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.