everyone touched (not literally, figuratively you perv) by Jesse Lee Dukellis. He was an amazing man. My heart goes out to those he left behind.
Drinking for you bud!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Hello blogosphere! @$&*#! I LIVE IN BULGARIA!
Alright, time for a huge post. I have not updated this since I got the good news I did not break my ankle. Some of you may be asking, “So, what has been happening in your amazing life?” The answer is simple: I work and live. Many of you may be thinking that this is a gross over generalization, and you are, in fact, correct. So, I will try my best to fill you guys in on my daily tasks. I did write out a play-by-play of my daily routine but that may be too much information for some. For those of you who only want to skim you can finish the next sentence and be on to your next blog. I wake up, eat food, find work, work for a couple hours, go home, eat more food, wander around town, find more work, wander a bit more, go home, eat yet again, listen to music and read, go to bed, that is all, hope you enjoyed my abuse of the comma, have fun with your next blog.
Still with me? Good. I usually wake up around 6 or 6:30 and begin cooking breakfast. While I wait the 15 to 20 minutes for water to boil I typically exercise (can't be slacking on my physique) and grind some Ethiopian coffee I bought in the nearest city, Devin. Once the water is boiling I start cooking breakfast which is two eggs with a bowl of granola and yogurt (there should be a pic, but it may not be labeled). After that I take about 45 minutes to finish getting ready for “work” which includes, doing my dishes, flossing, brushing teeth, washing face, combing hair (yeah, what of it?), putting on deodorant ('bout time I made it a habit, right?), and getting dressed. See? Not much different than in the States. Now it is usually around 8:30 or 9. I head down to one of the cafes and have a doppio. What? I drink a lot of coffee. Anyways, I drink that and watch people while I study Bulgarian vocab until 9:30. At this time I go and look for work. Sometimes my counterpart is in the library and sometimes she isn't. It is a busy time of the year. There is hay to gather, cattle to herd, things to harvest, canning to do, and a myriad of other things to prepare for the coming winter. If she is not there I have another office to utilize if I have computer work to accomplish. Some of the work I have been doing on the computer is creating a website or seven (without any programs like dream weaver, just me and notepad and a bunch of mindless coding), editing pictures, scanning pictures, helping with database management and spreadsheet creation, etc. If not I head to the cave and sit around talking with the people who work there. While there I may help someone but mostly I sit there, smile, and watch how they interact. Depending on the day I may have my first beer at 10:30. Between 11:30 and 12:30 I will head home to make lunch which is generally a huge salad, some fruit, and any bread I may have baked over the weekend. Then I nap or play computer games. About 2 or 2:30 I will re-emerge from my home and either have some coffee or work on some personal project. The last week or so I have been walking through every street making map of the village. Around 3 or 3:30 I usually go back to work until 5 or 5:30. Then I go shopping for food I may need for dinner, or I buy ice cream and eat it in the town square while the older men ask me why I am not drinking beer/rekia. I tell them because I have to cook dinner and they just kind of shrug their shoulder, make a joke about finding me a wife, and that is the end of it. Then I cook dinner, watch the news, get ready for bed, and watch some American TV I downloaded before I left. Whew! What a crazy life? Not really. Like I said, “I work and live.”
Life is a routine. Nothing new there. My work is drastically different than what I did in the States but it is work nonetheless. I may not sit in an office, or have a 9 to 5. I may get to hike for 5 hours and call that my work for the day. But at every moment I am working to fit into this community. I may have to work harder to integrate into my community because I am very different than usual. To help facilitate this I leave the lip piercing home and keep my shoulder tattoos covered (my Black Drop tattoo shows because it is too hot not to wear shorts). I am going to start learning how to make preserves for the winter with some of the local women. I will be learning how to make rekia and wine with my neighbor. Sometimes I go and visit with people at a local restaurant or their homes. My homework one week was to attend the local disco and meet some younger people.
Some interesting things: The cultural center I work for is performed in Varna (a big city on the black Sea coast) for a festival celebrating cultural diversity in Bulgaria. For this festival I got to perform with them. By “perform” I mean I stood on the stage, in a traditional outfit, and I didn't say a word. That is all. It was fun and I got to go to the Black Sea for work. WOOT! Also, having an American performing with a folk group was big deal and I got interviewed by the media. I tried my best answer the questions in Bulgarian but I quickly ran out words. I asked a friend to help translate and continued for a little while and then let them interview her because I am not supposed to talk with the media. I am not supposed to talk with the media because I, the American, quickly become the center of attention and it should focus of the partnership between Peace Corps and the host organization.
A Dutch couple bought the house down the street from and will live here next summer. They speak very good English and are extremely nice and they can party. Seriously. They were here for the first 3 weeks working on fixing up the house and will be back next year for more renovations. It will be nice to see them again after I have gotten more acquainted with the area.
I am also trying to find fast, reliable internet access. The next town over has cable internet so I am looking for a telecommunications grant to get cable internet to our town. It is cheaper and faster than what is currently available. I am preparing to start teaching English in October. I will have two classes, maybe more, one class will be at the kindergarten and another class with local business owners who want to improve the quality of service to English speaking tourists (which there are a lot). I will also be offering English classes to the employees at the local tourist attractions because only 1 person currently speaks English. Next summer I hope to work there during the weekends as a tour guide.
Don't worry, I have not forgotten about coffee. I am still quite obsessed with it. I am building up the language skills and nerve to ask the local cafe owners if I can work on their machines. They use La Cimballi (sp?) machines—two group, not sure of the model numbers—one is similar to the one at La Vie En Rose and the other looks like a newer model. I would ask but I don't think they know. With the limited amount of competition between the cafes and seeing how they prepare their coffee (pretty much the exact same way) I don't think offering specialty grade coffee is high on their lists of things to do. But I will ask a little later when there is less tourists. Also, I am looking into traveling to origin while I am a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) because if the Peace Corps (PC) are active in that country I will get the same benefits I would in Bulgaria. I am looking at East Africa right now. Just need to know when the harvest seasons are (if there are multiple) and when people conduct buying trips. It would be nice to go with someone who knows what is going on and what they are doing. But we'll see what happens.
Below are some pictures of my life. What I look like,my typical breakfast and dinner, and a little shrine I made to remembering home and my friends. I miss you all and hope you are doing well.
Still with me? Good. I usually wake up around 6 or 6:30 and begin cooking breakfast. While I wait the 15 to 20 minutes for water to boil I typically exercise (can't be slacking on my physique) and grind some Ethiopian coffee I bought in the nearest city, Devin. Once the water is boiling I start cooking breakfast which is two eggs with a bowl of granola and yogurt (there should be a pic, but it may not be labeled). After that I take about 45 minutes to finish getting ready for “work” which includes, doing my dishes, flossing, brushing teeth, washing face, combing hair (yeah, what of it?), putting on deodorant ('bout time I made it a habit, right?), and getting dressed. See? Not much different than in the States. Now it is usually around 8:30 or 9. I head down to one of the cafes and have a doppio. What? I drink a lot of coffee. Anyways, I drink that and watch people while I study Bulgarian vocab until 9:30. At this time I go and look for work. Sometimes my counterpart is in the library and sometimes she isn't. It is a busy time of the year. There is hay to gather, cattle to herd, things to harvest, canning to do, and a myriad of other things to prepare for the coming winter. If she is not there I have another office to utilize if I have computer work to accomplish. Some of the work I have been doing on the computer is creating a website or seven (without any programs like dream weaver, just me and notepad and a bunch of mindless coding), editing pictures, scanning pictures, helping with database management and spreadsheet creation, etc. If not I head to the cave and sit around talking with the people who work there. While there I may help someone but mostly I sit there, smile, and watch how they interact. Depending on the day I may have my first beer at 10:30. Between 11:30 and 12:30 I will head home to make lunch which is generally a huge salad, some fruit, and any bread I may have baked over the weekend. Then I nap or play computer games. About 2 or 2:30 I will re-emerge from my home and either have some coffee or work on some personal project. The last week or so I have been walking through every street making map of the village. Around 3 or 3:30 I usually go back to work until 5 or 5:30. Then I go shopping for food I may need for dinner, or I buy ice cream and eat it in the town square while the older men ask me why I am not drinking beer/rekia. I tell them because I have to cook dinner and they just kind of shrug their shoulder, make a joke about finding me a wife, and that is the end of it. Then I cook dinner, watch the news, get ready for bed, and watch some American TV I downloaded before I left. Whew! What a crazy life? Not really. Like I said, “I work and live.”
Life is a routine. Nothing new there. My work is drastically different than what I did in the States but it is work nonetheless. I may not sit in an office, or have a 9 to 5. I may get to hike for 5 hours and call that my work for the day. But at every moment I am working to fit into this community. I may have to work harder to integrate into my community because I am very different than usual. To help facilitate this I leave the lip piercing home and keep my shoulder tattoos covered (my Black Drop tattoo shows because it is too hot not to wear shorts). I am going to start learning how to make preserves for the winter with some of the local women. I will be learning how to make rekia and wine with my neighbor. Sometimes I go and visit with people at a local restaurant or their homes. My homework one week was to attend the local disco and meet some younger people.
Some interesting things: The cultural center I work for is performed in Varna (a big city on the black Sea coast) for a festival celebrating cultural diversity in Bulgaria. For this festival I got to perform with them. By “perform” I mean I stood on the stage, in a traditional outfit, and I didn't say a word. That is all. It was fun and I got to go to the Black Sea for work. WOOT! Also, having an American performing with a folk group was big deal and I got interviewed by the media. I tried my best answer the questions in Bulgarian but I quickly ran out words. I asked a friend to help translate and continued for a little while and then let them interview her because I am not supposed to talk with the media. I am not supposed to talk with the media because I, the American, quickly become the center of attention and it should focus of the partnership between Peace Corps and the host organization.
A Dutch couple bought the house down the street from and will live here next summer. They speak very good English and are extremely nice and they can party. Seriously. They were here for the first 3 weeks working on fixing up the house and will be back next year for more renovations. It will be nice to see them again after I have gotten more acquainted with the area.
I am also trying to find fast, reliable internet access. The next town over has cable internet so I am looking for a telecommunications grant to get cable internet to our town. It is cheaper and faster than what is currently available. I am preparing to start teaching English in October. I will have two classes, maybe more, one class will be at the kindergarten and another class with local business owners who want to improve the quality of service to English speaking tourists (which there are a lot). I will also be offering English classes to the employees at the local tourist attractions because only 1 person currently speaks English. Next summer I hope to work there during the weekends as a tour guide.
Don't worry, I have not forgotten about coffee. I am still quite obsessed with it. I am building up the language skills and nerve to ask the local cafe owners if I can work on their machines. They use La Cimballi (sp?) machines—two group, not sure of the model numbers—one is similar to the one at La Vie En Rose and the other looks like a newer model. I would ask but I don't think they know. With the limited amount of competition between the cafes and seeing how they prepare their coffee (pretty much the exact same way) I don't think offering specialty grade coffee is high on their lists of things to do. But I will ask a little later when there is less tourists. Also, I am looking into traveling to origin while I am a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) because if the Peace Corps (PC) are active in that country I will get the same benefits I would in Bulgaria. I am looking at East Africa right now. Just need to know when the harvest seasons are (if there are multiple) and when people conduct buying trips. It would be nice to go with someone who knows what is going on and what they are doing. But we'll see what happens.
Below are some pictures of my life. What I look like,my typical breakfast and dinner, and a little shrine I made to remembering home and my friends. I miss you all and hope you are doing well.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
quick update
I got some good news and some bad news:
First the good news: I did NOT break my ankle! WooHoo!
The Bad News: I DID severely sprain my ankle. I will be on crutches for a couple days then I get to move across the country! YAY!
I swear in tomorrow and will begin my real adventure! So stoked. Another bummer about my ankle is that I won't be able to hike for about a month. Which is good and bad. Good inasmuch as I get to spend a lot of time in village. Bad inasmuch as I will not get to explore the surrounding region for a while. Anyways, I have more stuff to do right now. I will post again from my new hometown.
First the good news: I did NOT break my ankle! WooHoo!
The Bad News: I DID severely sprain my ankle. I will be on crutches for a couple days then I get to move across the country! YAY!
I swear in tomorrow and will begin my real adventure! So stoked. Another bummer about my ankle is that I won't be able to hike for about a month. Which is good and bad. Good inasmuch as I get to spend a lot of time in village. Bad inasmuch as I will not get to explore the surrounding region for a while. Anyways, I have more stuff to do right now. I will post again from my new hometown.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Long time no type
ДОБЪР ДЕН! “Dobur Den!” (good day!)
Whew! It has been a while since I have dusted off this thing. I guess it is time for me to update my blog. I have a lot to say and not much time to say it. I have been doing well. Just living life. I get up and go to school everyday and study Bulgarian for about 3 hours. I have a couple hours worth of homework for Bulgarian homework NOT including the couple of hours a day of COD (Community and Organizational Development) work I do everyday. When I have an hour or so to catch my breath I am playing football (soccer) with some local kids. I eat well. They put so much food on my plate that I cannot finish it. Then they ask me if I don't like it and I have to tell them that I do not eat much. They eat a bit heavier than I am used to. Lots of beans, rice, and bread (seriously, so much bread), meat, and cheese. It is all delicious but very very filling. I am currently living in the Balkans and it is great. There is some awesome hiking near my town.
I recently got my permanent site placement. Some of you already know where. I would post the name of the town here but I am not supposed to so I guess you'll just have to figure it out through the grapevine (sort of). I am going to living about 1300 meter about sea level deep in the Rhodope mountains. I will be about 6 or 7 kilometers away from the border to Greece. My town is about 700 people strong. I officially work for the Читалище (Chetaleshte) (think of a cultural center for the town) but will have the ability to work with many different local organizations. The town is beautiful (as you will see) and so is the surrounding areas. I might get a chance to lead tours to a local cave which requires climbing up 60 meters of ladders and then within the cave repelling down to a lower level to exit. Which will be cool. There is a lot of fantastic things near my town (about 20 brown bears, some awesome lake, etc, etc, etc). Enough writing. Here are some pictures.
Whew! It has been a while since I have dusted off this thing. I guess it is time for me to update my blog. I have a lot to say and not much time to say it. I have been doing well. Just living life. I get up and go to school everyday and study Bulgarian for about 3 hours. I have a couple hours worth of homework for Bulgarian homework NOT including the couple of hours a day of COD (Community and Organizational Development) work I do everyday. When I have an hour or so to catch my breath I am playing football (soccer) with some local kids. I eat well. They put so much food on my plate that I cannot finish it. Then they ask me if I don't like it and I have to tell them that I do not eat much. They eat a bit heavier than I am used to. Lots of beans, rice, and bread (seriously, so much bread), meat, and cheese. It is all delicious but very very filling. I am currently living in the Balkans and it is great. There is some awesome hiking near my town.
I recently got my permanent site placement. Some of you already know where. I would post the name of the town here but I am not supposed to so I guess you'll just have to figure it out through the grapevine (sort of). I am going to living about 1300 meter about sea level deep in the Rhodope mountains. I will be about 6 or 7 kilometers away from the border to Greece. My town is about 700 people strong. I officially work for the Читалище (Chetaleshte) (think of a cultural center for the town) but will have the ability to work with many different local organizations. The town is beautiful (as you will see) and so is the surrounding areas. I might get a chance to lead tours to a local cave which requires climbing up 60 meters of ladders and then within the cave repelling down to a lower level to exit. Which will be cool. There is a lot of fantastic things near my town (about 20 brown bears, some awesome lake, etc, etc, etc). Enough writing. Here are some pictures.
Monday, May 24, 2010
HI YA'LL!
So, I had a blog written and I have no idea where it went. So, here are some pictures.
Cameron's Birthday party!
Soccer game!
View on our walk to the next town.
View near my co-trainee Amber's house.
Our River!
Our language trainer Momchil smelling hte flowers outside our classroom.
Cameron's Birthday party!
Soccer game!
View on our walk to the next town.
View near my co-trainee Amber's house.
Our River!
Our language trainer Momchil smelling hte flowers outside our classroom.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
"Your Wondering Now What to Do When you Know That This is the End"
So, today I got to know where my training site located. I will be in Pudria which is about 20 or so Km north of Vratsa in the northwest of Bulgaria. My address will be : [send me and email if you are interested]
This is only valid until I get to my permanent address in 11 weeks. Please do not send anything until I ask for it. There is gnarly customs taxes. For instance, anything sent to me that has a value over 50 bucks I will be charged 100% of the value of the items. An example is that if items sent to me are worth 45 USD I will not be charged. If it is worth 55 USD then I will charged 55 bucks to get it out the post office. Remember, Bulgaria is an industrialized nation and a lot of items are available commercially. Also, customs agents will open the package, in my presence, to assess the worth of the items. If you do send something please be sure to write “Items for personal use. No commercial value.” so that way I might not have to the customs. It is a remote possibility but a possibility nonetheless.
Some of you may be confused about me being in spot then moving to another spot for more training. The first few days are mostly briefing about security, medical policies, and overall understanding of how thing work within the Peace Corps. There are also language courses twice a day in which we are changed around to find the best fit among trainees and teachers. They are looking for learning styles, skill level, and desired host family demographics. I spent the last week going through all this and now I am going to be meeting my host family tomorrow afternoon. They will most likely not speak any English. This is exciting and frightening because I am not too comfortable with my ability to follow Bulgarian when spoken fast. For instance I watched Bulgarian news yesterday and had could only read country names during the international section. I mean that is better than nothing but still a tad overwhelming. Also, the town is only 700 people strong. Almost everyone will know who we are and we will be huge spectacles. Maybe not like having the press following us around (like the airport in Sophia) but people stopping, watching, pointing, and whispering. They have had volunteers in the past so it may not be too out of ordinary. Oh well, we'll see. My group is going to be awesome. I am also excited to start playing football (soccer) and learning other games. Apparently there is a lot of hiking and nature around. Our language trainer (LT) is a former boy scout, or Bulgaria's version of Boy Scouts, so we might get Sunday nature walks.
We had a huge fancy dinner last night since this was the last night of our training here. It was quite exciting. I got all dressed up and sat with my group who were also all dressed up. Learned a few new words in Bulgarian and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate. The typical dinner in Bulgaria lasts for 3 or 4 hours. Slowly eating (that is going to take some time to get used to) and sipping a locally made brandy. During the dinner we had a local dance troupe come in and perform traditional dances. After their performance we all got up and danced with them...well, we tried at least. Then we took over and partied. I hung out and chatted with people in the corner because it really wasn't my kind of music and, as many of you know, I don't dance. Toward the end of the night me a couple friends went back to my room to listen to doo wop and drink Johnnie Walker Gold Label and chat. We finally said good night around 1 AM or so.
In other news, I found out a fellow trainee's family own a coffee farm in Honduras. He says it is in disarray because of familial politics but I might get a chance to go there and help. I don't know anything about coffee farming other than what I have read in books and online but it is a trip to origin that sounds awesome. I think I am going to mention the Coffee Corps to him. They may help them figure out what kind of coffee to plant, best pruning practices, etc.
As for the personal things, the food here is delicious. I am eating lots of fresh fruit and veggies with every meal. There is also some sort of protein at every meal as well. I am feeling pretty good about most things. I am trying my hardest to adjust to life here. But still living out of suitcases and being in a huge (tourist) group makes it a little hard. I think the gravity of the situation will sink in when I get home with my host family and there is no one to turn to when I have no idea what is happening. HA! The other big turning point will be when I get dropped off at my permanent site for the first time. When there is nothing but me and my stuff (if I get a private apartment that is) and no one to talk to not even in broken Bulgarian. I have been so busy that I hate so say that I haven't had much time to miss the little things. I am constantly on the go, meeting new people, and learning new things that there hasn't been enough time for such feelings. I work so hard that I am in bed by 10:30 and I am up by 7. I am sure that the novelty of this place will wear off soon but right now I am just enjoying being here.
All in all this is an awesome experience thus far, but the summer camp atmosphere is ending today. Now it is time to work and prepare to live in this country on my own. On the plus side of that is the pace of life is much slower. I guess that is all and I will update when I get a chance to from Pudria.
I will post photos when I get a chance. I am really bad at remembering my camera.
This is only valid until I get to my permanent address in 11 weeks. Please do not send anything until I ask for it. There is gnarly customs taxes. For instance, anything sent to me that has a value over 50 bucks I will be charged 100% of the value of the items. An example is that if items sent to me are worth 45 USD I will not be charged. If it is worth 55 USD then I will charged 55 bucks to get it out the post office. Remember, Bulgaria is an industrialized nation and a lot of items are available commercially. Also, customs agents will open the package, in my presence, to assess the worth of the items. If you do send something please be sure to write “Items for personal use. No commercial value.” so that way I might not have to the customs. It is a remote possibility but a possibility nonetheless.
Some of you may be confused about me being in spot then moving to another spot for more training. The first few days are mostly briefing about security, medical policies, and overall understanding of how thing work within the Peace Corps. There are also language courses twice a day in which we are changed around to find the best fit among trainees and teachers. They are looking for learning styles, skill level, and desired host family demographics. I spent the last week going through all this and now I am going to be meeting my host family tomorrow afternoon. They will most likely not speak any English. This is exciting and frightening because I am not too comfortable with my ability to follow Bulgarian when spoken fast. For instance I watched Bulgarian news yesterday and had could only read country names during the international section. I mean that is better than nothing but still a tad overwhelming. Also, the town is only 700 people strong. Almost everyone will know who we are and we will be huge spectacles. Maybe not like having the press following us around (like the airport in Sophia) but people stopping, watching, pointing, and whispering. They have had volunteers in the past so it may not be too out of ordinary. Oh well, we'll see. My group is going to be awesome. I am also excited to start playing football (soccer) and learning other games. Apparently there is a lot of hiking and nature around. Our language trainer (LT) is a former boy scout, or Bulgaria's version of Boy Scouts, so we might get Sunday nature walks.
We had a huge fancy dinner last night since this was the last night of our training here. It was quite exciting. I got all dressed up and sat with my group who were also all dressed up. Learned a few new words in Bulgarian and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate. The typical dinner in Bulgaria lasts for 3 or 4 hours. Slowly eating (that is going to take some time to get used to) and sipping a locally made brandy. During the dinner we had a local dance troupe come in and perform traditional dances. After their performance we all got up and danced with them...well, we tried at least. Then we took over and partied. I hung out and chatted with people in the corner because it really wasn't my kind of music and, as many of you know, I don't dance. Toward the end of the night me a couple friends went back to my room to listen to doo wop and drink Johnnie Walker Gold Label and chat. We finally said good night around 1 AM or so.
In other news, I found out a fellow trainee's family own a coffee farm in Honduras. He says it is in disarray because of familial politics but I might get a chance to go there and help. I don't know anything about coffee farming other than what I have read in books and online but it is a trip to origin that sounds awesome. I think I am going to mention the Coffee Corps to him. They may help them figure out what kind of coffee to plant, best pruning practices, etc.
As for the personal things, the food here is delicious. I am eating lots of fresh fruit and veggies with every meal. There is also some sort of protein at every meal as well. I am feeling pretty good about most things. I am trying my hardest to adjust to life here. But still living out of suitcases and being in a huge (tourist) group makes it a little hard. I think the gravity of the situation will sink in when I get home with my host family and there is no one to turn to when I have no idea what is happening. HA! The other big turning point will be when I get dropped off at my permanent site for the first time. When there is nothing but me and my stuff (if I get a private apartment that is) and no one to talk to not even in broken Bulgarian. I have been so busy that I hate so say that I haven't had much time to miss the little things. I am constantly on the go, meeting new people, and learning new things that there hasn't been enough time for such feelings. I work so hard that I am in bed by 10:30 and I am up by 7. I am sure that the novelty of this place will wear off soon but right now I am just enjoying being here.
All in all this is an awesome experience thus far, but the summer camp atmosphere is ending today. Now it is time to work and prepare to live in this country on my own. On the plus side of that is the pace of life is much slower. I guess that is all and I will update when I get a chance to from Pudria.
I will post photos when I get a chance. I am really bad at remembering my camera.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
We made it
So, after Leaving JFK at 5:30 PM EST time (2:30 PM PST) I arrived in Bulgaria and at the hotel at 8:30 PM Local time the next day (1:30 PM EST or 10:30 AM PST) if you include leaving the hotel in Philly at 9 AM EST (6 AM PST) I was traveling for 28.5 hours straight. I am tired. But I made it safe and sound. Plus the food is delicious.
That is all I can do for right now because whiskey and sleep are calling my name.
That is all I can do for right now because whiskey and sleep are calling my name.
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