What've You Come For?

Не сме дошли тука да мразиме, We've not come here to hate,
дошли сме да обичаме. we've come to love.

Не сме дошли да атакуваме, We've not come to attack,
дошли сме да прощаваме. we've come to forgive.

Не сме дошли да се подтискаме, We've not come to oppress,
дошли сме да се подкрепяме. we've come to support.

Не сме дошли да плачем и да се оплакваме, We've not come to cry and to complain,
дошли сме да играем и да се смеем. we've come to play and to laugh.

Не сме дошли тука да се разделяме и да се нападаме, We've not come to divide and battle,
дошли сме да се обединяваме, да работим заедно. we've come to unite, to work together.

Докато не правим това за което сме дошли, Until we do that for which we have come,
не можем да сме пълно и искренно щастливи. Out of joy and happiness, we'll rarely hum.

Под всичките човешки драми, травми, и конфликти, Underneath all conflict and drama,
ние сме всички деца на тази прекрасна Земя. we're all children of this Earthly Planet Mama.

Същото човешко сърце бие във всеки един от нас. The same human heart beats in each chest.
Същата кръв гори във вените ни. The same blood burns in our veins.
Същата вода тече в клетките ни. The same water flows through our cells.

Ние сме всички деца на тази прекрасна Земя. Children of the Earth are we,
Нека да си помагаме! Let's begin to help each other...one, two, three...

Whooooooosh

Wow, time is breezing by pretty quickly here...soooo much has happened in the past few weeks, gotta hold on to my seat so i don't lose it as life breezes by. Here are some of the highlights...

* Shopping trip with Nejda and Ailie, to the biggest pazar/bazaar/outdoor market in Bulgaria...Dimitrovgrad. I got T-shirts and sweatpants and popcorn (those weren't very sustainable, i'm
afraid ;-P). Nejda got a cute jean outfit, a sweater, and other assorted stuff for her "chiiz", the luggage that she'll be taking to Bursa when she gets married on July 9th. Can you believe she's getting married on July 9th and moving to Turkey? I still can't believe it...she probably can't either, for that matter...it takes a while for big changes to sink in, but dang it, i'm gonna miss her. She's been an amazing friend and inspiring colleague and motivational hiking buddy in the time we've known each other. Ailie got some clothes for her son, Giokai, who was taking an exam during our trip.

*Two-day excursion to Sandanski with a group of kids from the school Beron. Spent about 17 hours on the bus and, maybe 6 hours off the bus, but it was worth it, at least after the kids got tired of throwing up from the motion of the bus. We stopped at Rila Monastery, ate some pancake-like mekitzas, played frisbee, my neighbor/teacher Mima went to visit her relatives in the city, we walked around Sandanski for about an hour (there are beautiful monuments and mineral baths there that we didn't get to see due to shortage of time, nevertheless, we were there! on our walk, i met two hippies from Canada, who were heading to a mini Rainbow Gathering in a nearby village, i helped them buy some groceries...they left a trail of people talking about them behind their backs...for those who don't yet know this, drinking coffee and gossiping are two of the national sports in Bulgarian villages...the liberated Canadians aided in the sustenance of the latter). After the big tangent, we ate, slept, played frisbee, got on the bus, some of us threw up, then we went to Sofia Land, which is a mini, mini, mini Disney Land (i.e. there were about 15 rides there, but hey, it's a blast!), some others of us threw up on the rides, others got wet while floating around on logs, we ate McDonald's (it was a cultural experience ;) ), i bought a whoopee cushion (which created a big stir on the bus, for about ten minutes, before it got popped...it was probably a good thing for the bus driver that it got popped), we got on the bus again, Nejda and I read, the kids danced (this was a very good thing, as it kept their minds off of throwing up!), then Aishe and I played basketball with a bouncy ball, and a cup, and we came home with sore bottoms but happy hearts.

*Went on a picnic in Krichim with Sunai, Freddi, Andy (from the Krichim cast of characters), Nejda, and Andy's friend Kristal. It was so sweet to be back in Krichim...it's such a beautiful and amazing place. That night, we all went to a Chalga bar in Plovdiv and danced the night away. Going to a live Chalga (this is Bulgarian pop/folk music) bar had been a dream of Sunai's for, well, ever since I've known her, and perhaps longer, but she was sooooo tired the next day that she won't be going back for a while. 'Twas enough shaking of the booty and sniffing of the smoke and ringing of the years for about a year. Nejda went to classes the next morning (she's finishing up her Masters in Psychology), and I was happy to meet some of the wild and interesting people in her Masters class. Nej took a healing course based on the philosophy of Norbekov (a Russian man who studied in Tibet for many years), suggested to her by one of her classmates...it was a powerful experience for her, and i'm curious about it too. Mom, you may be interested in that course as well, when you decide to venture over here.

*Last weekend, went to a USAID English Conversation Teaching class in Sofia, which was helpful, inspiring, and well organized. More on that to come...but one of the highlights for me was walking around the center with my friend Zheni, who also went to India, and stumbling onto a pillow fight in front of the National Theater. In the background, a man was playing the saxophone, creating a gentle, mellow atmosphere, while all around him, people were banging each other with pillows and feathers were flying everywhere. Apparently there's a pillow fighting club that meets every two weeks...of course we had to join...it is fabulously relaxing and fun...possibly even better than yoga :-)

More to come...

Interesting Story:

A few months ago, i was sitting around with my colleagues in the Chitalishte...
we were all huddling together in our little officefor warmth. Nedka, our lovely accountant, was writing something on the computer. My boss, Kumber, zie creative painter, wonderful 50 year old man with a
beard, was looking at books to add to the chitalishte collection. I was standing close to him, doing something or other, probably picking my nose. At one point, I looked over at the list of books he was looking at. One of the books was called "You're Still a Sexy Piece of Meat". I thought that was pretty funny, so I read it out loud. Well, Nedka didn't realize that that was a book title since she was looking at the computer. She turned around and looked at me inquisitively with a bit of shock in her expression. 'You American girls just can't hide your feelings...couldn't you wait until you were alone in one room with the boss to let him know how you really feel?' Kumber and I burst out laughing and showed her the book. She had really thought that I was just feeling so turned on by the boss that I was about to burst if I didn't tell him exactly how sexy of a piece of meat I found him to be. I may be emotional and direct, but, hey....i do have my limits :-) We all laughed pretty hard for a while. And all was good.


As the weather is getting warmer, we no longer need to huddle so much for warmth and it's been wonderful to be outside more and to play frisbee and to hike and smell the budding trees and bushes. It's a sweet time of the year. Of course, this means less time on the computer, more time on the fields, so blogs may be a bit sparser for the next few months. No matter, I bet you readers would rather be outside than sitting in front of the computer as well.

Before saying goodbye, I'd like to share a poem with you, from a while ago...feeling inspired thanks to a poetry reading put on by the kids in the writing club of the chitalishte. I was blown away by the creativity and wisdom that the kids embody. Nedka's daughter, Vivi, won a contest put on by a Turkish/Bulgarian magazine called UMut.

Superconductor

Multitudes of particles,

struggling for control.

A multitude of particles,

who's gonna steal the show?

Caught up in the act of
putting up resistance.
It's too hard to find the time
to provide fellow assistance.
Moving...

Clashing....

Moving, clashing and colliding,

Wherever you look, clouds of activity are hiding.

Perpetual motion obscures...

the ability to see,

the possibility to be,

the state of being free.

What these particles don't know is that...

there's a force which supercedes the stormy weather,

a current that binds all particles together.

When the proper conditions arise,

there will no longer be need for tries.

Surrendering to the powerful force that binds,

unlimited energy is what a particle finds.

We humans are a part of nature,

and of particles we're built.

Could there be more to life,

than a flower that will wilt?

Could a human a superconductor be?

Is there hope for a superconducting we?

For those of you who've already read it...well, now you've read it twice. Don't worry, newer poetry is to come.

If you're wondering whether I"m using this blog as a shameless plug for poetry and literature...the answer is...yes, yes, I am. You gotta problem wit that? I'll take you on in a 'poetry slam'! I may lose, but i'll take you. And i'll enjoy it ;-) Enjoy yourself, dear reader...nobody else is gonna do it for ya, so ya might as well do it yourself!