Kate in Bulgaria

Experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer and some adventures on the side

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to take the opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas,  or Vecela Koleda if you speak Bulgarian. 

It started snowing yesterday morning and hasnt' stopped yet.  Its beautiful, I only hope that this isn't the begining of that chest high snow that Mr. Johnef was telling me about.  Guess I'll find out when I come back in January.  I will be spending Christmas with my host family in Panagyurishte, it wont' be like being home mind you, but it will be nice to see them.  I got an email from Pepa, my host sister, she said Baba has been asking when I will arrive for the last week.  I am excited to experience a new kind of Christmas, they have some very interesting traditions that I have read about. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Years.  Eat lots of Christmas cookies and think of me if any of them are snickerdoodle or peanut butter.  Be safe and enjoy eachother.  Lots of Love, Kate

posted by: ksension at December 22, 2004 11:02 | link | comments |

My Kindergarten is closing until February.  For a good reason, but now I have nothing to do again.  There is an outbreak of Chicken Pox at the school, 15 kids have it, and so I have been banned from the school until the end of January.  Oh Well.  Mr. Johnef asked me today if wanted to work on a new project they are starting.  It’s in English so I jumped at the chance, plus it is to improve one of the community garbage bins and seeing as I have a view of it from my balcony I will take a special interest in it. 

Sophia was great, the conference was very interesting and I didn't have to do any translating.  World Bank did a rural development needs survey and they presented to results to the Rural Development Commission which Mr. Johnef is on.  They had an interpreter for the visiting World Bank execs and I was able to use their little headphone thing also.  I think I could get into this, the Rural Development thing, it’s really very interesting and seeing as my community qualifies as both Rural and under funded, I'm sure I'll get the chance.  Did you know that the average Bulgarian family of 4 gets by on 300 Lev per month, that is less than I make and I have no major expenses. No wonder everyone is so skinny here, they can’t' afford to buy a lot of food.  Pensioners (retired) get 50 Lev per month as their stipend. 50 Lev, I spent more than that in one day in Pleven. 

I woke up this morning and it was -10 C.  My nose froze as soon as I went outside.  -10, I've never in my life been in weather that cold before.  There is ice everywhere, frost is covering every possible place and object and even the dogs that don't like each other are huddling up together.  The weather people are again calling for snow on Sunday, they have been saying this for like 3 weeks so I wont' hold my breath.  Mr. Johnef told me today that last year this time the snow was up to his chest.  All I can say is I'm glad I wasn’t' here last year.

I'm staying in Letnitsa this weekend, I felt a little guilty on Monday when Mr. Johnef said that he didn’t 'think I liked Letnitsa.  Tried to explain that it’s ok during the week but nothing to do on the weekends, but I'll stick around this weekend to make him feel better about me liking Letnitsa.  Tried to mail out two boxes for Mom and Daddy and Rachel and Jeff, the post office said they were too big and they couldn’t' handle them.  They are like 3 kilos, why in the world cant' they handle them.  Just one more little quirk about living in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere I suppose. 

 

posted by: ksension at December 17, 2004 14:31 | link | comments |

It's A Small World

Well another weekend is over and Monday is the start of week 18. I had to get the calendar out to make sure that that number was right. Sometimes I just don't know where the time has gone. When we first got here they told us that time would fly by, that our time would be over before we knew it. I think I can safely say that they are right. I think about what I was doing last year this time, I was still waiting to hear back from Peace Corps about whether or not I was accecpted to the next stage of the application process, still working at ACORN, heck, Rachel wasnt' even engaged yet. This year has just flown by and these last 4 1/2 months have been no exception.

I spent the weekend in Pleven wth Matt, Brett and Wendy. This was our 2nd "sanity weekend", I do beleive that it will be a monthly ritual. We do nothing more exciting than sit in cafes and speak English, but its the fact that it isnt' difficult to do these things that make it so relaxing. Not that being or living here is difficult, but the effort it takes just to communicate everyday can be exhausting. On Saturday while we were being the Americans that we are, we were asked by a guy at the table next to us, in English, if we were indeed Americans. Well, this led to the typical question of where in America, and as it turned out this guy and his brother grew up in Florida in the same town that Brett is from. Talk about a small world. They and their parents are Bulgarian and after Communism fell in 89, they moved to Florida. The one guy who had spoken to us first had moved back to Bulgaria just last week. It amazes me some times how small this world really is.

So now I am back in Letnitsa. I got home and the apartment was FREEZING. When I leave for the weekends I turn it off to save on electricity, and when I got back this evening I swear it was like 30 degrees in the apartment. It takes like 4 hours once I have turned it back on to warm up the room. My fingers have just now started to thaw, I think my feet need another half hour or so.

I received some bad news this past week. A guy from my training group went home on Wednesday. He makes number 5 to go home, its always a bummer when you hear some one has gone home, but I knew Grant. He is such a funny person and kept the tension is PanaG down to a minimum with his antics and comments.  I wish him the best....

I'm headed to Sophia on Wednesday. Mr. Johnof is taking me to a World Bank Rural Development conference on Thursday so I can translate for him. I have no idea why he thinks I am capable of translating technical words and info, but he does, so I'm going. At least I will be able to pay attention to the conference. I'm not sure why this conference is in English, but i'll go and maybe even meet some future contacts. We are also going to go to Metro, the best thing in Sophia. Metro is sort of like the Walmart of Bulgaria. Not as big, but its got that one stop shop thing going for it. Ohhhhh, I can't wait!!!

posted by: ksension at December 12, 2004 21:56 | link | comments (4) |

I've Joined the 21st Century

You are now reading the rantings of a very proud washing machine owner. It is true, I now belong to the other half of the world, you know the ones who don't scrub thier clothes on the bathroom floor with a brush. 

On Thursday I got a call from my counterpart asking me if was still interested in buying a washing machine.  Well as if that took any thought, I told her with a big resounding "DA", "Az izkam mnogo" (YES, I WANT VERY MUCH).  So that afternoon she and I took a little walk to the one resturant in town, a place that has no menus and only serves very fried fish every day.  I'm thinking, how nice she is taking me to lunch to celebrate my new purchase, something a bit more than expected, but seeing as whenever you purchase something new in Bulgaria people tell you congratulations,  I figured, a washing machine was a bit more than a normal purchase so maybe it qualified for the next level of congratulations.  Anyways, once we get there, I discover that the washing machine is actually in the little 2nd hand shop that is attatched to this "sort of resturant."  I dont' think I have ever seen an object so lovely.  You could have offered me a car and I dont' think the level of excitement would have been any different. 

So, after finding out the price (250 Lev), trying to talk the guy down a bit, figuring out how we will get it to my apartment and how in the world I'm going to figure out how to use it seeing as it is a German machine, I agree to buy it and promise to return on Monday with the 250 Lev.  I know i've gotten rusty with my bargaining powers when I can't talk down a Bulgarian on a used German washing machine, but hey, I have a washing machine.

So back to work we go, and not an hour later I'm told to come along that we are going to get MY washing machine.  Talk about service!!  Four of the Municipalities maintenence workers and one big van later, my brand new to me German washing machine is sitting happily in my kitchen.  We had to do a little rearranging of the appliances to make it fit, but it is there, shiny white and no washing machine has ever looked so lovely.  The guys came back on Friday afternoon to hook it up and I am right now, as I type this, washing my very first load of laundry.  It took awhile to figure out which buttons were what, but between the German/Bulgarian dictionary i borrowed and my English/Bulgarian dictionary, I think I managed to translate it well enough that my clothes won't come out 5 sizes to small or soaking wet.  I'll let you know it worked out.

Ok, i'm sure you are tired of hearing about my washing machine, so off to other things.  This week was pretty normal, the visit with the PC director went well and Tanya and I got through the entire week without one major mothering issue.  I went to Lovech on Friday to look for some Christmas ornaments to send home, no luck.  Christmas as a commercial holiday and Santa Claus in general have only been in Bulgaria since 1989.  During Communisim, there was NO Santa Claus, so everything they have is very Western.  I couldn't find a single Christmas ornament that didnt' have "Merry Christmas" written on it in English.  I'm still looking, I'm determined to have a real Bulgarian ornament. 

On my way home from Lovech, I had a very very wierd encounter with an old man.  PC always told us to sit next to an older person when traveling because you are less likely to have any problems.  So, I get on the bus, there aren't a lot of seating options left, but near the back is a spot facing an older guy.  I sit, pile my purchases next to me and get comfortable for my hour ride back to Letnitsa.  One thing about sitting next to an older person though is that they like to talk to you.  Not a big deal and It gives me the opportunity to talk to someone who isn't a "sympathetic listener".  I get through all of the normal questions, "ot kude cte" (where are you from), "kak ce kazvash" (what is your name), "na kolko godini ci" (how old are you), these are the questions you answer ALL the time as soon as someone realizes you are from America.  Well, this old guy kept talking to me, he was nice, no big deal.  But then he started up with the, "ti triabva da na gosti" (you have to be my guest), meaning he wanted me to come visit him in Lovech and some assorted other things that I'm probably forutnate not to have understood. Very long story made short, this old guy starts holding my hand, touching my cheeck, kissing my hand.  Now I can deal with this, most Bulgarian men do it all the time, you get use to it, but when this man who is old enough to be my grandfather  leans in for a  kiss, I'm afraid the few "bad" words I know in Bulgarian sort of slipped out.  I have never been so happy to see Letnitsa before as I was when the bus finally pulled up to my stop and I could make my very quick exit.  I think I'll be avoiding the 12:30  Lovech/Letnitsa bus for awhile, just in case.   

 I went up to Svishtov this weekend to visit two other volunteers.  They are the volunteers from my group who are getting married on New Years Eve.  Its sweet, a bit fast, but hey if you know you know.  Anyways, I got there Sat. afternoon, we walked around, looked for something for her to wear for the Wedding and ate at a real resturant.  Svishtov is about an hour North of me and is on the Danube.  I hadnt' realized until this weekend how close I was to it.  You can actually see Romania from her apartment.  It is right there, directly across the River,  about the distance from Morehead to Atlantic Beach, just no bridge.  As soon as the traveling restriction is up I do believe Romania will be my first visit.  Unless of course Mr. Johnov (the mayor) comes up with some reason for us to go before then. 

Well, its about an hour and a half since I started my first load of laundry and it is just now getting to the spin cycle.  These clothes are going to be really really clean.  Add to that time two days to dry and it comes to about 2 and 1/2 days to wash and dry one load of laundry. It's no wonder Bulgarians wear the same outfit 3 or 4 days in a row,  they might just be on to something.

The weather is getting progressively colder and the old men still swear its going to snow any day.   The babas have all started wearing their mulit-colored tights, some of which would make a clown green with envy, and I saw my first Bulgarian with gloves on the other day.  I suppose this all means Winter is finally here to stay wether I'm ready for it or not. 

posted by: ksension at December 05, 2004 15:00 | link | comments (1) |

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