Bi Ram

so i'm getting ready to be on vacation until next thurs.  if i would've planned ahead these next days would have been perfect to go somewhere but i didn't think about it before hand.  besides there's plenty of work for me to do!!  monday isn't really a holiday but Bi Ram, the spelling is questionable, is and it falls on tues and wed during the week.  since the majority of our students commute we have mon off as well and will make up that day later.   haven't done a lot of research or talked a lot about Bi Ram but what i know now is that it is a Turkish holiday, not bulgarian, where a female animal is killed and eaten.  before it is eaten some of it is given away to people, either 3,6, or 9 people.    i get the feeling that this is one of the older traditions and, like Ramazan and American holidays for that matter, some people celebrate and some don't.  just today after lunch i was talking with my counterpart about Bi Ram and i asked her whose house i should go ghosti to for Bi Ram b/c i want to see what goes on and just like that, i'm invited to Bi Ram.  a little side note here; i will never get used to knowing people are talking about you in front of you and not being able to add anything to the conversation or being clueless it's about you!   i don't mind but i feel a little silly when, for instance, someone says "ok you can do this" or "you can go there" or something like that and i didn't even know I was the subject of the conversation!  or when i meet someone for the first time and am with someone i know and after the new person says something to me and i ask them to repeat it so i can understand, they start talking to my friend who knows me about me.  then of course i can't add anything b/c the new person is talking to a native speaker and i'm lost!  i really don't mind it's just hard to get used to!  anyway the next several days should give me a great chance to get caught up on my work and get prepared for new things.  'm interested to learn more about these couple days and will write more about this tradition later.  for now i'm going to go enjoy a peanut butte cup from my dad and step-mom!  love to all and enjoy the weekend!  this past week it was in the mid 70s and very nice!