Bulgaria has not disappointed me yet! I feel so much more at ease here than I’ve ever been anywhere else. Just by looking outside my window each and every morning, my heart sings and I notice myself smiling. A and I have been in Bulgaria for a little over three weeks now and our love just continues to grow for this beautiful country. No country is perfect, don’t get me wrong, but the small setbacks or the unexpected things that may happen in the future is not overpowering, not in the negative way at least. I’ve noticed that both of us have become overall happier than we have been in a long while! I guess we both just adapt to new situations and challenges quite easily, otherwise I don’t think we would have put ourselves in this situation!
When A started his work, the pain from his tooth caused him to not being able to function anymore. His head was constantly hurting, and his shoulder felt really tight. I did everything in my power to release some of the pain. We put one of those pillow thingies that you warm up (or make cooler if need be) to release some of the tension. At that point, nothing seemed to work, and I think I even made the pain worse when I massaged it the last time. As stubborn as he is, he would not listen to me when I told him he should go to the dentist. I get that, I have the biggest dentist phobia there is and I’ve been avoiding it myself!! He finally realized that was the only thing there is left to do. So he finally went. They pulled out one of his wisdom teeth. And guess what?! All the pain that he had had, was now completely gone! Released! It was as if nothing had bothered him before! All that because of one bloody tooth!! The best part is that it cost altogether 50 leva, including x-ray! 50 leva is about 25 euros (sorry non-European countries, don’t feel like looking it up in other currencies!)! Can you imagine? And Bulgarians are known for their dentists, or so I’ve heard!
Our landlord seems to amaze me as well. The communications with him is quite difficult given that he doesn’t speak a word of English and we barely speak a word Bulgarian (usually it’s just me when he comes about). Most of the time, I just have to guess what he is trying to communicate with me. There was a day when A was having a bit rougher day and I wasn’t in the best of moods either, I told him I smelled our landlords cologne in our entry-porch. I wasn’t sure if he had come inside though as I couldn’t smell it anywhere else in the house nor had anything appeared in the house. We are people who really happen to love our privacy. We are accustomed to the Western manners that even the landlord shouldn’t come in when we’re not home. This Friday, when I was picking A up from the bus stop, he had come in and brought us a drying rack! A drying rack!! So, my suspicions of him coming inside were right, and on that day, we had some laundry drying on some of the chairs. He must have seen this. So, we were thinking that this must be a cultural difference that we’re not used to. I mean other than that, our landlord is amazing – always willing to help out, always fixing things immediately if something goes wrong! He even cracked a joke when we were trying to explain about the leaking toilet upstairs and both of us were home! I’ve never had such a good landlord than I have now.
I cannot understand those people who would come here and complain (or say) that Bulgarians might try to f*** you over! We just not haven’t had this! We are very welcomed here. We are polite, and we say good day around in the village, and when we try to explain we don’t really understand Bulgarian, they still try to have a conversation with us!
Learning Bulgarian is my top priority at the moment! I just wish I’d have a tutor or someone who would help me with it! (If you know one or can recommend a course/tutor, I’d love that!!)
Going to the store is still a little bit overwhelming. If I want to make something else than what I have learned to make so far, I get so lost as to what is what and what I may need for a particular dish. For now, I’ve stuck with what I’ve learned to know. Eventually, I want to start cooking like I cooked in Ireland! I’m learning that we are so incredibly spoiled in Western countries, for instance I have not found a super market where they sell both food and other things you may need in your house. I haven’t seen steak being sold or shrimp – then again, these might exist but just don’t know where to get them yet. I haven’t really seen a place where you could get household stuff, whether it be for your kitchen or for your bedroom.
Then again, those are just things that you have to explore to find where they are. And until then, you have to adapt and get accustomed to it. Even when it’s been raining for the past two weeks, I don’t really complain about the weather. I feel that everyday there is something amazing that happens or something I see that I just don’t need to complain. Nor do I want to complain. Even with some of the things that I haven’t gotten to get or learn yet, I’m more appreciative of the things that I do have right in this moment. The appreciation is overpowering of the things that I don’t have. This is one of the lessons I’ve come to learn the hard way - learn to appreciate the things you do have right in that moment! I’ve seen some of the most amazing yet scariest storms I’ve ever seen in my life. Being so high up in the mountains, I’ve learned that sometimes I am in the midst of clouds – how cool is that! Life is just beautiful right now.
My other half is also writing his side of our story, don’t forget to go read his blog – http://duppyconqueror11.wordpress.com
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