Movin Along

Hello All,
I have been staying really busy here in Bulgaria, it’s hard to believe that I will be swearing into the Peace Corps in less than a month. October 27th I will attend the ceremony in Sofia. Last Saturday I attended an event in Pazarjik, which was in the Roma community. We were able to play games with the Roma kids and then watch a dance and music performance that they put on, it was a lot of fun. On Monday we had more training evaluations, which I did great on. The language is very difficult, but I am definitely catching on. Tuesday my group went to Pazarjik and met the US Ambassador, He gave a speech and answered the questions we had. Wednesday I was off to Plovdiv to job shadow a couple of COD volunteers. Bryan works for CEGA which is a NGO that helps Roma get land with no money down. They help the Roma create a revenue for themselves, the NGO has been very successful in the last few years. And Adam works for Green Balkans which is a long running Environmental NGO. It was a great couple of days; Plovdiv definitely has a lot to see. There is an 18,000 year old roman amphitheatre, as well as roman remains throughout the city.
I am really starting to get used to my new country, it is quite different from what I am used to however. There are wild dogs and cats that roam the streets, and no pound system to get rid of them. People drive mostly old Russian cars or donkey carts. The elderly women aka the Baba’s sit in a chair in front of their house pretty much all day long. Perhaps the greatest difference between our countries is the extreme segregation and discrimination among minorities. The Roma community is completely segregated from the rest of the city; They also usually have their own schools. Roma are generally treated like social parasites, the treatment can be compared to the treatment of African Americans in The USA in about the mid 50s. There are however many Bulgarians that have recognized the problem and are trying to make changes. Oh yeah and the Smoking, Bulgarians smoke more cigarettes per capita then any country in the world. And they smoke everywhere even in office buildings and trains.
I am very excited to move to my permanent site, it will be quite a challenge though. I have become very comfortable in the town I am currently living in. It will be challenging to have to start all over again and try and establish new Bulgarian friends. Also I am not quite sure what to expect as far as my job goes. From what I know about my town and my new co-workers, I feel that I will be very successful. I have recently been hearing horror stories about the central heating in Bulgaria. Apparently in Bulgaria it’s usually about 10 degrees warmer inside than outside and most Bulgarians can only afford to heat one room of their house, so it becomes a 4 month slumber party in many Bulgarian households. I will be living in a house, so I will most likely be heating my house with a fireplace.
I have been staying pretty healthy overall, I dropped a few pounds because my host family is a big fan of the vegetable soup, and not really into any food containing protein. Most doorways are much smaller than in the US, I had a little run in with the tin roof of a magazine rack in Plovdiv about a month ago, which landed me in the hospital for about an hour. And of course they insist on all sorts of immunizations that we have been receiving about every two weeks, I received a couple on Tuesday that left me with a horrible headache for two days.
The food is a bit different in this country; They enjoy a drink which is basically plain yogurt, water and salt. I have tried Pig brain, which I don’t recommend; it tasted a bit fishy, I also tried pig stomach which was really not that great. The vegetables in Bulgaria are great however. The tomatoes are by far better than any I have had in the states.
If any of you would like to write to me, I would definitely appreciate it, it’s always good to get support from friends and family. My address for the time being is: Trevor Lake(name should be underlined or written in all caps) PO BOX 178 Central Post Office PAZARDJIK, 4400 BULGARIA.
and my email address is LakeTrev @hotmail.com. I just got a cell phone and the incoming calls are free. But I suggest you go to callbulgaria.com or hellobulgaria.com to get a cheap phone card, otherwise i am sure it would be very expensive to call me. The # is o11359885622710
Well I hope all is well back in America, it’s hard to believe I will not set foot in that country until October 2007. I have been talking to my new friends however about future travel plans. My friend Alex from Berkley suggested that we go to Egypt, then to make our way to Mt Kilimanjaro. It would be a hell of an experience to hike the highest peak in Africa. Well these are pipe dreams at the moment but they are keeping me excited none the less.
Please keep me informed about any news good or bad within the family, or my circle of friends. And Congrats to Jason McGill for taking the plunge into Marriage this month.
Over and out
Trevor Lake