Kate in Bulgaria

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

take two

Well, September is gone, and I am now officially into my 2^nd year as a PCV.  Life here seems to move at its own mysterious pace, a clock for which does not register with any type of time measurement I’ve ever come across. 

I’ve given a lot of thought into what I want this last year to be like, what I want to accomplish, what I want to see.  If it is anything like this past year it will be gone before I know it, so I want to make sure I squeeze in as much as I possibly can.  With that said, there are things from this past year that I do not want to forget; things that have been important aspects of my time here.  Some are work accomplishments, but most are changes in me - part of my ever growing desire to figure me out and to see how the world and I interact with each other.

Here are some of the better ones

We received funding for my SPA project.  My municipality will soon have a business center that will house a new laptop, LCD projector, and some other various computer and printer equipment.  Hopefully this center will turn into a productive place where municipal employees can come and learn new computer software, improve their technical capabilities and promote growth and development.  

 I learned to speak Bulgarian.  Granted this is not a very in-demand language outside of Bulgaria, but it is a foreign language and hey, that has to count for something.  My ability to communicate with the locals improves daily and sometimes I go a full day without actually speaking a word of English to an actual person.  I do find myself speaking in English to the street dogs, but I figure if I am feeding them they will at least pretend to understand me.  

 

  I’ve become a vegetarian.  Funny thing to celebrate I guess, but it is something that came out of necessity and well, being a vegetarian in during summer was great.  The vegetables and fruit here are like nothing else you’ve ever had. Winter will be interesting, the thought of living off of Lentil soup again sends a shiver down my spine, but I’ll think of something.  I hear jarred pickled peppers aren’t’ too bad. Besides that though, it has helped me become a healthier person and in turn, a happier person.  

 I grew up.  Not that I wasn’t a grown up before, but I’ve finally learned how to survive on my own, by my own wits and not surrounded by the familiar.  It’s a bit of a heady experience knowing that I made it in a foreign country and in a town where no one speaks English.  I’m not afraid of the unknown anymore, I’m confident in my ability to survive most anywhere.  Most importantly though, I am satisfied with living life as it comes. Bulgaria has calmed me and my need to have everything planned out and fixed.   

 I’ve met amazing people and have made some life long friendships.  The dynamics here are odd at best.  A week here is like a month at home, tiny accomplishments like learning a new language tense or translating a document are reasons to celebrate.  Bonds between people form hard and fast.  Sometimes I think about these people here who have become my family and I can’t believe that last year this time I barely knew them and 14 months ago I didn’t even know they existed.   

 And finally, I am traveling.  I am seeing the world.  For as long as I can remember I have had this underlying desire to just go and see as much as I could.  It took me till the age of 25 to figure out how to do it, but I did and now I am living that dream out.  There are places and things I have seen that are beyond description, and if I have my way there will be many many more. 

  

I appreciate all of you who come here and read my posts.  This originally started so that I could keep Mama entertained and informed about what I was doing so that she wouldn’t worry so much.  It has turned into a way for me to share my experiences and document my amazing and not so amazing times.  Thanks for all of your support and I wish for you all a grand adventure of your own.

 

 

 

posted by: ksension at September 29, 2005 09:07 | link | comments (1) |

The Happy Couple

A picture from Pepa and Tony's engagement party.  The wedding date is set for January 7th.  Pepa, for those who dont' know is my host sister from Panagyurishte.  I lived with her family when I first arrived in Bulgaria and spent last Christmas and Easter with them.  The Milchevis are wonderful people and it is going to be a marvelous wedding.

 

 

posted by: ksension at September 27, 2005 12:47 | link | comments (2) |

“I wanted to see who I was outside of this very small place. I wanted to know how I would think if nobody stood next to me.” (Angeli Primlani, from Expat, Women’s True Tales of Life Abroad)

This thought, this idea of finding myself if I wasn’t surrounded by the familiar and the safe, is what brought me to Bulgaria and has managed to keep me here for over a year. Coming from a large family from a small town produces all sorts of interesting dynamics. Everyone knows you, or at least knows you because they know someone in your family. Your family is part of your identity, it in part defines (if you allow it) what you do, how you behave and your role in the greater scheme of things.

Not that any of these things are wrong, but at the same time I have come to realize that my entire life in North Carolina was more or less about other people. Life was very comfortable, very easy really. I read that and ask myself is that necessarily a bad thing, having an easy life?

My answer, after being away from my assigned role in my family is yes. Being in your mid 20s and having an easy life is a very bad thing. Easy to me sounds suspiciously like boring. And boring is something I want to avoid like the plague. Don’t get my wrong, life in a small town surrounded by family has its wonderful times. I’ve known my whole life where I belonged, where I came from, that I was truly loved. None of these things have I ever had to doubt. It is a comforting thing knowing that somewhere in the world there are people who totally and completely love and accept you for no other reason than that you are part of their family. I can’t imagine not having that.

On the other hand, I came to realize one day that I have never had to survive on my own. It comes back to that question of “is having an easy life a good thing?” I don’t want an easy life, at least not right now. I want to struggle and figure out things the hard way and
develop friendships that are based on me and who I am as a person, not on who my family is and who I know or don’t know. I don’t think that is something you can do when surrounded by people who have known you your whole life.

I am struggling to come up with a way to explain what it is I am trying to say. I have this feeling inside that I want to explain, that I have tried to explain to my Mother when she asks why I feel the need to stay here. She asks this because there are days here when I do indeed want to go home, to call it quits. But it is this feeling deep inside, this one I am struggling to explain to myself let alone to my Mom that keeps me here. I love the fact that I have friends here that have nothing to do with family or where I am from or what I have. Everyone here is on equal footings; we are all just as poor, just as rich, just as important. None of us have known anyone else for more or less time than everyone else. It’s like we were picked up from our homes and just plopped down in a new world; oh wait, we were.

Being here, away from all that is familiar has forced me to decide who it is I am. What image, character and personality I want to present to the world. Not based on what I am expected to act like or based on my “role”, but based on nothing more than what I truly feel is my real self. It has been an enlightening experience. I suppose some might think it is a little late to be realizing who you are, but how does one manage to do that when you are never really presented with a situation that makes you wonder.

I wanted to figure out what I was about, how I would face the world as an individual. I wanted to know how I would sound when not supported by a foundation built from familiarity and comfort.

And the answer, well I’m still working it…

posted by: ksension at September 22, 2005 21:19 | link | comments |

A Happy Occasion

I have some great news to share.  My host sister Pepa got engaged last week.  She and her fiance are planning a Christmas wedding.  Tony is a Bulgarian but he currently lives in Seattle.  They have been together for about 15 months I think. Pepa went to visit him in July and then he came here to Bulgaria just a few weeks ago.  She was so excited and happy when I spoke to her the other day. So anyways, just wanted to share the great news.  I am enclosing a picture of them that I took  this past Christmas in Plovdiv. 

posted by: ksension at September 07, 2005 17:25 | link | comments |

Sorry for the delay in updating, I find that I have to be in the mood to write lately.

Quite a bit has happened in the last few weeks, something that is always nice to be able to write. The last time I wrote I mentioned having some friends go up to Apriltsy for a weekend. Well glad to report that was a success, for the most part. Matt and I ended up hosting 8 of our friends from Friday to Monday. The weather cooperated for the most part. It wasn’t a gorgeous weather weekend, but no rain so that is always nice.

We ended up having Maggie, Wendy, Jen H, Jen G, Kendra, Scott, Brett and Shea come up. Most of these people you have read about before, but there are a few new names. On Friday we all met up and had dinner at the local restaurant. There is just something about putting a large group of Americans together that produces automatic fun. We were one of the smallest groups at the restaurant that night, but I do believe we had the most fun. I mean how many other people there that night could have sung along to all the horrible 80s and 90s karaoke worthy songs sung by that night’s entertainment.
From left to right: Wendy, Jenn H, Maggie, Matt, me, Kendra

On Saturday we bummed around, played ridiculous amounts of rummy, ate salsa and tortilla chips made by Matt; the salsa, not the chips. The girls went on a hike and we just generally had a very chill day. The real fun however started when it was time to make our Mexican feast. It ended up that Matt, me, Jenn H and Shea were the cooks. We made homemade tortillas, black bean style refried beans, Mexican rice, char grilled chicken, beef enchiladas, chicken enchiladas, and cheese enchiladas for us vegetarians (me and Wendy). Yes you read correctly, I am now a vegetarian. You would have to see some of the meat products offered in my town to understand that decision. We even managed to find a sour cream type substance and cheddar cheese from Sofia. Unfortunately it took so long to cook everything that we didn’t’ end up eating till like 10:30. It took us about 4 hours to cook everything (from start to finish) and I swear that table was cleared of food within 15 minutes. It was ridiculous, but at least it was good and gave each of us a little taste of home, so to speak.

The rest of the weekend was very relaxed and enjoyable. I will admit I was happy at the end of it though. Matt and I stayed so busy preparing food, and entertaining and such that by Sunday night we more or less just collapsed and didn’t rejoin the world till Monday morning.

So, for those who remember, I had to rewrite and resubmit the SPA (small project assistance) project that I wrote earlier this summer. The first time around it was not approved, so I made some changes, tweaked it a bit and turned it back in as a better and I have to admit, more realistic project. Well, I am happy to report that this time around it was approved. We will now be able to build a Business Center for the Municipality and will be purchasing a laptop computer, LCD projector and screen, a multi-function printer, and 3 Municipal employees will be attending a 15 day training on using various Microsoft programs. This is a pretty big win for my town, and everyone is still on a high from winning. I too was rather excited. I felt like now I had finally proved myself and made it worth my town’s efforts to get me here. I hope now that things here in Letnitsa will start happening a little faster and that I will be able to have a little more input on the projects I am able to help with.

This past weekend I headed back over to Shumen to visit my friend Jenn G. She and I were both in need of some girl time and just some general vegging and pampering. Shumen is a large town of about 90,000 people (36 times the size of Letnitsa) and has quite a bit of history in and around it. On Saturday Jenn and I went to an ancient Monastic Cave. It is rather amazing really, as you drive up to it, you see these white holes in the side of the mountain and don’t really realize what they are. After a hike up a hill and a climb up a rather interesting homemade ladder, she and I entered the cave. People still use them, and you can see all of the marks from where it was dug out of the rock. Really a very amazing thing to see.

the caves from the road below                                sneeking into the cave                          Jenn and me                                                     A lovely window seat

the alters                                                       t              he view from the door                            climbing up the ladder                            inside the cave

She and I went swimming and cooked dinner for the other volunteers that also live in Shumen. There are 6 of them total there, and I must say that I am rather envious that they have so many site mates. I think it would make a huge difference in the PC experience if you had other volunteers in your town. Granted you always run the risk of not getting along, but one of the things I’ve come to realize here is that you tend to become friends with people that you never would have been friends with at home. I suppose it is all about seeking out the familiar.

Got back to town on Monday, my normal lately. Tanya more or less assumes I will be retuning on Mondays from now on. She realizes that there really is no point in me staying or being in the office on Monday mornings. She and I seem to have developed a sort of friendship I suppose. It is nice to have now, took awhile to figure it out, but we have and it makes things at work much better.

On Wednesday I went to the Airforce Base Kamenets with the Vice-Mayor Emil. Wed. was the 60th anniversary of Bulgaria's participation in WWII. There was a ceremony and the active airmen were all lined up in full uniform with their guns. To the side they had all the old men who had faught in the war. They gave them all (the veterans) medals commemorating their involvement and you could tell it was a very proud moment for them. There were about 25 there, between the ages of about 65 and 90. Some could walk up to the podium to receive their medal, but the majority were just able to stand up and walk to the end of their isle. It was a wonderful time for them, they were so happy congratulating each other, showing off their medals. Some had dressed up, some you could tell lived a very very meager existence, but all of them were proud men. After the ceremony the commander of the base took us to view the newest plane that Bulgaria had purchased from the Swiss. Bulgaria is the 2nd country to own this new plane, and it was quite impressive. It is sort of a mix of new and old, very impressive and something you would expect to see flying around doing aerial shows. After the viewing we all went and had lunch in the dining hall. Very typical Bulgarian meal, the commander I guess had been told I don’t eat meat and he had had a special plate made for me. I was rather thankful because it was a meat lover’s feast.

During lunch I found out that 50% of the officers at the base are required to know English. The commander asked if I had time to come to the base once a week just to speak with him and the officers in English. He said that they do not get the opportunity to speak with a native English speaker and that it would be a great help if I could come. Of course I said yes, not only is this a new activity to fill my time, but it gets me out of town one more day a week and allows me to interact with new people. I was also invited to an International Air show that is going on this weekend in Plovdiv. He said there would be squadrons from all over, including two from America, so I do think I will be headed down there to take a look. Always have enjoyed a man in Uniform, and someone I can speak to in English is a plus.

I am headed to Kostenets this weekend to visit my friend Megan. She and I will go to the Air show together, and it works well cause she only lives an hour from Plovdiv. Not sure what we will do this weekend but that never really matters.

Well, it is getting late and I have a train to catch in the morning. I hope you all had a lovely August.

posted by: ksension at September 01, 2005 21:35 | link | comments |

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