So....When does Bulgaria time start?

6-3-09


Whew! So, I am going to be honest. I kind of thought, when I joined Peace Corps, it was going to be way………….less………hectic. I thought, I was going to hang out in the shade, read a lot, play some soccer with kids, and then maybe sit around and drink tea for a few hours. That really has not been my Peace Corps experience so far.

It has been a week and a half, since I arrived at my pre-service training site. At the moment, I am not quite sure if that feels like a long time or a short time; but rest-assured, it has been a good time. It feels like I haven’t stopped learning. This is good because the sooner I can communicate with Bulgarians the better. Although, it would be nice to sit around and drink tea for a few hours.

My daily routine is just as demanding as work or school. I wake up around 7 a.m. Then have breakfast with Ivan and Ivanka, a retired couple, whom I am staying with during pre-service training. Lately, we have been having hot salami and cheese sandwiches and yogurt for breakfast. Ivanka will not let me eat the yogurt until I am done with the sandwich. I don’t know why. I have noticed that Bulgarians have a lot of superstitions. Don’t dare leave a window open. You WILL get sick. Ne Znam (I don’t know).

After Breakfast, I head to the town center or mayors office building. Peace Corps has a room in the building where we are doing our language training. Training usually goes from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. I am learning a lot of language and fast. I suppose that is not too surprising since I am surrounded by it nevertheless, I am surprised at how much I have learned. The small class size helps big time.

There are 4 other Pre-Service Training volunteers at my site. They are Chris (South Carolina), C. J. (Arizona), Val (Texas), and Meg (Minnesota, Hutchinson, yes the same Meg that shares a bunch of friends from Hutch.) I count myself incredibly lucky to be placed with such a dynamic, intelligent, positive and flexible group. It is also nice because we are all the same age (+/- 1 S.D.)

In the evening, when I am not studying, or composing masterpiece blog entries, I help Ivan and Ivanka in the garden. It has been another sort of training. I use the term garden about as broad as it has ever been used. Ivan and Ivanka have a ton of different plants (almost all food) and they also keep chickens, goats, rabbits, and a hog. One thing in particular, I have learned that we don’t waste ANY food. After a meal, they will put a little bit of water in the plates and bowls to clean out any extra food particles. They pour the water into a bucket outside of the kitchen. When the bucket is full, it is given to the hog.

On Monday (6-1), my fellow trainees and I went into town for our 1st Hub. The Hub is a Peace Corps training day with all the trainees from the COD (Community Organizational Development) and YD (Youth Development) programs. This is particularly fun because we get to see our buddies from other training sites. Everyone had good stories about adapting to their communities.

Following the Hub day, my fellow trainees and I had the opportunity to stay in the city. Monday evening was the celebration of Hristo Botev. Botev was a revolutionary poet from Bulgaria. He led the libration of Bulgaria from the Turks. It is a bit like the American 4th of July. There were fireworks and a lot of Bulgarian flags. It was definitely a new experience being apart of a different countries patriotism. Maybe it’s like going to a major league baseball game that’s not the Twins. You enjoy it, but you still wish it were the Twins playing.

This week I helped Chris and C. J. start a basketball clinic at the middle school. We put up a few posters that said (in Bulgarian) “come learn to play basketball with C.J. and Chris”. Our first day of the clinic was Tuesday. We didn’t know what to expect because Bulgaria, and the rest of the world for that matter, prefers soccer (football). Turning the corner to the middle school basketball court we were surprised to find about 20 kids! The clinic went great despite our limited communication skills.

On Wednesday; Chris, Meg, Val, C. J., and myself strolled around our training site village. We are creating a map of our village, one of the many assignments P-Corps gives us. We were standing on a hill, overlooking our village, when about 15 kids came out of nowhere. We were swarmed by a mob of Roma kids ages 2-11. This was kind of fun. They were very curious as to what us Americans were up to. It was kind of fun. I now know how the ice cream man feels. Except we didn’t have any ice cream.

Returning from the hill, we were invited to Wine, Cheese (Sirene, it is like feta, everyone in Bulgaria makes it) chocolate, and honey by a retired police officer and his wife who works at the mayors office. Alright! This is what I wanted from my Peace Corps experience, hanging out in the shade. People in Bulgaria are tremendously hospitable. They also have very cool gardens. We sat at a table in the front yard, underneath grape vines. Socializing is very limited at this point. We can talk about families and that were volunteers for Peace Corps.

So in conclusion, and summary;

I am enjoying my Peace Corps experience. It is a bit more of a challenge than I anticipated, but I can’t figure out why I am so surprised that learning a new language was going to be difficult. At any rate, I am up to the challenge.

BTW.
My internet access consists of Meg or C. J. taking pity on me and letting me borrow their computers. Thanks to them! But who has internet in Peace Corps anyway? (Well… I guess most P-Corps workers in Bulgaria)

Alright, Nasdrave! (Cheers!)

P.S.
Don’t worry Settlers of Catan is picking up in Bulgaria. Soon, I will find a saw and some wood and make a Kubb set.