorite
• · And a ridiculous amount of tampons, which is what gave the box it’s odd shape

And let me tell you, it was like Christmas! I got, pretty much, what I'd asked for and I’ve never been so happy to receive post-it notes in my life! But that kinda stuff is so rare here and when I do find it, it’s just so expensive that I cannot justify the purchase.

So, of course, I immediately tried on all the dresses, remembered what it felt like to be girly and thought, “I don’t have shoes for these!” How in the world I could be regretting having not brought my black, peep-toe, platform heels as a Peace Corps volunteer is one of those great dichotomies that exists only in PC Bulgaria. While in January, I was expecting to be sent to a place where I could potentially live in a mud hut and bathe in the river, I was not expecting to have to learn the lesson of practicality as all the luxuries of the world are at my fingertips but not actually close enough for me to grasp.

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The fact that there are clubs and fancy restaurants and places to buy beautiful clothes I think actually makes living in Bulgaria more difficult than a mud hut. Because I can’t have those things. I want those things. I see a washing machine in a shop window for 300 leva and I think, “I want that right now!” I see a pretty pair of shoes or a dining set that sparkles, taunting me with its shininess, and then see the reflection of the covetous look on my face before turning away.

Basically, I’m having trouble being frugal here. I was told by the volunteer who lives near me, a very hard-working girl who’s been here for over a year, that these first few months will be difficult, “you’ll wonder how in the world you’re going to survive on so little but, eventually, you’ll get used to this life, spend less and less, and then begin to save money without even meaning to.” I certainly hope so. Cuz right now I’m fighting the urge to go buy a pair of black heels. To match a dress I don’t know when I’m going to wear.

It’s not to say that I was rolling in the dough when I lived in California. Quite the opposite, actually. I worked between 50 and 60 hours a week most of the time and still could barely manage to pay my rent. I never knew what sort of paycheck I’d be receiving as my work hours were always changing and maintaining two, sometimes even three, jobs was often a nightmare. I’d save up for weeks to buy something like a black pair of heels. But I bought them. I genuinely felt I needed them. I know I don’t need those things here but it’s gonna take some serious will-power not to start a “shoe’s for Adrienne” fund instead of devoting my time to fundraise for the many needs of this community. I’ll do what I should, and gladly. I’m just saying it’s not gonna be easy. Or, it would be easy, if I were doing it in a pair of black, peep-toe, platform heels.

-Age

When I Wish Upon a Star...

I asked the kids at my day care what they would wish for if they saw a shooting star. I then had to explain what a shooting star is since the faces in front of me were adorably blank. When I told them that sometimes the stars shoot across the sky one of the little boys shook his head and said, "No, shooting is bad." I then had to rephrase the question entirely to, "what would you wish for if you saw a flying star." More blank stares. Sheesh. This was going to be trickier than I thought. How do these kids not know about wishing on shooting stars? Come on!

I tried again. "Okay, close your eyes. Think about what you want more than anything else. Got it? Alright, open your eyes..."

Lauren - a banana (I was a little worried at this point) ... or a snowman (OK)
Artemis - a walking, talking, moving bear (now we're getting somewhere)
Kamauryon - an apple (Oh, jeeze)
Charlotte - a princess in a pink dress
Mila - a mermaid
Gianni - a shooting star (ummmmm....you know what, they're four)
Alex - black spiderman
Emma - a cat
Steven - a toy (specific)
Zachary - GI Joe Command Center
Weston - Batman (me too)
Jasmine - a unicorn
Rihanna - a princess
Sarah - to have a great dog (love it)
Mark - Indianna Jones (boy after my own heart)

And a little lady who truly understands the meaning of Christmas:
Marissa - I love my mommy and want her to be happy

Merry Christmas!

-Age