The first night my roommate slept here, we prayed together before her boyfriend left. The three of us had spent about an hour and a half discussing how to eat fresh corn (do you pull off each individual kernel or dive right in and gnaw on it?), if I had a boyfriend, why the cross was important and how to live a life of faith. What a blessing to share life with my new friends!
I had dinner with a friend last night who I haven't seen since last August. We spoke in a mixture of English and Bulgarian. It was a joy to see my friend again, and since we got dinner near my apartment, she came over to see it. Speaking of entertaining, I've gotten to have people over almost every day since moving in--whether it was a friend who helped me unpack, dinner guests, or friends just dropping by. That's helped so much in making this place feel like home!
I started my Bulgarian lessons yesterday. After a 3 hour lesson (in the past I've only had 2 hour lessons) my head felt full, but not mushy. I had understood everything and my teacher started me on the intermediate book right away, without the review I was expecting. It surprised me, but while I was studying today, I noticed that I can use the Bulgarian dictionary as a reference tool now! I don't really understand the definitions yet, but it helps with the verb tenses! Some days I'm surprised by how much Bulgarian I actually retained. Other days I can't even speak English. But overall, language learning has been an adventure and usually turns out to be satisfying or at least entertaining.