Loving Bulgaria

I am loving my PST (pre-service training) thus far in Northwestern Bulgaria. My host family couldn't be better. They consist of my grandma (Veneta), another set of grandpartents, a set of parents, and their son. They are caring, considerate, patient, and are quite relaxed. Veneta has already given me some traditional Bulgarian socks, a dress, and a handkerchief (I love them all). I am extremely happy. The 10 cows are milked each morning and evening around 7 and the garden is well-kept. One of the cows is going to have a baby soon! The garden is huge, we have tons of flowers, carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, strawberries, grapes, lettuce, parsley, dill, turnips, and apples. We also have 5 hives of bees for honey. For animals we have cows, pigs, and chickens (who just had chicks). The list goes on and on. Everything is very fresh and feels very naturals. We eat a salad of tomato, cucumber, radish, onion, dill, and parsley quite often. I have also had fried potatoes, ham, meatballs, soup, bread, banista (philo with white cheese like feta, eggs, and butter), a fried bread thing you dip in honey which is great, and much more!

Many of my neighbors have stopped by to chat. I do not remember all of their names. I have taken a lot of photos though do not have the time on the internet to put them up here yet. I also have some videos ready when I have time to upload them. My time is very full here so I'm going to shoot for blogging once a week.

Bulgarian is difficult but I'm confident in the program, my language trainer, and my lovely group. I'm excited to get into the classroom more. I was in an eighth grade English class (11 students) for a bit last week and will be in 2nd this week to do a lesson. I'll be reading and studying a lot!

A few notes for people. Things that remind me of you:

Matt- There are hummingbird moths that live in our flowers (I think that's what they're called)
Krista P - We have bees!
Krista R - You'd love how wonderful my family is!
Elyn - I wear your turtle every day.
Amanda - I love your journal!
Sarah - We have a turkey that lives by us that reminds me of you hunting.
Mom and Kathy - You might just like the red wine.
Dad - They drink some pretty strong liquor here.
Aunt Christi - They were studying your socks
Quinn - I was given a beautiful dress I think you would love.
Brodie - I'm waving at most everyone.
Rebecca - I'm going to learn how to knit

Oh, and I saw a hedgehog the other night which was quite amazing. Loving it here and missing everyone at home!