Merry Christmas

I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas from Bulgaria! Christmas is almost over here and I am officially worn out and filled to the brim with good food. The feast started last night with a very traditional Christmas Eve dinner. The tradition is that you are not suppose to eat any animal products on Christmas Eve, so we had stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, rice, and much more. We stayed up late chatting (I did not talk very much) and drinking.

This morning we opened presents and had a huge Christmas meal in the afternoon. Ivan's grandma Margarita joined us for the meal. We had duck soup, duck, pork, lamb meatballs, cabbage, rice, and panizia. I think they were trying to make up for the previous day with no meat. We then headed to visit Ivan's grandparents on the other side of town. They were very excited to see us. It was really special because Ivan's grandmother Kitcha gave us all of these beautiful table clothes and place mats that she has been making for Ivan and Maya ever since they were kids. It was sad because she said she wanted to give them to us before she leaves this earth and she does not know when we will be back in Bulgaria. It was a sad moment but a gift of pure love.

On Christmas Eve we stopped by Grandma Margarita's house to say hello and found her preparing some pork. Ivan's dad went to a village and bought an entire pig and brought it home. Grandma Margarita had two HUGE pig legs are her table. We watched her remove the hide and fat and cut up the meat into smaller portions. She is a pretty amazing lady. I am hoping to learn some good cooking skills from her, but I don't think I need to know how to cute up a pig.

We are going to Ruse tomorrow where Mitko's (Maya's fianace) is from. We are going to spend the night with his family and hopefully have a chance to see the city. I am going to try and post more pictures soon because I have some good ones. Merry Christmas! I love seeing Ivan's family but I really miss my friends and family on this joyous day.