Thursday, August 9, 2007

A Selection of Questions from Aunt L.

How’s the weather this summer?

The weather has been a lot hotter than usual. The whole month of July there was no rain and there were only 8 days where the high was less than 90 F and over a weeks worth of days where it was well over 100. But the last day of July brought rain and normal temperatures highs in the low 80s, nights in the 60s or low 70s. So the past week has been great.

How’s the scenery?
The scenery is gorgeous. Around me it’s plain country side with lots of donkey/horse carts, but 30 mins away there are cliff-sided mountains and pretty much the whole country is just breath taking. Here’s the website to some of my pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/krista.greiner

How’s your health? Enjoying the food or having to get used to a lot of different foods?
My health is good. I do a lot of walking which is great. They eat lots and lots of meat and pork, and I was a vegetarian for a long time and still don’t care for meat that much. They like to use a lot of oil and salt in their cooking too. Lots of cheese (but they only have 2 kinds)
and dairy but I’m lactose intolerant. I’m really glad that they grow a LOT of veggies here and in the summer they are really plentiful and I can easily eat only vegetarian food. The food I’m able to get and cook I love… I just don’t go out to eat much.

What do you do every day?
Right now… not much. Mon-Fri I teach teachers English from 9 am to 11 or 12. But really we talk in Bulgarian and look at American magazines or translate songs or poems. My main goal is to get to know them and that’s working out quite well… but if my goal was to teach them English I’d be a miserable failure. Then I go home and clean or do laundry or cook or read. On Mondays I go to the Pazar (outdoor market) and buy my veggies for the week. Usually at least 3 times a week I go out for coffee with some of my Bulgarian friends or students. Some nights I have people over for dinner or a na gosti.

What do you eat for breakfast every or most days?
Yogurt (they make a plain kind here with no sugars or flavors) with granola or fruit in it.

What do you eat for lunch?
This changes everyday. For the first few weeks it was grilled cheese 75% of the time. Now… eggplant and cheese sandwich, soup, eggplant parm, noodles with sauce, a few days it was so hot I just ate 2 cucumbers or a tomato, a sandwich of some sort.

What do you eat for dinner?
Eggplant parm, stuffed peppers (with mushrooms, cheese, and eggs), rice and chicken, pasta, something called kebabche which is basically a cross between a sausage and a meat stick.

Who are your best friends at this point?
Sehee, my sitemate and a PCV. Day, a PCV. Yordanka (Dani, Danche), Ireana

What do you love about being there?
Free time, I’ve got lots of it. A clean, beautiful apartment. The extensive selection of fresh fruit and veggies for a very cheap price.

What do you wish you had from the USA that you can’t get there?
Mexican Food/Restaurants, my friends, Ziploc bags

Have you found anything you want to take back when you leave?
Lace and pottery and maybe my cat.

Are you glad you are there?
Yes.

What do you do when you get homesick for America?
Wait it out. It never lasts too long.

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