Learning from Bulgarians

It has NOT snowed this week! The weather is beginning to get warmer, even if little by little. As the weather is getting warmer, people have been out and about a bit more. Read on if you’d like to hear about what’s been happening for me this week!

Sunday
On Sunday I wore my crocheted vest to church, and it was a great conversation starter. A few people commented on it, and I told them I made it. Many people admired it! A couple of my friends asked me how long it took me to make it, and I said “three ….” (and paused because I couldn’t remember the proper way to form the plural word for “days”). My friends finished for me “weeks?” I said, “no, days!” Their response? “What!!!!! You are so fast! That’s amazing! I couldn’t do that!” It was kinda funny, and it made me laugh.

Me on Sunday

Baba Stryanka came up to me when I was talking with Joanna, and asked her if she liked the vest I made. Joanna was impressed I’d made it, and like it. Baba Stryanka then proceeded to ask Joanna if she wanted me to make a vest for her, and she would pay for it. So, now I am making something for Joanna! It will be more like a sweater than a vest, because Joanna wants sleeves. I am glad crocheting is helping me build relationships with people!

Sunday afternoon we did not have enough time to go home and make lunch before we had to leave for Ossenets, so Pastor Nikolay and Yanita invited us to their home for lunch. Usually we leave for Ossenets around 3:45, but this time we had to be in Ossenets at 2:30. So, we went to the Kolev’s house after church.  I had fun playing a game with Joanna before we ate lunch, and then I enjoyed the meal with the family. Pastor Nikolay’s friend Iliya (Elijah) was a guest at their home, too. We enjoyed the conversation around the table so much that we paid no attention to the time. At one point, Pastor Nikolay looked at the time, saw it said 3:30, so he and jumped up and said it was time to go! Once we were in the car, Pastor Nikolay looked at the clock and said, “Oh, we were supposed to be there an hour ago! But no matter, it’s Bulgaria. There’s no problem.” I found this statement be funny, it made me laugh. Here’s an example of what the culture is like!

Hand-written Bulgarian

We had a good time in Ossenets. Singing, talking, eating. We were there for about five or six hours! After some people had left, I was able to ask the few people remaining some questions about Bulgarian history. I got to learn more about history from their viewpoint, as well as hear about their visions for the future. I am glad for the opportunity to learn from people older than me.

Monday
During language lessons on Monday, we learned about relatives. There are many more words than what we have in English. The word for uncle is different depending on if he’s your mom’s brother, your dad’s brother, or your aunt (mom or dad’s sister)’s husband. That’s just one example! The variety of words makes it so that one always knows precisely about whom one is speaking. Monday evening I was able to go to English Club, and spend time talking with the one girl who came. It was nice to be able to help her with her English lesson, and get to know her more.

Tuesday

The "soldier cookies"

On Tuesday, we went to church early so e could learn how to make cookies. Big Andrei took us to the store and helped us buy the ingredients, for there were a few things we could not translate when Baba Stryanka told us the recipe last week. Once we got to church, Katie and I got to make the cookies under Baba Stryanks’s supervision. I took pictures of each step so I could remember what to do later when making them again. Although Bulgarians call them cookies, I would probably call them biscuits. They dough has to be kneaded, which I consider to be more bread-like than cookie-like. After baking them, you dip them in a mixture of cinnamon, sugar, and walnuts.

We needed to wash our hands after making the cookies, but there was no water in the church (the pipes had been frozen for almost a month due to the cold), so we had to walk to the kitchen in the basement under the sanctuary to use the sink there. (There is a little kitchen by the room where the babas live, but the kitchen in the basement is bigger and LOTS colder.) We had to walk down steps, and at the bottom of the steps the sidewalk was covered in about an inch of ice. I looked at it, thinking to myself “oh, there’s lots of ice here! I must be careful to not fall.” And what happened next? I fell. Katie shrieked, thinking I was going to hit my head (it came awfully close to hitting the cement), but I didn’t hit my head. My knees got hit pretty hard, and now they have some nice big bruises on them. Hey, it’s the only time I’ve fallen all year, gotta make it a good one, right? Bulgarians generally do not use ice, so I had no ice at home, no ice cube trays, or anything. However, I didn’t need any of that, because there was still snow around! I just got a baggie full of icy snow, and have been using that to ice the bruises on my knees. Pray that the bruises heal quickly, so that it doesn’t hurt too much to walk. I have to walk a lot, and it’s hard when my knees hurt.

Wednesday
Wednesday was a good day, and I was able to spend time with the youth. In the evening, I had planned to meet Joanna in front of a store so we could buy yarn together for the sweater I am going to make her, and then she would come to my house for dinner so I could interview her for my cultural anthropology project before Bible study started. Well, things did not turned out as planned. Once Joanna and I got home, Joshua and Katie told me that little Andrei was coming over. So, he got there just a couple minutes after I did. I was able to interview Joanna for a few minutes before dinner was ready, but there was not enough time to ask her as much as I needed. As Katie was putting the food on the table, my phone rang. Galiya was at our apartment already. So! We were expecting one guest for dinner, but got three! It was nice to be able to spend time with the teens.

After dinner, we had Bible study. I am glad teens were able to come – this was the first time we had met for Bible study in four weeks!! We learned about the Jews judging Jesus, yet they themselves were living in spiritual darkness and sin. We learned about how important it is for us to follow Jesus and be obedient to what he says. After we studied two chapters, the teens were too tired to concentrate more, so we just sat around and talked. The topic moved to loans, poverty, and homelessness. The teens had no idea that there were homeless people in the States; it was a completely new concept to them.

Thursday
Thursday was a warmer day, with even more snow melting. For the first time in about a month, I could see sidewalks, I could see ground, I could see grass that had been hidden under the snow. I also heard birds singing outside as I was walking to church. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not Spring yet! There is still snow on some rooftops, and snow piled along the edges of some roads and sidewalks. There is a lot of slush, and still lots of ice! However, the weather has moved out of the negative degrees (Celsius) for a few days.  I am glad, for that means I will get to see more people. People will begin dropping by the church more often now that it is not so bitter cold anymore. I look forward to it!

On Sunday this week and next week I will be leading Sunday School. Please keep me in your prayers! I will be teaching the class about the Big Brother / Big Sister plan for discipleship. 

New and Exciting Things

Several exciting things have happened in the last week and a half. I have done some things that I have never done before, and have been learning lots. Read on if you’d like to hear about some of the new things I’ve done recently!

God is Working Here!

Shoveling Snow at Church

It has been a cold, busy last two weeks! The last weekend in January was a big Gospel concert we’d been planning for a while, and it was a great success. We have had very cold temperatures recently, with lots of snow, more snow, ice, even more snow, and oh, did I mention we’ve had snow? ;)

It's great to have friends!

This week I have really enjoyed the time I've gotten to spend with friends. God has blessed me through friends here. It's wonderful to see people I know, and have them happy to see me. I enjoy brightening up peoples' days. I enjoy spending time with people and getting to know them more. This week I have been able to spend time with friends, and I have been blessed.

Learning more about this area

Here are some pictures of where I live. 

Our apartment is on
the top floor of this building.

From the front balcony,
looking to the right

Happy New Year!

New Year celebration in Razgrad.
Traditional Bulgarian instruments on balcony,
people dancing below.

It's 2012, and this is my first post of the year! (Sorry I didn't write one last week.) We had fun bringing in the new year in the city center.

Many fireworks went off at midnight, and then people started dancing! There are many traditional dances here in Bulgaria, many of them involve lines. I participated, holding the hands of strangers, and followed their example as I stepped as they did. Left foot kick out, step back. Right foot out, step to the side. It was a line that moved to the right, so I just had to follow the person to my right, and all was good! It was fun, and cold, and exciting. I enjoyed listening to the traditional Bulgarian instruments play. I only joined for the simple dances, but stood back and watched as the instruments took up a melody for a more complicated step. (My boyfriend also called me a few minutes after midnight to wish me happy new year - what a wonderful surprise!!!) It has snowed on New Year's Eve, so there was snow all over the ground, which made it slippery for all the people dancing. However, it provided plenty of ammunition for a spontaneous snowball fight with people on the other side of the huge Christmas tree. :)

First snowman of the year!

Our Sunday morning church service was good, but less people than usual, because so many people stayed up late. We had fun after the church service, building a snowman with some of the kids. I was busy eating banitsa and chatting with people after church, so I only got to help with the last bit of the snowman building.  

Joshua, Katie, and Debbie
at the Stone Forest

Monday after New Year's Day we took a trip to Varna. We went to visit the pastor of the church there and to see how the church was going. It was enjoyable to sit and talk with him and his wife, and learn about the Varna church. Varna is about a two or three hour drive from Razgrad, so we made a day of it and had some fun. We went to a natural wonder called the Stone Forest. There were rock pillars that stood up like tree trunks, it was amazing to see! It became like that during the Great Flood, Pastor Nikolay told us. It was fun to explore that and learn a bit more about Bulgaria.

Eating fish at the Black Sea

 Later that day, we went ice skating with some friends (to help celebrate Joshua and Katie's first anniversary), and then ate some fish while sitting at the beach of the Black Sea. The sunset was beautiful! We did other things, too, like go to the site of one of the last battles of the last Crusade. That was interesting to learn some more history. After the long drive back to Razgrad, we went to a friend's home to celebrate his birthday by sharing a bit of cake. It is great to be able to celebrate special moments with friends.

My friend Joanna and me ice skating

On Wednesday last week, we went to the home of a baba (grandma) in the church, and all the youth got together to watch a movie. We had fun talking and laughing together.

On Friday, we had a meeting with the Municipality to talk about the concert we will have the end of January. A man from Poland is coming here to lead a Gospel music workshop and concert. Friday evening, we had a nice dinner with the pastors from Razgrad and surrounding villages. The daughter of one of the pastors came, and I got to talk with her for a bit about different Bulgarian foods. One of the pastors spoke a bit of Spanish, and he enjoyed talking to me in Spanish. One time, I didn't even notice he spoke to me in Spanish, I just automatically replied in Spanish! It was funny. :)

On Sunday we had a good church service, and then in the afternoon we went to the village of Kubrat (about a 45 min. drive from Razgrad), where we had a church service. I got several kisses on the cheeks from old ladies who wished me a blessed, happy new year. A kiss on each cheek is a common greeting among friends here in Bulgaria, and is also a common thing for babas to do. At least, a few babas kiss my cheek when I say hello to them.

This week has been good so far. On Tuesday, Pastor Nikolay and Yanita came over for dinner. Nasko, a man from church, had been over fixing a broken tile in our roof, so he stayed for dinner. After dinner, Joshua interviewed Pastor Nikolay for a paper, and we learned a lot listening to him talk about the history of the Razgrad Church of the Nazarene.

Last night, Wednesday, was the first day of the Bible Study for the youth Bible Quizzing. I am leading it. Three teens showed up, which was good. I did not know how many to expect! I anticipated anywhere between one and fifteen. However, the three who came were excited about studying the Bible, so it went well. One other boy who has expressed interest in joining was unable to come because he had no transportation. Pray that a way will open up for him to be able to come.

In just a few minutes, Bible study at church will start. We are currently going through the book of Proverbs. It is good to listen and learn here. Even though I cannot speak Bulgarian very well, I can understand it enough to tell what is going on. I am still able to pray for people, even if it's in English and not Bulgarian. Soon enough I will be able to participate in prayers in Bulgarian.

Happy 2012 everyone! Thank you for your prayers and support.