The state of relationships

I had not been in the house for an hour yet when Atidje aked me, with all sincerity from across the kitchen table, "Imash li gadje?" (Do you have a boyfriend?)

This is a question I get every time I come "home" to Krichim, but it is never usually brought up so soon.

Ati and Oktai pretty much know the state of romantic relationships in my life. They know there is a severe lack of young and single males in my town. They know I still have issues with the language and am pretty much the opposite of a flirtatious and outgoing individual anyway, even if I could communicate easily.

But this has not stopped the questioning, and therefore the jokes.

On one of my first trips home they asked me if I had any friends in Straldja. I mentioned that I had befriended one baba (grandmother) named Baba Radka and she gave me cucumbers from her garden.

I am, perhaps, too naive at times. After only a few minutes Baba Radka had turned into Hot-Young-Man Radko and he had given me cucumbers of an entirely different sort...

So that was the first joke. And it's stuck. Since then others have come up, including the fact that I they say I am dating Sudku (a Krichim friend of mine who is a reminant of my early days there when Ozhgun rounded up as many people who spoke English as possible to come meet us). I suppose of all the scenerios this is the most probable, as they know him and know we hang out, but they also know he has a girlfriend in Plovdiv...Apparently in Bulgaria, however, that doesn't REALLY matter.

But this trip home, the subject of my love life was even more scrutinized than usual. Every hour some joke was cracked or some remark was made. When I left with Maegen, they told us not to come back until we have boyfriends. Sheesh...It's a joke, but man, that's harsh.

I am not the only one, however. Vtora Andy (Second Andy...not the Andy from my group but the Andy from the more recent group) was there and took the same heat. Maegen took it, I know other volunteers take it.

I find this a very fascinating feature of Bulgarian culture, this obsession with joking about relationships, and I usually find it amusing too. In the states we do the same thing, but it is only amongst people you are close with...Mothers are always trying to fix up their daughters and encouraging their sons to settle down and supply them with grandchildren. But it is not something generally brought up amongst strangers in public places...Though here, every train trip I take I inevitably wind up in a compartment with some baba who inevitably has a grandson just my age who doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, is very nice, has a good job and is very attractive. They all find it very strange I am 23, single, living alone in a far-off land, and seem to be okay with this.

So, that is the state of relationships in my life...Now I look forward to meeting the baba on the train who really DOES have a grandson my age, who is nice and smart and handsome and will keep me warm on these cold Bulgarian nights...The more I meet, the better the probability gets, right? Hehehehe.

**I hearby open my comments section to my fellow BG volunteers...Please share amusing stories about potential forced relationships in your lives, if you have any. (And I mean, you are in Bulgaria...how could you LACK stories?...)