Little Stories.

Well, I was trying to think of things to blog. You know big meaningful things that have been happening…but quite frankly I’ve just been sitting in an office translating websites….well, and other exciting things. But I keep thinking of these little experiences I’ve been having. So I’ll just share them for now.

1. In neighboring Gotse Delchev there is always one street right after you get off the bus that has vendors selling produce, clothes, shoes, and other household items like an open air market. I mean sort of. Anyway. One day I stopped and decided to buy some apples. The lady asked how many apples I wanted and I said 5. Ambitious…I know. I didn’t pay attention to which 5 she picked out…she weighed them….I paid…and went home. Later as I was unloading the groceries I was taking out the apples and thinking to myself how huge they were. ENORMOUS!!!!  And then it hit me. They know how to trick you in the slyest of ways.  I don’t remember exactly how much I paid for those five apples. I think it was less than three leva, which is less than $2….so I think it was a good deal no matter how much they weighed. 

2.  The other day a man walked into my office and my counterpart was not there. In true Bulgarian “I’ve never met you before so I’m going to be shy” fashion he would not looked at me and mumbled something to me for a good five minutes. While I sat there patiently waiting I caught only two words which were mayor and letter.  And this is how you communicate cross-culturally. I tell him to wait one minute…go and find my countpart…and tell her this man is looking for a letter from the mayor. And I was dead on. They must have been so impressed with my language skills. ha!

3. Last week, I had gone to bed relatively early, but was woken around midnight by gunshots. This is common in my neighborhood. I think it’s something like friendly revelry to begin shooting the guns off around 9 in the evening. However, at midnight the gunshots would not stop.  After a while I realized that they were getting close to my apartment and now wondered what I had done or mistakenly said to someone. My kitten (if you don’t know I have a cute little Bulgarian kitten…actually they say she’s Turkish or Persian…why not?) is now thoroughly frightened and knocking everything off the shelves trying to hide. I realize as the sound gets closer that there is lots of shouting and people involved.  So I just think it’s a bunch of drunk people walking around the streets. THEN! It gets closer yet and I hear the traditional Bulgarian band playing with the accordion and drums and that it is not just gun shots but fireworks as well.  It is common to rent one of these bands at weddings…and I realize that they are celebrating something. So I tried to think of everything.  Their birthday?  Full moon? I went back to sleep.  The next day I asked one person at work what happened and they all new that a baby had been born to Maria (they said Maria as if I should know her…there are at least three that work in my office alone, so I’m pretty sure I don’t know which Maria it is).  And then I realized…can you imagine telling your child that on the night of their birth people celebrated in the middle of the night by shooting off guns and fireworks and walking through the streets with a band??? It was so amazing to me. So I thought, I’m going to have children in Bulgaria just for that reason (sorry mom!). But then I thought why couldn’t I just bring this tradition to America?? And then I realized that shooting off guns in the middle of the night might be a little illegal. So now I’m back to having kids in Bulgaria. :P

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