Introduction to the Opposites

Living in Bulgaria I often wonder if I have entered another dimension. On the surface things seem pretty much the same as in the United States, but once you delve in you find some very striking opposites. I sometimes feel like Alice in wonderland, but instead of chasing a white rabbit a rabid dog is chasing me. Run with me and catch a glimpse of a remarkable and interesting world.

Go to any Cafe in Bulgaria and order a mug of coffee. I can tell without any uncertainty that the server will bring it to you in a teacup. Now, order a cup of tea. Guess what? It’s served in a coffee mug. In Bulgaria they don’t drink coffee like in the United States. Here when you ask for coffee you get espresso. One morning I sat down with a couple of volunteers who at the moment craved American style coffee in a big coffee mug. I watched them stumble with their adolescent Bulgarian language skills trying to explain that they wanted “watered down coffee in a big teacup.” The waitress looked as if she had just fallen into a large rabbit hole.

One of hardest opposites to absorb involves body language. When Bulgarians say, “Yes”, they shake their head from side to side. When they say, “No”, they nod their head up and down. This obviously inversely differs to how Americans use the same movements of the head when responding, yes or no.

When I first moved to the beautiful country of Bulgaria the first place I wanted to visit was … of course… the Internet cafe. Once I found the place I was looking for I walked in and motioned to the computer in front of me, indicating that I would like to use it. The man shook his head no. Even though people warned me about the opposite head-shaking thing, it did not compute. So, I asked, “Can I use that computer over there then.” Again the man shook his head no. I eventually grasped the miscommunication and sat down at the spot right in front of me, realizing that I had entered a land of confusion. I must admit, I too have learned how to shake my head no while saying yes. The hard part now is when I meet a Bulgarian that understands this cultural difference and tries to compensate for it by shaking his head in line with the way we do in America. I sometimes feel like reaching over and holding their heads still when they answer a yes or no question of mine. I am sure they think the same thing when I respond to one of their questions.

One of the things I love best about Bulgaria is the dirt-cheap prices. You can get a fancy meal at McDonald’s prices. In fact McDonald’s is one of the finest meals you can buy in Bulgaria. When I say finest I mean expensive, as the quality is no greater than that in the United States. I visited a McDonalds in the capital city of Sofia that had a grand staircase, fine dining furniture, and even a cozy fire place. No, there were no chairs or tables fastened to the floor at this fast-food chain. Who could ever imagine a McDonalds so fancy?

There are other opposites! For example, what is considered politically correct in Bulgaria is opposite of that in the United States. People originating from Africa should never be called “black”. Instead, Bulgaria has adopted the more culturally sensitive word “Negro.” The opposites don’t end here! To turn a light on in a room the switch is flicked down not up, a shot of Rakiya or any other hard alcohol is always sipped and never downed. I am sure I will encounter many more interesting opposites throughout my two-year stay. And wherever I go in Bulgaria, I will introduce Bulgarians to my odd and sometimes funny opposites as well..

An American Na Gosti?

(My host brother Elanko, host mother Yordanka, and Me)

I said goodbye to my host family last week. It wasn't very emotional because I am only moving one town over. They made me promise that if my parents come to visit me in Bulgaria we would come over to her house for a Na Gosti. Na Gosti means to come over for a visit. It's a much more formal thing than it sounds. There is a lot of preperation and cleaning invlolved. When the event finally takes place you eat a lot, talk a lot, and drink a lot of Rakiya. Rakiya is Bulgarian whiskey and is usually made at home out of just about anything you can think of. I have had Rakiya made out of grapes, plums, apples, and even roses. A Na Gosti can last late into the night.

I notice that Bulgarians like to socialize for a much longer period than I did in the United States. Back home I would usually go out at about 11pm, meet up with some people, and have six or so drinks in a two hour period. My night would usually end at about 2am when the bars closed. Now when I go out with Bulgarian friends, we usually meet up at 8pm at a Cafe. Get something to drink and some appetizers. At about midnight we head for the disco, drink some more, dance a little, and don't arrive back home until about 5am. We basically do the same things as in America, but instead of having six drinks in two hours, I have about six drinks in eight hours.

Socializing is an extremely important part of Bulgarian culture. If you pass by someone you know on the street you never just say hello. It doesn't matter how busy you are. You always have at least a short conversation. I was thinking about having an American Na Gosti. What would I serve? In Bulgaria they often serve shopska selada (a cucumber and tomatoe salad), purzheni kartofi (french fries), and a meat dish. Maybe I should serve Jack Daniels, potato salad, and BBQ chicken. Yes, they have Jack here over 30 lev a bottle ($20). But no BBQ sauce. I am realizing that I am gonna have to learn how to make a lot of things from scratch here.

Rabid Dogs

Next week I will finish training and move to Bratsigovo, my permanent site (Oct. 24th). I can't wait to start my assignment and be on my own. I was able to visit my apartment in Bratsigovo last weekend. It has a great view of the city and mountians. I really like it. It's the first place of my own. I also had the chance to play soccer with kids from an orphanage and do some hiking. I really lucked out on my placement. It's a great little town and my apartment is really nice. Many of the other Peace Corps Trainees (PCT's) are jelous of me. And when I hear about their apartments and the cities they have been placed in, I can't blame them. LOL.

The weekend before last I went on a trip to the Pirin mountains with about 25 (Peace Corps Trainees)PCT's.

( High up in the Pirin Mountains of Bulgaria)

The bus ride up was scary. The bus driver, like a lot of other drivers in Bulgaria, drove crazy. They say it's best to go to sleep on the buses but I can't bring my self to do it. I keep picturing the bus rolling down the side of the hill.

At one point we pulled over at a rest stop and as we were about to leave we saw a huge black stray dog grip its jaws around the neck of a small white dog tied to a bench. The owner of the small white dog came over screaming and tried to pull the big dog off. We all sat there dumbfounded unsure of what to do. We didn't want the big dog to turn on us if we intervened. Finally a big Bulgarian guy came up and ripped a big board off of the bench the little white dog was tied to and slammed it down on the big dog three times, really hard, breaking the big dogs back. The owner grabbed her little white dog and left. I am sorry to say I don't think either dog survived. It was a very odd and morose scene. One of the PCT's went back to being a vegetarian again. The rest of us joked that now we knew why all the wooden boards were missing from the benches in Bulgaria.

We slept in a nice little chalet that night and drank all the beer they had. Sunday morning we woke up early and went on a very intense 5 hour hike. The mountain was very steep at points and the trails were not marked very well. Some of the volunteers who took harder paths higher up the mountain encountered snow and parts so steep they had to slide down on their butt.

Today I finished a community project for the city of Peshtera. We made an informational brochure for the local caverns. You can see some pictures of me and the Caverns if you click here ---> http://brettnet.net/other.asp Thats the site of another PCT. He updates it pretty regularly and adds new photos. He's also has some pictures posted of Churches in Sofia. He took some pictures inside the churches too, which you are not allowed to do.

http://www.moriahabroad.com/ <----- Thats another good site

-Nasdrave