Christmas in Bulgaria

(Click the map for a better look)

I took a night train to Byala the Thursday before Christmas. Byala is in northern Bulgaria close to Ruse. The train left from Plovdiv at 11pm and I arrived in Byala at 5:30am. I am lucky I made it. Byala is like Springfeild in the US; there's a whole bunch of 'em. I didn't realize I had to switch trains half way through the trip and got off just in time. From Byala I took a taxi to a small city called Tsenevo. This is where I spent Christmas.

When I got to the volunteers apartment he was still sleeping. I rang the door bell, banged on trash cans, yelled his name, and finally after a long time he looked out the window and realized he was not dreaming. There were a few volunteers that arrived at his house the day before. One of them looked out of the window at one point told me to simmer down and them went back to bed. He may have been sleep walking. All I know is that they must of had fun the night before to be able to sleep through all the noise I created.

One of the volunteers did all the cooking. The food was great. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and so on. I brought cheddar cheese. It might not sound like much, but it's hard to come by in Bulgaria, so it was a nice treat. Bulgaria typically only has two kinds of cheese. A feta type cheese and a monterey jack type cheese. In fact they don't even have a word for cheese.

This Christmas was obviously different than any other for me before eventhough I was celebrating with Americans. This year the men cooked and the women sat on the couch all day and watched TV. It seems as though The wonderland of Bulgaria is encouraging us to create some new opposites.

One of the neighbors stopped by and gave us fresh apples, Rakiya, and pork sausages. The sausage was especially fresh, in fact we heard it being slaughterd that morning. It had a gamey flavor but was very good. We talked with the neighbor for a while and drank a glass or Rakiya together.

The travel back was intense. I left from Tsenevo at 10am to Ruse to Sofia to Plovdiv and finally took a taxi from Plovdiv to Bratsigovo for 20 lev ($13). That taxi rate was pretty good. Another taxi driver wanted to charge me 60 lev ($40). The routes to get me home were limited that's why I was all over Bulgaria that day. I walked through my door just past 7pm.

This trip was the first I've taken since I've been in Bratsigovo. I am suprised I traveled so well without making a mistake. Lets hope the rest of my travels in Bulgaria run as smooth.