okay, one small update

In Bulgaria, there is one day that's even more important than your birthday- your name day! In the Catholic faith, each saint has their own day, or "feast." well, in Bulgaria, almost everyone is Orthodox, and they take these days seriously! Today is "Cbeta Mary" or Saint Mary (as in, gave-birth-to-Jesus, Mary), and anyone who is named Mary/Maria gets the day off! okay, that's not official, but it is observed!

so last night, festivities for Cbeta Mary began in a neighbooring town. EVERYONE went to church (cirk-vah) and then headed out to cafes and...a CARNIVAL! that's right, I went to a bulgarian carnival this week and it was awesome! I had some cotton candy, but I was a bit scared of the rides- afterall, people in bulgaria don't think they need seatbelts, so what kind of safety standards do they have for carnival rides??!??!?!!?

I had my BIG interview for site placement today- I think it went well. My guess is that I will be working in a Roma Minority community doing integration work, leadership development, volunteer recruiting, and fundraising. but that's just a guess...