Thanksgiving (Also Know As: More Bloodshed in Bulgaria)

For our first holiday in Bulgaira, seven of us volunteers decided to head up to the town of Mezdra for the weekend to celebrate together. Mezdra is a beautiful little town North of Sofia where a fellow volunteer, Mike Burrows, lives and works.

We all arrived at varying time on Friday afternoon, due to the fact that for some odd reason, Bulgarians don't recognize or celebrate the holiday. After some pizza, beer, and a little belot, the men headed over to the house of one of Mike's colleagues, who was at the time housing our turkey. We sat around swapping stories, eating and drinking rakia for an hour or two before we went out to lay our eyes on the beast. In an all but morbid display of affection we took the turkey out and took turns holding it and taking pictures. The fear of an emminent death shown through the birds hollow eyes.

We arose early and groggy the next morning at eight to head back to the slaughtering grounds. In the end, it was decided that Josh would be the one to kill our feast. None of us are quite sure how this decision was come to but as far as we can tell, he was simply handed the knife. The following video is a pure representation of what followed:

*Warning: Vegetarians and PETA activists, you might not want to watch this*

In a act of true Bulgarian hospitality, Ivan insisted on plucking, cooking, and delivering turkey for us without us lifting a finger to help. (only a knife) To pluck the turkey, Ivan placed the turkey into a bucket full of steaming hot water for five minutes which apparently expedited the process of pulling of its feathers. The turkey was then stuffed with rice, mushrooms, and meat and at six o'clock, the turkey arrived at our doorstep. In the meantime, the ladies had cooked up a feast of garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables while Ryan provided the homeade stuffing. Where was I during all of this? I was enjoying my stress-free day off and really, isn't mashing potatoes enough work for one day?

The dinner itself was a great time in the company of good friends, food, and wine, with the sweet sounds of Chalie Parker on the stereo. Although it wasn't quite the same as being back home with family, I couldn't have asked for a better time or better people to spend it with. To conclude, many of you may by wondering why we went through all the extravagance of finding and killing our own turkey. The fact of the matter is that frozen turkeys aren't available in Bulgaria so we had to take matters into our own hands. That's a lie, they are available, and for quite cheap... but why would I want to post a video of us buying a frozen turkey?

Currently Reading: "Ignorance" by Milan Kundera
Currently Listening to: "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me" by Brand New