March 8th continued...

So, after the concert I got invited by some of my neighbors to go on a picnic. The weather wasn't too cold (though, it wasn't too warm either!) We jumped in my neighbor's Lada and off we went to a nearby village called Teshel. There by the lake is a tiny little gazeebo (sp?) with a table and a grill. Once the picnic was over we all still had alot of energy so off we went to another nearby village Giuveren. This village is actually smaller than mine (what?!) but they, too are Turkish Muslims. Again, below are some pics. :)



My language tutor and best friend on the far right with the doctor (middle) and his wife, the nurse :)


A pic from the cafe in Giuveren



With my neighbors by the lake where we had our picnic.

Neighbors by the gazeebo.

With just another one of my adopted families by the grill :)

Chestit 8 Mart!

So, happy March 8th! For those of you who don't know, March 8th is International Women's Day. It's celebrated differently in every country and not at all in some *clears throat* (America.) Here in Grohotno this is quite a big deal. It seems to me that it is a sort of blend of Mother's Day and Valentines Day. Children give gifts to their mothers and boyfriends give gifts to their girlfriends...you get the idea. In honor of this holiday our cultural center put on a concert. We invited the kindergarten and elementary school to help us out. The kindergarten put on a short little program with songs and poems, and the school graced us with traditional songs accompanied by the accordian. Our own cultural center's dance groups also performed. Below are some pics...enjoy!



This is our auditorium connected to the cultural center...it was a full house of about 250-300!


3 of my favorite girls and members of the dance team...they are wearing traditional Rhodopian dance costumes.



This is me in traditional garb as well....I may or may not have performed with the group :)




Another of my absolute favorites! She dances with the younger group and she, too is wearing traditional Western Rhodopian dress.

Aide na baera! (I have no idea if this makes sense or not)

So, the weather is finally warming up a bit and you can even smell spring in the air. I invited Krissy over for a day to hang out with me because....well because I love her. I told a few people that she was coming and heard a unanimous "Aide na baera!" Which means in English (as per my trusty handy dandy dictionary) "Alright, let's all go to the hillhock." Yeah, so this one doesn't really translate...the "Baera" is just an area a few kilometers up a mountain where we spent the day and had a picnic. We hopped in my friends old jeep (which we ended up pushing halfway down the mountain later) and had an afternoon filled with good food, rakia, and yes even a little horo. Below are some pics...as always, enjoy.


Beautiful Krissy showing off our 30 yr old ride...yes that is indeed how we do. (ps don't worry peace corps...it still has seat belts :)




My wonderful friend and housemate, Erdinch!










Krissy and I helping out....you can tell by the look on my face that I'm an expert.








A couple of the boys nailing chickens to a stick...mmhmm.

Vasil Levski Day

Feb. 18th was Vasil Levski Day. For those of you who don't know, Vasil Levski was a Bulgarian revolutionary, ideologist, strategist, and theoretician of the Bulgarian national revolution and leader of the struggle for liberation from from Ottoman rule (so says Wikipedia.) The 3rd grade class at the school here put on a 20 minute program in honor of Mr. Levski. The program included songs, and poems and was performed for the rest of the school...I was very honored to have been invited :)

This is Asia a teacher at the school and one of my best friends here. She is usually the one in charge of these programs at the school and does an amazing job!







The 3rd grade class reciting poems.

Sledding...

So, I know I'm a little slow on this one...but ya know...what can a village girl do? This entry is about sledding. I'm in luck because the hill by my house is the most popular spot for the kids to sled. I'm not sure if you can tell in these pictures, but the sleds are pretty interesting. They are homemade...basically it's just a wooden board with ski blades welded to the bottom. There are all different variations. The kids have yet to talk me into jumping on to one of these things...I told them as soon as they figure out a way to add some "spiratchiki" or "brakes" I'm all for it. Ok, that's all for now...enjoy the pics :)