My New Village...

On May 16^th we got on a bus and drove to Vratsa where we would meet our host families. When we arrived we were told to put down our luggage and walk to the center of the quad where we would find a table with our village name on it. We had pieces of paper that were cut in half and our host families had the matching side. My host mother saw me first and grabbed me with a burst of excitement. She hugged me as if she already knew me and then off we went. Her son grabbed my luggage and within minutes was helping load my incredibly heavy bags into a car that obviously was not prepared for so much stuff.

The drive to the village was dead quiet. I had been in Bulgaria for 3 days with only 4 language courses. After exhausting hello, how are you, I am from California, and thank you, there really wasn’t much to be said. I had no idea what our village looked like or how far it was. I had been warned of the way Bulgarians drove, but this was my first real experience. I sat in the back seat next to my giant suitcase trying not to notice how fast we were going and how many pot holes we were swerving around. When we made a SHARP right onto a side road, I perked up with anticipation and saw the sign with my village name on it and knew I was home.

We are located right by a range of mountains. There is beautiful scenery, and because it has been raining so much everything is very green or colorful. There are farm animals (hens, goats, donkeys, horses, cows, sheep, etc.) in almost every yard. However the majority of the animals are not constrained by a fence. They just roam the streets or are tied up to a fence on one of the dirt roads. My favorite animals are the giant water buffalo that even the local kids are afraid to get to close to. Every home has a garden of some sort; some of them are well kept while others are wildly overgrown. It is a small village so everyone pretty much knows each other. The village is split by a river and bridge; on one side lives Bulgarians, on the other side are Roma’s or they are also known as “Gypsies” here.

I live with a mother, grandmother (Baba) and a whole lot of chickens. The rest of the family, the father, 2 sons and a daughter live in the main city of Vratsa. They work and go to school there and sometimes visit the village on the weekends. My house is small but I love it. I have a room downstairs and there is one room next to me where we eat our meals, the family watches TV, and where the Baba sleeps. It is a room with many functions. The kitchen is pretty much our hallway, and the kitchen sink is also the bathroom sink. Upstairs are two rooms where visitors can sleep. They have a large garden in the back with onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, grapes, etc. The father makes his own wine and alcohol (like most people in the village). This is stored in a small basement with jars of canned food for the winter time when it is too cold to find fruits or veggies elsewhere.