Slowly changing....

I notice myself slowly changing. Some of the aspects of Bulgarian life that seemed odd or foreign when I arrived in Bulgaria are now normal. My sensitivities have changed. I fall asleep to growling, fighting dogs without rushing to the window to see the fight. I step between cowpies in the street with disinterested dexterity and without revulsion. Places that seemed dirty and decrepid do not seem so anymore. I know now that inside the plain, concrete blok apartment buildings are decorative and pleasant homes where dwell warm, caring people.

My Bulgarian is coming along. I had thought that the most difficult part of the language would be learning the alphabet and pronunciation. With the simple phoenetics of the language, however, it has turned out to be quite easy. I am dogged by word gender and irregular conjugations, however, and as always with me, vocabulary. I sometimes unconsciously substitute german or latin words for their Bulgarian counterparts. I am speaking in complete sentances, though, and I understand more than I try to say.

I have seen things here that do not widely occur or would not happen in my native land. I have seen men hitting women and children openly in the street without rebuke or shame and people drinking out of muddy rivers with factories upstream. People burn their garbage in the street in front of their house and include plastics and bottles. Stray dogs, cats and other animals are widespread, especially in small towns and are truly wild. While I have enjoyed a certain anonymity in my university and city life, everywhere I go I am watched. Eyes are always on my back because I am visibly different. I know this and I am aware of this. Sometimes, I come home to my host mother and she knows exactly where I've been and what I had to eat or drink not 10 minutes before.

Life is still adjustment and adaptation. I am wary of milk and I miss the vast quantities of it I used to drink. And, of course, I miss the availability of Old Spice High Endurance Deodorant, Original Scent. I can't find it over here and my supply is almost out. I shall have to do with what the indigenous peoples use. Such is my sacrafice. Ciao!