I'm sad.

I’m sad. But in sadness often comes reflection and sadness can bring forth the sweetest memories.

All too soon our Bulgarian adventure has come to an end. Several things have come up, which we did not anticipate, and have necessitated our return to Arizona. I am already missing Bulgaria and the friends we made there. I miss Sapareva Banya. And I miss the little town of Koprivshtitsa. I was only there for two days but it seemed like such a wonderful place to spend two years. I hope to go back someday as a visitor, perhaps to stay for a while.

Learning the Bulgarian language was a huge challenge but we were making good progress in learning vocabulary, at least in speaking. It was, however, very stressful when I was trying to hold a conversation because I still hadn’t got to the point where I could understand a lot of what was spoken to me. Maybe with my hearing loss, I would have never reached that point. I’ll never know but it did weigh on my mind.

The good side is that we’re back with our good friends in Arizona. Our own house, our own bed, our own shower, the ability to drive a car again, and above all the opportunity to live with each other both day and night, all make up a familiar refuge from a very intense time in our lives.

We’re now 30 hours back in our home and the jet lag still lingers from being seat-belted in aluminum cocoons for 23 hours on three flights covering one third of the globe. Our bodies are still on Bulgarian time, now ten hours off from the Arizona sun’s cycle.

We’re back home. The warm Arizona air removes the chill from body, mind, and soul. I look forward to getting reacquainted with “my” mountain, finding my friend the cactus wren, and indulging in enchiladas and fajitas at my favorite Mexican restaurant. So many familiar things to do, to see, and to enjoy.

And yet some part of me is still in Bulgaria. My dreams are still in Bulgarian. Part of my soul drifts with the haunting singing of the white brotherhood echoing high in the Rila Mountains. Part of me still walks the narrow cobblestone streets of Koprivshtitsa. In some mysterious way I have become part-Bulgarian and the word “home” now has two different meanings on two different sides of the globe.

Today I am Janus. I am looking forward and I am looking back.

Rila Monastery Part I

The Rila Monastery, located in the Rila Mountains southeast of Dupnista, is the most important monastery in Bulgaria and is a major tourist destination. Two weeks ago Shirley's host rented a 17-passenger bus to take our group of trainees as well as neighbors on a day trip to the monastery. The cost of the bus for each of us was only 10 leva, about $8. What follows are Shirley's pictures from the trip.

The history of the Rila Monastery goes back over 1000 years. A holy man, St. John of Rila, became a hermit in these mountains because he did not like the way that the people were living. He lived in a small cave on the mountainside and slept on the ground. He began to preach to those who would come to his hermit’s retreat. A group of followers decided to build a monastery nearby and continue to learn from his teaching.

Thus the first Rila Monastery was built in the years of the 10th century. The monastery grew in importance and size and reached it’s apogee in the late 14th and early 15th century when over 300 monks lived here. During the Turkish occupation monastery was burned and destroyed several times beginning in the late 15th century.

By the early 1800s the monastery was again as large as the present day but a devastating fire in 1833 destroyed all the wooden parts of the monastery, particularly the monks living cells. Because of the importance of the monastery to the local people, a group of 3,000 master carpenters came to the site after the fire and rebuilt all the wooden parts in just a couple years.

The main church was built in 1837. We visited the monastery on a Sunday and observed some of the morning church service. Because this was a weekend, there were also hundreds of tourists both from Bulgaria and from around the world.

This is just a small portion of the three story (plus basement) monks quarters that completely surround the interior courtyard. The outside walls of the monastery are stone with a few small windows causing the exterior to look more like a medievil fortress than a religious establishment.

In some sections the monastery is four stories high, plus basement. The whole structure is an irregular rectangle and is huge.

Because this was Sunday morning, there were priests on hand to greet worshipers after the service. He and the woman at left with the pan were giving out small pieces of bread which has religious synificance.

I loved this cupola hanging off the top floor.

This tower inside the courtyard was built in the 1300s and is the oldest part of the structure still extant.

This small chapel with the red stripes was also built in the 1300s and is only a few years younger than the midievil tower.

There were probably more than 1,000 tourists and worshipers here on this day.

The gift shop was mobbed by people wanting to buy icons and other religious items.

Obviously we were enchanted by the design, colors, and size of the monastery. Every picture of the monks quarters on this blog is of a different portion of this huge place.

Rila Monastery Part II

I know that not everyone is entralled by endless pictures of religious art but if you share my passion you will feast with delight on the hundreds of frescos and paintings that adorn almost every inch of ceilings and walls along the colonades.

Rila Monastery Part III

I am continuing to endulge my passion for this art work that was painted in the 1840s. I hope that you will enjoy it with me. The curved pieces that you see are all ceiling pieces in domes and niches. Even some of the flat pieces are also ceilings but some are on walls.

Rila Monastery Part IV

Endulge me one more time while I share my love of art. Remember that the pictures shown in these blogs are only a small fraction of the religious art at this one monastery.

Great Bulgarian Diet and Fitness Weight-loss Plan

You have heard of the South Beach Diet. I’m sure somewhere there is a North Beach Diet. In Arizona we have the No Beach Diet. But I have found one weight-loss program that works even better. I call it the Great Bulgarian Diet and Fitness Weight-loss Plan (patent pending). It works like this:

Fitness Program: Five days a week walk one mile to class and each afternoon walk home one mile. For extra points walk back into town in the evening for a Coke date with your favorite Chica and of course walk home again. Each Saturday walk at least four miles bird watching and main street cruising with the afore-mentioned Chica. On Sundays, repeat or add in an extra five miles of mountain hiking.

Diet Program: For breakfast, enjoy one croissant and a Diet Coke. For both lunch and dinner, 70% of food intake should be tomato and cucumber salad with small amounts of oil, parsley, and feta cheese. The remainder of lunch and dinner should be strange tasting unfamiliar food with lots of heavily spiced ground pork. By avoiding all familiar or comfort food, one will naturally restrict themselves to very small portions. Evening meals should include one half liter of beer or a generous shot of homemade brandy. Garnish this diet with a minimum of four ice cream bars per week.

Guaranteed Results: As I can personally attest, this program will generate a weight loss of 12 pounds in only two months. Try it. It works!

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Breaking news: The hot weather of August and the very warm weather of early September has suddenly broken. As late as last Thursday the temperature was 87 degrees. Today, Tuesday, the high was 68 with light rain and the high for rest of the week is forecast for 59 with lows of 52. Some mountain areas received a dusting of snow today.

Super breaking news: The Peace Corps sent us to Dupnista for a two-day training session for all 27 of us. Guess who actually got to share a hotel room together? It sure beats being a bachelor.

Recent news: Our training group, previously 30, has lost one more member and is now down to 27. The stress of the intensive training, particularly language training, has been hard on a number of our group.

Last month’s news: In late August the Peace Corps evacuated all volunteers and staff from the country of Georgia because of the Russian invasion. That Peace Corps program has been shut down and all volunteers sent home except for a few who wanted to transfer to another country and start a new Peace Corps two-year service. Some of the volunteers had been in Georgia for almost two years but others had only arrived nine weeks before to start their training program.

Yesterday’s breaking news: The Peace Corps evacuated all volunteers and staff from Bolivia because of the unstable political climate there with civil unrest and blockades in parts of the country. For a while some volunteers were trapped and unable to leave their towns because of all of the roadblocks set up by protesters who are opposed to the left-wing president of the country, Eva Morales. I read on the internet that Bolivia just expelled the U.S. ambassador. Because it was becoming unsafe for Americans, the Peace Corps pulled out for the safety of its volunteers. The volunteers have been sent home to America and their service is terminated.

Making Banitsa Part I

Banitsa is a large round pastry 12" or more in diameter. It is great breakfast treat but can be eaten anytime. Although some people buy a commercial banitsa, the best are homemade. A good cook can be judged by her banitsa. The banitsa in these pictures is being prepared by Baba Venetka (and an assistant) in Shirley's house. "Baba" is the word for grandmother and is a title worn with pride and honor.

First the yeast dough is prepared from scratch and allowed to rise in a warm place after being divided in about ten portions.

One portion of dough is placed on a tabletop that has been dusted with flour. This portion of dough is first flatten by hand. Note the low table that is only a little above knee high on a short baba.

No, there is no rolling pin. A long round dowel works better as you will see.

The dowel is not used like a rolling pin. Rather the dowel is used to roll up the dough on the stick.

After the dowel is completely rolled up on the dowel, Baba will roll the dowel back and forth a little and work with her hands to spread out the dough so that it becomes wider on the stick. You can't do that with a rolling pin.

Then Baba unrolls the dough back onto the table so it is a flat circle again. Then she turns the dough 90 degree and starts rolling it back up on the stick again and again will work with her fingers to widen the dough. Of course as the dough is widened it becomes thinner and thinner.

Note how much bigger the dough circle is now.

When she finishes with this one portion of dough, it is almost paper thin. She drapes it on the dowel to carry it. If she tried to carry it by one edge, it would tear because it is so thin.

Now she pours a small amount of vegetable oil on the circle. In Bulgaria vegetable oil is most likely made from sunflowers which are grown in Bulgaria.

After the oil she sprinkles a mixture of egg and feta cheese.

The process will continue on the next post on this blog.