31 July 2010

First week of work

My first week of work was great! Even though most of what I did was working on personal logistics—getting my alien resident ID card, borrowing the Obshtina’s vacuum cleaner, etc.—I was able to help with planning for the 3 day sleep away camp we’re having next week and participate in some work parties. So far, 37 children, aged 7-12, have signed up for our camp. We wrote the food budget, planned activities, found tents (we’re borrowing 10 person ones from the Army), and took a day trip to Montana for supplies this week. I will be leading introduction activities and sports games at the camp. I’m nervous. I hope my language is good enough to communicate. It will be an intense couple of days

My counterpart, who is my guide, mentor, and primary working partner at my assignment, is great. She's smart and fun and has the two cutest kids. I share a large office with her and two others in the Obshtina. The Obshtina has 40 something employees. Of those I've met, everyone has been super nice and patient. My counterpart's birthday was on Tuesday and she brought in sweets and soda to treat everyone. There was also a retirement party on Monday. The retirement party lasted all afternoon and included beer, rakia, and wild boar. It was my first time eating wild boar...and I liked it. I did think this was an interesting fact: in Bulgaria, the retirement age for men differs from that of women. Anyways, I love celebrations in Bulgaria. Since name days and birthdays are celebrated by treating those around you, and everyone has both, you have a pretty good chance of encountering someone who will give you chocolate.

Every Thursday night the cultural center in town has horo dancing. Horo is the traditional form of dance in Bulgaria. Everyone holds hands and follows the leader in synchronized steps to the beat of the music. I think I included some pictures in an earlier post where we danced the horo in Neysa’s backyard for her baba’s birthday party. I attended the horo dancing this past week and had a fantastic time. There were about 30 women and girls, from around ten years old up to babas, and two musicians, one on keyboards, one on the horn. The horos started off easy, steps I was familiar with thanks to parties in Kravoder and evenings with the family. But, about half an hour into the 90 minutes of dancing, it got tough. Like REALLY difficult, with kicks and shuffles and hops. I tried my best and laughed a lot, as did everyone else, and had a really good time. Though I’m confident no one was impressed by my dancing skills, I’m pretty sure they were pleased I knew some horo and wanted to learn more. It was a lot of fun and I plan to make a habit of it over then next two years.

27 July 2010

Not a Towel

I’m planning to buy most of my supplies this weekend in Montana—it’s the nearest large city, about 45 minutes by bus, and is similar in size to Vratsa— but wanted to get a few things around town so I could bond with the local shop owners etc. One of these items was supposed to be a bath towel. Although the apartment had a towel, it’s more of a hand towel size and it’s pretty chilly in the mornings. I wanted something to wrap myself in and planned on using the hand towel in the kitchen. Well… I went to the magazine (magazines are Bulgarian stores) that sells some household goods, with my list in hand. Of course, I should have translated it to Bulgarian first, but most of the words I knew and I figured it wasn’t that big of a store, I could just point something out if I wanted it. In these types of smaller stores, you usually don’t get most of the items yourself—no carts and aisles, you tell the cashier the items you want and she gets them for you from behind the counter.

After getting most of my list taken care of: clothespins, cutting knife, can opener, dish soap, etc., I pointed at what appeared to be a giant fluffy towel in clear plastic wrapping. The clerk raised her eyebrows and asked me if it was what I really wanted. “Yes,” I replied. “It’s for the bath, right?” She nodded and added it to my tab. Next, on my list was a bucket with holes to use for holding my shower stuff. The shower sprays everywhere and doesn’t drain very fast. I needed something to put my shampoo in so it wouldn’t float away that wouldn’t get soggy from water. They didn’t have anything that would work, but the conversation was difficult and lasted a solid 10 minutes. I was getting sort of stressed and ready to go when I asked for the bill. It was higher than I’d expected, but I figured that maybe things were just more expensive than I’d calculated.

When I returned to the apartment and took the ‘bath towel’ out of the plastic wrap, I saw that it was, in fact, not a towel, but an expensive bath/lounging robe. It was already dark and I didn’t feel like enduring the embarrassment of walking back across town with a opened robe package to explain to the attendant, who had just endured a 10 minute conversation about buckets with holes in broken Bulgarian with me, that I thought the Hugh Hefner style robe was actually a towel, and could she please give me refund. So, now I have a fancy robe, that doubles as a bath towel. It’s really quite comfortable and even has a hood that I can sort of dry my hair with. I wear it as much as possible to get the full benefit of every Lev I spent on it.

26 July 2010

New Apartment

My new apartment is huge and really nice…definitely a bit more ‘posh corps’ than Peace Corps…I’ll move into very ‘Peace Corps-ish,’ place on the second floor of an unused building in October. The temporary apartment I’m in until then is where the Obshtina usually houses its visitors. I have 8 beds and 45 rakia glasses, but no water glasses and, for the first few days, no stove or refrigerator either. Of course no internet, TV, or washer machine—I was living the high life in Kravoder. For entertainment, I bought a clock radio. It sort of picks up two stations: slow 50s and 60s American pop and one that sounds like soap operas. I tried out sleeping in different beds the first few nights and have decided to mostly live between two rooms and sleep in the kitchen. Yes, there is a bed in the kitchen. I’ll try to take some pictures of it soon…it needs to be cleaned a bit more.

25 July 2010

Sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer

Leaving Kravoder and finishing PST was sad, but I'm looking forward the upcoming experiences I'll have during my two years of service. My host family drove me to Chiprovtsi on Sunday. The drive went by much too fast. It took less than an hour, but I feel much farther away. I'm very far away from what had become my 'Bulgarian Comfort Zone.' However, this past weekend was filled with so much; I hardly had time to think twice about the new reality I’d be entering.

Friday was the swearing in ceremony. It was held in the Obshtini (government building) in Vratsa. Despite being early in the day, it was super hot. I felt like a sweaty mess before it even began. Sitting in the front row on the crowded stage (all 85 trainees plus our director, the ambassador, distinguished guests, etc.) trying to be very careful not to move around too much or slide out of my chair was tough, but the ceremony was great. It was quick and well executed. The two volunteers that prepared a speech on behalf of all of us did an excellent job. Charity, one of my good friends from Kravoder, sang ‘Moya Strana’ at the end of ceremony, bringing many in the audience to tears. Moya Strana is sort of the ‘America the Beautiful’ of Bulgaria, but holds probably an even greater importance to the Bulgarian people. Charity sang beautifully and we followed along during the refrains.

Here is a link to a news article that has recordings of the song and speeches: http://dariknews.bg/view_article.php?article_id=565086

We also made the nightly news:http://tv-vratsa.bg/index.php?lang=bg&r=home/tvvratza/t140/t308

After the ceremony everyone was bouncing between conversations, trying to make plans, say goodbyes, take photos, hugging, crying, etc. During training we’ve all become very close and rely on each other for support. Now, we won’t see each other for three months and will be on our own, without our families, language trainers, or each other. It’s a bit overwhelming. My training group will be 6, 8, 10, and 13 hours of bus/train travel away. I don’t much like rushed goodbyes in huge groups, and didn’t mind when my host parents were soon ready to depart. I’d said most of my goodbyes earlier and knew I’d see a few people later. My host parents took me to lunch at a peaceful restaurant near Vratsa. It was lovely-just the three of us sitting at a table overlooking a lake and the Vrachanski cliffs.

Group Kravoder. My host family and I before the swearing in ceremony.

When we returned to Kravoder, I dressed up in the traditional costume they’d bought me. It’s beautiful. They had several colors at the place where I was fitted, but the bright red I chose is traditional for the Kravoder region. That’s where I consider my Bulgarian home to be so I thought it appropriate to choose that color.

The rest of the Kravoder group departed for their permanent sites on Friday and Saturday. Since Chiprovtsi is so close and my family drove me, I had an extra day. Nevertheless, I’m grateful I didn’t have to spend it in my room thinking about being alone. We spent the day at a family member’s 80th birthday party in Cherni Vruh (Black Peak). It is a tiny village an hour and a half away, with no mountains or peaks in site. It’s named after the 4th biggest mountain in Bulgaria, and is one of the most visited by tourists. The northern village we went to is flat and I didn’t see any tourists. It was nice to be around some of my extended host family. My two host brothers, who have been with their other grandma this past week, as well as their cousin Sarah, were there.

My party buddies.

I spent most of the day in Cherni Vruk helping Kristian with his summer math homework and playing with the little kids. Kris is brilliant at math. He’s only 8, but is doing 5th grade math with very little instruction. He needed some assistance with word problems and it was nice to feel like I was helping, but I was mostly just someone the kids could spend time with. They don’t have as many neighbor friends there as they do in Kravoder and it’s a much more rustic setting. Leaving at the end of the day was difficult. The kids didn’t want me to leave and I knew I wouldn’t see them again.

Kiril and I prepping the looty chushki (spicy peppers).

Packing didn’t take too long. Since Chiprovtsi is so close, I was able to leave some of my winter clothes and random things I don’t need there to pick up later. I had to leave room for the box of vegetables and fruits, the dozen jars of homemade water buffalo yogurt, and the three-dozen eggs my host family had prepared for me to bring to my new home. I am so grateful for them. I must have the best host family ever. It is a big risk to welcome a stranger into one’s home, especially one from another country who doesn’t speak their language. I hope they realize how much I appreciate all they have done for me and their incredibly generosity.

19 July 2010

Nearing the end of PST

This picture was taken from my bedroom window. It is a water buffalo. It walks past my house twice a day.

Only a few days left before I officially swear in as a Peace Corps volunteer! Today was my language proficiency exam, a 30 minute individual Q & A with a Peace Corps Bulgaria staff member designed to assess if we’ve learned enough to stay in as a volunteer. It was intense, but I don’t think I’ll be on an early flight back to America. Next week this time, I will be in my new apartment after a full day of work at the Obshtina in Chiprovtsi!

The past 10 days have been full of activities: trying to stay cool (my bedroom was 85 degrees when I woke up this morning), fighting a losing war with fleas, studying Bulgarian, and finishing up the final pre-service training assignments.

Even though I’m anxious to start my new job and move to my permanent site, I’m a little sad the end of PST is so near. The past 11 weeks has been a really unique time. When else do you have the opportunity to live in a completely foreign environment with a family that, despite not being related, takes care of you and your primary responsibilities are to trying to learn to speak a new language and integrate into a new culture—tasks most easily accomplished by hanging out at cafes and playing soccer with local kids? I can’t think of any other such opportunity. I also am fully aware that next week I will be living by myself in an apartment without my Bulgarian family or American friends nearby, without a garden that produces more fresh fruit and vegetables than I could ever eat. That I will have to go to work everyday in an office with colleagues I still can’t really understand and will have to really start figuring out how to do community and organizational development in a small village. I will also have to do laundry without a machine. Knowing this makes want to appreciate every moment of training: my host family, my training group, my language trainer-they are amazing.

English Lesson

On Saturday, my training group and I taught an English lesson in the Roma mahala. It went well. I’ve never taught a class before, but we’d received some instruction on lesson planning during one of our prior conferences. We made posters with translations and phonetic pronunciations of basic phrases: “Hello, my name is…” “What is your name?” “I’m from Bulgaria” “Where are you from?” It took 90 minutes to get these sort of down. About 10-15 people attended our lesson. It was held outside and anyone who wanted to could attend. Our students’ ages ranged from a few 5 year olds that just wanted to play with us to a woman in her mid-40s. Some of the kids were sort of familiar with English from school, others really struggled. It was rewarding when I ran into one of the men who’d attended the lesson this morning at the cafe and he said, “hello, my name is…” in English. I’m not sure he would have gotten the “Where are you from” question, but it was neat to hear him speak words in English that he didn’t know prior to our class.

17 July 2010

Bulgarian B-day

We had regular language classes until Friday when we headed back to Vratsa for another session with the community and organizational development group. This time the focus was tourism promotion and small business development. It was very interesting and inspiring. There is so much I want to do at my permanent site. It is such a beautiful place. I want people to want to visit, stay in one of the bed in breakfasts in town, take a carpet weaving class, hike or mountain bike to the waterfall or one of the old monasteries, eat homemade cheese, drink homemade wine, buy a carpet or two. Anyways, now I have even more ideas about future projects for the next two years and better understand the resources that are available to me.
After the conference, we celebrated the birthday of one of host mom of one of the volunteers in my my training group. Birthdays are celebrated a bit differently in Bulgaria. It is the responsibility of the person having the birthday to treat everyone else. They usually carry chocolates with them and hand them out to people that wish them ‘Chestit Rozhdenden’ throughout the day. Then the birthday person prepares enough food, wine, and rakia for any well-wishers that stop by. People still give presents to the birthday person, like clothes or flowers. But, if you give flowers in Bulgaria, they should be an number, even numbers of flowers are given only at funerals. I made peanut butter cookies for my gift (thanks for care package with Jif!). The party was a blast. All the neighbors came as well as her family and the training group. We ate outside at a long picnic table and danced different variations of the horo, the traditional Bulgarian dance until late.

Birthday Toasts...Dancing the Horo...Bread: the ever present companion to all meals...

If you toast with a non-alcoholic beverage in Bulgaria, it is believed you will have ugly children.

16 July 2010

Sofia in a Day

On Monday, my training group took a cab to Vratsa at 5:50 am to catch the 7 am bus to Sofia. It was full. The 7:15, 7:30, and 7:45 buses were also full. We had to be at Peace Corps HQ by noon and were getting tight on time. So, we walked to the train station and took a train instead. After this experience, I want to always travel by train. The views were incredible-no cars that may or may not swerve out of their lanes, no hairpin turns, no potholes, no diesel fumes-there was also plenty of space to stretch your legs and walk around. Plus, the slight breeze from the windows on the train was far superior to that which I’ve experienced on the buses.

In front of the Presidential residence in Sofia.

After we arrived at the Sofia train station, we took two trams to the Peace Corps Headquarters where we had our final interview with senior staff. These went well. Then we went to McDonald’s. I wasn’t a fan of fast food when I lived in America and didn’t really want a big mac and fries, but I had been craving a fountain soda and an ice cream cone. Plus, sitting down to your big mac on an outdoor terrace in a European capital city is a much different experience than driving through the golden arches stateside (I know it’s really not, but it makes me feel better to qualify the experience in this way. I am already suffering from flea bites and don’t want to dwell on it). Anyways, it was worth it.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Sofia is a big city, much larger and more spread out than I’d realized when I flew into its airport 3 months ago. It is the 12th largest city in the EU and has a population of 1.4 million people. It’s also an old city, having been continuously inhabited since the 7th century. Its center is paved with yellow Viennese cobblestones. There are quite a few destinations to see in Sofia. We rode the trams and walked to a bunch of the big sites: the president’s house, National Assembly Square, Kentucky Fried Chicken-Bulgaria, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Eagles Bridge, a commemoration statue to Russian liberation (from the oft-referenced Turkish yoke), etc.

15 July 2010

PST Activities: Monastery Visit, Hiking, Cow Milking

On the Friday after our community project, we had another conference in Vratsa. This one was great because a lot of the current Bulgaria volunteers presented on different projects they’re working on, discussed challenges they’ve faced, and answered questions. After Hub we ate dinner at an Italian restaurant. I had a salad made with fake crabmeat, tomatoes, yogurt dressing, and eggs. I never encountered anything similar when I was in Italy, but it was really good and I have a new found appreciation for fake crab.

Sunday was a full day of homestay-type activities. I woke up late and had breakfast with my family. My host mom made crepes (palachinki) with nutella. They are the perfect start to a day. Then she took me, my two little host brothers, and another volunteer from my training group, to the Klisurski Monastery. After candle lighting and walking around we went to Varshets to fill 10 giant jugs with spring water and have lunch at a café. When we returned, the other volunteer and I went for a 10 mile hike in the fields sunflower and wheat fields that surround our village. After being chased by shepherd dogs and running out of water, we stopped off in a nearby village for water, banitsa (a pastry made from yogurt, filo dough, cheese, and eggs), and pears from a Baba that saw us passing by. After dinner, I milked a cow.

08 July 2010

Community Project

Stage Before Stage After

We had our group project this week and it was a success! Our community meeting last month made clear the village wanted something done with the stage in the center of town. The stage is structurally sound and well placed between the mayor’s office and café, but was aesthetically unappealing and underutilized by the village. Our project: “Inspiring the Arts in K...,” we hoped, would inspire individual initiative despite limited financial resources and time, encourage volunteerism, and create awareness among K’s residents of the village’s human and physical resources.

The kindergarten director offered to sketch a mural and volunteers from the village helped paint it on the back of the stage. Painting was completed Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, we hosted a celebration for the grand reopening of the stage. It almost didn’t happen. Our primary performers, the ladies folk singing group, didn’t want to get on stage due to the hot weather. They said they would rather sing just for us in our classroom. Two of the volunteers have Babas in the group. After 20 minutes of cheek kissing and on the spot a cappella renditions of “My Bulgaria,” they agreed to sing three songs. Which was enough, the chocolate was melting and the children’s enthusiasm was waning. The rest of the celebration was flawless. Everyone loved the super sugary cookies and brand-less cola type drinks and was excited to see what we were doing.

The celebration’s turnout was significant, especially for 11:30 on Wednesday and I think everyone who attended, around 100 people, appreciated the project. The artistic interpretation of the EU flag design is a bit of a stretch, but we didn’t see the final touches until the morning of the celebration. Plus, how do you bring that up? There is an actual EU flag hanging from the mayor’s building less than 50 feet away…. Yet the stars on our mural and those on the real flag follow quite different patterns. Anyways, I think our project was a success: we made a tangible improvement to a central landmark through collaboration with local volunteers, provided a forum for the artistic talents of local residents, and held a memorable event that will hopefully set a precedent for future community presentations.