Longest. Church. Activity. Ever. (or that's how it felt)

(This particular activity was actually a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to post this...)

For the past few Sundays, they've been announcing in our little branch of the church here that they were planning to have an activity to teach the Americans (me and Susan) how to make bahnitsa and moussaka. Bahnitsa is a traditional Bulgarian pastry, usually filled with sirene (see-ray-nay), a soft, white Bulgarian cheese. We actually like it better with apples or something, but the cheese is yummy, too. Moussaka is found in lots of countries round about here, more or less a casserole-type dish, made with lots of veggies and ground meat. Anyway, as much as I like food, the planned 4+ hour activity didn't sound fun at all to me. The women were supposed to show up at 1pm, and the men not until 5pm, at which time we would all enjoy the fruits of our labors and then have a sort of devotional and clean the building. Sigh.

And I do, overall, enjoy going to and supporting church activities. I think it's important to be supportive and it's a great way to get to know each other and help build up/strengthen each other, etc. But this one...oh man. I was dreading it all week. What got to me was that naptime for the twins AND me is from about 2-4, and this meant NO NAP for Fiona. And I find them very important. Also, four hours with a bunch of women who are VERY nice, but speak almost no English sounded very, very, very long.

Anyway, blah blah blah... I went because I didn't want to let them down and they were being so sweet doing this for us. Susan showed up for about 45 mins because she had a prior singing engagement, and then it was just me. Oh boy, those were the longest 4 hours...Then the others showed up and we ate, etc. and didn't get home till 8pm. That's SEVEN hours. Long, long time. And having several opinionated women all trying to direct you in Bulgarian at the same time in spreading cheese filling or chopping cucumbers (tasks I am fairly competent at, or so I thought) can really make ya antsy...

BUT, I did learn how to make moussaka, and my bahnitsa turned out quite superbly. And I zipped over to the grocery store with a couple of the women to buy a few more ingredients and the grocery boy flirted with me, which is rather strange and especially unexpected when you're pregnant. AND I successfully peeled many, many potatoes with a huge, serrated bread knife. Something I've never tried before because of the ritzy potato peeler we have. With NO blood, woohoo! Though, speaking of blood, Nuala, in her usual enthusiastic and klutzy way, ended up busting her lip on the table and screaming bloody murder. And THEN one of the old Bulgarian women, the one who kept talking to me a TON in Bulgarian and waiting for a response the whole 4 hours we were working on the meal (like the 3rd or 4th or 11th time I would have magically learned Bulgarian ;) got stuck in the bathroom and we all were trying to bust her out and finally a short, fat little grandma grabbed the handle and with inhuman strength wrenched the door open. It was great. See what I woulda missed out on if I had ditched? And even though our conversations were limited, it was nice feeling the shared spirit with the sweet and bossy Bulgarian women who share our faith.

So, I'm glad I went. Even though I smelled like moussaka clear down to my undies and had to change and shower immediately because my stomach decided it couldn't take it anymore. But still, glad.