Nasdrave!!!!

10-17-2006

It is a sunny yet deceptively cold afternoon in Bulgaria, I have not written in this blog for a while, so I figured it is time to play a bit of catch up. I have plenty of free time right now, but I will get into the reason for that a bit later.
Last week there was a national holiday for the municipalities of Bulgaria.(Bulgaria seems to have a holiday for just about everything) On Wednesday night we had a big party at the local hotel restaurant. Bulgarian parties are very drawn out and slow (yet very social and fun), the dinner usual lasts hours. We received the salads at 7:00pm and did not receive the main course until around 10:00pm. This of course leaves plenty of time for drinking rakia and dancing. These two things seem to be Bulgarians favorite past times. From what I have observed Bulgarians love to dance, I get a kick out of watching them sometimes because they are usually dancing to 80s music or the latest hip-hop music. There is something a bit humorous about a group conservative 50 year olds dancing to new hip-hop songs about sex and partying. I of course usually hang on the sidelines and observe, I am a bit more of a wallflower than a dancing machine. However toward the end of the evening, after I have drunken enough liquid courage aka ‘rakia’ to give me confidence in my dance skills, I hit the dance floor. It was quite funny last Wednesday as I rose from my seat to go dance everyone started clapping for me. I guess I am still a bit of a novelty around town and they get a kick out of my integration.
There was one very low point of that particular evening that I feel deserves to be noted. I was sitting with my colleagues having a good time when all of a sudden people started staring at me. The mayor and vice mayor gave me concerned looks that I will never forget. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable, and wonder what the hell was going on. I then noticed that several of my colleagues were looking attentively up at a television above the table. Ivan a colleague of mine walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder and looking concerned he calmly said that another plane had hit a building in New York. As the whole table looked at me attentively to gauge my reaction; my heart dropped. It was one of the lowest feelings I have ever felt, it was a bit weird I felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. I felt completely uncomfortable because I had no idea what was going on, and everyone was looking at me. A million thoughts raced through my mind; I immediately thought of 9-11 and feared that another disaster had struck New York. As I stood up I could not shake the look of concern and fear on my face. I walked over to an area where I was able to clearly see the television and then became a bit relieved when I saw that there was minimal damage to the building and it appeared to be only a small plane. This situation really freaked me out, and it took almost an hour for my nerves to calm down. Thank God this situation turned out to be a simple accident; without any terrorist involvement. I guess if this situation has taught me anything, it is that we are not in the clear yet, and tragedy could strike at any moment. It is a scary thought but this world seems to be getting more and more dangerous and unpredictable. When radical ideas mix with innovative and high-tech weapons it can spell disaster. I don’t think I will ever forget the feeling I felt last Wednesday night, it was a unique and low feeling, and one I will be happy if I never feel again.
Friday afternoon my municipality had an annual municipal soccer game. The game consisted of the municipal team including my colleagues and I vs the municipality administration, which included the Mayor, Vice-Mayor and a few councilmen. It was a lot of fun and my team ended up winning 2-1. I feel very lucky to have a good relationship with my municipality; they are great about including me in activities and have truly accepted me into their circle. I ended up getting a prize at the end of the match for being the fastest on the field, which is not saying much because most of the men were about 20 years older than I; with beer-bellys to prove it. After the game we had another municipal party which included an obscene amount of alcohol and a bit of snack food. This party started at 3pm and when I left at 9:30 I did not foresee it to end anytime soon. I was amazed at the amount of alcohol some of these guys consumed. The table reminded me of the aftermath of a college party; there were empty beer bottles and vodka bottles that covered the majority of the table’s center. It was a lot of fun talking to the guys and joking with them about similarities and differences of American and Bulgarian life. About every 15 minutes someone would say ‘Nasdrave’ and everyone would tap each others glasses and drink. Nasdrave is the Bulgarian version of ‘cheers’ but it is accompanied by a set of strict rules.
1) when you toast you say nasdrave to each person at the table
2) You must touch glasses with them if they are in your range
3) You must always look the person in the eyes when saying nasdrave
4) Never! Nasdrave with anything that does not contain alcohol.
If you do not have alcohol in your cup you simply sit out the nasdrave, because if you toast with something without alcohol it is considered very bad luck.