It's been a while

This summer has been very busy and the internet has been very crappy. Bratsigovo has upgraded the internet network and has even lowered the price at the same time. So now I am back and have so much to say.

Two groups of French girls came to Bratsigovo this summer to help out at the orphanage. We organized activities for the kids and hung out a lot. When they finally left the girls and the kids were in tears. I still keep in contact with some of the French girls. One of them works in marketing which is what I have a degree in. One of the girls even said that I changed her mind about Americans. I guess I have to say they changed my mind about the French as well. They were great to hang out with and be around.

After that I took a trip to the black sea with a bunch of students from a town called Purvomai. Me and another volunteer helped supervise them, but mostly just hung out with them and planned some activites. I met a bunch of Americans there from Polish decent who were travelling around Europe performing shows for traditional Polish dancing. They were in high school and we hung out at the the clubs on the beach smoking hooka and drinking. It was interesting because they preferred speaking English, but their parents prefered speaking Polish. One time on the beach a mother and son were in an argument. The mother would only speak in Polish and the son would only speak in English. I could only understand half of the conversation. I also met some Russians on this trip and learned that with my knowledge of Bulgarian I was also able to understand a little Polish and Russian. Durring this trip I had some time to relax, get burnt, meet a lot of people, and even dive for muscles and barbeque them.

This summer I also had the oppurtunity to go to Croatia and Italy. You can see the pictures on the right of this page. Croatia was awesome. I met an old high school friend there. I Visited Zagreb and fell in love with the city of Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is a fortress where people still live, work, and go to cafe's. It's just a really cool town. Bulgarian and Croatian are like Spanish and Italian. I was able to understand much of what people said there. Fortunately most of the people spoke English there.

From Dubrovnik I took a boat to Italy which lasted eight hours. In Italy I visited Barri, Rome, Florence, and Venice. The sights in Rome were incredible. The food was amazing. It was everything I pictured Italy to be. With Italians playing music as I walked through the cities. I wish I would have stayed a few more days just to get my fill of the food alone. I think the pictures I have posted do a good job of showing you how great it was there.

Now the summer has winded down and I'm back in my little town. Five new Peace Corps volunteers have arrived in my city. They live with Bulgarian families, will learn Bulgarian language and culture. We've been getting along great and I've been answering a lot of their questions. One interesting thing is that three of them happen to be red heads. Bratsigovo has never had a group of trainees with any red heads. Let along three. They have been wondering if there is a purpose to this red head invasion of the city. I still have another month with these volunteers. When they leave I know I will miss them.

Right now winter is headed my way and I'm bracing for it. Last winter was one of my hardest times in Bulgaria. I'm sure this winter will be better, but none the less my California blood is fearing the cold snowy months ahead.