Busy Busy!

I haven't been posting as frequently as before because I've been really busy. I've been helping an English family that moved into Bratsigovo get oriented. They've been having a lot of problems getting the house in their name and I've been acting as a conduit between them and the Municipality. This past weekend I took the Brits to their first Na Gosti (guest party). We went up in the mountains to visit with the internet guy (Zoro) in his villa. It was an all day event with plenty of food. It was great to see Jean and Trevor's (the Brits) reactions to the whole event and all the food that was served. The mountains were cool and peaceful.

Last week eight french girls arrived for the summer to to help at one of the orphanages. They speak english and I've been translating and helping them plan activities for the kids. On Friday they're going to help me with a cooking class I started at the orphanage and cook French food since I know nothing about how to cook French food. On Saturday, as long as the weather holds out, we'll go for a hike in the Rhodopi mountains near Bratsigovo.

I've been working on a project to create a wood and metal shop in one of our villages. It will be available to the community, but first priority will be given to students. These particular students have been sent from all around the country to live in a boarding home in this village. The idea is to give the students some training in a skill they can use in the future. We would also like to use the shop for after school programs to keep the kids of the street. Bratsigovo and Bulgaria in general is in desperate need of youth development. Typically school gets out at about 1pm and the kids don't do anything, but go to Cafe and get into trouble. In addition to Community and organizational development (my program) and teaching English, Peace Corps has a youth development program. It's new, but probably one of the most important programs. They can do a lot of good if it's organized well.

So those are the things I've been up to besides a lot of traveling around the country. The young people have come out of their caves for the summer and I've been making a lot of new friends. If the rain would go away once and for all, things would be near perfect.