My new home

I just got home from a visit to my permanent site in the Rhodopes. It was an overwhelming three days! Here are some pictures to set the scene:

This is my counterpart Ramadan sharpening his scythe before cutting some grass. He is the librarian and his wife, Rufie, is the principal of the kindergarten. I also stayed with them during my site visit.

The town sits on this steep hillside and extends a little further up the mountain.

And my favorite picture…this is Rufie and her neighbor Fatima taking me for a walk. They were pointing out which plants can be used to make tea.

Overall, I’m very excited about living and working in this village. I don’t want to make premature judgments or generalizations, but I can say with certainty that I am living in an absolutely breathtaking place. I am IN the mountains with a river down below, amazing caves on either side of us, and bears and wild goats roaming throughout the area.

The site visit itself wasn’t very fun…it involved long days of travel on buses, being overwhelmed with meeting new people, and an exhausting amount of Bulgarian and Turkish speaking. Also, since I ended up staying with my counterpart I had very little autonomy or space for rest (especially mentally). Coming back to Pudriya was such an encouragement because it felt like home! I realized that we have built a level of understanding with people here. I have a routine. I have a room. And, communication in Bulgarian was suddenly SO much easier. The best part is, I know I will eventually get to that point at my permanent site too.