Visiting the neighbors

Last weekend, I baked the Swedish cardomom recipe that my family always makes at Chistmastime. I figured it would get me into the holiday spirit and I also baked enough to give some away.

On Monday evening, I knocked on the door of my elderly neighbors with a massive loaf in tow. They, of course, made a HUGE fuss and ushered me in to have dinner with them. Dinner was toast, with a variety of toppings to choose from. Special for me, was an addition of "ketchmak" or a sort of polenta-esque, but sweet Bulgarian cornmeal concoction served with walnuts on top. We had a long conversation, and I understood a fair ammount of it. They were very patient and helpful in helping me understand new words.

Just as we have all seen Americans shout slowly at non-English speakers in English, some Bulgarians do the same to me. This elderly couple didn't though. They seemed to assume that I am intellegent and capable of hearing normal speech, even if I don't have the language skills to prove it yet. I think they also are a bit lonely and isolated. The woman has trouble going down the 6 flights of stairs from the apartment, and so does not go out very often. Consequently, they both seemed really happy to have someone new to talk to.

Our conversation (or what I could understand of it) was pretty interesting. From what I could understand, they were both university educated here in Svishtov, where they met (love at first site, according to Mrs.). I got a thourough introduction to the history of Svishtov, which has proven to be an almost inexhaustible topic with most locals. In addition to being the first city to be freed from the Ottoman Empire and posessing the first Bulgarian chitalishte (community center) , apparently Svishtov was the location of the first piano in Bulgaria as well as the first western style ladies' hat (if I understood correctly), couretesy of trading partners upstream on the Danube. I also got to hear about the couple's travels to Kiev and Lenningrad (today St. Petersburg) with the erstwhile state run "BalkanTourist" travel agency. I even spooned sugar out of one of their souvenirs!

I've been thinking about them a lot over the past few days. Their whole world was turned upside down by the fall of Communism. They used to be middle class, vacation taking, souvenir buying people with jobs. Now they are living on what ammounts to a pittance of a pension and having toast for dinner in an old apartment with a broken elevator. So much of the development work going on in Bulgaria today has to do with building the skills and confidence of youth, which is extremely important work. I only hope that someone remembers the elderly, who are far too used to a system that rewards silence and compliance to speak up for themselves.