Mid-Winter Update

1-9-2007

I have been avoiding writing in this thing for various reasons; but I guess I do need to find a way to pass the time so I suppose I should write something. Last weekend I took a 2:30am train to Burgas in order to meet up with a few friends for a swim in the Black Sea. YES it was in fact freezing cold! It was actually a national holiday in which a priest throws a cross into the Sea and crazy-halfdrunk thrill seeking Bulgarians dive in the water after it in order to retrieve it from the Sea . The belief is that the person who grabs the cross first is blessed and will have good luck for the rest of the year. I did not retrieve the cross, but I was splashed with holy water as the priest was walking by……….so maybe I will have good luck as well. It was great seeing my friends from the South-East region and I guess it gave me something to take my mind off my boring life and the seemingly endless winter. (-note:1-16-2007 my life is far from boring but I do have a ridiculous amount of alone time which does wear on me at times)


1-16-2007

Well the weather here has been surprisingly mild; it has only snowed once this entire winter. This weather is unlike last year when we had over a foot of snow by this time. I am starting to realize the reason why I have been in a slump is because I have not been playing sports or exercising regularly. I rely so much on physical activity that it really does a number on me psychologically when I cut exercise out of my life completely. I decided I am going to try and run this week, and see if my ankle holds up(fingers crossed). Well I should probably write down all the updates I can think about before they are erased from my memory permanently and replaced by new thoughts and memories.
Well……….. my trip back to the States was great; I had a great time with family and friends. It was wonderful to see everyone, however I felt a bit rushed and overwhelmed by trying to catch up with everyone. I also got slammed pretty hard by the jet-lag and ended up feeling nauseous most of the time. I really wish I would have had more time to catch up with people; but I do feel like I did pack in quite a bit during the week I was home. I was able to squeeze in a Sea-Hawks game with my cousin Chuck; which was an incredible experience.



The travel back and forth from Bulgaria to the USA was grueling and at times completely frustrating. I was plagued with flight delays which made the trip much longer than anticipated. Of course to top things off; when I arrived back in Bulgaria my luggage was MIA. So I ended up traveling to Belgrade Serbia that night with only the cloths on my back. Belgrade was absolutely freezing but luckily I had friends there that were kind enough to allow me to borrow some warm cloths.
Belgrade for new years was a very memorable experience. I arrived about 7am having spent the entire night on a train; a nap was much needed at this point. Sleeping on a train is not very easy for me; being a light sleeper I am constantly being jerked awake by the constant movement of the train. After I arrived in Belgrade I ended up wandering a couple blocks from the train station in order to find a cab driver(advice from travel books) that would not completely rip me off( actually hard to find in Eastern Europe). About 2 blocks from the train station I came upon two large collapsing buildings. They both had large wholes covered with black ash marks. A fire was my first explanation for the damage, but when I observed that they were across the street from each other it became apparent that these buildings were involved in some sort of bombing. ( After some post trip research I found out that these two buildings were bombed by NATO in 1999)

After I made it to the apartment and greeted PC friends Andrea, Boudreaux and Greg I took a power nap. The Apartment was quite nice; and relatively expensive. But we were near the center and in a foreign country on New Years Eve, so I had absolutely no room to complain.
New Years Eve was a bit wild; we went to the center at around 1030pm and took part in the crazy block party that involved thousands of people. We met people from all over the world but most of them seemed to be college students from Slovenia. It felt like a war zone; those crazy Serbians were throwing fireworks into the streets and in the middle of crowds. Eastern block Countries are to Western Europe what Mexico is to the United States. (Cheap, Wild and slightly dangerous; close by yet completely foreign). It was definitely a thrilling experience for me, and one I will not soon forget. I recall brilliant images such as one of a Serbian man jumping up and down on the fiberglass roof of a bus stop shelter until it finally collapses and he falls through…….haha……good times in Eastern Europe. One thing that surprised me about Serbians was how tall they were; all the men seamed to be at least six feet. I have never seen so many tall people per capita in my life. Overall Serbia reminded me a lot of Bulgaria; I am under the impression that all eastern block countries have strong similarities.
The low point of the trip happened when I was trying to plug in a computer to an outlet in our Serbian apartment. I accidentally knocked a lamp over and incidentally broke the porcelain lamp shade. I did not immediately think this was a huge deal; after all it was only a lamp shade. Last week I received an email saying that I owe 200 euro for the lamp shade. Apparently the lamp is antique and the price of making a new lamp shade to the exact specifications is 200eu. Well to say the least this ruined my day, after all I get paid less than 200euro a month so this definitely causes a problem for me.
After I arrived in Bulgaria I picked up one of my bags at the airport and luckily it was the larger one with all my cloths and necessities in it(I received my second bag 4 days later).
I found it a bit challenging to get back into the swing of things here in Bulgaria. My motivation was lacking at first but I have slowing built it back up to regular levels. I have plenty of work ahead of me, and feel good about the work I have been doing so far. I had a meeting today with the director of a local kindergarten about a 30min walk from my home. I will start teaching morning English classes there next week. I also have a meeting this week with the director of the Roma School; I really hope that I will be able to do some teaching there as well.
Last Friday I traveled to Sofia to attend a party at the PC country director’s house. It was a lot of fun mingling with PCVs, and US State Department officials. Later that night most of us attended a Blue Grass concert, the band consisted of a guy from Kentucky and a few Bulgarian musicians. I returned home on Saturday only to return to Sofia the following evening. I found a bar that plays NFL games; so I figured I would watch the Sea Hawks try their best against the Bears(very disappointing loss). I took the morning bus home from Sofia and began to reenergize myself and plan the logistics of the week ahead of me. Lately I have been quite busy, and it looks like this will continue at least for the next few months. Well I think this blog pretty much covers all that I have been up to. Nothing here is entirely exciting at the moment but the future shows great promise. I hope all is well in the states and that you all are staying warm(be thankful for central heating)

1-18-2007

This winter has been ridiculously mild; it is starting to feel like spring is right around the corner. Well unfortunately the director of the Roma School was less than enthusiastic about the idea of me teaching there. She does not seem to think that I will be able to make any impact on the “lazy, unmotivated and disobedient Roma students”. Well I have not exactly figured out how to counter argue this, but I am working on it. I have been thinking about just walking into the Mahala and trying to set up some sort of small group adult English classes. I do not believe that this will be a tough sell; so I think I may give it a shot.
As many of you know I have been growing a beard for quite some time. And I must say it is driving me crazy; it is seriously out of control. I have not shaved my face for almost 3 months, and have not had a haircut for over 4 months. So I basically look like a crazy/alcoholic/bum. Needless to say I have not been on any dates lately. What was once a pleasant attempt to curb boredom and disregard grooming……is now an absolutely irritating and embarrassing ordeal. I am now on the home stretch however; on February 3, a group of us bearded PCVs will go on a long hike in Sofia, and follow it by a night out on the town. After the third of February I am thinking that I will most likely never grow a beard again. My mustache has taken over my lips like invasive weeds; I can barely eat without accidentally chewing on my mustache. And my mustache has also become an unnecessary filter for all incoming liquids!
In other exciting news……….I have recently changed my diet; I have swapped the daily chicken pasta with pork and beans. I found a store in town that sells canned beans with a large chunk of pork in it (mostly fat). And I gotta say….I am hooked on the stuff, it is also much quicker to make than my world famous chicken pasta. Ohhh and this diet change came at a perfect time; my one and only frying pan broke last week. The handle fell off, and this created a small hole in the side of the pan. So now when I cook I can only fill the pan up halfway otherwise my precious food will spill all over my camping stove. After giving it a lot of thought I have decided that I will use some of my next paycheck to invest in new cooking equipment. I think that owning a pot and a functional frying pan will prove to be quite helpful.
I have actually been consuming this delicious and nutritious meal of pork and beans for lunch all week; this delicacy is usually reserved for dinner. However unforeseen circumstances call for drastic measures. All the schools in my town have been shut down recently because of a flu epidemic (so unfortunately no school lunches in the cafeteria this week). I have been told that over half the kids in town have come down with the flu. I am feeling fine and dandy; so I am thinking that the annual flu shot the Peace Corps gave me has actually proven useful.