The Big Field Trip

Bulgaria

...As I wandered in Sofia, I noticed that the trees were full of seeds; big and little, circle and oval, they all scattered far from the parent tree. I saw crazy teenagers throwing chestnuts at bikes and trains. A maple seed with curved wings fluttered to the ground like a spinning parachute, and I picked it up. I split the seed open and put it on my nose so I looked like a rhino! Cruz did the same with papa’s help.....

Photo Gallery

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...As we neared the top of Shipka Mountain Pass, an immense, round, space-age-looking monument began to cut through the mist like a gigantic, ghostly spaceship. In the back seat, three child-sized jaws dropped to the floorboard. "In decades past," Georgi explained, "this structure hosted Communist Party assemblies and banquets. Then unexpectedly, twenty years ago this week, the Berlin Wall fell"... Since that day the headquarters, where we now tiptoed through rubble and broken glass, has stood as a tattered monument to the Red Years, each day giving a little more over to the elements. We crept through the haunted great hall, which was thick with a haze that scarcely allowed sun rays to penetrate through the gaping holes in the roof. A heavy silence hung thick over piles of soggy, shredded red carpet. Only ghosts were there with us now, paying silent homage to the brilliant red hammer and sickle that still hung ominously from the center dome...

Homeschool Corner

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...When we found a kapama recipe that featured roasted bell peppers, we had to give it a try since we had been exploring the bounty of peppers in Bulgaria. In his homeschool studies, Cyrus was researching the history and spread of chilies from South America to the rest of the world. Like many other Bulgarian recipes, this one involves roasting in a sealed ceramic pot. Bulgarian ceramic pots are perfect for making traditional Bulgarian dishes, like pork kapama. Dutch ovens also do the trick...