Bye to Bratsigovo

2006-09-11T21:28:00.000+03:00

Leaving is bitter-sweet. It is time to move on to other things, yet at the same time I feel as though a good friend has died. I've had a busy last week. We had a German consultant in town helping us with the new information center we just opened. The volunteer who will replace me was also in town for a few days to see where he will be living for the next 2 years. I did a lot of translating and guiding them around the municipality.

This blog was created with the specific purpose of relaying my Peace Corps experience to interested readers. As my Peace Corps service in Bratsigovo has ended, so will this blog. I will end with a list of things I will miss about Bratsigovo.

- The view of the mountains out the window from my apartment.

- Being invited to a friends house for dinner where everything is homemade and homegrown from the meat, eggs, vegtables, and alcohol.

- Taking walks through this small cobble stone road town.

- Living in a place where everyone knows my name.

- The sound of horse hoofs clacking outside my window.

- Visiting the orphanages, teaching the children how to cook, play football (American football), and goofing around with them.

- Going to Tiffani's after dinner and having a drink with Chicho colo, the bar owner.

- Meeting with friends after Tiffani's at a tavern, drinking rakiya, smoking cigars, and joking around.

- Traveling Bulgaria and discovering new places.

- Paying $7 a month for someone to do my laundry for me.

- I'll miss gorchitsa, mayonaisa, ketchup, smily, nyamachka, mexikanets, kruf, and all the other people I gave nicknames to.

Trip home

2006-05-03T18:55:00.000+03:00

I went back home for my brothers wedding. He decided to get married. I knew he was going to do this when I was half way across the world. My time there was interesting and it allowed me to dump a lot of baggage off that I won't need for my last three months in Bulgaria.

As soon as I entered the airport in SF, my nose was filled with strong smells. It was wierd to see people eating lunches out of cardboard boxes, talking on cell phones, playing with laptops. I already felt the rush of life here.

Coming back home it was as if I could see Americans as if I wasn't one of them. Now I understand what they meant when they said I would have to re-integrate into American life. My Dad took my to a grocery store and asked me if I wanted anything. I'm used to small little markets. This store had way to many options for me to sort out. I just said I didn't want anything.

I ate lots of food I missed. Chinese buffet's and mexican food. The wedding was really nice. I did a speech and spoke a little bulgarian. Bulgarians gave me a lot of stuff to take to the states. I brought a lot of stuff back to Bulgaria to give as gifts. Vegetable seeds, pork rinds, alcohol, etc.

Istanbul 2006

2006-03-06T22:19:00.000+02:00

I just got back from a second trip to Istanbul. It's a city with so much history yet modern at the same time. It's also a very clean city despite the fact that it's very hard to find a trash can to dump your trash after eating a duner kebab. All six of us enjoyed the trip and claimed Istanbul one of our favorite cities of all time. This is from people who are much more traveled than me. The weather was pleasant which added another plus to the trip.

We left Tuesday night from Stara Zagora by night train. It took over 12 hours for us to get there. Last time I take a night train. It only took 8 hours to get back by bus, eventhough Bratsigovo is further from the border than Stara Zagora. Just before we left I realized I forgot my American Bank card, and since I had been to Istanbul previously, I knew my Bulgarian card wouldn't work. So I pulled as much money out of my account as I could while I was still in Bulgaria. I ended up changing this money to Turkish lira once I got to Istanbul. It wasn't enough though, so I had to ask my family back home to wire me some extra funds.

I got to see some things that I didn't see last time. Like Haghia Sofia (pronounced Aya sofia and translated St. Sofia). This Mosque was built over 1500 years ago and was originally a church. I also got to see Topkapi Palace, explore a different section of the Sultanamet district (this is the more historical and touristy district. It's also where we slept), and spend more time in the Taxim district (this is the more modern district with nice shops and the best night life). The city is huge and dense. It is growing by leaps and bounds. About 15 years ago the population was around 1 million. Now it's over 10 million. At the same time the city is very organized and I didnt feel cramped or uncomfortable.

One of my favorite parts of town is the Grand Baazar. This is where you get to see the market forces in real time. The sellars are aggressive. They shout phrases out at you as you pass by. "Yes, please", "Why don't you waste your money on something you don't need", "Looking is for free", "Would you like a water pipe, carpet, tea set, etc","Excuse me." Even outside the bazaar the sellars are aggressive. Men stand outside trying to convince passerbys to eat at their restaurant with phrases like "yummy yummy for your tummy let me help you spend your money." The worst are the parfume sellars on the street. They are relentless. You should never say a word to them. Not even "no." In fact don't even glance at them or they'll hound you. Well, once you get the system down it's not so bad. I bought lots of gifts and souveniers at the Grand Bazaar. It was a lot of fun. I've really learned how to haggle. I wanted to buy some turkish delights. The original price was 2 for 40 lira. I got 3 for 15 lira.

They have an El Torritos there, so I was able to have my first good mexican food in a long time. It was so good I almost wanted to cry. The last day I wandered around the whole city by myself and was able to see lots of interesting parts of town. The only thing I regret is not getting to see is some whirling dervishes. I would love to go back for a third time. I highly recommend Istanbul.

Thanks to the IWC

2006-02-17T22:34:00.000+02:00

(This a Dancho, a likely benificiary of this project)

I applied to the International Women's Club in Sofia to provide a transition home for orphans once they gradate. Often times these young adults have no where to go and have as little as a month to find out what to do with their lives. This home will help them adjust to living in a community, find work, and take care of themselves. A big problem in orphanages is that everything is done for the children. They leave not knowing how to cook or clean.

The Women's Club decided to fund half the budget, which includes remodeling a house to be used as the transition home. The other half of the budget includes funiture and appliances. They will try to secure these items through donors in Bulgaria. This project will be up and running by the end of the school year.

Bratsigovo is home to three orphanages. Two of which are among the most well run in the country. We shouldn't have a problem filling up the fourteen spaces in the transition home.

Name days Kick my butt

2006-01-18T23:29:00.000+02:00

I know I have a post like this last year. It's true though. These name days come with too much partying for me.

Most name days fall in the winter because traditionally people work on the farm in the summer and needed more reason to party during the cold months. Every name is associated with a saint and a special day. Sometimes these name days can be bigger than a birthday. Bulgarians celebrate by having guests over till wee small hours of the morning. Do you have a name day?

Momchilovtsi

2006-01-16T23:27:00.000+02:00

I went snowboarding in a little village called Momchilovtsi. A volunteer lives and works at a snowboard park there. It was a pretty cold weekend. I got to test my skills at walking on ice down hill. Dave is pretty could at it. He had fun waiting for me to catch up with him.

We headed out to the snowboard park on Saturday. I got to test out a drag lift for the first time. It took about an hour for me to get the hang of it. It was exhausting. Not a big fan of the drag lift, but it was great to be back out on the slopes after two years of absence.

That night we checked out the little disco in Dave's village. I was surprised he has one. I live in a town and we don't have one. I warmed up with some tea mixed with a little Rakiah (Bulgarian whiskey). The we headed back to Dave's place for some well deserved rest. He gave me a book to read called "The Black Tulip." It looks pretty good. Check it out!

New Years

2006-01-04T23:32:00.000+02:00

During communist times in Bulgaria they didn't have a Santa Clause.They do now and he is called "Grandfather Christmas". New years use tobe the bigger event where they would exchange gifts. They waited for"Grandfather Cold" to bring them presents on New Years. When midnight strikes they pull out the banitsa. It is a salty breadproduct with fetta cheese and egg for the filling. There are fortunes hidden throughout the banitsa. When you get your peice you search for your fortune.

I went up to the mountains and stayed in a cabin with about 17 other Bulgarians. It was a non-stop party the whole weekend. At anytime you could go down to the main room and there would be someone down there playing music, dancing, and drinking. I went to bed at about 5am NewYears day and by 8pm one of the Bulgarians came in to wake me up and tell me to get back down stairs because they were drinking Rakia. I just tried to get some sleep. It was an interesting New Years.

First white Christmas

2005-12-29T13:23:00.000+02:00

Last year it didn't snow on Christmas, making this year my first white Christmas ever. Last year I celebrated Christmas with volunteers. This year I wanted to spend Christmas with Bulgarians. It turns out I spent Christmas with both. I stayed in Bratsigovo and a few volunteers joined me and we celebrated with a few Bulgarian families in town. Here is how Bulgarians celebrate Christmas.

Christmas is a 3-day event. On Christmas eve they cook food without meat. Sermia is very popular. Sermia can be stuffed peppers, cabbage rolls, or stuffed grape leaves. The main filling is rice. Baklava is the traditional dessert on Christmas eve or cake. Typically they celebrate this holiday with just the immediate family. Guests are rare. The head of the house lights up some sage and makes sure the smoke passes through every room in the house. Then he grabs a big round loaf of bread, called pitka, and starts breaking peices off. First to god, then to the house, to himself, every member of his imediate family (present or not), and then to guests that are present. There is a coin hidden in the loaf. The coin brings good luck to whoever finds it in there peice of bread. I participated in this tradition twice and both times the coin went to the house. Then everyone begins to eat. The number of dishes served should be an odd number. Nine is the most common. On christmas day they might have a bigger party with more friends or go to a restaurant. The day after christmas is a day of rest.

Christmas day all the volunteers visiting my town gathered at my place and we did an elephant exchange. I got someones clay teeth mold from the dentist. A great conversation peice! Then we headed up to a local orphanage to give the children presents. Bob Anderson (here and here) sent me a bunch of money to buy presents for all the children who would celebrate Christmas at the orphanage. I filled gift bags full of presents. Each bag a little different. The children sang a few songs for us and we sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" for them. I acted as Santa Clause and handed out the gifts. They seemed to really enjoy them.

Later that evening we headed to a party with a Bulgarian family. We made Cheese cake, apple pie, and pumpkin pie for dessert. The main course was a rump roast. That's not something volunteers are use to eating here in Bulgaria. The food was great. We drank, talked, danced, and finally headed home for the night.

Devin Seminar

2005-12-15T18:57:00.000+02:00

I went to a three-day seminar in Devin last week. It covered marketing tourism in the Rhodope mountains of Bulgaria. Since I graduated with a marketing degree, I pretty much knew all the material. The interesting part was the conversations between the different Bulgarians present.

Thursday was Student day, so we held a little celebration. It included a raffle of many different prizes. I won a pair of womens panties. It's one of the only things I've won in my life. I hung them up in my living room for all to see.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2005-11-28T16:39:00.000+02:00

This year I went to Chepelare to celebrate Thanksgiving with about 20 other volunteers. We had way too much food. Potatoes au gratin, mashed potatoes, stuffing, a casseorole dish, a rice dish, salad, and some other stuff. Instead of eating turkey we slaughtered a lamb and paid some local guy to roast it over a fire on a spicket. It was really good.

We did a little dancing and then called it a night.

On my way back I passed through Plovdiv. They've been cleaning up the center a lot and had some new shops. I found a nice liquer shop that sold cigars resting in a humidor. I bought a Cuban to share on New Years. I also picked a little facke christmas tree to decorate and put in my apartment. They next day some presents came from my family. It feels like Christmas now. I've opened a present just about everyday. Whenever a friend comes over they always want me to open one. I'm just trying to save some till Christmas.

The First Snow

2005-11-19T19:14:00.000+02:00

Snow has been falling all day. By the time it hits the ground it melts. At the end of the day the top of the mountains were white.

I stayed inside and cooked all day. It smells like Fall in my kitchen. I cooked pot soup with onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, every spice in my kitchen, and some Macedonian sausage. I put in a cube of chicken, mushroom, vegetable, and beef broth. Oh, and then I added some rice that's been in my cupboard for a while. The pot is so full I could eat this for week as long as I just keep adding water. =)

I also cooked a Pumpkin pie for the first time; and from scratch. I haven't tasted it yet, but it looks perfect. Ah, cleaning can wait until tomorrow.

New Guveche Recipe

2005-11-15T18:17:00.000+02:00

This one is better than the last one I posted. Remember to play with the recipe and make it your own.

- First take some meat. About a pound, but a little more is ok. Pork, lamb, and even turkey works. Cut it up into bit size chunks. Add a tablespoon of cumin, black pepper, and dill if you like. Mix it all up and marinate it for a couple hours.

- It's been two hours and now your ready to cook. Cut some mushrooms up real fine and throw them in a pan with some oil. Put as many or as little mushrooms as you like. In this recipe they act more like a spice.

- Now add a nice head of onion to the pan; chopped up real small. You can also add your meat at this point. When it's cooked, set it aside.

- Now this recipe works best if you have about six little earthenware pots, but you can also try a casserole dish. Place a layer of peeled and cubed potatoes in this dish. Now add your meat mixture. Again, add another layer of potatoes.

- Not add a little tomato puree to the top. Clean the pan you used to cook the meat with some water and add that water to the dish. The water should fill the dish half-way.

- Add some small chunks of butter to the top. Now add a lid and place in the oven on high. When the potatoes are done, so is the Guveche. You can crack some eggs on top just before it's done cooking if you like. That's all!

Nahsdrave!

Potato Festival and Weekend in Biaga

2005-10-30T15:08:00.000+02:00

(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

2005-10-26T14:00:00.000+03:00

(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

2005-10-25T13:58:00.000+03:00

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

2005-10-19T13:07:00.000+03:00

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

2005-10-17T14:08:00.000+03:00

(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

2005-10-10T13:09:00.000+03:00

(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

2005-10-04T15:00:00.000+03:00

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.

It's been a while

2005-09-29T23:17:00.000+03:00

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.

Busy Busy!

2005-07-19T19:06:00.000+03:00

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.

4th of July

2005-07-05T13:24:00.000+03:00

I've experienced a lot of firsts in Bulgaria. My first fresh squeazed milk and homemade yogurt. My first fresh layed egg. Recently I experienced a couple more. Last week while heading to a Bulgarian tavern in town to meet up with some friends, I noticed these little lights flashing in front of me and then around me. This is before I had even drunken a drop. I wasn't sure what they were, but was little concerned that if I touched one of them it might shock me. I stayed clear. It turns out they were fire flys. Those have to be the coolest little bugs i've ever seen. I might go out hunting for them tonight and see if I can trap one in a bottle. Hahah!

A couple days later, I headed to the coast for 4th of July weekend, I took a night train and sprung for a sleeping wagon for the first time time. The conducter gave me my own room which was nice, unfortunately I think he also charged me double because I am American (or more exactly a supposed rich foreigner). I have to stop saying I'm American. I'm not. I from the Czech Republic. =) Hey it worked in Turkey and some other parts of Bulgaria. One time while in Kardjali I was getting a hair cut and the barber asked if I was from Yugoslavia. I said "no, I'm from the Czech Republic." He apologized. I said, "It's ok. A lot of people get us mixed up." I'm sure I saved at least 10 lev that day.

Anyways back to the train. The trip took five hours. I tried to get some rest, but every time the train came to a screeching halt so did my sleep. Once I met the destination, I got off the train to see dozens of Baba's (grandma's) holding signs saying they had hvratira's to rent out. I figured that must mean that they rent out rooms. I asked someone just in case and asked how much they usually cost. Then I walked up to one of the Baba's and she rented me a whole apartment (pretty nice) for less than $5. I think I had a neighbor in the next room, but I never saw him.

Sunday night some volunteers reserved a club and got a live band. The live band did mostly cover songs in English. Popular rock songs of the 80's, 90's and also a few Beatle songs were thrown in. When the band took breaks Jackson, a departing volunteer, pulled out his ipod, hooked it up to the sound system, and played new and old American favorites. You know the little story about Jack and Dianne, American Pie, and born in the USA. All the volunteers sang as loud as they could and even some Bulgarians who trickled in from somewhere.

I stayed up the whole night and when the sun came up, I went to take a last look at the sea before catching an early morning train. It wasn't the same as the San Francisco Bay back home. No huge waves, but it was nice to see the water again. I gathered a few shells as souveniers before I left. I'll be back to the sea again this summer.

Summer Work

2005-06-21T20:40:00.000+03:00

(A few ladies I picked roses with)

Rose crops are big business in Bulgaria and have been for a long time. It's a national symbol and Bulgarians love to use the rose as a metephor to describe the beauty of the country and it's women. Every year a rose festival is held in The Valley of Roses. This region contains most of the rose crops in the country and is one of the biggest producers of rose oil in the world.

Although Bratsigovo is not in the valley of roses, many people in town own a few acres of rose crops. My counterpart is one of them. The other week I helped him pick his roses. We started work at six in the moring and were done by about eleven. I got pricked by just a few roses, but his hands looked like a cat had been scratching them for five hours. I guess through the years he's learned to accept that sometimes you get pricked and prefers to work faster and finish work earlier.

At the end of the day, after gathering all the rose buds, he sells them to a firm who uses them to make rose oil. This firm then sells the rose oil to perfume companies in Italy, France and the US. There are other uses for these roses as well. People in town make homemade jam, juice, tea, rakiah (whiskey), and liquer out of roses. I've also been given candy and shampoo made from roses.

The rose season only lasts for a month and then it's off to other pickings. Yesteray after work my counterpart invited me to his house to pick cherries. We filled a huge bucket full and he gave them all to me. Way too much for one person to eat, so I made a huge cherry pie. It's the first time I've ever made cherry pie. The crust came out great but the filling was a little too sugary and way too liquidy. Next time I'll put less sugar and maybe drain the liquid that the sugar creates or add flour or something to make it thicker. I'm not sure. Anyone know how to make cherry pie filling from scratch? Let me know!

I'm Back

2005-06-10T20:40:00.000+03:00

I haven't posted much in a while besides some pictures. Partly because I've been busy and partly because I've been a little lazy, but I'm back now and in full force. Enjoy!

Turning the Tables

2005-06-10T20:38:00.000+03:00

Recently I've been turning the tables on my co-workers. In the past they would offer me food and I couldn't refuse it. Now I've been doing the same. Feeding them enchiladas, salsa, chili, and snacks my parents brought for me that they don't have here. Often times they would decline my offer with an excuse. They were sick or on a diet. So I used the same type of rebuttals they've used against me in the past. "oh, this is good for you when your sick" and "it's healthy it will help with your diet." I pushed this food to them just as aggressively as they've pushed food to me in the past. I even got a "stiga bay" out of one of them. That means "stop man."

Bulgarian hospitality is great, but it's difficult to say no. Especially when it comes to being offered rakiah (Bulgarian whiskey). They have a saying that goes something like "if your sick it's because you haven't been drinking enough rakiah." I've seen them use this stuff for everything not just drinking. To disinfect cuts, to clean computer parts like the little ball in the mouse.

So yeah, I've been having a lot of fun turning the tables. On some occasions I've decided to speak only English for the whole day. It was interesting to see how much they understood me even though they don't speak English. I've asked them the do-you-have-this-in-Bulgaria questions. My favorite is to try and translate things into Bulgarian that can't be translated, like "casual Fridays", "cowboy", or sayings like "don't cut corners." They look at me struggling to understand.