Advice if you plan on coming to Bulgaria

I am totally plagerizing again but I thought this was pretty funny. This was some advice on what new volunteers can do to prepare for Bulgaria:

Try peeing into a solo cup while wearing heels, nice pants, a winter jacket, long scarf, a purse AND holding your own TP at the same time (something at which I was no expert in before I got here) all on a floor covered in murky water. Then make sure to throw the TP in the trash can when you are done

Practice patience. Let at least 10 people get in front of you when you arrive first to the counter at your local 7-11 (which is the size of most "grocery stores" here).

Walk a lot! (it's fun!) Only buy what you need for one day and repeat for two years.

Want to feel like a goldfish for a day? Try wearing some of the latest Bulgarian fashion NOW: dress from head to toe in pinks and mauves, or for spring, neon green or orange and watch the stares. That is what you will probably look like to the locals here when you walk down the street in your American threads and sporting hiking boots and Chacos.

Check out a website in a foreign language you only know a few words in (preferably in non-Latin script). Try to read and understand it!

Turn off your heating in your homes now to grow accustomed to the inside temps. Practice sitting in rooms filled with cigarette smoke and maintaining a smile.

Hang out in a Cafe for hours!

Spend time with friends over long dinners and fun(5 hours min.) on weeknights!

Eat the freshest veggies ever during respective seasons. Marvel in the ability to get Kiwis and Bananas in the dead of winter, but not green peppers.

Practice congratulating your friends on any new purchase and reminding them it is their duty to treat you to some coffee or candy

Take four hour bus rides through beautiful landscapes

Watch the guy with Horse and Cart cut off the tinted windowed Mercedes during the middle of the local rush hour (a personal favorite)

Eat macaroni with sugar for breakfast

Eat pancakes and omlettes in the evening

Have a friend drop you off in the middle of nowhere, and try to get home using only the words please, what, and "umm".

Go to bed a few nights in a row wearing wool hat, scarf and socks, a fleece lined track suit and gloves. Sleep well.

Practice immunity to bad breath. Hang around abandoned truck stop bathrooms until you can stand the smell and keep smiling.

Ladies! To be truly acculturated, seek out hair dye that will give you just the right shade of cotton-candy blue, or "balkan red".

Stop using spices and flavorings now, that way it will be less of a shock to your tongue when you arrive.But on the other hand......prepare to be humbled, by the sight of a people trying their best in a world that won't slow down and thinks their language is "obsolete".

Learn the little joys of everyday, the vegetable lady who gives you extra heads of elephant garlic with a wink and calls you sweetheart, the children who call out to you from across the street as you walk, and the colleagues who fold your jacket perfectly when your not looking so that it doesn't drag on the floor.

Understand the true meaning of satisfaction, understanding, peace, contentment. What you truly need in life and what you are (shockingly) able to do without.

Oh, and learn to love the black lace thong with tight white pants.