Probably the most akward day of my life....

MY FIRST NIGHT LIVING WITH MY HOST FAMILY:

We ate dinner shortly after arriving at my host family’s house on May 16th. My first meal was salami, white cheese, and potatoes with meat in it that was pretty much swimming in oil. There was of course bread (хляб is served at every meal), and a salad with cucumbers and tomatoes which was also drowning in oil. After eating enough to satisfy my host mother and grandmother, I was sent to unpack my bags. My host brother Цеци, or in English pronounced Tceti, carried my luggage into my room. The Ц in his name is a very awkward and confusing letter of the Cyrillic Alphabet, and that evening I struggled trying to figure out the correct way to say his name. Well Цеци got pretty irritated with me since I kept saying his name wrong and he actually left after a few minutes of trying to teach me the proper pronunciation and me repeatedly failing. It was weeks later when I found out that instead of saying his name, I was actually saying цици, a slang and foul word for Boobs in Bulgaria. I finally understood why my host brother had been so anxious for me to say his name right.

Well after one humiliating experience was over, I simply moved onto the next. My host sister decided to help me unpack my belongings after my host brother had stormed off. Within minutes she had pretty much taken control and was rummaging through my luggage, choosing where all my clothing and belongings would go. I was already a bit overwhelmed so at this point I did not care, even when she was taking my underwear out of my suitcase without the least bit of hesitation. When that invasion of privacy was over my sister and mother looked at me and asked “Искате ли да си взема душ?” I knew that Искате ли meant Do you want? However I had no idea what the word душ, pronounced Douche meant, all though I had a few guesses based on what it would mean for a woman back in America. I immediately said that I would not like a душ and they looked very confused. Again they insisted that I should want a душ and at this point I was just mortified that they were so upset with me not wanting this. Well after a minute of me persevering and repeatedly saying that I did not want a душ I went to the dictionary to make sure I understood correctly. Turns out I was mistaken; they were simply asking if I wanted a shower, a душ…

I had to laugh when I realized what had happened, however it was impossible to explain this to my host family. I pretended like I was giving into their requests and said I would take a душ, but in actuality I was ecstatic to take a shower. They showed me how to turn the boiler on for hot water and handed me a dish towel. Yep, a dish towel. And to make things even more interesting they gave me a bottle of dish soap. They left the room and I was left to ponder what exactly I was supposed to do with the supplies I had been given. To make matters worse I could not figure out how to close the door to the shower because the hinges were not even. It had been a long day already and after a lot of confusion and misunderstandings I was not ready to try to understand this scenario. I kept my clothes on, washed the bottom half of my legs and my arms with dish soap, dried myself with a hand towel, and then being too exhausted to do anything else I fell asleep in the exact same clothes I took a shower in.