Kookeri Album

(I don't know)

I don't really know what this little guys is, but him and a bigger version of him ran around through the crowds, scaring, and attacking people at the Kookeri festival last March. You can see the big one's leg sticking out toward the little one.

All pictures in this album are courtesy of Jim Mayers because I forgot to bring my camera. To check out this album, click here.

Veliko Turnovo Album

(Pepy's Bar)

Veliko Turnovo is probably my favorite city in Bulgaria. Everytime I go to Veliko Turnovo I always stop by Pepy's Bar shown in the picture above. Check out my new album on Veliko Turnovo to see more pictures.

English and Books.

While my parents were here last week they brought a bunch of books with them for the kids at the school. They brought Dr. Suess, a book with every Disney story in it and a bunch of others. This week I delivered them to one of the teachers who teaches English in her class room. At the end of class I read them Green Eggs and Ham, my favorite when I was a kid. They kept asking, "whats Sam-I-am mean?"

I have a shipment of books coming from another organization as well. It's suposedly in the mail. I'm not really sure what they sent, but hopefully I will find out soon. The kids really liked the books. I know they would be happy to get more.

I also started teaching an English class once a week at one of the orphanages. It went well, but I think I need to make the lessons more intense. Some of them asked me for homework. I was surprised. There was a good showing of kids though. We'll see how many come next week.

Guveche!!!

Here in Bulgaria a lot of dishes are cooked using clay crock pots. A couple weeks ago I bought six little versions of these clay crockpots. Now I make six meals at a time. One of the traditional recipies used with these clay pots is called guveche. The best way to make guveche is using one of these clay crock pots, but you can substitue another pot that can be used in the oven.

To make guveche cut up pieces of your favorite sausage (cooked). You can use italian sausage, hot links, any of the Aidell's sausages would be great. Place them on the bottom of a buttered pot. This is the first layer. Now add a layer each of chopped onions, fetta cheese, diced tomatoes and peppers. Sprinkle with your favorite yellow cheese such as mozzarella or swiss. Add some savory and other spices of your choice. You can also add olives or hot peppers if you like. This is a good dish to be creative with. Now add tomato juice or water. The concoction should be like soup or stew in consistency. Cover the pot and put it in the oven at about 300 C. When everything is just about cooked, take it out and crack a raw egg on top. When the egg is done, so are you!

I've also made rice with these pots. Last night I put a little tomato sauce in the bottom, rosemery, and a mixture of other spices. I poored chicken broth in the pot and then added an appropriate amount of rice. It was really really good. Try it and let me know how it was!

Family Visit

(On the Black Sea with my Mom)

I haven't added a new post in a while because I was busy showing my family the treasures of Bulgaria. My mom, dad, brother and my brothers girlfriend (strike girlfriend. Make it finance. No, strike fiance. Make it my caca. I'll explain later) came for a visit.

I took them to three na gosti's (dinner parties) to show off Bulgarian hospitality. They got to sip homemade rakiya, eat guveche, banitsa and other traditional Bulgarian dishes. And I got to do a whole lot of translating. I realize that my Bulgarian lessons are paying off now. My family was surprised when I was able to translate the word "billiard" from a sign on the street. "You know the word for billiard", they said. What they didn't know is that the word is the same in Bulgarian. I just needed to be able to read the Bulgarian alphabet. Ha ha!

Since they were here for only a short amount of time, I gave them the quick tour of the country. After staying in my village for a few days we went to Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria, where my brother, his fiance, and I tasted the night life. One of the clubs we went to had a live rock band that sang only in English. Ironically the singer didn't speak much English.

We traveled to the black sea where we stayed at Musala Palace, probably the nicest hotel any of us has ever stayed. The six course breakfast even included dessert. After that it was off to Veliko Turnovo to explore Tsaravets castle and party and Pepys bar.

One day we stopped in a little town called Ihitiman so my dad and brother could play golf. At lunch my brother purposed to his girlfriend. Of course mom started bauling. Ha ha! Later at one of our na gosti's we found out that the word for big sister in Bulgarian is caca. So LeAnne, my brothers fiance, will become my caca. I'm sure she will be a very good caca.

The last night we stayed in an apartment in Sofia, and my family left before six in the morning to catch their flight back home. I watched a little CNN on the TV, but was out the door by seven, headed back home too, in Bratsigovo.

The time went by so fast. Even if they stayed for a month, I know it would have went by fast. I wish we could have walked through Bratsigovo and the mountains. I wish they could have danced the horo and eat skembe. I wish we could have made it to a discoteka so they could hear the kind of music people listen to and how they dance. Well like my friends here have been telling me, "next time."

Roadside Assistance

(Toilet paper stand)

On one of my trips through Bulgaria I spotted this toilet paper stand and had to take a picture. What an idea! Haven't we all wished for one of these when traveling a lonley highway and nature decides to call one of its little emergency's?