communism

I think i talked about communism a bit already but i learned more about it today and so i thought i'd share some insights.  some members of the pc staff who experienced life during communism spoke today at the HUB in vratsa.  to me it's so interesting to hear about their way of like during this time.   i now have a little more insight into why the young people were sitting around and just drinking coffee in G and didn't get their friends together to play some games or do something instead of being bored.  now i realize it's because they don't know how.  during communist times we were told things were very structured and you were taken care of.  you couldn't be an individual but you were taken care of.  so when "the fall" happened everyone went from being taken care of and "pampered", although I'm not sure if anyone would necessarily call it being pampered, to having to fend for themselves.  the reason the young women, h.s. age, don't organize something or do something about being bored is because they don't know how.  they don't know how b/c their parents didn't teach them b/c THEY don't know how.  today things became a little clearer to me and our role here.  in my social work classes at goshen we learned that when a person hits rock bottom is when change can occur and not before.  in no way do i want to say b has hit rock bottom but this is the "infancy" stage of post communism development and we(they) can accomplish so much!  just how we remember the exact place we were when the towers were hit or JFK was assassinated people here who are older remember where they were when "the fall" happened.  how interesting!  i as commenting to one of the pc staff/speakers today and she told me she remembers when, this is horrible but the leader at that time, announced he would resign his position.  WOW!  that same person told us all a story about how she went to church to celebrate Easter and after the service was taken with her friends to a place and held overnight by some top ranking, or maybe not top, communist officials just because she went to church.  i really enjoyed today...although it meant we had to travel again.  so we're done with our meeting and cultural presentation.  now our focus turns to the 4th.  i find it interesting that when you're away from home everything is heightened.  maybe i'm saying that wrong.  i just mean that i'm not an overly patriotic person but when I hear something about America or even celebrating the 4th my ears perk up and there will be more emphasis on the 4th by me.  that's not to say i'm not patriotic in the least!!  I love my country and am grateful for all the freedoms I'm afforded there and everyone who came before me who fought for my freedom.  i don't take that lightly!!  i have everything i have today b/c of sacrifices made for me by my ancestors.  i guess what i'm trying to say is that i don't know the constitution by heart, i don't have an American Flag with me, i don't know the Gettysburg address, and i usually don't do much for the 4th, maybe go have a cookout at my parents or a friends house but not a big fireworks show or anything like that.  but being away from America over the holidays, even the not heavily celebrated ones, are a bigger deal  me because it links me to my home.  yes it's true when i'm having lunch you'll be sleeping and when i'm having dinner, we were informed we WILL be having a gathering with our families on sun (we wanted to just weren't sure when we were going to have time to plan anything:), you'll be eating lunch, but we'll both be celebrating the same thing and that''s comforting.  i guess what it all boils down to is it's something i can take pride in even halfway across the world.  enough rambling and time to think about everything i didn't get done today!  mom, i got a letter from you today and love reading your letters!  of course i know your information is about 2 wks old but it's rainy here too.  it rains pretty much everyday and hard rain too!  happy 4th if i don't talk to you before!