-Boredom & Random Thoughts-

8-6-2007 3:13pm

I am really bored at the moment; I am having a really hard time occupying my time. What the hell am I going to do for the next two months? Things at work are ridiculously slow! I am seriously counting down the days until I am able to finish my assignment. I love Bulgaria……..and my community; but I can’t help but feel that my time here is finished.
Not a lot has happened lately…….however, my quality of life has overall been quite good. My social life has been through the roof lately…….which is nice. I made friends with a few middle aged English couples who have bought houses near Chirpan. It has become quite easy and popular for Britt’s to retire in Bulgaria and live of their pension. You can still buy a house in rural Chirpan for about $5,000. It really makes me consider selling my truck and buying a house here…(strictly as a vacation spot/investment). Also my friend Nolan has been in town the last few weeks. He is a Zulu from South Africa who is married to a Bulgarian girl from Chirpan. I met them a couple winters ago……and have stayed in touch with them ever since then.
Nolan and I have had a blast hanging out…….I have thoroughly enjoyed observing the reactions of the locals when they see Nolan around town. All of the hip-hop crazed teens treat Nolan like a celebrity….it is quite a treat and a novelty for them to actually speak with a black guy. Of course these kids think all black people are exactly like those portrayed on rap and hip-hop videos. Ahhhh the wonderful influence of MTV!
Well my Baba’s health has continued to decline…it has become obvious that her knee cancer is causing her a lot of pain. She has a hard time because she lives alone and basically has no one to help her out. I make an effort to help her out now and again with simple tasks, and I also throw a few bucks her way now and again in exchange for some laundry service. She is a pro at hand washing! I have been hand washing my clothes for 2 years, but have not mastered how to actually get the clothes clean. It usually takes me about 3 days to do a load, and I pretty much just keep the clothes in a bucket of soapy water and poke it with a wooden stick from time to time (not efficient of effective!). The Baba has been cooking for me quite a bit lately……..we usually have lunch together, and chat about how hard her life is and how I am a good boy. Haha……I suppose everyone needs to vent from time to time.
It is kind of funny how old people still have primitive views on ethnicity and race. Painka (my baba) found it completely bizarre that my friend Nolan was married to a white Bulgarian girl. Painka told me that she must have married him for money…….because why else would a white girl marry a black man? I took this statement lightly and wrote it off as age induced ignorance. I of course explained to Painka that this marriage was perfectly normal and that love was the key factor in this union; not money. She gently laughed off my statement as an impossibility,……and continued talking about how hard her life is. After a few minutes had passed Painka gave me a curious and doubtful smile while she asked me if I would ever marry a black woman. I smiled at her and gave here a cliché answer such as; Love is color blind. She laughed and shook her finger at me with disbelief. I actually did not find this situation very surprising or unusual;……….the generation gap is huge between Painka and I. It would be quite unreasonable for me to expect an old woman to understand the complexity and tolerance of my generation. Nonetheless I found it interesting and somewhat amusing to hear bits of blatant racism come from the lips of a sweet old lady.
Ohhh and I will also mention that I recently found out that the Roma were discriminated against harshly during communism. I have been told recently that during communism the Roma (gypsies) were not even allowed in the cafes and shops in Chirpan. The Roma were only allowed to enter the city’s center once a week; and during certain hours. To be more specific; Roma were only allowed into the center on market day, so they could pick up supplies for the week. I find it interesting that unconcealed discrimination and racism was so prevalent in ‘Europe’ as recent as 20 years ago. Of course obvious racism, prejudice and discrimination is nothing out of the ordinary in Bulgaria. Bulgaria clearly has deep and prevalent ethnic tolerance issues. This morning I read a news brief about how a Roma woman in Bulgaria died because the ambulance she had called took over two hours to come to her. She was living in a known gypsy slum……and it is speculated that the hospital did not prioritize her assistance because of her ethnicity. Obviously there is a problem when a group of people in an EU country are looked at as second class citizens and denied emergency health care.
My other Baba; or more specifically my host mother from Krichim is sick again. Her cancer came back recently, and she is now in the process of chemotherapy. She seems to be doing well at the moment; but I suppose a lot can change in little time.
Alright I will stop writing just to write………it has been hard to find anything to write about lately. And writing is something I have relied on lately to cure my boredom. Anyways……I hope all is well in the states. As I have previously mentioned; I plan on coming back to the USA next spring. I will travel the world in the mean time….and hopefully expand my mind during my journey. Seachko whobavo (I wish everything well for you)
Trevor

8-14-2007

Well it is another hot and unbearably boring afternoon in the office. Lately I have been daydreaming constantly about my future adventures. I am beginning to get a bit overly excited about my long journey to come. I have been spending an hour or two researching and planning my trip every day. Lately I have been feeling a bit more adventurous and daring; I feel that several countries may be safer than media and public opinion states.
In other news…..my social life has continued to skyrocket. I have been going out to dinner quite regularly with the village ex-pats, and have spent a bit of time on the Black Sea. I have really enjoyed spending time with my South African friend Nolan, and hearing him speak of all the dangers and differences of his homeland. I find it fascinating that he comes from a land where baboons rifle through your trash, and massive hippos creep into suburban neighborhoods. It makes my previous suburban wildlife encounters with raccoon and deer seem exceptionally insignificant.
Nolan speaks often of how unsafe it has become in South Africa; a place where it seams that life is insignificant to many. Apparently South African’s get robbed, raped and murdered frequently. Nolan has lived in South Africa most of his life, but has never lived without constant fear and anxiety. He refuses to go in certain areas after dark, and keeps a large knife under his pillow while he and his wife sleep.
I have been keeping up with the current events via internet…….what a crazy world we live in. Unfortunately I am not living in area submerged with Americans. I doubt most Americans realize just how poor the United State’s image has become. I find myself constantly confronted with ex-pats and locals who force me to defend the American government and our foreign policies………this is not an easy thing to do. I usually just explain that the US has a very diverse and large population, and that all 300,000,000 of us have our own ideas and opinions about American politics. This usually silences my confronters and allows me a swift and gently exit from annoying debate and conversation.
Personally I find it to be irritating that I have to constantly defend my country against slander and false information. Why is it that so many people feel completely comfortable insulting Americans and their nation? When did this become an appropriate thing to do? I would never consider blatantly insulting someone because of their nationality and governments policies. Discussion and debate are vital to communication and greater understanding, however; blatant prejudices and unjustified slander based on media based stereotypes is absolutely disheartening and wrong. What the hell happened to everyone? How did the United States go from friendly neighbor to arrogant bully overnight? Arguably/obviously; our government and policies have been a bit rough and tough on certain countries……..,in general I personally still believe in my country, and feel that many of the United State’s actions are indeed selfless and for the greater good of the world we all live in. Living in the spotlight has been tough for the USA…….nothing ever slips through the cracks. We are constantly criticized and scrutinized for our flaws but rarely praised for our humanitarian efforts and policies of peace, friendship, and democracy.
Democracy of course is up for debate as well………..it works for us, but is it necessarily vital for the rest of the world? For example the small family structure is a miniature dictatorship; and it works fine……….so what it comes down to is: If you have a good dictator who truly cares about the country and its people…….what is the harm in that?? I am just throwing out ideas and thoughts……..I am not in anyway promoting communism or dictatorships. Only because both have historically failed significantly; communism for example is great as a philosophy but a nightmare when practiced on a large scale. Free will is a powerful thing………and so is greed and laziness.
Americans in general seem to be a bit close-minded and uneducated when it comes to the differences between the USA and the rest of the world. What exactly makes us different? I can personally answer this question quite easily when comparing and contrasting other countries based on my experiences overseas. But can you? Do you know why America is great? It is easy to say that America is great because it is free……….but have you noticed that the UK is not exactly putting its citizens in jail for practicing Islam? Have you noticed that freedom and excellent health care is ridiculously prevalent in Europe and other regions? I feel people need to educate themselves more on what it means to be free, and what makes the USA significant.
The USA is great for many reasons besides the fact that we are “free”. Our significance and patriotism runs deeper than that……the financial upward mobility is there for those who strive for it! This in my opinion is one of the many reasons why our country should be proud, also the fact that we are free to speak our minds and even carry around fire arms is something to appreciate. How about the fact that you can get any type of food you desire…….try finding a pack of tortillas or a can of peanut butter in the Middle East or Eastern Europe. How about the fact that,……. police are there for you at any time of the day to protect and serve and of course firemen are always on hand to keep your house from burning to the ground. I will stop with this ranting about how the world should stop talking shit about America. As I have said before; judge one by his or her personal values and beliefs not by the ones of their government. Basically do not insult someone based on their government and their country’s unfavorable world opinion. Bias and unprovoked insults upon others based on generalizations and stereotypes; only show ones ignorance and lack of intellect.

‘BARRY BONDS’
Ahhhhh ……….so…………… he broke the home run record! I could go on all day about this little situation, however; I will attempt to make my opinions brief. Let’s go ahead and throw all the cards out on the table. Barry Bonds is in fact an excellent hitter, he proved himself at a young age to be an excellent power hitter, and undoubtedly one of the best of his era. However that does not mean that his drug use should be ignored. Steroids are in fact performance ENHANCING drugs. They are taken to give athletes an edge on their opponents. And according to piles of documents and testimony by credible sources……….Barry Bonds took steroids!
OK lets pretend that the BALCO case did not bring up loads of significant evidence against Barry…….how about I paint you a picture.

-Rookie Year: 1986 Barry was 22 year old and weighed in at a solid and strong 185lbs
-Between 1986 and 1996 his weight fluctuated between 185-190lbs
-In 1997 at age 33 he showed up to spring training weighing 206lbs
-hmmm a 16 pound gain in a few off season months…….interesting
- Between 1997-2000 he only gained 4lbs and finished the 2000 season at 210lbs
-Well it looks like he hit the gym hard again because at age 37 he gained a whopping 18lbs
-He showed up to spring training 2001 ridiculously swollen and at 228lbs
-Just in time for some record breaking swings of course!

So there is the visual evidence, it has been said that his teammates nick named him the incredible hulk because of how swollen he looked when he arrived at spring training in 2001. So there you have it………he took steroids and cheated. So in my opinion Barry’s home record has about as much merit as the women’s East German Olympic weight lifting team’s gold medals. If we can defame and shun a man who evaded taxes and bet on baseball(Pete Rose)………why not scrutinize illegal drug use? In short Hammering Hank is still the home run king in my eyes.
Of course we do have hope, and it comes drug free. Our knight in shining armor is none other than A-Rod. If all goes according to plan this guy will shatter the home run record and hopefully add a bit of prestige and honor back into the now cheapened and tarnished home run record.
By the numbers Alex is actually ahead of the pack.
i.e. – when you look at the first 14 seasons:
1954- 1967 Hank Aaron had 481 home runs
1986-2000 Barry Bonds had 445 home runs
1994-2007 Alex Rodriguez has 500+
So there it is……..good luck A-Rod. And Go Mariners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a picture from the last summer camp I worked at in the village of Zavet