Potato Festival and Weekend in Biaga

(A river through Biaga)

A couple days ago I was reading the town newspaper and I noticed that a village in Bratsigovo named Ravnagor was holding a potato festival on Friday. I thought what a coincidence I had been telling them they should do this for over six months. The idea came from my Dad when we were talking about ways to promote the Municipality of Bratsigovo. We exchanged a few emails on the topic. My Dad gave the example of the Gilroy garlic festival near where I'm from in California and asked if Bratsigovo could hold a similar event. Soon after that it hit me. People around here are always talking about how great the Potatoes are in Ravnagor. I told my counterpart that they should start an annual potato festival in Ravnagor. After all there's a bunch more things you can do with a potato then garlic, right? Anyways, I was glad to hear someone finally put the event together.

I invited the British family in town to come along with me. They had traditional dancers, potato art, and a bunch of food all made from potatoes. I asked who came up with this idea. Everyone told me it came from city hall, where I work. Hmmm, I started to wonder. So I asked my counterpart (the vice-mayor) who came up with the idea. He just gave me an awkward look, not knowing what to say. When I first mentioned the idea to him, he thought it was a silly idea. "This sort of thing may work in California, but it won't work here", he said. I've heard that a lot.

About a month ago when the Director of Peace Corps Bulgaria came for a visit, I mentioned the idea again at lunch and he thought it was a great idea. So, I wonder who in the municipality came up with the idea of a potato festival? Well, after this success and a few others, the people I work with have been willing to listen to my ideas more and work closer with me.

This weekend I went to Petia's place, a village of Bratsigovo, for the weekend. She is the other women who works with me in the municipality. We cooked the whole time. We made banitsa, a traditional Bulgarian pastry. We cooked stuffed peppers and sermia. I forgot the name of sermia in English, but it's rice and spices wrapped in a grape leaf. We also made a bean salad, bread with hot milk and sugar for breakfast, and other good stuff.

Petia's husband and I talked a lot . My favorite discussion was about why Americans always smile. I told him Americans, that is volunteers who live in Bulgaria, wonder the opposite about Bulgarians. Why they frown so much.

On another note. Did you know you can eat the seed of an apricot. Its good too. kinda like an almond. Try it out. You just crack open the pit and there it is waiting for you.

Trainees gone

(David, John, Nick, Will, Meghan, Me)

The trainees in my town are finally gone. Life in Bratsigovo as I knew it has returned. They were here for a few months working on language and technical training, and living with local families as an integration component. They were really a great group to be around. I'm suprised how well we connected.

They departed at a perfect time. I think they were ready to get to their permanent assignment and cities they'll be living in for the next two years, and I was ready to get back to mine. It's nice that things are back to normal in Bratsigovo, but at the same time I'll miss having them around to hang out with.

I read a head-line in a popular Bulgarian newspaper introducing the newly graduated group of volunteers. It read, "48 yankees to work in Bulgaria for two years without pay." That must sound really weird to Bulgarians. I myself have spent many hours over the past year explaining what I do and what a volunteer is. I think my counterpart has just figured it out. It's hard for Bulgarians to understand why I would want to work as a volunteer and give up all the money I could be making back in the states. Before I came to Bulgaria I received similar expressions from Americans when I told them my future plans. I guess in this instance Bulgarians aren't so different than Americans. To be honest it's really hard for me to explain the reasons why I decided to join the Peace Corps. You either get it or you don't. I think anyone who volunteers in any capacity will understand what you get out of it.

Well good luck to the newbies. Dobre Doshli!

Last weekend

Last weekend some trainees in Bratsigovo and I went to Sofia to celebrate Meghans birthday. After checking into our hostel we made our way to the Kentucky Fried Chicken. We all paid about the same, but for some reason some of us got twice as much food as others. Luckily, I got the big meal.

We headed to an Irish Pub early in the night where I felt a little uncomfortable. I'm not use to being in a place where everyone speaks English. It felt akward to think that everybody could understand what I was saying. I had to watch myself. After that those of us who hadn't gone to bed went to check out "Swingin Club." It has two rooms with two live bands that play covers of songs in English. We all danced, sang along, and switched back and forth between the rooms.

The second night we ate Mexican food at Machu Pichu. It's been a year since I had Mexican food and for that I think I enjoyed this dinner more than the trainees. Honestly the food is not top quality Mexican, but it was close enough for me. I think they'll enjoy it more in a year too.

We stopped by Beer hall after dinner. They have a big wall full of all kinds of beer to choose from. I got a whiskey on the rocks. "My Mohito" was our next stop. A bunch of actors shooting a film in Sofia happened to be there. There were some Jackie Chan karate stunt men. I recognized one of the other actors. He's a mid-range actor named Nicholas Gonzalaz. It was interesting to see the Jackie Chan stunt men do their moves on the dance floor. It was even more interesting to see them try and hit on Bulgarian women. It's hard to get womens attention in this country. They're pretty tough.

We left Sofia the next day, but not before stopping by McDonalds and subway. The trainees will be leaving my town soon and I think this trip was a nice send off.

Bob Anderson

A few weeks ago Bob Anderson came to Bratsigovo for a visit. He was here roughly three years ago with a national gaurd unit from Tennessee and helped with a remodel of one of the orphanages in town. Since then he has kept in contact with the director and kids from the orphanage. I've translated emails to the director from him and vise versa. He even helped me get my first grant. So when he made it into town I met with him and his wife and showed them around the municipality for a couple days. They treated me and another volunteer to lunches and dinners. At one of the dinners he invited the director of the orphanage and a couple others. We ate patatnik for the first time. It's like a Potato pancake, but bigger.

Now Bob is back in Tennessee, but last week sent me some money to by clothes for two orphans named Sedefka and Sasho. They are brother and sister. So I went out with them and someone from the orphanage and bought new socks, sweaters, shoes, mittens, pants, etc. for the coming winter. It was hard to spend the money because things are so cheap here. The rest of the money I gave to two sisters who lived at the orphanage when they were younger. He told me to reserve some money to take out Maggie, another volunteer who happened to be visiting me while Bob and his wife were in town. Last week while at a Peace Corps conference we went out for chinese. Thanks for treating us with your presense Bob. Maggie and I enjoyed ourselves and I know the Director was thrilled to see you.

Through the Fog

(In the Rila Mountains)

Last week Peace Corps held a conference for trainees from my group. We learned more about development work, discussed some interesting issues in Bulgaria, and had more language classes. On one of these days I organized the annual Peace Corps bazaar to raise money for the orphanage committee I work with. The money we raise is used to provide small grants to volunteers for orphanages in their area.

After the conference I went on an organized trip with some of the current Peace Corps trainees in Bulgaria to the Rila Mountains. We hiked through the mountains for a couple hours with a guide before reaching are hija. A hija is basically a hotel for hikers. It was a cold hike with snow sprinkling down much of the time. The scenery was beautiful though. Lots of trees and soothing smells. We spent the night in the hija playing cards and enjoying a few drinks.

When I woke up in the morning the fog was dense and I decided not to go on the hike past the seven lakes. I figured what's the point if I won't be able to see them. I don't hike for exercise. I hike to see what I can find out there. For me, hiking is about the journey not the trek.

Out in the Vineyards

(John, a Peace Corps trainee in town, working the pumpkin)

A few weekends back my counterpart asked me if I would come to his village and help him work the vineyards. So we took off on Friday after work and headed to the village called Melinkio (or something close to that). My counterpart, his sister, mother, aunt, grandmother, and I got started working that same Friday until eight in the evening. I learned how to make wine from start to finish.

First we picked grapes. The next day we pulled off the grapes from the bunches and dropped them in a huge wooden vat after running them through this mulching type tool that sits atop the vat. The grapes were all different kinds. So it was pretty much a bouquet wine. Once the vat was full we added sugar to it. Now it was pretty much grape juice and we were able to pour some of it out of the vat and drink it. We also emptied some of the juice out and reserved it to make white wine, which is a little more complicated and the process takes longer.

Everyday the grandma will mix the juice up with a big tool. Two weeks later the red wine is done. There is a spout at the bottom of the vat and that's how you empty the wine into bottles. There is also a filter (a bunch of branches) to keep the solid parts out. My counterpart will take the leftover solids and make Rakia (Bulgarian whiskey) out of it. The white wine should be done by new years.

My counterpart gave me a bunch of stuff from the garden for helping him out. I told him Halloween was coming up and he gave me a pumkin to carve. Later in the week, some of the Peace Corps trainees in town, came over, cooked and helped carve the pumpkin. I made them a pumpkin/carrot/apple cake. I just made it up, but it turned out really good.

I placed the pumpkin on my balcony where people could see it. Some have already asked me about it. Halloween isn't celebrated here, but they've heard of it from movies and stuff. I'll need to figure out how to make pumpkin pie for them and see how they like it.

I'm paid for

I just won a grant for a little over $4,000 to build a metal and wood workshop in a school for troubled youth. The idea is to teach the kids a concrete skill that they can use in the future. Also, by providing these classes after school, we keep the kids off the street and out of trouble.

Every month the municipality I work for pays $50 a month for my apartment. Now I feel like I've more than paid for myself. Everything else from here on out is gravy. I still have a year left and it looks promising that I can win a few more projects before I leave.

In a year I've; met with investors interested in Bratsigovo, helped out with both orphanages in town, teaching English and International cuisine, secured equipment (refrigerators, heaters, dressors, mattresses, chairs, utensils, plates, etc.), acted as a translator, helped pick roses, helped write a marketing guide for small businesses in Bulgaria, helped with a study on orphanages in Bulgaria, raised money for orphanages through the Peace Corps orphanage committee, helped with the training of new volunteers, made a lot of friends and integrated into my community. People in Bratsigovo keep trying to convince me to stay past my term and the kids at the orphanages say they're not going to let me leave in a year. Maybe I'm not the superstar volunteer of Peace Corps, but I feel successfull.

So yeah, I've been here a year already. At moments it seemed like the time would never pass by, but now that it's been a year, it seems like the time just flew. Recently I have had dreams of being back at home in California. My two-year term in the Peace Corps had ended. Instead of them making me miss home, they made me miss the home I've made in Bulgaria. These dreams made me realize I better make sure I get the full experience of my time here in Bulgaria before it's over.