Kate in Bulgaria

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

Happy Easter

Oh how I love the Sun.  After an extremely vicious Winter, I do believe Spring is here to stay.  Now like all things when dealing with Bulgarian weather, this could just be a temporary reprieve, but I am choosing to stay positive and am embracing my new coat free status.  I bet within the month I wont' even need my heater on.  How lovely that will be, granted I will have to find a place to store it during the coming months, but that is of little worry when you think of all the great things that i can now do coat free. 

The horse races I went to this past weekend were enjoyable.  Not quite as grand as I had convinced myself they would be, but I had a blast nontheless.  The horses went from pathetic pony to the very beautiful race horse.  There was one rider who thought he was in Texas somewhere, had the chaps, the long trench coat, cowboy hat and the boots.  Unfortunatly his horse wasn't having any of it and they came in a pathetic 3rd in his heat of 4.  There were some really beautiful horses there, granted I know as much about horses as I do rocket science, but even to my untrained eye I could pick out the "winners".  On the other end of the spectrum there were some truly pathetic looking horses that looked as if they had been unhooked from the cart that very morning just in time for the races.  Some even had their red pom poms on (the horse version of reflectors I have decided).  My favorite horse was this little sad looking guy who was being ridden by a little boy.  Instead of a saddle he had a wooden crate that he sat in the middle of.  During his race, he got so far behind the others that the announcer thought the race was over.  It wasn't until he looked down the other end of the grass track that he realized there was another racer, but there the little guy was, trudging along for all he was worth.  Out of all the races, he received the lowdest applause.  The race was set in the large field that was surrounded by beautiful snow covered mountains.  Everywhere you look up there you are surrounded my mountains, it is just so very beautiful. 

Brett and Wendy came up on Saturday afternoon so that we could all celebrate Brett's birthday.  We made Mexican for dinner, well as close to Mexican as we could get, and had a carrot cake that I had made earlier in the day.  I dont' attempt to bake often, but I must admit, the carrot cake was a raving success.  I even found real cream cheese at the Billa in Pleven earlier in the week so we had real cream cheese icing.  Yummmmmm

For Easter Mama sent me an egg dying kit, so on Sunday Brett, Matt and I dyed Easter eggs.  It is such a silly thing, but I can't imagine Easter without some colorful hard boiled eggs.  I was under the assumption that Easter here was the same time as Easter at home.  Guess what, I was wrong.  Easter here is May 1st, so i guess that means I get to celebrate Easter twice this year.  Not a bad deal if you ask me.  

I stayed over in Apriltsy until Tuesday morning so that I could go to Matt's English class on Monday night.  He started his classes about a month ago and since I am suppose to start mine next week, I figured it would be a good idea to go watch someone else's.  He has an English family in his town,so they came as well.  Matt wanted us to speak infront of the class so that they could hear different accents.  Seeing as he was the "American" accent, he requested I put on my "Southern" accent just to give them a new one to hear.  I gladly played the part and got a few chuckles out of it.  I think I was the first Southerner they have ever heard. 

Wendy is coming to visit this afternoon.  She will be my first visitor to Letnitsa.  She and I are going to go look for a resturant that I was told exists here somewhere.  I'm not sure if I believe it really does, but I am willing to play along and go look for it.  This weekend Matt is coming to visit, I figured I had to stay here for at least one weekend, but I wasnt' going to do it alone, so I am bringing in reenforcements.  His and Wendy's visits will set Letnitsa on its ears, I'm sure they will be talking about all the Americans in town for at least a few weeks. 

Well, I am off. I'm reading a huge notebook full of info about a new Wastewater Treatment System.  I do believe Mr. Mayor has the idea that I will be able to write a grant so that he can pay for this new system.  I want to ask him what happened to all the money he got not 4 months ago, but alas, all I have to do is look at all the new cars he has purchased and I have my answer. 

Happy Easter to you all, I hope the Easter bunny brings you some treats. 

posted by: ksension at March 24, 2005 08:10 | link | comments (2) |

Happy be-lated birthday Daddy, Happy Anniversary Mama and Daddy and Happy St. Patrick's Day all

 Well, it’s the middle of March, and you won't believe it, but it was 60 degrees today.  Yes, I said 60.  I thought I was dreaming, but I actually went without a coat for the first time in about 3 months.  I guess Baba Marta is finally doing her job, bout time if you ask me. 

 So, last week was pretty good.  Tuesday was Women's Day, a holiday that is widely celebrated here.  I'm not sure if this is a holiday at home, but I think it should be better appreciated if it is.  We had a staff meeting that morning; all of the women present received a flower and a box of perfume.  Later in the morning a few other men were walking around handing out more flowers.  At lunch time we were all taken down to the vacation house down by the waterfall for a party.  Had a nice lunch, did some dancing, some Rakia drinking and a lot of talking.  There was still snow on the ground then so I took a walk up to the waterfall.  It was gorgeous.  The foot bridges were all covered in snow and there were ice icicles on the trees.  The water was a crystal clear blue and the snow was sooo white; I got some amazing pictures.   That is my favorite place in this whole area, if it were closer I would go everyday. 

 On Wednesday I translated a letter to  James Pardew, the US Ambassador to Bulgaria .  We are trying to get funding to remodel the old church in town and Mr. Pardew is on the committee that deals with those sorts of requests.  I think Tanya thinks that since they have me here they are a shoe in to be funded.  I had to break it to her that I don’t' think it will work that way, but they are hopeful nonetheless.  On Friday I had to go to Pleven for a practice emergency evacuation meeting.  Every PC country has to have an evacuation plan in case of some emergency that makes it necessary for us to leave.  They break it up to where you live, and for my region, we meet in Pleven at the hotel across the street from Wendy's apartment.  Since I was there already I ended up staying for the weekend.  Brett and Matt are also in this region so we all had one of our weekends like we use to.  It was nice to hang out with all of them again, I am really fortunate to have found such great people.  I suppose it has more to do with where PC placed us, but I'll not question my good fortune. 

 On Monday the internet guy finally come over to the apartment to look at my bad cable.  I haven’t' had the net at home for about 8 days and I was finally able to catch him in the hallway to ask if he will come and fix it.  He had to replace my cable, which was good because now I have a much better connection and I can actually move the computer while it is plugged in and not have to worry about losing my connection.  While he was here we got to talking and up he told me that he is moving to Greece for 3 months.  He said he only makes 150 Lev a month here, that’s about 60 bucks.  So he is going to Greece to work, leaving his wife and son to live with his family.  He asked me how much I made a month, not that I would tell him, but I felt so guilty about it.  I mean, here I am, living alone, no bills to speak of other than my internet and I think I am poor.  I know he knows I make more than him; he is constantly trying to get me to pay for his and his friends drinks.  They think it is so very funny to invite me out then tell me that I'm paying.  hahaha

 Tuesday I had tutoring in Lovech.  My tutor is very nice and I think things are going to work out well this time.  She is an actual teacher and has her own English School in Lovech.  She also tutors two other volunteers so she knows exactly what I need to learn.  Hopefully I will get back into the learning mood and start picking up some new words.  I am at a point now where I know enough to get buy, but I really want to improve. 

 I went to Sofia on Wed morning.  There was supposed to be a new bus line that picked up in Letnitsa on its way to Sofia .  This made me very happy because it would shave at least an hour off of the trip.  Well that bus didn’t' show up so I had to take an 8 o’clock to Lovech then catch a bus from there.  I didn't get to Sofia till 12:30 and my original plan was to catch a 2 o'clock bus back to Lovech so that I could make it back in time to catch the last bus home to Letnitsa.  My friend Shaina is going to Amsterdam next week and she wanted to borrow my new big back pack. I met her at the office and I had to have a follow up with the docs, so I got all that done and had time to spare. Rushed to the bus station with 5 mins to spare and wouldn't you know it, that stupid bus didn’t' even show up.  So I took a bus to Pleven instead, but by the time I got to Pleven my bus home had already left.  Thank goodness Wendy lives in Pleven , I have stayed with her so many times due to a missed bus that she should probably charge me rent. 

 So, I got home today around 12:30, and what is the first thing I see?  A carnival has moved into Letnitsa.  Now earlier this week one of those pirate boat rides had been set up.  They talked like this was going to be a huge party thing, but I thought, "one ride", not much of a party.  Well now there are about 6 rides, most of them for kids, but for Letnitsa, it's like the Sate Fair.  The music has been playing all week because of the Pirate ship, but now it is full blast and I think the entire town is out there just watching the lights from the rides.  I feel a little bad about the fact that I already have plans for the weekend, but I doubt I would have spent a lot of time down there anyways.  To make up for the fact that I wont' be here this weekend I spent a few hours down there this afternoon.  I sat with two of my old lady neighbors and we talked about the old guy in our building that has been getting drunk lately and singing in the hallway at midnight. 

 So this weekend I'm headed up to Apriltsy again.  I am going to a horse race on Saturday.  I have never been to a horse race before and I am beyond excited.  I'm even going to wear my straw cowboy hat; I figured it was the closest I will get to a "My Fair Lady" fancy hat experience.  It is also Brett's birthday on Sunday, so Wendy and Brett are coming up on Saturday afternoon so we can celebrate. 

 Well, I think that is it.  I'm going to attempt to figure out how to put pics on this page, or at least add a link that will take you to pictures.  Give me something to do next week.  I hope you all wore some green today, unless of course you enjoy the pinching aspect of this holiday.  Love to everyone

 

posted by: ksension at March 17, 2005 19:48 | link | comments |

I'm back

 Well, I really have no excuses, but I am back and promise to do a better job this time with my weekly updates.  I know a lot of you have asked Mama if I was ok, sorry to worry you.  I am indeed fine, just a bit lacking in the writing bug lately, so no more excuses, here I go.

Ok, so a lot has happened since February 1st.  Not the least being the fact that I am now a year older. 26 came in with a bang, I had a lovely party with cake and everything, but more about that later. 

Winter is back, again.....  I swear the weather here is as unpredictable as it is at home.  We had ridiculously cold weather the first 2 weeks of Feb, then the week of my birthday it warmed right up, all the snow melted, and even the death patch of ice that has taken down more than one Baba and sent any number of dogs skidding.  As usual though, it did not last.  This past Monday it started snowing again, and the temp dropped to -7c during the day for 3 straight days.  I am just not cut out for this kind of cold, I firmly believe all those years in the South have weekend my cold weather living abilities.  Oh well, another month or so and it should start to warm up for good, although I did hear through the Klucki Vine (gossip vine), that it has been known to snow in April in my region.  So, guess I will just have to wait it out and hope that the weather Gods will look favorably down upon me.  I do think however that we had a bad sign this week as far as the weather is concerned.  

March 1st is Baba Marta day, literally translated Grandmother March.  Everyone wears red and white ornaments made out of yarn of some sort.; bracelets, necklaces, pins, anything.  You give them to other people, you collect them yourself, but you have to wear them.  They and the day represent the ending of Winter, the welcoming of Spring and new life.  You must continue to wear them until you see a Stork flying through.  Yes, I said a Stork.  Personally, I'm not sure I would even recognize a stork, i mean how many storks do we have flying around Carteret County.  Anyways, after you see this bird, you can take them off.  Now what happened that leads me to think no good weather is soon to come is\the fact that it started to snow on Baba Marta Day.  All I can compare this day to is Ground Hog's Day.  The whole shadow thing, and well, if it snows on the day you are suppose to be celebrating the END of Winter, I just dont' see how that is going to bode well for an Early Spring.  Oh well, like everything else, I will wait and see what happens.  At least  my balance and reflexes have greatly improved from the many runnings in I have had with the oh so hated black ice.  It's amazing how quickly you learn to jerk your body in weird ways to counteract the main mission of black ice, mainly, to drop you on your ass.

Ok, so enough about the weather.  The big even for February was my groups In Service Training (IST).  It is a week long training that happens when you are in your 6 month of actual service.  To top it off, your counterpart goes along with you for the first 3 days.  Joy of my life seeing as how Tanya and I get along oh so well.  She and I are doing better, but bosom buddies we will never be.  Our IST was held in a small resort type town about 45 mins outside of Sofia.  Little place called Bankya.  Only real redeming quality was the fact that you could be in Sofia in less than an hour by train, and for 10 LEv you could be there in 20 mins with a cab.  IST was ok, for 4 days we had Project Management meetings, counterpart/volunteer relationship stuff, funding info, just your basic stuff.  The last day was a day for language refreshers, always helpful. 

The best part of being in Bankya was the fact that my birthday fell on day two of it.  I will admit the thought of being stuck in the hole (letnitsa) on my birthday was not appealing.  SO I was more than happy to find out i would be with everyone in Bankya instead.  There is another person in my group who has the same birthday as well, so we shared a party.  There is a resturant near Bankya called the Saloon.  It is a Bulgarian's version of what they thought an American Saloon should look like.  Not a bad job, but when Bulgarians try to cook American style food it is always a very very interesting expereince.  About 40 of the volunteers showed up, we ate, drank, sang, did a little two stepping once we found the right music.  It was a great night.  Near the end of it one of the girls who had planned it told me and John to go stand by one of the rafters, said there was a surprise.  Out came a HUGE cake covered in these big chocolate hearts and those little silver ball candy things.  Instead of candles there were two mini sparkler sticks, it was great.  I really have made some wonderful friends here, they are all great people and they made my birthday one to remember.

So, back to Letntisa; although not for to long. I am still traveling pretty much every weekend, something I still know I shouldn't do as much, but I just can't help it.  There is so much to see, and none of it is in Letnitsa.  Lately I hae been going up to Apriltsy, a great little town up in the Mountains.  It is about a 2 hour train/bus trip from Letnitsa, so a very easy journey.  I can look out the window here and see the top of a Mountain all covered in snow, Evergreen trees are everywhere and they look like they are right out of a Bob Ross painting.  For those who don't know who that is, he was the guy who painted the "happy little trees".  I could watch him for hours.  Anyways, there is a brook near the apartment, the banks are all covered in snow, this is the place I should have been.  Being here is like living in a postcard. 

Happy National Day to Bulgaria yesterday.  March 4th is the day the celebrate the removal of the horrid Turkish Yolk that ruled them for so many years.  I would attempt to explain the Turkish Yolk, but it is just impossible to do.  It is something we have all heard about since the day we arrived.   The Turkish Yolk is mentioned with a snarl of the lip and a cut of the eye.  The most horrid of horrible things, every town, whether 300 or 80,000 has some memorial to the end of it, and a statue of their local "hero" who played some wonderfully important role in fighting it. 

Well, I think that is it for now.  I am sure I will remember something else, but I will just add it in later.   I hope you all have a lovely weekend. 

posted by: ksension at March 04, 2005 06:29 | link | comments (2) |

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