Turning the Tables

Recently I've been turning the tables on my co-workers. In the past they would offer me food and I couldn't refuse it. Now I've been doing the same. Feeding them enchiladas, salsa, chili, and snacks my parents brought for me that they don't have here. Often times they would decline my offer with an excuse. They were sick or on a diet. So I used the same type of rebuttals they've used against me in the past. "oh, this is good for you when your sick" and "it's healthy it will help with your diet." I pushed this food to them just as aggressively as they've pushed food to me in the past. I even got a "stiga bay" out of one of them. That means "stop man."

Bulgarian hospitality is great, but it's difficult to say no. Especially when it comes to being offered rakiah (Bulgarian whiskey). They have a saying that goes something like "if your sick it's because you haven't been drinking enough rakiah." I've seen them use this stuff for everything not just drinking. To disinfect cuts, to clean computer parts like the little ball in the mouse.

So yeah, I've been having a lot of fun turning the tables. On some occasions I've decided to speak only English for the whole day. It was interesting to see how much they understood me even though they don't speak English. I've asked them the do-you-have-this-in-Bulgaria questions. My favorite is to try and translate things into Bulgarian that can't be translated, like "casual Fridays", "cowboy", or sayings like "don't cut corners." They look at me struggling to understand.