Gettin' my call and a couple of questions

[Patrick Weiss]

Wow... I wish I would've looked harder for this webisite earlier!
My name is Patrick Weiss. I recieved my call the day before thanksgiving last year! and don't head out until April 8th. (it's coming so fast!!!) I'm looking forward to meeting all of you (those Newly called of course) on April 8th.
I haven't had a chance to look at the rest of this sight so my questions might sound silly so bear with me

1. What's the food like? Am i gonna come home a string bean or a bowling ball? I know silly but i was just wondering...

2. How is a bulgarian person? If you could generalize a whole nation how would that person be? happy, stubborn or not talkative? i know another silly one, but it doesn't hurt to know kinda what to expect from people there.

3.What is there that you would've died to have but they didn't tell you to bring.

4. Anything you think pertenent to a person in my shoes.

ha ha thanks for having this site it's awesome... it's only too bad that it doesn't support cyrillic texts in the names...  i tried with my name but it didn't work!

Патрик Вайс

[Richard Davies]

1. See http://www.bulgariasofiamission.org/faq#bulgarian-food
2. This one is pretty hard to say... As with most generalizations, whatever I'd say will be wrong for probably half of the people. Just keep an open mind... you'll start to form your own opinions soon enough once you get there.

[Joshua]

1. Most people eventually really REALLY like the food, although some things take some getting used to. How much you eat of it depends, of course, on you and how much money/time/friends you have.
2. You're right, this is a silly question (understatement). You can't generalize a whole country. Just remember, though, that you're going to be the outsider, and that will probably put you way out of your comfort zone. And lots of people might be more standoffish than otherwise due to the way you dress.
3. I don't know what they tell you to bring these days, but definitely have an alternate bank card from an account your parents/someone else who cares can put money into.
4. Pertinent to you specifically? I'd drop the Veiss thing...Bulgarians are perfectly capable of spelling and pronouncing "Weiss." If you call yourself Veiss, then you'll have a lot of people wondering why you don't want them to call you by your name. 

[mightymoose]

Do they have Mt Dew in Bulgaria? I sure hope so, cause if not I might cry.

[Blindspot]

You'll get used to the food.  All things considered, though...you'll probably drop a few pounds, although there are exceptions.

The people are best experienced.  They are different in each city.  About the only thing I can say that would be true is that they mostly have dark hair.

Kool aid is nice to have.  Just throw a bunch of packets in your bag.  they don't take up much space.

Don't try to overthink it.  You're not moving to mars.

Ditto on the "Vice" thing.  Members will look at you funny.

And yes, mightymoose, they do have Mtn Dew.  It' sweeter than here.  They don't have Dr. Pepper (sniff) or Root Beer, but just about everything else they have.  You should try boza...you can't get that here. 

[babaemi]

Don't drink the boza. You won't like it. It is the nastiest stuff on earth and there is a good reason you can't get it here. No one would want it except a strange few.

[Blindspot]

Don't tell people that!  Everyone should be allowed the shock and surprise (and likely disgust) of their first boza.  It's a wonderful experience to observe.  Don't cheat their trainers out of that moment!

Next you'll be warning people about таратор and шкембе чорба.  Bulgarian cuisine and Bulgarian culture should be jumped in to with both feet.  A day doesn't go by that I don't crave a шопска салата or a miss my Bulgarian friends.

For those with new mission calls, don't worry at all about what you'll encounter.  Instead look forward to immersing yourselves in the Gospel and Bulgaria.  When you're done you'll wonder what you ever worried about.

[Brinton]

шкембе чорба = vomit...no seriously, everytime I even smelled the stuff I would get woozy!

As for boza, I thought missioaries were not allowed to drink that anymore.  Isn't it slightly alcoholic?  At anyrate, it's nasty stuff, smells like fermenting beans, also made me woozy. 

But all of the other stuff is GREAT!

[Blindspot]

In point of fact, boza has not been banned to the missionaries.  It's the stuff that sits out for a while that ferments, so fresh boza is fine.  Personally, I can't stand the stuff.  But I'd hate for some greenie to know about it beforehand.  It just ruins the moment when they first taste it.

And there are no beans in it.

[Joshua]

Yeah, who knows? Some people might like the stuff... (I think the whole bit about it being banned at some point was just a cover for the taste-cowards)