Horo'ed All Night Long

Last night my Municipality had a Christmas/New Years party. We celebrated with Peshtera and Batak in a restaurant in the mountains of Batak. There was at least a hundred people there. I danced all night. Slow dancing, fast dancing, I even did the horo. The horo is a traditional Bulgarian dance where every one holds hands. You don't form a circle though. The shape is more like a snake with a leader and an end. It wraps around itself over and over again. It sort of has a life of its own. You have to see it for yourself.

When ever I got a chance to sit down and rest my counter-part would say, "haiday(come on) Matyoo." But most often it was this one lady who kept grabbing me over to dance. Sometimes she would pull me over when I was already dancing. Finally I asked her where she lived and she said, "you don't remember me". "NO I DON"T REMEMBER YOU". Actually I didn't say that I just pretended I didn't understand her. That's the good thing about being a foreigner. Here I am everything you hate about foreigner's in the US. If I don't want to answer a question, I pretend I don't understand you. And if you say something that I don't understand, I just say "yes" all the time. LOL! Well what else am I supposed to do. They'll just keep talking. I also like to mispronounce words on purpose to make it sound like something else. For example there is this guy named Zhorro. I call him Zorro like the masked character. I think it's funny. Getting back to the lady...I'd swear I've never seen her before in my life, but she acted like we were old high school buddies. She even knew my name. We must have met once when I first got to Bratsigovo and she remembered me.

My counter-part asked me if I wanted to do a little speech about Bratsigovo. "Uhhh...ok". And he imediatley grabbed me up on stage. "Ugh...Hello....how are you?" I wasn't sure what to say. Of course I have to talk in Bulgarian. "Bratsigovo is a great town and has the best Mayor in all of Bulgaria." They seem to like that kind of talk here and of course everyone from Bratsigovo cheered. "Happy New Year." And my little speech was done.

Later on that night the DJ called my name. "Matyoo Wolgren." Everyone cheered. I didn't know what to do, but that one lady grabbed me and put me in the middle of the dance floor where I had to strutt my stuff for a few seconds. He he! I was the center of attention all night. I noticed people kept looking at me. "Hey look, it's the American"

When I did have a chance to escape to the table, we did a lot of drinking and toasting. "Nasdrave Matyoo." I got back in the wee wee wee wee small hours of the morning about 15 minutes before 5am. I was planning to take a bus to Chepalare this morning at ten, but since it's already noon, I think I'll take another bus. At least I don't have to work like most everyone else. I have to meet with the Mayor of Chepalare now. The mayor of Bratsigovo found out I was going to Chepalare and it turns out she is friends with the mayor of Chepalare. So I have to meet with him and tell him "Pozdrave". I am not sure what it means, but it's probably some sort of wish of good health for the new year. Well I think my bus will be coming soon so I better haiday.

Chili but not Chili Enough

I hope you like the map of Bulgaria I placed in the last post. Now you can track where I travel. I put the link to the map in the "About Bulgaria" section as well.

The snow has pretty much all melted in Bratsigovo. If I'm lucky the snow will be refreshed tonight while I sleep. Since I don't drive, I'm enjoying living in the snow. If it's going to be cold anyway might as well have snow, right?

Tonight I'm making chili for dinner, from scratch of course. I hope the beans turn out right. I've never cooked dried beans before. It smells good. Let's just hope it tastes good. Mmmmm...I wish I had biscuits to go with it. I guess I will have to learn how to make those too. I'm making a full pot so it should last me for the rest of the week and considering I am leaving for Chepelare Thursday morning, it should last me for part of next week too.

I hope you all have a great New Years! Let me know what you did. I'll be sure to tell you how my New Years went.


P.S. Did you hear Kate is in Bulgaria? It's another perspective from a PCV. Check it out!

Christmas in Bulgaria

(Click the map for a better look)

I took a night train to Byala the Thursday before Christmas. Byala is in northern Bulgaria close to Ruse. The train left from Plovdiv at 11pm and I arrived in Byala at 5:30am. I am lucky I made it. Byala is like Springfeild in the US; there's a whole bunch of 'em. I didn't realize I had to switch trains half way through the trip and got off just in time. From Byala I took a taxi to a small city called Tsenevo. This is where I spent Christmas.

When I got to the volunteers apartment he was still sleeping. I rang the door bell, banged on trash cans, yelled his name, and finally after a long time he looked out the window and realized he was not dreaming. There were a few volunteers that arrived at his house the day before. One of them looked out of the window at one point told me to simmer down and them went back to bed. He may have been sleep walking. All I know is that they must of had fun the night before to be able to sleep through all the noise I created.

One of the volunteers did all the cooking. The food was great. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and so on. I brought cheddar cheese. It might not sound like much, but it's hard to come by in Bulgaria, so it was a nice treat. Bulgaria typically only has two kinds of cheese. A feta type cheese and a monterey jack type cheese. In fact they don't even have a word for cheese.

This Christmas was obviously different than any other for me before eventhough I was celebrating with Americans. This year the men cooked and the women sat on the couch all day and watched TV. It seems as though The wonderland of Bulgaria is encouraging us to create some new opposites.

One of the neighbors stopped by and gave us fresh apples, Rakiya, and pork sausages. The sausage was especially fresh, in fact we heard it being slaughterd that morning. It had a gamey flavor but was very good. We talked with the neighbor for a while and drank a glass or Rakiya together.

The travel back was intense. I left from Tsenevo at 10am to Ruse to Sofia to Plovdiv and finally took a taxi from Plovdiv to Bratsigovo for 20 lev ($13). That taxi rate was pretty good. Another taxi driver wanted to charge me 60 lev ($40). The routes to get me home were limited that's why I was all over Bulgaria that day. I walked through my door just past 7pm.

This trip was the first I've taken since I've been in Bratsigovo. I am suprised I traveled so well without making a mistake. Lets hope the rest of my travels in Bulgaria run as smooth.

Snyak in Bratsigovo

(winter in Bratsigovo)

I went to bed last night and woke up to snow outside this morning. I bundled myself up tightly and even had the oppurtunity to use my Yak Trax on my way to work. As you can see they're these things you slip on to the bottom of your shoes and they keep you from slipping in the snow. The company donated a bunch to Peace Corps and I picked one up. Mine aren't neon green though, they are the ever popular neon orange. I think they even glow in the dark.

I am still having trouble cooking recipes from the U.S. They never quite turn out right here in Bulgaria. Today I tried to make brownies and it ended up turning into chocolate cake. Oh well, I'll keep trying.

President Bush sent all Peace Corps Volunteers a letter for Christmas you can view it by clicking here or looking under the "About Peace Corps" heading in the lower right hand column.

Last Night

Yesterday after lunch I visited the ceramics factory in town. They have many different designs they work on. I watched a man make the view of a street in Old Town, Plovdiv. He made a three dimensional design of it from a photograph. Three people were working on that same design. It's like an assembly line, not with conveyor blets, but each of them worked on a different part of that design. Another guy was sketching new designs on paper and preparing to make a new mold. They showed me a tour of the place and all the different things they make.

After that I went to the other Dom Za Detsa(orphanage) and they ended up having an event that night. People from all over Bulgaria came to give gifts to the kids for Christmas including German red cross. I hung out and talked with the kids and they put on a show for everyone. They gave us ornaments they made as gifts. After the show they turned the cafeteria into a disco for the kids. In the winter time there isn't that much for them to do at night because the only disco in town is closed.

After that I stopped by Sisi's house and met up with some volunteers. They're teachers and from a differnt class than mine, but they did their training is Bratsigovo. Sisi fed us fried potatoes, keilbasa and gave us Rakia to drink. We talked a lot. It's interesting because eventhough we were speaking in Bulgarian I recall the conversation in English.

That night I went to a Cafe with the other volunteers. I drank mastika or oozo(is that how you spell it?) and they had beer. I ordered some duck hearts and one of the other guys ordered chicken hearts. The duck hearts are much better! We talked about the differences between being in the education program, which they are in, and the economic development program, which I am in. We also talked about volunteers who go back to the states before their time has been served. In my class of 59 we've already lost 5. We let some guy buy us another round and then stumbled back home.

What a cold night it was; I couldn't feel my nose. I'm learning the key to staying warm is in layers. I've got thermal, under shirt, under sweater, under jacket. And that's not enough. I need my beanie, gloves, and maybe some long-johns. I feel like I'm wrapped up in cellophane. When I look around it's only us American's who seem to be bundled up so tightly. You can be fashionable or you can be warm. I choose the latter, but maybe some of the Bulgareen's choose the other.

I'd like to end this message with a great philosophical question. Why is snow white and ice clear? Aren't they just different forms of water? If you succeed in answering this question please let me know. I can add it to my list of useless facts. Welp...I'm gonna go see if I can find some food. Come again.

Friends of Bulgaria

I added a new link under the "About Bulgaia" heading on the bottom right-hand column. It's called Friends of Bulgaria. This is an organization started by a group of former PCV's in Bulgaria. They provide small grants for assistance in Bulgaria. They also have a little information about Bulgaria and some cool pictures.

I've also added another perspective from a PCV under the "Other Perspectives from PCV's" heading called Where's Julian. Check it out and read about the explosion that shook his home while he was sleeping.

The lady that I share an office with just handed me another cough drop. Every time I sneeze she gives me one and has one her self. I am getting tired of eating these things, so I just put them in my drawer. I feel like the kid who stuffs his pop tarts in his locker at school. I tried to tell her I don't want them, but she doesn't take no for an answer.

That's pretty common here. It use to happen when I lived with a host family. They would ask me if I want some Rakiya(Bulgarian whiskey) and I would say,"no thanks." They would say, "just a little bit." I would agree and then they would poor me a whole bunch. The same treatment goes for food and anything else you can think of. Actually sometimes when it comes to food once you have finished even just one of the dishes they fill it back up to the brim with out asking. It's because compared to them Americans eat fast and if you eat too fast they think you must be hungry. Same goes for the Rakiya, so if you ever get a chance to experience the hospitality of Bulgarians make sure you take your time when eating and drinking.

Getting Out in Bratsigovo

This week I decided that from now on I am going to work out of the office on Wednesday and Friday afternoons. I told my counter-part I am here to help all the people of Bratsigovo, not just work in the Municipality office. I said that in order to help the people, I must know the people, and I can't get to know them by looking out of my office window. I want to meet business people in town, important and interesting residents, and the regular Joe Shmoe's. Doing this will not only help me get acquainted and integrate into Bratsigovo, but it will give me more to do.

Often times I am just sitting in the office with no work and just playing on the internet. I don't have enough information about Bulgaria or Bratsigovo to complete projects on my own. I need someone to work with me side-by-side. Truth be know, since my counter-part got promoted to Vice-Mayor, I really don't have a counter-part anymore. He is too busy. I don't like this right now, but in the future this arrangment will probably be benneficial. I share an office with a women, but I can never understand her. It's funny lately I have been feeling pretty poor about my language skills, but today when I spent my first afternoon out of the office, I was able to talk with and understand everyone I met.

I first visited a women(C.C.) who has hosted volunteers at her home durring their training. She introduced me to her colleauges and we sat and talked for an hour or so about potential projects, what were doing for Christmas, and just small talk. One of them invited me to hang out at a cafe soon. I also found out why all these cats keep wanting to get into my apartment. A couple of years ago there was a volunteer who lived in the apartment I live in now and she would take care of the cats. Eventhough she has been gone for a couple years they still come in the apartment building and they keep trying to get in my place. I always wondered who's cats these were. It turns out the apartment building never had cats until this volunteer came. It's funny how the cats still linger here after two years.

After my visit to C.C. I went to one of the two orphanages in town. There is one that is prodominantly for little kids and one that is for older kids. I went to the one with younger kids ( I will go to the other one on Friday). I talked to the Director of the orphanage for a couple of hours. She showed me some pictures from a couple of years ago when the U.S. Military visited the orphanage. I translated an email they sent her and a card she got from the director of Peace Corps in Bulgaria. I told her I would come back again and help her write letters to some of the Army guys that she met. While I was talking with her some of the kids who live there kept coming into the office to offer us treats. For some reason the kids kept asking me if I'm French. I don't know why think I'm French.

I'm glad I decided to get out of the office. It's going to help me with my language skills and networking.

Happy Student Day!

Today is Student day in Bulgaria. Students and former students celebrate their accomplishments. Today at lunch we went to the bar in the municipality building and drank Rakia and ate salami, cheese, nuts, and other snacks. Then we went back to work. They have a lot of holidays in Bulgaria. Yesterday was St. Nikoli day. That's a different kind of holiday though. It's a name day. Every Bulgarian has a name day and on their name day they hand out treats to everyone and have a Na Gosti at their house later that night. Every week there is someone coming into my office offering me a chocoloate (or bon bon as they call them here).

I thought it would be a good idea to layout my day for you so you can imagine yourself in my shoes. I get up around 8:00 in the morning to start work at 8:30. It's cold now so i wear a warm leather jacket and put on my gloves, sometimes I wear long John's. Then, when I get to the municipality I climb a couple flights of stairs to my office and strip. My office is really warm and I haven't figured out how to turn off the heater yet. Neither has the other lady in the office; she always opens the window instead.

Me and my counterpart travel durring the week sometimes. We've gone to Sofia, Plovdiv, Pazardjik, and villages within the municipality. Right now work is few and far between. I don't have enough information to start projects independantly. I often search the internet for funding sources for certain projects that my counterpart has told me about. My counterpart used to just tell me to search for funding and I'd say, "search for funding for what", and he'd say, "it doesn't matter just search for funding." I had to explain to him that I can't search for funding if I don't know what I am searching funding for. So he gave me a big list of project that need funding.

Now the main project I am working on is creating a new website for the municipality in English and Bulgarian. That should take some time. I am not using any web creation software, I have to type all the HTML commands myself. My counterpart comes in and check on me often. Actually there's a lot of interuptions. People are always coming in looking for Petia. I have to keep telling them that she's not in the office and I don't know where she is. And if she is here then they sit and talk forever. It's very distracting. Top that with the flys. There aren't that many flys here, but they are much more annoying than in the US. They keep landing on me and getting in my face and eyes. They drive me crazy sometimes. Ha ha ah!

I go to lunch at noon and come back and 1 o'clock. After work I either have piano lessons or Bulgarian lessons, depending on the day. They last an hour long. After that I cook dinner and usually eat around 8pm. I don't watch much tv. I've been reading instead. I've read Angels with Demons, Omerta, Easy Prey, and listened to Travel's with Charlie and Rich Dad Poor Dad on audio book. Now I am reading Executive Orders by Tom Clancy. It's over 1400 pages. That's a big task for me;I've never read a book that long. It's about a terrorist attack where an airplane was purposely crashed in Washingtong D.C. and killed the president, and most of the Supreme Court and Congress. Now the Vice-President(Jack Ryan) ,who was just sworn in a couple of hours before the attack, takes the helm as president and has to put the country back together. This is not a new book; it was written about 7 years ago. Like I said this is a long book, so I am reading The Fourth K by Mario Puzo too. Maybe this will give me more instant gratification in my reading. I play on the internet a little bit and then it's off to bed...

Old Cell

Hello all! I would like to ask a request from you. If you have an old cell phone that you don't need and might end up throwing it away, don't! If it has a sim card, send me the phone. I could use it.

In Bulgaria cell phones are expensive and they don't have the nice monthly plans. Its pay as you talk. The plus side is, if someone calls me I don't have to pay. I only pay when I make a call.

So if you have an old cell phone with a sim card(I can replace the sim card here so the phone will work on Bulgaria's network)
email me and we can figure out how to get that phone to me.

Thanks A lot!

Roughin' It

Lately I've been thinking how life in Bulgaria for me is more luxurious than when I lived in the US. I pay a Baba $6 a month to do my laundry. You heard me; $6 for the entire month to do all my laundry. Bratsigovo doesn't have a dry cleaner, but that's ok because the municipality has chaufers and I send them out to take care of my dry cleaning for me. They also drive me to places I need to go. Just yesterday I went to Sofia, a two hour drive, to visit the Peace Corps office. If I need anything my counterpart calls up his connections and gets it for me. He also repairs my toilet and anything else that breaks down in my apartment.

I don't have to worry about bills. Peace Corps takes care of them for me. Ever since I got to Bulgaria Peace Corps has taken care of everything, setting up a bank account for me, providing transportation, and making sure the place I live is safe and secure. Some PCV's complain that Peace Corps is too over bearing, but-all in-all it's a pretty good deal. On top of that I've gotten free produce and groceries from markets and neighbors and one market that I frequent often has extended me a line of credit. That is if I don't have the money now, I can pay him later. I live in a great little town surrounded by mountains. I have a great little apartment. My bathroom has a great little heater. You don't know what a luxury that is here right now. And you should see the view from my balcony in person. Yeah....I'm roughin' it!