"All prisons of cultivation"

It has been really neat to be able to be in touch regularly with B while we wait. We did not get to do that with Krassimir, and do not with T, but we write weekly letters to B, including a page or two of photos, and every other week or so we get to Skype for 45 minutes, with someone from our Bulgarian agency as a translator. We've done this enough times now that both Matt and I commented after the last one that we're noticing a growing comfort level from her and on our part - how wonderful to be able to be building that NOW gradually so that when she actually comes home, she'll feel that much more a part of us and our lives, and we a part of hers.

There still remains, however, a significant language barrier. We have NO communication that doesn't go through our translator (besides basic greetings, and "I love you!" which we know how to say in Bulgarian.)

We don't have that luxury with our letters, so we're taking advantage of google translate. It sure is fast! The accuracy...well, we're hoping it's not TOO bad! We've been told that with simple sentences, google translate does a pretty good job. Sometimes I'll check a paragraph that I've translated from English to Bulgarian by translating it back into English, and most of the time I'm satisfied that at least the general gist is there. I figure if I can mostly understand it doubly translated, it's probably slightly better with only one pass.

Then came this week. ;)

Backing up. We knew we wanted to send one "big" package to B during the time she was waiting for us, and decided that Christmas was the time to do it. Around here, we (as parents) don't give a lot of gifts to our children (who needs more stuff around???) but we always make a rather big deal about treats in their stockings, which we hang on the night of December 5th to open on St. Nick's Day, December 6th.

Way back I posted about making Krassimir's stocking. Now, with B and T, the series that I've been cross stitching is no longer big enough for our whole family - there are only nine stocking in the series! Just enough for the kids, if we pick the names out of mine and Matt's. (Reuben's and Rinnah's stockings used to be my parents' stockings - my mom made them at the same time I made mine back when I was fourteen.)

Before

After! (Her whole name is obviously under there, but a little bit of Photoshop takes care of making it blog-worthy!)

 Oh, we had fun putting this box together! The kids and I baked three different kinds of cookies, packing up enough for B to share with the other people who live in her group home. 

We picked out some candy, and fancy lip balm, and a toothbrush and mini toothpaste (because that's just what you do in my family!) to put into the stocking, AND we each wrapped up a little gift - mostly candy, a pair of silly socks) and put those into a bag marked "не отваряйте, докато 25 дек". (Do not open until December 25th!)

And I wrote a letter, trying to explain all of the things I'd included. I decided to do my double check re-translate trick just to make sure things sounded okay. This is what I got for the second paragraph.

"In our house, we celebrate the "day of St. Nicholas" on 6 December. On the night of the 5th, all prisons of cultivation. [what???? what in the world is this supposed to mean???] I made one for each person in our family. [Yikes! I don't think that helps anything!] That, in this field now belongs to you. [lucky girl!] I did it for myself in 1993 when I was fourteen years old! Is is special for me to be able to take my name and put in your name. B........ - oldest daughter to me!"

Needless to say, I reworded that paragraph, and it came out much better. Simplify, simplify, simplify!!

So, if you ever wonder if your family's holiday traditions are a little...unconventional...don't worry - I'm sure they're not as out there as our all prisons of cultivation!!