There are 7 weekends left for us here. 3 are already taken care of: one in Shipka for the annual ‘field conference’ (I’m sure we’ll know what it’s all about afterwards?), a trip to London to visit Imogen and see the sights commonly seen in movies and a trip to Istanbul because that’s where we’re flying from!

It’s fun weekends like that that make time go fast.

We just enjoyed such a weekend in Kardzhali with ‘the American family’ Vera and Barry and their daughters Ruthie and Deborah. Vera had written on my facebook wall that we couldn’t possibly go to London without making the 40 minute trip south to see them. We realised that if we didn’t act now, we would procrastinate until it was too late and leave feeling slightly guilty. So we organised to spend Friday night…which then stretched into the entire weekend with them and a visiting girl, Erin from Sofia (well, Alabama via Macedonia, but that’s her story). We didn’t realise when we responded to the invitation that we’d be spending Valentine’s weekend with an American family, so it turned into a continuation of a theme of ‘Elly and Stu’s Cultural Adventures on International Holidays.’ (Not that Valentine’s Day is actually a holiday… or even one that Stu and I make a habit of recognising)

Vera and Barry started an English language school in Kardzhali in January and appear to be enjoying moderate success with a beginners’ and a pre-intermediates’ class both held twice weekly. Once a month they have a fun night on a Saturday night where both classes get together to build up their English in a fun and relaxed setting.

The first ‘English Club’ was held on Saturday night and it was Valentine’s Day themed! I have to admit I was a bit excited to be in the vicinity of Americans at this time and see how they spent their day. I won ‘Valentine spirit’ points by suggesting/volunteering to make pink icing and pipe hearts onto the cookies Erin had accidentally baked like normal and not heart shaped. I might have lost my hard-earned points by the message I wrote to Stu in his Valentine, only to regain them by making a disgustingly girly coloured one for Aydin. I didn’t mind putting aside my usual disdain reserved for St V’s and get in on the action!

The result:

The English Club was very fun! We played games and listened to a love song before sitting around a table eating the cookies and making elaborate Valentine’s cards. We also had a bit of conversation practice where us native English speakers bombarded the students with questions. The rule was we weren’t meant to reveal that we knew any Turkish (or in Erin’s case, Bulgarian – very similar to Macedonian) but it sort of came up and we got lots of questions in Turkish that we didn’t really understand. I think I’m supposed to pass on some greetings to the Richards…possibly something else? I just nodded and agreed.

Oh, and Barry makes awesome pancakes. The kind you could use as a pillow if you found yourself falling asleep at the breakfast table.

So we still have 4 weekends free. I’m sure we’ll find activities to fill them up with! We’d like to return to Kardzhali to make another video as request by St John’s’ Stepping Stones group – something we intended to do this weekend, but forgot the camera…

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As a side note: some other people who are experiencing the same countdown as us are the Richards. Yes, for those who do not yet know, David, Kathryn and Aydin will be saying goodbye to their lives and friends here in Bulgaria and returning to Australia in early April so that Aydin can enjoy school and life in an Engllish speaking context and get all the support he needs. All three are quite stressed by the move and anticipation of a new start in life. It is especially difficult for Aydin as he doesn’t fully understand why this decision is so important and every day finds a new reason to stay in Bulgaria. Stu and I are trying to maintain routine by dutifully turning up for school and try to keep him focussed, but it’s hard amongst the busyness of a house being packed up. At the same time, we’re trying to dampen down our own enthusiasm about going home in respect of their feelings (but we’re pretty sure they know just how much we’re looking forward to our return date!).

If readers could pray that the transition back to life in Australia would go smoothly for them (and us too, I suppose) and for all of us as we plan for re-integration. We all need to find employment (well not Stu, but we can’t all be perfect) and housing and the Richards’ need to find a school that is the right fit for Aydin.

That’s about all

Elly xx

Today (as long as you’re reading this hot-off-the-press on Thursday!) marks 2 months until we leave Bulgaria! So we’re continuing the list of things we’re not so keen to lose:

The following continues on from this post.

5. Not being understood: why is this a good thing? Well, for two reasons, both of which are devious! Firstly, having the ability to conduct private conversations in public can be quite handy! You know, important matters like: “Darling, you have a large piece of spinach stuck between your front teeth”, or “Don’t you think she’s a bit old to dress like her daughter?”, or “I’m a bit tired and bored, how about we make our excuses and leave?”. Secondly, once you’re used to the fact that no one is speaking a language you can understand, you simply tune them out. It’s great! No need to turn around to see why that dude behind you is yelling… he’s almost certainly not yelling in your direction! And when we go out for a coffee, the many murmurs in Bulgarian mingle together into a strange kind of white noise that’s very conducive to the kind of introspective conversations that Elly and I keep finding ourselves having lately!

We’ve been wondering what it’ll be like when we get back to Australia. Will we cope with suddenly not being able to block out all the noise? Or will we accidentally ignore people? Who knows.

6. Non-processed food: actually, Bulgarians LOVE their nasty, stale, preservative-laden processed foods! The supermarkets here are laden with such wonderful goods as: packets of cooked sausages (hellooo killer bacteria!), individually packaged (stale) croissants piped full of sickly strawberry goo, cheap chocolate bars full of cocoa-less ‘chocolate’, dubious flavours of soft drink (pictured above)… the list goes on. However, it’s also quite easy to avoid all that rubbish and we have really been enjoying doing so over here! Fruit and vegetables are cheap, as are dried beans (our new staple!), white cheese, rice and pasta. Eating out is healthier too – ‘fast food’ doesn’t really exist here, so it’s more likely to be traditional Bulgarian fare (stodgy but authentic). I would say “I hope we keep it up when we go back to Australia”, but the above basically describes what we preferred to eat anyway – except that in Australia there’s no financial incentive to buy non-processed food. I think Coles and Woollies have a secret tax on eating healthily!

7. Europeness: I suspect we Australians subconsciously or otherwise consider Europe to be altogether more authentic, or sophisticated, and truly beautiful than Ausland. If someone had told me that a year ago I would have laughed (bitterly!) in their face(s), but having spent our time here I realise that I came to Europe with that very notion tucked away in my head somewhere. The feeling first showed itself when I first entered this shady pine forest underneath Mt. Vitosha – but other might have experienced it as they walk through the doors of Chanel in Paris or Gucci in Florence*. It’s a feeling that leaves you saying “Oh yeah, I’m in Europe, baby!”. I’m afraid to say that it is cool to be in Europe, after all.

[* An additional example might be drinking cappuccinos in Venice... in saying that, I give "told you so" rights to my sister Sal, who I once mocked for her glowing (and allegedly frequent) reports of the quality of coffee in Italy!]

8. A clear and uncomplicated purpose: this one is a bit more philosophical. Around October 2008 when we made the decision to come to Bulgaria we were filled with a near-euphoric sense of purpose. I’m sure others have felt the same thing at various times in their lives – witnessing the birth of their child; accepting an amazing job offer; buying a house; deciding to follow Jesus, etc. I remember feeling lucky that I knew what the next 18 months of my life would look like (it certainly satisfied the control freak in me! For about 5 minutes).

Something of that feeling has stayed with us during our time here. Which is not to say that we haven’t struggled, or found teaching Aydin or learning Turkish difficult – but we retained the luxury of knowing what we’re here for and how long we’re required.

I have two observations about this; forgive me if they contradict each other. On the one hand, if I were asked to narrow down what I’ve learned from our experience to one thing, it would be this: that we’ve been privileged to see through David and Kathryn (and several other missionary families) what a life lived with a singular sense of purpose can achieve! What we hope to bring home is a sense that ‘we’ (meaning, ‘we mere mortals’) can live our lives with some of the same purpose. Not in the sense of striving to be over-achievers, but in the sense of living intentionally. In other words, I’d like to put more thought into how I spend my time – which includes re-evaluating how much of that time I designate “mine”.

On the other hand, sometimes desiring to find a purpose can distract us from simpler things. What I mean is that God moves in mysterious ways and we don’t always see what his purposes are – and so our own sense of purpose often has nothing to do with it! Elly and I think that’s true with our trip to Bulgaria. We certainly felt called to be here, and had that sense of purpose that I described. And we know that God used us to help the Richards’ at the perfect time. But what will we take home from it? Well, we’re not returning to missionary college – though that was a possibility before we left Australia. Neither are we returning to Australia to employ our skills in teaching 6-year-olds, or speaking Turkish. In fact, we can’t really pinpoint what it is that we’ll take from our experience here – personal growth, God’s timing, something we may never know. What we do know is that it’ll be good for us.

Eww. And before I get all mushy, I’m outta here!

Cheers

Stu.

Hi all,

The kids’ group from our church (St. John’s Launceston) asked us to make a 5 minute video showing what we get up to here in Bulgaria.

Below is the result! But first, here is the disclaimer:

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Disclaimer! (note the large, bolded text and exclamation marks):

1. It’s a pretty daggy video. We’re very sorry to our friends and relations (not to mention our future children!) for making such a fine piece of cinematographic uncoolness. Perhaps we should have read this post.

2. We also keep saying “hello, Stepping Stones!” which I’m sure you can forgive, since that’s the name of the aforementioned kids’ group. If you want us to make a video where we repeatedly say “hello, <your name>!”, we’d be happy to do so. Just leave a comment with your request.

3. Being intended for a young audience, we inexplicably started using the dreaded Play School voice when addressing the camera. This was entirely unintentional. Enjoy. Note that we have already turned 21; your opportunities to use this against us are diminishing.

4. We speak in Turkish. Just a little bit. Note how I (Stu) move my eyes up and to the left when I’m thinking of the right verb+tense+case to use (maybe we should have scripted it?). Hence my complaint about brain strain!

5. This isn’t strictly part of the disclaimer. In fact, this point is for of a proclaimer. Aydin is awesome in front of a camera! Check out how he ad libs heaps of funny stuff, including the timeless “bagging out Mum and Dad” joke! Amazing.

Anyway, I can’t delay it any longer. Go on. Watch and laugh.