Balkan Blog...."tova a jeevaa vuv bulgaria" (that's life in Bulgaria)

18 April 2008

It is great to be back in Sofia after time in the USA for Charis and Joel's wedding. Last Saturday it was such a lovely day that we took a very long walk in the park and got reacquainted with our adopted city. Spring is just lovely here with lots of flowering trees and everyone loving to be outside. Of course there are some strange people lurking about so you should be careful!

21 February 2008

You know you're not in Kansas anymore when:

They offer beer in the soft drinks machine.

When people park on the sidewalk and walk in the street...

When someone sends you a frozen rabbit IN THE MAIL!...

When you hear firecrackers at all times in every season and wonder if your city is under attack...

When the sizes for clothes say 42, 44, 46 and the salesgirl tells you they are all too small for you....

When you hear someone speaking English and wonder what foreign language that is...

20 January 2008

We welcomed the new year quietly but the rest of Sofia welcomed it in their usual noisy fireworks filled fashion! It went on most of the day and night. New Year's Day was quiet aided by a heavy snowfall.

So far this winter has been colder and snowier than last starting with the first snowfall in October. There has been somwhat of an uproar concerning the lack of adequate snow removal around town. There is also so much fog! We have seen the sun maybe 3 -4 times this month. Some of it may be due to so many people buring wood to keep warm. I have heard there is actually a wood shortage. This is hard to believe considering the amount we saw for sale earlier on! They were chopping all last spring ad summer!

The prices keep going up and the value of the dollar is still low hovering at between 1.31 - 1.33 Bulgarian Leva to $1.

We are excited to be getting a new CARREFOUR store here in Sofia. Carrefour is a French hypermarket. They carry things like cake mixes and other products we can't normally find here. We heard rumors but they are now confirmed by the adverts on the hiring pages of the business paper looking for workers. This is welcome especially since Metro will no longer allow us to shop there with our old cards and we don't think we can get new ones. Now...here is hoping the rumours we heard about IKEA are also true!

I heard a new superstition thanks to a Bulgarian friend who just had a baby. It is not good to let the mother's mother know when labor has begun. If she does not know it will be an easier delivery. (Personally I think this is a ploy by the grandmother so she won't get awakened in the middle of the night!)

21 December 2007

How to plan a Christmas party for the students of UTF. First, start in November and ask the chaplain if there is a date for the party. Try to be diplomatic and remember all the Cross Cultural advice you have been reading lately. Offer your house since the heating in the school (or lack of) makes it very uncomfortable. He says he will think about it. If he does he doesn't tell us. Finally the last week of school Simone (teammate) reminds him and asks if he wants help. He says sure and admits he is not too good at organizing these things. Simone offers to organize and calls me to help. He gives us what he thinks is the best date which is the last day of school after classes. We plan the food and drink and bring some decorations. Half the staff does not show up because of the late notice and when we arrive we discover that the teacher fo the day gave the students off so there are no students there either. Nevermind, the staff that was there built a fire in the fireplace and those of us who came enjoyed a nice meal. I left wondering how we can improve this for next time!!!!!!!

15 December 2007

Just returned from a week in Borgas. Brian arrived back from school today and Greg came separately by bus after teaching there. Had a fun time driving throught the mountains and villages.

The wild dogs are sure making a lot of noise these days especially during the night.

1 December 2007

This is the lovely painting we bought from a Christian artist as a Christmas present to each other. It depicts typical Bulgarian folk costumes in lively colours.         

30 NOVEMBER 2007

I see I have some catching up to do...so what are the highlights from this month?

- It is proving to be a very cold winter already. Unlike last year when we had only two snows all winter, we have already had four. It has been below freezing all week.

-The dollar has dropped all the way to 1.30BL = $1.

- There are so many more Christmas items available this year!

- I got to see the inside of a Bulgarian hospital and I pray I never have to stay in one!

-It was foggy for the better part of two weeks but when it cleared the mountain loked like this....it is so beautiful!

 31 October 2007

In the English language newpaper this morning I read that truck drivers are pleading to be arrested because that is the only way they can stop to sleep or eat without fear of punishment from their employers. Is that ridiculous or what? Does anyone consider traffic safety in this part of the world? We have seen some pretty young drivers driving huge trucks and some recklessly and we wonder if they have any special training at all. Scary!!!

22 October 2007

You may have read that the Bulgarian teachers are on strike. Well you might be interested to know that currently they make only about $300 per month and they are asking for closer to $600 per month. Compared to teachers in the USA who probably earn an average of more that $3000 a month it is not much. You may thing well it is cheaper to live in Bulgaria but it is not that much cheaper and every price has risen since Bulgaria joined the European Union in JAnuary 2007. Teacher's work is not well respected in this country and that is part of their complaint. Many people are forced to leave and work abroad in order to survive.

10 October 2007

I see it has been a long time since I have written anything on here! Sorry! I will try to do better. There are many interesting things we learn each week. This week I thought I would add a few words about currency. Bulgarian currency is the Lev... plural...leva  and it breaks down into 100 stotinki to one lev. When we first arrived we could get 1.67 leva for each US dollar. Now it is down to 1.37! This is a big drop. Bulgaria joined the European Union in January 2007 but they are still using the national currency. However, nearly every price has gone up for many reasons most of which I don't understand. One I do understand is the fact that more rules and regulations for meat and agricultural products mean the cost is passed on to the consumer and along with entrance into the EU came loads of new rules and regulations.

On another financial front, petrol...diesel... the stuff that keeps your automobile going...is $5.80 a gallon here. One wonders how so many people are able to keep running cars...so many that traffic is a nightmare!!!

July 2007

We have been to two wedding this year and I thought I would share one of the Bulgarian wedding customs that we witnessed. After the wedding either at the church or the reception there is a special wedding loaf. There may be two. One table holds salty or spicey food because there should be spice in the marriage. The other table holds sweet food because there should also be sweetness. Sometimes these are represented by the loaf and salt and herbs and honey.

June 2007

15 June

According to the Sofia Echo (English language newspaper), the average pensioner (retired person) in Bulgaria receives a little over $100 PER MONTH! There are also more than 2,000,000 in Bulgaria. Actually, there are more retired people than workers due to the vast emmigration out of the country. It is no wonder that many pensioners are out on the streets selling flowers or vegetables from their gardens to suppliment their meager incomes! There have been some protests recently from this sector of society due to poor health care and inadequate pensions. Not surprising.

9 June

President Bush is visiting Bulgaria on his European Tour. There are a lot of crazy rules while he is in town.  For example, he is giving a speech at the National Museum but the road to it is closed and public transportation halted. So it is not possible to go to hear him. No one is allowed to look out their windows or be on their balconies while he is here. No one is allowed binoculars. He has not even arrived yet and there are helicopters constantly flying overhead. We heard that cell phones will be scrambled. Sheesh...what a production. We were a little hopeful the embassy might organize something for all the ex-pats living in Sofia because there are quite a few of us who would like to meet President Bush and his wife. No such luck!

1 June

It finally happened. Greg was hit while stopped at a light after Dropping Brian at school. An SUV hit our little Skoda in the rear. Miraculously, although the entire car moved forward the air bags did not go off and tehre was no discernable damage. We think that was down to prayer.

It is really nice to drive in Sofia when there are weekend holidays. Everyone goes out to the villages and tehre is no traffic.

May 2007

15 May

Some of you may be wondering what it is like to study the Bulgarian language. Difficult is too mild a word! We have wrestled with trying to find some explanation or rule or pattern and not been successful. For example, pronouns. The word for "me" is "may" and the word for "my" is "me" but the word for "me" looks like the American word for "me." Are you following this? The word for you is "tea" but it cam also be "vee" or "tay." "Tay" (depending on context) is also the word for "they." Then there is "EE" which (depending on context) can mean "her," "and" or "also." It loooks like a backwards N. The N sound in Bulgarian looks like the English H. Are you confused yet? After a year we discovered that there actually is a pattern to Bulgarian verb formation but most verbs have two forms and the tenses do not strictly match the English tenses. Don't even get me started with prepositions!!!!!!!!!!!

6 May

A few words about food. There are a few staples here. Some may surprise you and others not.

The obvious is bread and it is cheap and when fresh it is amazing! In restaurants they think it weird if you don't order bread with your meal. At the Agape lunch they think it is weird if I don't eat bread with my soup. (Thy don't know I have already eaten two or three pieces while I heated the soup because that bakery is the best in Sofia and the bread is still hot when we buy it.)

The next is yogurt. The Bulgarians think they invented it and perhaps they did. They use it in cooking, they eat it, water it down and drink it. My neighbor think it strange if she runs out and I don't have some she can "borrow."

Garlic! I like garlic but when I use it in cooking I am accustomed to adding a few cloves. Bulgarians add a few heads of cloves.

There are mainly two types of cheese. The main one is like Greek Feta. The name of it sounds like "see renee."It can be made from cow, sheep or goat milk and tastes different depending. It is used in salads but also in cooking with eggs, on pizza and in other dishes. The other is a yellow cheese which is not like any I have tasted before. It is called "cash caval." It is used less but the main cheese used for pizza. (tastes nothing like mozzarella)

APRIL 2007

April 20

There were some interesting articles in the Sofia Echo (English language) paper lately. One was charting the average income for Bulgarians. A team mate calculated it in terms of US dollars and came up with about $5000. each per year. This is better than the last report but we are a bit skeptical about the truth of it. We know many people do not have much money but also some do and it seems like there is a good amount of non-declared income. This leads in nicely to the second article which was entitled "Corruption: The hidden tax that every Bulgarian pays." There is much concern over the amount of corruption all through business and government in Bulgaria. It was pointed out that it won't go away until the Bulgarian people demand it and that while it is present it hurts everyone... all very true. On a really relevant level, the Bible college is in a mess due to a two year delay in obtaining permits to build because they refused to pay a bribe. Meanwhile with the joining into the European Union, construction prices have skyrocketed so that what once was about a $1million project is now a $4million project.

April 13

Yesterday we took the SCA students (Brian's school) on a field trip to Plovdiv. It is a city about two hours drive from Sofia that is rich in history. Some believe it is the oldest city in Europe; older than even Rome. The students had been studying ancient civilizations up to and including Rome so we went to see the ruins. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time.

        The Coolest group of kids anywhere!                                     Can you believe this is only two hours away?

April 6

HE IS RISEN...HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Easter Traditions: Bulgarians greet each other with "Xristos Vuskresee" (Christ is Risen). To most this is nothing more than a tradition but it is still nice to hear people say it. They have this great bread called "kosoonak" which is kinda eggy with raisins and/or some dried fruit. It is yummy! If they can afford it families like to have lamb for Easter dinner. They have many traditions associated with the Orthodox church and some that come from who knows where. One that is a little strange is giving new clothes because it assures that loved ones who have died will have new clothes. (Why should they be worried if these relatives are supposed to be in heaven and need nothing???? but I did not say they make sense.) Another is giving and receiving ornately decorated eggs. These, like those in the Ukraine, are decorated with wax and dye. Red and white ones are given to family while other colors are for friends and neighbors. In families someone takes the red egg and touches it to the forehead, cheeks and chin (making the sign of the cross) on every member of the family .There are games played with the eggs. One is to hit one's egg with another person's egg to see which breaks first. There is not alot of candy involved here although it is creeping in from Germany and other places. The bunny does not appear. As in the USA, many people participate in the traditional parts while neglecting the true meaning and spiritual parts of the holiday. In many ways it is nicer than Christmas because it is very quiet. There are not a lot of parties and many people go out to the villages.

MARCH 2007

March 30

Not that I have not mentioned the traffic and driving skills before but I noticed in the English Language newspaper that one-third of traffic fatalities in Bulgaria are pedestrians. This does not surprise us. In the past few years the number of cars on the road have tripled. People are not used to having so many cars and drivers and pedestrians both struggle with it. Driving is pure anarchy. We doubt whether many people even have a license. Many ignore lanes, lights and speed limits. No one stops for pedestrians. It is very dangerous. Because of the number of new cars we guess there must also be a large number of new drivers without much experience and there are some very reckless drivers out there who are impatient and refuse to wait at lights or allow anyone to slow them down. Driving here is simply not enjoyable!!!!!

March 17

With the fall of communism here came a lot of anarchy in this country. There were actually some good aspects of communist rule here and one of them was control. Unfortunately when there is no one forcing them to do right many people do what is right in their own eyes and you can especially see it in driving and waiting (or lack of waiting) in lines etc. People just decide not to pay bills. They park wherever they feel like it, stop in the middle of the road whenever they feel like it.  When walking they cross whenever and wherever they feel like it. I am sure there are many other areas I could mention but I think you get the idea. In some cases, lack of restraints leaves us with lack of common courtesy.

March 9

Doggies

March 3

This is an important month in Bulgaria. The first is a holiday to celebrate the coming of spring. It is centered around a mythical figure called "Baba Marta" or Granny March. They say that March is like a woman because the weather is so changeable. Everyone gives each other Martinitzas which are red and white decorations to wear as a pin or bracelet. The custom is to wear them until you see the first swallow or stork and then tie them to a tree. Spotting a stork is considered very lucky. We don't normally see them in Sofia! We would have to travel outside the city to spot one.

The third of March commemorates the liberation from Turkish rule.

The eighth is International Woman's Day when all the ladies receive and give flowers.

February 21

This is a gypsy driving a cart which is a common sight even in Sofia. Tonight I saw a very sad thing. A horse pulling a cart had been hit on a busy street. I saw this once before when driving through Romania and it was awful. When it is dark and everyone is in dark clothing, it can be very dangerous driving. The carts have no lights or reflective strips.

February 9

What is this picture???

This is the Bulgarian version of "access." This is a "subway" or (for the Yanks reading this, the way to cross the busy street) and this ramp is the only way mothers with strollers or people in wheelchairs can cross this street. Of course, you don't usually see people in wheelchairs in Bulgaria but that is another subject. The father of one of our team visited and we wanted to invite him over but felt we could not because we live on the 3rd floor and have 41 steps and no elevator and he is in a wheelchair. I said to him, "At least the building where your daughter lives has an elevator." He replied,"Yes, but you have to get up 10 steps to get to it!" Most of the buildings, old and new are like this. There is no plan to help the disabled get around town, into shops or on transportation.

February 1

In early December I took this photo of men working on plastering the outside of an apartment building. I don't know if you can tell from my photo but they are all suspended from ropes tied to ordinary plastic chairs!!! We see this all over town. The method is used by window cleaners, painters and others.

January 2007

20 January

Here is a photo of Greg and I the night we went to town to celebrate being in Bugaria one year!!!! It was a nice evening. Praise the Lord. He is always doing great things.

10 January

Life Can Be So Amusing!

I read a blurb in the English language newpaper today that one of the first recommendations of the new European Parliament members from Bulgaria had to do with a tax on their beloved homemade alcohol, Rakia. hmmmmmm!

I truly like my adopted country but it is not Kansas!!!

You don't have to like .....

black leather, animal prints, red hair dye, trams and busses, feta style cheese, yoghurt, high boots and short trousers, fireworks, bagpipes, the colour red, small cups of very strong coffee, cigarette smoke, wild dogs and cats, snow sports, dill, cabbage, cell phones or internet cafes

                                        to live in Bulgaria.....but it helps!!!!!

7 January

We are definitely back to chipping away at that big ole language barrier!!! One of the most confusing things has consistently been that when Bulgarians nod their heads (up and down) it means "no" and when they shake their heads (side to side) it means "yes." I have just about got the "yes" shake down but not the "no" (when I do it). I am usually confused by the "no" as well. I ask if they have something and they say "nay" or "no" but nod their heads up and down....confuses me every time! This is a little like the British driving on the left....how did they get started?

1 January

We began to get nervous when even before Christmas we kept hearing fireworks explode around the city but then before New Year's eve we saw fireworks for sale everywhere that looked very loud and somewhat dangerous! We were warned that things could get rather noisy on New Year's Eve. It was pretty incredible how abount 2/3 of Sofia gathered in the city center for a big concert to welcome the New Year and celebrate Bulgaria's entry into the European Union. We watched from the warmth and safety of our team mates apartment. Firecrackers had been going off all day but the frequency continued to increase until about 11:30 it began to get very loud and continued until after 1AM. We stood out on the balcony and watched and listened and everywhere you looked around the city fireworks were being shot off from parks and rooftops and even from the top of Mount Vitosha. This is just a small sample of the sight and sound of it .......             

22 December…the shortest day but extraordinary nevertheless

One reason I love it when it snows is that it is possible to see the outlines of all the little rooftops at the edge of the mountain and it is a pretty site.

There are a few lights and decorations around the city but don’t you think it is weird that one place that has a giant lighted Christmas tree is the Russian Embassy next to where we live???

Last night there was a party at the little pectopant next to our apartment building. They had live music that went on until about 2AM. I gave up trying to sleep in my bed and moved to the guest bedroom which is at the other end of the apartment. It was much quieter there until they decided in traditional Bulgarian fashion to set of very loud firecrackers. It sounded like we were being shot at with heavy artillery.

Early this morning we were picked up outside by a van going to see a Christmas play at one of the orphanages across the mountain in Berkovitza. We met some very interesting people also visiting and some who work there all the time.  We learned a lot about Bulgaria during this trip from this family who has lived here 12 years. It was actually a bit overwhelming and too much to put down in writing here.  We traveled over the mountains and it was very snowy up there and absolutely gorgeous.

The place we visited is one of 50 such orphanages which house “children” with disabilities. I put the word in quotation marks because many we met today are in their 20’s but there is no other place for them to go except the “old people’s home.” The director at this particular home is fighting for them to stay there. These are the lowest of humanity in this country, they are hidden away in the mountains so no one has to see them and they receive hardly any help from the government to keep the homes running let alone education or medical care. Last year if the missionaries had not come up with the funds for them to heat the place we visited, they would have had no heat all winter. We were told this was the best home because the director is so wonderful and he is. So is the head teacher. We discovered today that they were both orphans themselves. They are doing extensive remodeling. It is the only orphanage in Bulgaria that has separate rooms for the kids. Most have huge dorms where there may be 30 beds all together. This one has colorful rooms with curtains the kids have sewn themselves and paintings on the walls done by visitors from the UK.  They have the “Kids” separated into smaller groups and each group has a living/dining area where they hang out. After their excellent production with Puppets!!!!! We visited each group and received lots of hugs, pats, smiles and we even left with gifts they had made….slippers and candles and cards.

The two buildings are finally being joined by a covered walkway.

 The basketball hoops are gifts from the USA. The new windows are from a Bulgarian firm.

It is difficult to be faced with an enormous need like the need of orphans here. It makes us feel so small and inadequate. How could we ever hope to make a difference? It is like the overwhelming need for evangelism. I believe that only God can make a difference and maybe He can use us and He will do it one person at a time…one need at a time………

One of the Bulgarian songs....the guys are dressed up as shepherds.....

 Here come Dyado Koleda (Grandfather Christmas) with his helper, Snejanka (snowwhite).

We ended up back in Sofia just as it was beginning to get dark. We did a few errands and tried to process what we had seen. There were so many people out and about and the trams were more crowded than I have ever seen them. Walking around, we saw some wonderful Bulgarian Folk Dancers with colorful costumes and lively music and also some fireworks…. They are crazy about fireworks here…as I write I can hear more exploding outside.

18 December

A clarification..... I was a little confused... Christmas Eve a fasting bread without yeast called "peeta" (which is probably familiar to most of you) is served along with such things as stuffed cabbage and lentils. There is another bread called "Vasilopita" which is served for New Year and is baked with a coin inside. The story goes that St. Basil the Great from Caesarea sugested that people protect their money from the tax collector by hiding it in freshly baked bread! So now it has become an Orthodox tradition to bake bread for St. Basil's Feastday, January 1st. Instead of hiding all the money, only one coin is hidden in it and the person who finds it in their piece of bread is supposed to have luck during the coming year.

15 December

Some people have asked us what Christmas is like in Bulgaria. Since this is our first Christmas here we don't know but we are on a voyage of discovery here so we can share what we have learned so far. Apparently, at least two things have affected the way Bulgarians celebrate the birth of the Savior, communism and orthodoxy. Under the communists, no celebration was allowed. People began to celebrate New Year instead and many still do. The orthodox traditionally celebrate on January 7 and many still do especially if they have Russian background.

We have been told that Christmas Eve is a special time of gathering. People fast from meat and it is traditional to have an odd number of dishes on the table but necessary to have at least seven. They would include dried fruit, beans and walnuts. There is a drink made from dried fruit but we have not had a chance to try it yet. There is also a special bread called "peeta" and they bake it with a charm inside. The superstition/custom is that whoever receives the charm in their piece of bread will be the luckiest that year.

Simi liar to Americans, Bulgarians like to have a decorated tree in their home if they can afford one. An older village custom is that the children make a paddle called a "seurvach" out of decorated sticks and they go around the village tapping people to wish them a Happy New Year. When they tap you, you're supposed to give them money and it will bring you luck.

Those of you from Philadelphia may be interested to know that they have had mummers here since ancient times. They have very unusual costumes looking a lot like native American dress with fur and feathers and masks and they go about the village playing music. They are called "kookers." We don't know all about them yet but we think they have some connection to scaring off evil spirits.

This is a "seurvach."

3 December

It seems odd to me that God spent so much time training us in "waiting" and then sent us to a country where no one likes to wait. Honestly, what was He thinking? Here no one waits in traffic. I have seen more people run through red lights than ever in my life. Every car tries to go around the others to get to the front even if they have to make three or four lanes at the intersection. They apparently do not stop to think that everyone they go around has to wait for them.

No one seems to like waiting in lines anywhere. For example at the grocery or at the coffee shop or at the post office, it does not matter how many people are standing there because some people will march in and push right up to the front of the line.

There is a lot of anarchy when it comes to driving or waiting in lines. It is especially difficult for us coming from a country like England where everyone waits obediently in neat lines and knows how to merge through round-a-bouts when driving.

This presents us with a dilemma. Do we behave the same or do we exercise patience? Will anyone see us as a good example or will they think we are foolish for allowing everyone to get ahead of us? Unfortunately, in many cases we would never get anywhere. We would never get anything done. What should we do?

27 November

Renewing of the mind.....

Tuesday 21 November

I now have Bulgarian worship songs running through my head. Not purely Bulgarian, mind you because some of them are from England or the USA and given Bulgarian words. This is interesting because there is no uniform translations of worship songs here. The words don't always fit so they have to change them and people don't always agree on the interpretation. So, although the tune may be very familiar, the words are not the same as the English words I know. I can read Bulgarian better and better so sometimes I can be singing away and not understand the words. God knows what I am singing but I don't! It is exciting to me that I am finally understanding enough language to not only sing the words but to know what I am singing.

Wednesday 15 November

There are some foods we have found in Bulgaria that are really good. Pizza is not that unusual, perhaps, but here it is often made in a brick oven which makes the crust very crisp and tasty. They have some unusual toppings like dill pickels which Cheryl really likes. People, especially students here like to cover it thickly with ketchup and mayonnaise.. which none of us likes. It is only about .60 a slice.

Fresh bread is so wonderful here. A huge loaf is only about .30-.40 still warm!!!

"Banitza" is a very common fast food made with flaky pastry and usually suraynee cheese (similiar to feta). Sometimes it has spinach and sometimes it is sweet with pumpkin or chocolate. Fresh from the bakery it is tasty and only about .25-.30.

Jam is commonly made with rose hips and is very good and because it is full of vitamin C, very good for you.

NOW--this is the husband with a "food blog" (actually this is my first EVER blog of any type so it ought to be monumentally important!)  So it's about donuts.  There happens to be a Dunkin Donuts here in Sofia.  Actually there are several of them, but one particular shop on Garabaldi Ploshtad carries "klenova glazura donuti".  That's "maple iced donuts" to you Americans.  Now D.D. wasn't such a big deal to be back in the States, but they do have pretty good coffee.  And nothing else here happens to have "maple flavor" so every once in a while I have to grab a maple donut and coffee.  As the Bulgarians say--"treeyabva da cherpeeya" ("You have to give yourself a treat.")

Monday 13 November 2006

Beautiful Things.......

Andrew (age 2) singing alleluia at the top of his lungs in church Sunday

The delicate hands of the Indian students raised in worship

The earnest face of our pastor when he preaches

The lights twinkling outside my window at night

How Brian's dimple appears when he smiles

Thursday, 9 November 2006

     Yesterday was so crazy but so happy. I (Cheryl) had to teach at SCA and after that to drive to the other side of town to serve a meal to the Bible College students. I loaded all the things I thought I would need in the car. Since it was the first time we tried this lunch program, I was not sure. Traffic was crazier than usual. It took over an hour to drive less than 10 miles! They are working on some of the main roads and we were all detoured. At one main intersection there was a policeman who was supposed to be directing traffic. The signals were still working. There were cars and trucks coming from at least 6 different directions and he has this little lollypop things. Right in the middle of the street in the worst traffic he decided to answer his cell phone. No one could tell which way the lollypop was facing. No one knew what to do. I saw a gap and decided to proceed ahead but he shouted at me to stop...then changed his mind so I got out of there!!!!

Once at the school I tried to find my way around. We decided to serve the meal in a classroom off the faculty kitchen on the third floor. That seemed like a great idea until I discovered that the nice looking cooker in there had never been hooked up. I had to cook rice and heat chili for 30 people and I did to have any microvavable bowls. What to do? Thankfully there was a two burner cooker in the student kitchen that worked so I managed to prepare the food. The only problem was that this cooker was in the basement...four floors up and down....many times!  I got my exercise! I was motivated so it all worked.

The students and faculty were lovely! I learned something about culture and it was something I liked. They were not content to come and get a bowl of food and go away to eat it. They were excited as though this was a big event. They pulled tables together to from a long table and got chairs for everyone and waited for each other to eat. They helped serve and clean up without being asked. It was a very happy event.  I am already looking forward to next week and this time I will bring some tablecloths!

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