jimyea-the mosque

i know that's not how it's spelled even in English but that'll have to do for now.  i had a little problem with my connection yest that's why i didn't blog but i think todays can make up for that!  last night, mon at about 5pm-good timing all around, nargis and i went to the mosque, or jimeya.  it was good she was with me b/c in addition to doing some translating for me she's also muslim.  it was soooo cool and one of those "pinch me" moments.  the picture i posted on my blog of the mosque all lit up at night?  yeah, we got to go up there and see all G!  anyway, we had to wait right when we first got there b/c the men were inside doing their Ha Mas, prayers.  after that nargis and i got to talk with the Imam, kinda like the pastor, and he took us inside and showed us around.  now mind you that in addition to speaking in B some of this conversation was also in Turkish so i was double thankful nargis was with me!  of course i think you all are aware of the 5 times a day prayers.  what i wasn't aware of was they do not always face east, they face in the direction of Saudi Arabia where Muhammad came from.  you enter the jimeya with the right foot, b/c that's the good side, and exit with the left foot first, b/c that's not the good side.  i asked nargis if it would be very rude and inappropriate of me to ask to see his do the Ha Mas, b/c i'm a woman and i'll get into that later, but she said no and i got to see him do a little bit of the Ha Mas!  how utterly cool is that!  nargis asked me when we first left my apt where my camera was and i told her i'm not taking a picture of that; i think that would be inappropriate.  the first time a muslim "bows" down it is standing and without the kneeling motion.  all times after that it is with the kneeling motion.  one of the things he told us is that for the 5 prayers a day there are 40 stand/kneel times!   talk about your thighs getting a workout!!  there are necklaces with beads they use while doing the Ha Mas and there are 33 beads, then a bigger bead, then 33 more and so on.  each of these beads has a prayer kinda like in the Catholic church they have certain prayers for certain things.  muslims go through all the beads but i forgot, they do their Ha Mas, stand/kneel,  first.  on fridays the Imam does a special "reading" for muslims who want to hear.  these "stories" come from Sofia (the capital).  also, i think i got this right, the call to prayer is at different times depending on where you're located.  the times are according to Istanbul and then the distance from Sofia is taken into consideration.  then he got out the Quran.  for you mennonites out there, it has 606 pages.  isn't that a funny coincidence??  there are also 6666 periods, "fullstop"s in B, in the Quran.   i also got to hear him read in Arabic!  he said he didn't understand but it was interesting to hear him!  he also said the Jimeya was from the 1700's!  oh i forgot!  before all this, before a muslim enters the jimeya they have to do a special washing ritual to be "clean" when entering and going before Allah.  the ritual starts from head to toes and includes washing face, behing the ears. arms up to the elbows, and your feet including btwn the toes.  i think that's it but it's quite possible i've forgotten some body parts.  i was also lucky enough to get to see this!  there is a special balcony for women and it is curtained off so the men can't see the women and vise versa.  of course shoes are taken off.  i'm not quite sure about women.  i think they can go "upstairs" whenever and can go into the lower man's part when men are not in there or if they can only go in the lower part during Ramazan.  there is also a special little house type building behind the jimeya that can be used by women too.  before going into the jimeya i noticed some things outside.  they have a cemetary on the grounds and along with a headstone they also have a foot stone.  there is a small table outside and narg said in that case is told me this is to wash the body before it is buried b/c it has to be "clean".  like i told you all before we got to go up top and looking out all over G was a beautiful sight and again one of those "pinch me" moments!  one of my favorite parts of the night, it's hard to choose but this kinda stood out, is when the Imam asked if nargis and i wanted a small pear from the pear tree.  so we went over and got 2 and i took a bite of mine...and then remembered where i was andthat even thought i don't participate in Ramazan i was at a jimeya and should be sensative to muslim customs, and there ware other muslim Dyados, muslim gpas, who had come for the next Ha Mass so we were in company of several Muslim persons.  i said "that was stupid" and spit out my bite in my hand.  nargis, whose muslim but not practicing, asked me why i did that and told me we could eat, it was time.  i said "well in that case" and took several more bites of my pear and was almost done with it when she looked at me and said"actually we can't."  it figures while i'm trying to be sensative of the MUSLIM traditions a MUSLIM gets me in trouble!!  a little while later one of the dyados gave us a date, used to open and close the days during Ramazan, and we were patiently waiting to eat until we left when margis looked at me and told me we could eat.  i asked her if she as sure this time and she said "he said so and i trust him."  this is wicked long i know and i have to quit but let me just tell you those men look so cute!  little old men, one was 85, hunched over from the yrs of very hard work, wearing their little black hats.  babies are cute but this was a sight!  the Imam gave me an idea i'm going to work on too!  i have been asking people if they ant to go to America and he said "very much so" so i'm going to make a little America here since they might not be able to make it to America.  i know a perfect time to do this is for American holidays and with tradditions but i want to do something other that that!  i'm just not sure what yet!!  if anyone has any ideas let me know!  or if something really stands out to yo uabout being American" tell me!  this is one of those things i get in my head and it won't leave b/c i'm set on it; kinda like my hair!!  ok, enough for today!  the school yr starts tom for teachers, the kids come on the 15th.  i've been working on translating some things i did at my childcare job, games, into B.  love and many kudos and nazdrave! to my family 

imagine this!

i'm in Bulgaria watching the USA FIBA basketball team play and they are announcing in Turkish!

NOW i'm home!

This is going to be kind of quick b/c i've got lots i should do today!  i cleaned, ironed, washed clothes, and other things around the apt yest so today i can help Nargis move and do pc stuff.  however, since i found the FIBA world basketball championships that may all fall by the wayside!  it won't but i think the USA, including danny granger, plays today and if i'm right, i will be watching!  those of you that know me better know how much of a bball fan i am and was very happy to find it!  i watched some of the games yest after my work was done and while on breaks.  is it wierd that in B i can recognize the USA in turkish?   anyway, friday was spent going ha ghosti and looking at pictures so i didn't have much time to blog.  and my B class.  i'm going to include a picture of some of my coworkers.  now i can tell you all their names and know i can't spell them correctly.  i can tell you that the man you see is Bisale and the lady next to him is his wife, Naje.  the next lady, pardon me i can't remember her name, is one of the cooks for the school and she was with N and I when i made choc chip cookies.  the next is Nargis, then me, then the ladies house we were at.  she's kinda like a custodian for the school too but does so much more, just like the janitors/custodians in the states!  speaking of custodians i hope school is starting well for everybody.  school here starts the 15th of sept and either i will be on a bus or in S, a meeting with 5 other pc yd volunteers to learn things and put on a camp for roma kids.   ok that's it from here!  see you mon!

magazines

magazines are little shops and i know i've mentioned them before and probably didn't explain them well.  when i need anything instead of going to the store as i would in the states i go to one of the various magazines here in G.  and they are kinda a very small supertarget.  a person can find anything they need from laundry detergent to eggs to utensils.  and pretty much every magazine here has little bits of everything.  and just like i can walk into target and drop $50 just like that today i was in kubrat with nargis and we went into this store for cheese and i ended up spending 10 leva.  but...I GOT BROCCOLI!  then after we came back to G i headed to the post office to post some letters for tom and ended up talking with the post office Naze and her daughter-in-law, ok i cheated a bit b/c her d-i-l speaks english so she translated some things i wasn't able to get across in B.  they had never heard of the pc asked me questions about it, why i'm doing it and what i get.  i tried to explain i don't get anything but all the food and generousity from the B people.  i like talking about that b/c that's what is important to me.  when i was talking about cy class in V before during pst i told them i had 20= hrs/week and now i only have 3.  they asked me why and i explained about everything i will be doing come mid sept.  one of the things i mentioned is that i will have an english class.  Naze assured me she would come to my class.  now all i have to do is have a class!!  yeah.  then after i left the p.o. i went to have coffee, yes coffee, with my neighbors and noticed they had a big pile of tree midsections, ok more than the stump but w/o branches, sitting right in the "driveway" and asked about it.  deana said "why?  do you want to help?"  i think they're used to me asking to help b/c i want to help with everything.  it wouldn't surrise me if i'm chopping wood tom!  deana said she would take a picture of me chopping wood and send it to my mom and my mom would cry.  why she thought she would cry is beyond me but i said "no.  shat would happen is that she'd know i know how and when i return to the states in 2 yrs she will want me to chop wood.  they thought that was so funny!  and yes, there wil be pictures if i end up chopping wood.  that's it from here!  have a great day and if i forget tom GO FEVER!!

my experience

one of the things my aunt asked me was if there was anything i could compare my experience to that would give you all an idea what it's like over here and all around.  i have to say since i'm a little older now than when i went to the dominican republic in college my experience feels a little different.  i'm older and can rely on myself more.  but still i'd have to say it's a blind leap of faith, the 1st 3 months especially!  a person has to place total trust in complete strangers to care for them and have their best interests in mind. i'm talking about the host family.  yes the pc checks everything out and makes sure the families that sign up for a volunteer have the necessary things needed to host but still i'm sure there are times when things happen that don't go according to plan.  just like when i was in college i have an organization behind me, ready to back me up and help with whatever.  but i'm the one living day to day with the family.  for me it's believing in God that helps me and is why i'm able to do this.  think about it.  a person is lumped in with 80+, in my group that is, other volunteers that chances are you  have never seen before.  getting along isn't a question, it's a must!  the little petty differences btwn certain people have to be put on the backburner.  it's kinda like you jump from the first impressions to depending on that person for  a part of your survival!  now that i'm finished with pst and out on my own it's different but it's not.  it's all up to me and it's still a blind leap of faith.  face it, i can always go to a store and point to something i want/need and can be understood, but whose to say the person behind the cash register is going to be honest and take the right amount of money when i hold out my money if i didn't have words?  for me to know that there are 200+ volunteers in B that i can ask for help if i happen upon them is so comforting!  the majority of the volunteers have never seen each other before but won't hesitate to help me if happen to be in their neck of the woods.  we're a united group in an, more or less, unfamiliar country, speaking an unfamiliar language, with unfamiliar people who we have to depend on for certain things.  for instance the outlets in my apt didn't work the other day.  i have to depend on someone i've known for a month to fix the problem correctly.  all of the above worked very well for me!  i'm surrounded by very kind and generous people who have taken me in.  not sure if i'm one of their own yet but i need to earn that!  i have wonderful neighbors and a very awesome counterpart!  i have been invied ha ghosti countless times and have been given more food than i know what to do with and have had to learn to make compot and conserve b/c of all my extra food!  i don't know what the next 2 yrs have in store for me but if i leave Bulgaria with as much as has been "given" me I'll be surprised!  my blind leap has worked out very well for me so far!  i was blessed to have a wonderful family during pst and a great site, where i am now!  i would do it over again in a heartbeat!  and i must add that it helps a whole lot to have you all behind me affirming me in what i'm doing and supporting me with letters, etc.now while we're on the sub please excuse me for today; i have a package to go pick up.