Snow Fell on Preslav...

I got out of the apartment the other day to take a walk around in the new snow in Preslav and take some pictures. This has to be one of my new favorite things to do, even though I get crazy looks from the locals. I usually get looks of disbelief when I tell people that I come from a place that doesn't experience snow, followed by, "Why are you out walking when it's so cold out? You should go inside."

Regardless, I think Preslav takes on a completely new personality under a layer of snow. It adds something to this place - a new and different beauty from the one I was introduced to a few months ago (wow, I've been here "a few months" now, feels crazy). I love just walking around and taking it in... There's something about it that takes my mind off the stresses of life here - a quiet and stillness under that pure and clean blanket - and it's very refreshing for me.

Here are some of the pictures I've taken around town... enjoy!

Tomorrow is New Years Eve, and I'll be spending it at the Dom with the kids, so that should be an all day adventure and a lot of fun. Stay tuned for the details!

Until next time...

A Very Merry PC Christmas Special

In the days leading up to Christmas, I was feeling pretty physically drained and emotionally burned out from an oh-so-fun combination of a full schedule at work and some overall frustrating developments around town among other things. It had been a rough week for me, and it was time for a break. I didn’t think I would be able to make it out to the Christmas get together, but luckily my schedule opened up and I was able to head out.

I took the night train to Pleven once again. Even though I was on time, and the train was well heated as snow fell on the tracks outside, I had to stand for the entire 3.5 hour journey since it was packed, proving once again to me that there is no such thing as a pleasant train ride in Bulgaria. I did however get to eat at the good Chinese place in Shumen before heading out, so all was not lost…

I got to my friend’s place at 8 in the morning on Christmas Eve, where I promptly collapsed and napped for a few hours while waiting for some of the other friends to arrive. The highlights of the day were trying to piece together a Norman Rockwell puzzle and drinking hot chocolate over some good conversation.

This was not the main event, however. We were treated to a rented out mehana (traditional BG restaurant) courtesy of my friend’s coworkers. The salads were good, and the liver… not so much, but it was eaten with happiness anyway. We were visited by carolers dressed in traditional Bulgarian clothes (and our friend who hosted the get together joined in on the action). Next up was the white elephant gift exchange, in which I got a jar of peanut butter, which I'm pretty excited about.

Christmas was spent in a more subdued manner, with good people and good conversation, and copious amounts of hot chocolate while inside watching the snow outside. It turned out to be a white Christmas after all, with huge flakes that piled up quickly. The snow buried Knezha under a gorgeous sparkling blanket throughout the course of the day that covered the rough patch I’d been going through with a cold clean beauty that was relaxing and refreshing.

Of course, there were other Christmas highlights: We played football in the snow, in which Leslie made a Sportscenter worthy miracle catch that will probably live on in history as one of the greatest plays ever… Friends cooked up a nice meal together which was enjoyed by all… Getting to talk to the family back in the States through the wonderful creation that is Skype... Having a dance party that can only be described as “American…” However, the best part about the time there was the friendship – enjoying the connection with my other group members that I’ve described before as a big hilarious dysfunctional family, which is true, but they’re also some of the best people I’ve ever spent time with… Awww. (Thanks guys haha)

I got back into Preslav and into my now very frigid apartment feeling energized and ready to get back into the action, and I’ll be spending New Years at the orphanage with the kids, which should be both interesting and really fun. I’ll be sure to keep you all in the loop about the coming events, and I also have some random other posts coming up as well.

Until next time…

Koledni Kuponi

It's been a busy week here in Preslav. People are gearing up for Koleda (Christmas), and that comes with many, many kuponi (parties). I've had the pleasure of going to many of these, and want to share some of that Bulgarian Christmas magic with you all.

The week started with the annual Christmas concert at the obshtina (municipality), featuring multitudes of kindergarteners forgetting the words to techno versions of Bulgarian Christmas carols. I didn't think it was possible (think about this: Traditional Bulgarian Christmas carols remixed into techno and sung by Chalga stars, partially in English, then having little kids sing and dance to these crazy tunes while wearing traditional costumes) but Bulgaria proves me wrong again.


My band made a rare appearance and performed a song at the concert, wowing everyone with their skills. When I say “my band,” I’m talking about the rock band that my language tutor is in, and I go to their practices every once in a while since they’re right after my tutoring sessions. They’re called “Chernoriztsite” (the Black Shirts), and they have a wide repertoire of Bulgarian rock covers, and as well as English renditions of “I Want to Break Free” and “Hot Stuff.” I’ll try to record some of their stuff and will post it later.


While at the concert I met one of the nicest people I’ve ever seen here. His name is Joe and he comes from Tanzania. He’s lived here for 15 years now, and has a Bulgarian wife and 2 kids. He invited me over for tea and while there we talked (in English!) about life here in Bulgaria. It was one of the best times I’ve had so far in Preslav, and I can tell that we’re going to have a great friendship over the next couple of years.

The next party in the lineup this week was the orphanage Christmas party. Since many of the children at the orphanage go home for holidays, we had the big celebration this week. I feel I need to elaborate a bit more on this situation. Here in Bulgaria, many of the children at the orphanages aren’t “orphans” the way we would consider them to be (that is, without parents). Instead, many times children will be sent here if their parents cannot afford to raise them, but are still permitted to go back at certain times of the year, such as during holidays or vacations from school.

Anyway, the party was a big success, and even the staff was really into it. Pretty much from the day I got here the kids told me “You’re going to be Diado Koleda (Santa).” I didn’t know how to take this at first since I’m pretty sure I don’t have the credentials for the job. The direct translation of Diado Koleda is Grandpa Christmas, and I’m nowhere close to being a grandfather, I’m not 300+ pounds, and I don’t have a white beard. Still I donned the red suit, strapped on the beard and gave my jolliest ho ho ho. It was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve done so far here, but hey the kids loved it, so I guess I did something right.

The kids spent the rest of the day tearing into the chocolates they were given, and playing around with the little toys they got, as well as proudly wearing the scarves sent over from a previous volunteer in the States.

But that’s not the end of the festivities… Tomorrow I have a staff party at the nicest of the 3 restaurants we have here in town, where I’ll break out my best horo dancing, for which I’ve been taking a class in my free time. Horo is the traditional Balkan dance in which everyone makes a circle and does a pattern of moves while going around the circle. These can be really easy (like just kicking your foot a couple of times) to really elaborate patterns involving a lot of hopping, spinning and other craziness. That’ll be another post for sure. I seem to be building up a lot of topics to post about later, but I think they’re all interesting and worth spending a separate post on when I get the time and things slow down a bit (which will be after New Years probably).

Also on the agenda is the Yasli Christmas party, for which I’ve been commissioned to be the videographer. The kids have been practicing a couple of Christmas songs, most of which they still don’t know, but it’s really cute to see them try. Pictures to come.

On actual Christmas I’ll be traveling across the country to be with a bunch of friends, so that will definitely be fun, and I’ll be spending New Years here in Preslav (which seems to be a bigger deal than Christmas here in BG) with the kids.

Until next time…

Detski Yasli

Up until this point, I’ve spoken very little about my second assignment here in Bulgaria. This is due to a number of factors, including the fact that I couldn’t actually work there until I had a Bulgarian health card, which in turn required me to have Bulgarian residency, which I now have. Also, the work at the orphanage has been very engaging and challenging, which has caused me to spend a lot more time not only at the orphanage itself, but also working on things to do there when I’m not actually there. Regardless, I still feel that my time at the Yasli is important, and that the children there can benefit from my being there every morning.

The closest American counterpart to the Bulgarian Yasli would probably be what we call preschool, though there are also elements of a nursery in there. The children’s ages range from 1 to 4 (though most are 2-3). This short span is a time during which many complex and important developmental goals are accomplished, making the Yasli a pretty important place. The difference between the Bulgarian preschool and the American version, like so many other places here, lies in the staff’s interactions with the children. Here, there is a much more hands-off policy when working with children, and the Yasli is no different. In my first few days I observed that that the staff’s role was mainly physical care of the children (feeding, changing diapers, etc.), while there were little to no coordinated activities. The children are mainly just given a pile of toys, and left alone for a while.

The first thing I figured I would try to do was to get more one on one interaction with the kids, since the simple act of even speaking to children at this age can be a valuable developmental tool. For example, the simplest babbling is a sign that the child is trying to distinguish the correct sounds and rules of language for use later. With the younger kids, what I’ve been doing is simply playing with the children and looking for signs of emerging language and trying to encourage it. I reply with actual Bulgarian, and they try to repeat it, and the cycle continues until they get distracted or bored. With the children who can speak already I've been trying to encourage longer conversations and counting. I also help out with the discipline side of things, and also with first aid if needed. I figure this is about the extent to which I can go at this point, but even so it’s better than nothing.

People who work with children here in Bulgaria have very skeptical views about the abilities of the children they work with. Whereas we in America are raised with a very “can do” spirit, and early development is encouraged (i.e. learning numbers and pushing literacy), it seems that people here in Bulgaria figure that children cannot learn anything until they are enrolled in school. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and from what we are taught seems quite backwards. I asked if maybe I could make a circle with the kids at the Yasli and try teaching numbers or letters, or at least basic sounds. I was basically laughed at and told that they don’t know anything yet. After that, I was informed that children here don’t learn the alphabet until first grade, which was a bit shocking to me. It is this lack of confidence in children that has continually been the bane of my existence here in Bulgaria, and is a constant source of frustration in both of my places of work. At the Yasli, there is no confidence that children can learn anything at such a young age. At the orphanage, there is no confidence that the children can rise out of their at-risk state and eventually do something great with their lives.

Without an emphasis in strengthening the abilities of your children, what kind of investment are you making in the future of your country?

Then again, that’s one of the things that the Peace Corps is here to address. Again, it seems after reading this post again that I sound pretty negative, but I really am pretty hopeful that I can do something here… at least begin to start to instill some confidence in these children, and emphasize the importance of this early and critical stage of life. The staff is very friendly and open to me in both places, and they are great people with a lot of heart. However, the challenge comes in working with the culture - suggesting without criticizing and observing without looking down upon. I am, after all, a "very young boy" myself, as my coworkers tell me almost every day...

Perhaps eventually I’ll be able to get some more coordinated activities with the kids there, but, as with the orphanage, I am still trying to gain the trust and respect of the staff at this point. When my Bulgarian gets a bit better, I hope to also maybe get a parent’s group together. Though I don’t have any parenting experience, it might be good to coordinate some kind of forum where they can get together and talk. Things are still hazy on that front right now. Just wanted to share a bit of a different side of what I do here in Preslav with you all.

Until next time…

Veseli Praznitsi!

Happy Holidays!

The Christmas season is in full swing in Preslav! There are flashing colored lights everywhere you look, kids are excited about "Diado Kolada" (Santa Claus), there's a definite winter chill in the air... The only thing missing is a Walmart having a huge sale.

Tonight was the tree-lighting ceremony in the town center, which rain threatened to cancel. Luckily, by the time all the speeches were said and songs were sung, the rain had cleared up, allowing the members of the obshtina to flip the switch on this beauty after all:

Doesn't look like too much here, but it's a real pine tree right off the courtyard in the center, and it's huge. Pretty awesome sight when coming in to town, especially with the other buildings on the center lit up as well (the chitalishte, church, town hall, and obshtina building)...

After the lighting ceremony some huge fireworks were set off right next to the church, pumping everyone up for the series of Christmas events the town will be coordinating...

Apparently they do Christmas big here, with a lot of events announced in the coming month, including a wassail in the town hall, countless concerts from kids and adults alike, and a gigantic banitsa making competition which was really hyped up to me by my sitemate. I love me some banitsa, so I'm looking forward to it (food post coming later).

I've gotten into the spirit myself with some decorations laying around the apartment. I just happened to find a nice little fake Christmas tree which I decorated today in honor of the tree lighting in the center. All that lie underneath right now are a couple of chocolates, but perhaps at some point I'll have some legit gifts haha.

Aside from the tree I have some random garlands strung around, and the most outlandish and ridiculous light I have ever seen (left to me by the previous volunteer) hanging from my terrace. It's star shaped and flashes like a strobe light in different colors. What better way to spread Christmas cheer than to blind any and all who dare gaze upon this amazing decoration?

Until next time...

Thanksgiving Bulgaria Style

Thanksgiving (ден на благодарност - den na blogodarnost - lit. "day of thankfulness") came and went without much fanfare in Veliki Preslav. People here have some idea of what it is after hearing from other volunteers about it, but it gets looked at kind of strangely from their point of view - "Day of Thankfulness? Turkey? football?" It doesn't quite come together the way we see it, which is a day to spend time with the family, and be thankful that we have people to lean on (in my opinion at least).

I didn't really do anything special the actual day of Thanksgiving. In fact, I had to go in to work since we volunteers don't get American holidays off. It was alright though... I baked up a batch of chocolate chip cookies (more like chocolate chunk, since they don't have chocolate chips here... ended up just smashing a few chocolate bars) and handed those out to the staff. I also explained some Thanksgiving traditions and did some art stuff for the kids. They were more interested in the Pilgrims and Indians part than the turkey and family part ("Did the indians kill the people afterward?" No... Yay for movies!). That night I made hashbrowns and eggs haha.

However, over that weekend, I was able to get some real Thanksgiving food and spend some time with friends and enjoy the holiday. Even though we were thousands of miles from home, we managed to come together as a great big dysfunctional family for Thanksgiving. Coming together was a challenge though, starting with a missed train and an overnight ride in an unheated cabin and ending with missing the bus stop and having to walk (more slipping on the ice than walking) back into the town where we were supposed to get out. It all came together eventually - well worth the missteps - and a good time was had by all.

Turkey was brought in from Sofia, potatoes were mashed, cakes and pies were consumed, football was watched. Something was brought by each of the 20 volunteers that were there, making for a legit Thanksgiving meal, and an great time with great friends.

In other news, I started at the preschool yesterday. Well... to call it a preschool is a bit of a stretch. The kids are 2 and 3 years old and completely ridiculous. It should be interesting to see what I can do with them. I'm not really sure why I was assigned to work there, but at least it gives me something to do in the morning... More to come on that later.

Until next time...

Rodopite, Part 2

The ride from Smolyan to Stoikite through the Rodopi countryside is one of the most beautiful I’ve experienced in this country. It’s just tiny village after tiny village tucked away into little notches in the mountains, which seem to just wrap themselves around the little groups of houses. Every once and a while a little church will come along, standing alone atop a hill and looking over the valleys beneath.

Unsurprisingly, European tourists have started to notice this beauty as well, and many of these tiny villages are now home to million-euro houses from rich Germans and Brits. I was told that places in the Rodopi mountains are being sold as “the next big ski destination.” This is a bittersweet fate for the region – good in that it’s bringing jobs and money into a corner of the country that has been isolated and underserved, but unfortunate in that this often comes at the price of either tons of acres of forest, or destroying the authenticity and tradition of some of the villages. Pamporovo is an example of this. Once just a ski run in the middle of several surrounding towns, it is now a major ski destination with monstrous resort hotels catering to business travelers, advertising not only skiing, but also paintball and crappy Chinese food. A gigantic ugly tv tower now dominates one of the tallest mountains in the region, and this eyesore is visible from most places in the area.

Little Stoikite itself just became home to a brand new ski lift this summer, but is still in the category of villages that are still pretty much untouched and underserved. There are a few nice homes here and there and a couple of restaurants, but for the most part this town of around 200 keeps to itself. It seems to be as “Peace Corps” a site as you can get here in Bulgaria, a far cry from other assignments in well established cities with over 50,000 residents in them. It’s the kind of place where everyone knows everyone (and everything about everyone), in a pretty literal sense.

The local Boarding School for Truants (the place where the volunteer works) is a major presence in the town and dominates the scene. The local school is attended only by the children there, and really there aren’t many other children in the town in the first place. Despite the fact that it’s in such a small town and that it struggles for funding (like many other similar institutions in this country, including mine), it’s a nice establishment with a surprising amount of resources to work with. There is a game room, new TVs in the televisiorna (tv room), computers, a gigantic kitchen with anything a cook could ever need, and plenty of activity space.

While there, I just kind of hung back and observed her go about her daily business, occasionally lending a hand in her English class, or giving a talk to a few kids about America (and specifically Florida). I was incredibly impressed – and she has her day scheduled down to a tee. She also has a good amount of control over the kids, and they seem genuinely interested in what she wants to do. A supportive staff at the institution definitely helps, and luckily I got to sit down with the director and talk with her for a bit as well. The activities the volunteer there does give her more leverage over the kids control wise, and makes the kids themselves more motivated to be good throughout the day. She has implemented a nice, simple point system relating to these activities, and it’s having a positive effect on the kids – so positive, in fact, that the staff has approached her to try and expand it.

Most importantly, it’s given the staff there some confidence in themselves, and it’s something that they continue when a volunteer isn’t there, which is the ultimate goal of any project we do here (PC buzzword – “sustainability”).

Ultimately, the visit gave me a ton of great ideas for my own site, and a new sense of the things that are possible in my time here. I basically retraced my steps back to site, and this gave me a lot of time to write up a lot of notes on what I wanted to do at my orphanage and how to go about doing them. It was the first time since I had arrived a month ago that I was so excited to get back and start working. My first goal has become to forge the ever-elusive relationship with the staff that will make things easier to accomplish, and will give me a person to pass the torch on to. This will be the hardest part of my assignment, and I have known this since the beginning. However, now that I have seen just how important and rewarding it can be, it has become a big focus of mine.

Overall, my visit to the Rodopis was an incredibly productive one, and the good times along the way were just a perk. I had a short stop over in Varna (3rd biggest city in BG, beach town, has a gigantic megamall) too before heading back home, but that is the subject of yet another post sometime later.

Until next time...

Rodopite, Part 1

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I recently got the opportunity to visit a volunteer in the Rodopi Mountains in southern Bulgaria working in another orphanage there. Here’s a few pictures and the details from that trip:

My journey began with a train from Shumen, the closest big city to me (about 30 minutes away by bus). This was my first experience with the train system here in Bulgaria. I had heard some bad stories about discomfort, boredom, and just overall slowness of travel with the trains here, but still decided I would give it a try. I decided on an overnight train from Shumen to Plovdiv, with a short layover and transfer in Komunari.

I have decided that Komunari is probably the saddest place in all of Bulgaria. It is literally nothing but a train station in the middle of nowhere. It’s as if 2 train tracks crossed at some point in a random field, and they decided to put a train station there for whatever reason. I tried to get away and try to find a place that would have some coffee, a snack, or at least a place where I could buy some water. I got about 30 feet away from the station when I realized that there was just total darkness is every direction… no café, no houses, no people… nothing. This is it:

Komunari is also home to the hands-down-worst bathroom I have ever stepped foot in, but I can’t really describe in words what that was like right now.

Overall the train ride itself wasn’t too bad, but the heat was on the entire time, set to what can only be described as the “melt passengers” setting. Other than that I managed to get some sleep, laying down in the compartment, which was totally mine for the majority of the ride.

It seems the only way into the Rodopis is through Plovidv, Bulgaria’s second biggest city. There is no train service in the mountains, and the bus service is kind of spotty, which let me check out a bit of Plovdiv during a layover there. Plovdiv is called the “Paris of the Balkans” and for good reason. It’s an absolutely beautiful place with an old town built around a well preserved Roman stadium and amphitheater, little winding streets, and tons of charm. It’s definitely a place I want to make it back to during my time here, and seeing that you have to go through it to get to a lot of different places in Bulgaria, I’m pretty sure I’ll get that chance again.

After a few hours of walking around, eating delicious food (see previous entry) and a bit of waiting, I boarded another bus to the city of Smolyan, which is touted as Bulgaria’s “highest city”, which sort of reminded me of how Denver is advertised as the “mile high city”. Smolyan also has the bizarre distinction of being Bulgaria’s “longest” city, a fact of which they are inexplicably proud.

Smolyan is also called the "Pearl of the Rodopis," a name that it definitely lives up to. The place is absolutely beautiful, located under these amazing rock formations.

Funny/frustrating story from my time in Smolyan: As I said before, bus service is pretty bad down in the Rodopis, and I almost missed my chance to get to Stoikite, the village where the volunteer I was visiting lives. While waiting for my bus, tons of buses started to pour into the station, all leaving at the same time as the one I was scheduled to get on. I’m standing in the correct sektor (places from which my specific bus is supposed to leave from) waiting for the correct bus, and sure enough a bus pulls in. I show the driver my ticket and he gives me the standard Bulgarian head nod and “tsk” roughly meaning something like “no, you’re an idiot” (something you have to see to believe – seems unbelievably rude and off-putting the first time you see it, but it’s totally normal here – a skill I’m practicing myself. It’s actually pretty fun). Anyway, I start running around to the other buses that have pulled in asking if they go to Stoikite, and each time I get the same response, with a few variations (maybe a wag of the finger, a glare, etc… again, totally normal).

After about 5 minutes, all the buses head out and I’m left standing on the platform at the Smolyan bus station wondering what the heck just happened. I went in and talked to the ticket lady, who informed me that it had come, and didn’t I see it, and why was I still here. I showed her that I was standing in the sektor listed on the ticket, and the wrong bus had come there, and I couldn’t find the bus that I was supposed to be on. Holding back her laughter but with an obvious smirk, she told me that the bus didn’t park in a sektor, despite what the ticket said (like I was supposed to know this). Such is travel here in Bulgaria… Luckily, she gave me a new ticket free of charge on the next microbus to Stoikite, and I was on my way, just as confused as ever, but pleased that I was finally on my way to my destination…

More to come later...

Makgohavgc

So I just got back from an awesome trip down to the gorgeous Rodopi mountains to visit another volunteer who works at an orphanage to see how things are run over there. I got some great ideas, and sometime soon I'll get around to posting some details of that experience. However right now, I have another important story to share...

I finally got to eat at a McDonald's. This was my first McDonald's experience here in Bulgaria after I tragically missed my opportunities the last 2 times I was in Sofia. I was walking around Plovdiv (second biggest city in Bulgaria) waiting for my next train when I saw the familiar glow of the Golden Arches calling out to me. Admittedly I was a bit skeptical at first, asking myself if I should cave or if I should go somewhere else to eat. Somewhere more... cultural. Additionally, having worked in a fine McDonald's establishent back in high school I have very high standards. Realizing I didn't have a lot of time, I decided to treat myself to a little taste of the States.

The Cyrillic signage scared me little bit at first (yes, even though it looks like "Makgohavgc" that is pronounced letter by letter "MacDonalds"), but when I walked in, I was greeted by all the familiar sights and smells of home: Posters of people impossibly excited to eat fast food, fries sizzling in a giant vat of oil, and the characters of McDonaldland... I got so excited that I didn't even order in Bulgarian and was understood perfectly.

I ordered the "Big Tasty" макменю (mcmenu/value meal). Some of you might remember the Big Tasty (called the Big *and* Tasty back then) from a while ago - marketed as a delicious amalgamation of a quarter pounder and a Big Mac, with a little more "class." Unfortunately it was discontinued shortly after being introduced, making the Big and Tasty another item in the awesome Bulgarian tradition of resurrecting great things long forgotten in the States - like neon clothing and Alf.

Just in case anyone forgot, the description is located on the tray liner, conveniently translated into Bulgarian: "So appetizing and tempting - with more than enough grilled beef meat, melt in the mouth Emmental cheese, crispy iceberg lettuce, fresh tomatoes and onions, special smoke sauce and golden toasted bread."

Upon taking my first bite of this amazing sandwich I was immediately transported into realms of joy I haven't experienced in a long time. It was so good I ordered a cheeseburger to try to prolong the magic. A wave of patriotism washed over me and for 30 glorious minutes I felt like I was back home.

Thank you McDonald's Plovdiv for being there for me... I will gladly drop 10 leva at your establishment again.

Anyway... after that post I feel kind of dirty and very un-Peace-Corps. This was definitely not a sustainable and awareness-spreading post. Therefore I will try to start posting more about actual Bulgarian foods and drinks such as Shkembe Chorba (tripe soup) and Boza (disgusting). I love talking about food, and all of these have great stories attached deserving of their own posts.

Until next time...

ДОМ ЗА ДЕЦА

"Dom Za Detsa" - Home for children

I’ve been putting off writing this post for a while now because I’m not sure how to put into words what it’s like working here. If you don’t know by now, I have been assigned to the local orphanage in town, which also serves as the orphanage for the entire Shumen region as well as for the Targovishte region. However, I feel that you all deserve to know how life is here for children without parents.

I have been tasked with the responsibility of coordinating activities for the kids to do after school. I also help with homework and tutor. Right now I lead an English class for the older kids and also for the staff. When my Bulgarian gets better I'm going to be doing a life skills class as well. I do a fair amount of just hanging out and talking with the kids as well.

I work in an old Soviet era blok building (like so many other places here). The children come from families that either do not want them or do not have the money to support them. Others have been legally removed from abusive or neglecting homes. This is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. About half of the kids here are considered minorities in Bulgaria. The minorities include Roma (“gypsy”) and Turkish children. The rest are ethnic Bulgarian. There is some racial tension between the ethnic Bulgarians and the Roma children.

All in all I have a lot of hope to make a difference here. I want to role model effective discipline strategies, implement some regular activities for the children here, and make some kind of daily schedule for the children here. All in all, my plans aren't very specific right now, but I feel that some sort of structure will greatly benefit the kids here, at least in the short term.

I'll be sure to keep you in the loop about what is going on here at the orphanage in Preslav... I know that this post has been pretty vague, but I can't really express my experience here into words right now. Just wanted to let you know that, yes, I am doing something here...

Until next time...

Veliko Turnovo

This weekend I headed out for a couple of days to Veliko Turnovo, which was possibly the most beautiful city I've been to so far in Bulgaria. It was the first time I felt as though I was in Europe (i.e. not in a former Soviet country): clean, historic, plenty to do and see. An amazing city.

Veliko Turnovo was the capitol of Bulgaria (after Preslav) until 1867. There is therefore a great amount of history and beauty there - castles, monuments, and a pretty "old town" with small winding cobblestone streets and Bulgarian revival architecture.
Tsaravets is the old fortess that housed the royal palaces, and is as close as you can get to a castle in Bulgaria. This fortified walkway is on a ridge, and you can look down at the city on either side. The building at the top of the hill is a beautiful church filled with frescoes and paintings. Inside the well preserved walls are the remains of the medeival city.

This is what remains of the old palace structure. It's now topped with a gigantic Bulgarian flag, and is surrounded by remains of the old city. You can walk along roads that have been there for over 800 years, and peek into old battlements and towers.

This weeked was also notable because I got to celebrate Halloween with a lot of the other volunteers. Everyone got dressed up and we had a good time, despite the fact that we were a day late. It was nice to have some American traditions way out here in Bulgaria. Then I got a package from home for Halloween as well the next day! All in all an amazingly great weekend.

By the way I'm loving fall. The weather's great and the leaves are changing. Hopefully it'll last a while longer...

Until next time...

Bulgarski Futbol

So I don't get to watch my favorite teams every Saturday and Sunday. So I'm missing the Rays' first trip to the World Series. So what? I'm in Bulgaria where soccer (futbol) is king.

This weekend I made it out to a game played between my town's team, FK Preslav (FK = Futbol Klub) and a big city somewhat close to me, Dobrich. Dobrich is a city with over 100,000 people, and Preslav has probably somewhere around 9000. Despite this size disparity, the teams are somehow in the same division.

I didn't think our odds were too great coming in, but I had my mind set on finally getting out and watching some sports. Even though it was a cold and rainy day, I'm glad I did. It was a fun game to watch with a lot of slipping and sliding around the field. However, this made the play a bit sloppy and a lot of fouls were called for both teams throughout the match (one guy even pushed a ref). The game remained scoreless until the last 15 minutes of the game, when Preslav scored. They were able to hang on to the victory despite some close calls for the 1-0 upset win.

Preslav's jersey is navy blue with red trim, and Dobrich is in Packers colors (yellow and green). It was therefore very easy for me to join the rest of the crowd in rooting against them.

Lining up the shot for the game's only goal

I guess home field advantage paid off… Our crowd was fierce, and the other team just couldn’t handle the pressure…

In Bulgarian soccer there are 3 tiers - A group (the premier/professional league), B group (the winner of B group gets to move up into A, and the worst in A group gets demoted to B), and V group (the winner of V group gets to move into B group, etc.). Preslav is in V group...

The biggest rivalry in the country is FK Levski vs. CSKA (both play in Sofia in different stadiums), and dang it is intense. It seems everyone in the country is at a 50/50 split as to which team they support, and they might as well be the only two teams in the league. Levski has won the Bulgarian championship (called the Bulgarian Cup) something like 26 times, and CSKA has won it around 20 or so. The team that has won it the 3rd most only has 6…

All in all Bulgarian soccer hasn’t been too competitive with the rest of the world or even with Europe. Their one success (which is still talked about by people here) was in the 1994 World Cup, when Bulgaria stunned everyone and placed 4th. FK Levski is the only team to have made it to the group stage of the UEFA Champion’s League. Unfortunately their group conisted of legendary teams like Chelsea and Barcelona and they got blown out in all 6 of their group games.

There is however, one shining light for the Bulgarians – Dimitar Berbatov. He’s the captain of the Bulgarian national team, and plays (and starts!) as a forward/striker for none other than the world famous Manchester United. He's also played for Tottenham Hotspur, Bayer Leverkusen, and CSKA Sofia. Needless to say the Bulgarians are really proud of him, and he has risen to national hero status. This guy’s face is everywhere, and he’s on the news and sports highlight reels pretty much every night, even if he didn’t do anything remarkable.

Maybe someday in the far future, FK Preslav will move up through the ranks to reach Bulgarian Super Cup glory, or play in the Champions League, but for now the people of Preslav and I are just happy to have something to watch on Saturdays.

Until next time...