my families

first of all let me apologize for the long absence!  second of all let me welcome my aunt to my blog.  where to start!!  i have so many things to write about it's hard to know whick one to do first!  i had a wonderful time with my parents, both my American and my "Bulgarian" parents.  my B parents are really like siblings since we're the same age but they are the parents of the family i stayed with during pst and so they are like parents.  once again the B hospitality came out, for me but really for my mom and stepfather.  my host father drove 2 hrs both ways to pick up and drop off my parents at the airport in sofia.  we went to my gma and gpa's house and  were treated wonderfully!  AND i have to say i think the best part of that visit was when my gma let me help clean the table, my mom couldn't, b/c i was "family."  later on that same day she even called me a "Bulgarka."  it looks kinda strange in english but in bulgarian it means a  Bulgarian woman.  that was it for me!!!  and when my sister went to translate something to me, my B family is much better with their english too, my aunt said "she knows Bulgarian!"  i have to say both were kinda strokes to my ego!!  WOWWOW!!  they did give me a run for my money with the translations tho and now i understand when my counterpart says it's kinda hard going from eng to bulg.   i agree!!  i will say tho it made me feel kinda good that i was able to understand and translate.  people ask me if i can tell my lang is getting better or not and i really can't tell b/c it's me being the judge.  however visiting my pst family i really could tell a difference!!  in the past when i was in pst and i went to my gparents house i went where they told me to and spoke when spoken to.  this time i wasn't so quiet.  i still have a very long way to go, by B teacher says that i am in the 5th grade level with my b!!  my parents were introduces to banitza and rakeya and very much enjoyed both!  in fact they were given a bottle to take home and i'm really not sure it they have any left!!  i can't say enough about either family!!  my Am family carted an extra duffle bag around italy, trip b4 b, just for me with tons of food, sweets, clothes, and even some halloween costumes.  my B family rolled out the red, white, and green carpet for my Am family, put several hundred miles on their car, and showed my parents bulgaria, the spirit of the people i have grown to love and some of the countryside.  from the bottom of my heart thank you to both families!!  I LOVE YOU ALL!!  love to all, lisa     oh yeah!  catching the bus back was an experience i'll never forget!!  let's just say i got on!