Last night, my host family and I went on a night-hike of sorts. We only ventured just outside the village, but from there I could see every star and the outline of the mountains against the navy blue sky. The nearby town of Sapareva Banya is barely visible during the day, but at this hour (and with all its lights on) the town shimmered like campfire coals strewn across the hillside. It’s one of those sights to which a picture could never do justice and for which words only scratch the surface. I have a lot of those little moments here, and every time it just proves to me that I’m exactly where I want to be right now.
I hope you like the pictures of the Rila Monastery and the surrounding mountains. That was another unforgettable experience, and I hope everyone gets to see it at some point.
Today I’m back in Dupnitsa for a meeting on how to write grants, with which we will carry out a community project in town. Our group in the village where I’m staying had a meeting with the mayor, director of the school, and some local families about possible projects. We decided on a mural on a prominent public building. We’re still tossing around ideas of what to actually paint, but I think that’s the topic of another meeting with the locals. We’re hoping for a lot of youth involvement so they can really band together and have something they can look at and be proud of creating. I think we’re aiming to get the director of the local Chitalishte (Bulgarian community center – every village, town, and city here, no matter how small, has one) involved as well…
Some people have asked me about how Bulgaria has been affected by the Georgia (“Gruzia” here in the BG) situation. I guess the answer to that would be “not very.” It doesn’t really seem to be on the radar over here, despite the apparent geographic closeness and the involvement of former overlord Russia. It’s on Bulgarian news every once in a while, but nobody seems to be talking about it. However, Peace Corps does have a post over there that has been successfully evacuated – which was pretty big news within the PC. Bulgaria’s gold medal in women’s rowing (woohoo!) is currently bigger news…
In other Bulgarian Olympic news, the total final medal count (I think) stands at 5: 1 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze. They were supposed to medal in some other events, but apparently choked – which the locals are pretty unhappy about. Jordan Jovchev (gymnast: rings - pretty much at national hero status here) missed a required element and so got a bad score. Volleyball is huge here, and the USA absolutely blew them out, which at first I felt kind of bad about, but then rubbed it in later. On top of that, the entire weightlifting team (one of BG’s specialties) was disqualified for steroid use… oh well. At least it was a fun experience to help my host family cheer on Bulgaria’s teams, and my host family helped cheer on the USA in the few games that I got to watch. I think this might be the only time in my life I will ever watch the following events as intently as I did: volleyball, rifle shooting, ribbon dancing, handball, and several others that I wouldn’t usually care about. I did get to watch the finals of men’s basketball though, which was pretty awesome.
Until next time…
Monday, August 25, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Rila Planina
So I have been running nonstop for the past 2 weeks... sorry I haven't been able to provide a lot of substance. I'm glad everyone liked the pictures. If you have a facebook account you can check out some others I have uploaded (it's easier there than on here).
Work has been constant. I'm learning more about myself and my own capabilities and limitations than I ever have before... which is definitely a good thing. My Bulgarian is getting much better, and I can catch a few more phrases every day. This week we have a meeting with some community bigwigs, such as the mayor and the principal of the school. We'll be discussing possible community projects to implement during our three month stay in the town.
We also got to go on a trip to the nearby city of Kyustendil to talk to some volunteers about their service. I've really narrowed my focus of what I want to do and where I want to work, but it's up to the program staff at this point. I have my final site placement interview in a couple of days, and I'll find out where I'll be spending the next two years in a couple of weeks. I'm really drawn to work with at-risk kids in either a school or orphanage setting, but I'll know in 2 weeks time...
In other news, I was privileged enough to spend this weekend camping in a tent (palatka) in the Rila Mountains, with my host family. This place is amazingly beautiful. Think the Smoky Mountains, but on a bit of smaller scale. We camped in a clearing right on the Iliyna River, and cooked spicy kyufte and mixed shopska salat for our meals...
From there, we hiked to the Rila Monastery twice. It was about a 4 mile hike there, but it was worth every step. The monastery is Bulgaria's most important cultural site, and was founded and built by Ivan Rilski (the monastery's namesake) about 1000 years ago. The church is contained within a 4 story fortress, complete with a tower and guardhouses, and became a powerful fiefdom in the Middle Ages. The church in the fortress is immaculate, and remarkably well preserved. The entire building is painted inside and out with amazingly detailed frescoes depicting heaven, hell, and the saints important to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Believe me when I say that every inch of the building is either painted or gilded, and this makes for an incredibly awe-inspiring experience. Buried inside the monastery is Boris III, who I think introduced Christianity to Bulgaria.
I'll try to put some pictures from the monastery up very soon. It has to be seen to believed...
Until next time...
Work has been constant. I'm learning more about myself and my own capabilities and limitations than I ever have before... which is definitely a good thing. My Bulgarian is getting much better, and I can catch a few more phrases every day. This week we have a meeting with some community bigwigs, such as the mayor and the principal of the school. We'll be discussing possible community projects to implement during our three month stay in the town.
We also got to go on a trip to the nearby city of Kyustendil to talk to some volunteers about their service. I've really narrowed my focus of what I want to do and where I want to work, but it's up to the program staff at this point. I have my final site placement interview in a couple of days, and I'll find out where I'll be spending the next two years in a couple of weeks. I'm really drawn to work with at-risk kids in either a school or orphanage setting, but I'll know in 2 weeks time...
In other news, I was privileged enough to spend this weekend camping in a tent (palatka) in the Rila Mountains, with my host family. This place is amazingly beautiful. Think the Smoky Mountains, but on a bit of smaller scale. We camped in a clearing right on the Iliyna River, and cooked spicy kyufte and mixed shopska salat for our meals...
From there, we hiked to the Rila Monastery twice. It was about a 4 mile hike there, but it was worth every step. The monastery is Bulgaria's most important cultural site, and was founded and built by Ivan Rilski (the monastery's namesake) about 1000 years ago. The church is contained within a 4 story fortress, complete with a tower and guardhouses, and became a powerful fiefdom in the Middle Ages. The church in the fortress is immaculate, and remarkably well preserved. The entire building is painted inside and out with amazingly detailed frescoes depicting heaven, hell, and the saints important to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Believe me when I say that every inch of the building is either painted or gilded, and this makes for an incredibly awe-inspiring experience. Buried inside the monastery is Boris III, who I think introduced Christianity to Bulgaria.
I'll try to put some pictures from the monastery up very soon. It has to be seen to believed...
Until next time...
Monday, August 11, 2008
Pictures!
Hey everyone! Here are the pics I said I would put up... these were taken over the past couple of weeks, and they are from my village and from some hikes I have taken around the village. They are thumbnails so you can make them bigger by clicking on them.... Enjoy!
Zherman river
Waterfall in Ovchartsi
The goats come home at 7:30 every evening
Shopska Salat
The village in the evening
view from my bedroom window
Zherman river
Waterfall in Ovchartsi
The goats come home at 7:30 every evening
Shopska Salat
at my host family house
The street I live on
The school in town
The village in the evening
birthday at the kindergarten
street in the village
view from my bedroom window
from my house
around town
the training center
More coming later!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Zdravete ot Bulgaria
Hello from Bulgaria! There is so much to tell about, but I have so little time. I am in the town of Dupnitsa right now registering with the police so I can live here for an extended amount of time. I am living in a small nearby town in the southwestern region of the country. I can't put up pictures right now but for now just trust me when I say that this place is extremely beautiful.
Our first week in the country was spent at a nice hotel in the Rila Mountains. They took care not to throw us right into the action, giving us some simple language and culture lessons before moving in with our host families. We B-24s are a pretty awesome group, I must say...
I wake up every morning to see the sun rising over the Rila mountains, right near my village. My host family, an older couple, are extremely nice, and even though I can't speak any Bulgarian, and they don't speak any English, we seem to get along pretty well. I've been learning a lot of vocab from them as we take long walks around in the meadows outside the village. The word we say the most is "Spokoino" - "Relax... there is time."
My house has a very nice garden where my hosts grow fresh tomatoes, potatoes, cucmbers, onions, peppers, and apples. They have 3 cats, a dog, and about 7-8 hens. People in America like paying extra money for organic vegetables. Here, we make salad every night with vegetables picked just minutes before from out in the back yard.
The best food I've had here so far has to be the Shopska Salat - a simple salad made with tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, red peppers, parsley, and sirene cheese (sort of like feta), mixed together. No dressing necessary - the secret to Shopka's taste is the freshness, picked literally miutes before being put on the plate.
Anyway, I have to head out now, as we are about to head out of Dupnitsa and head back to the village. I promise to put up pictures as soon as possible!
Until next time...
Our first week in the country was spent at a nice hotel in the Rila Mountains. They took care not to throw us right into the action, giving us some simple language and culture lessons before moving in with our host families. We B-24s are a pretty awesome group, I must say...
I wake up every morning to see the sun rising over the Rila mountains, right near my village. My host family, an older couple, are extremely nice, and even though I can't speak any Bulgarian, and they don't speak any English, we seem to get along pretty well. I've been learning a lot of vocab from them as we take long walks around in the meadows outside the village. The word we say the most is "Spokoino" - "Relax... there is time."
My house has a very nice garden where my hosts grow fresh tomatoes, potatoes, cucmbers, onions, peppers, and apples. They have 3 cats, a dog, and about 7-8 hens. People in America like paying extra money for organic vegetables. Here, we make salad every night with vegetables picked just minutes before from out in the back yard.
The best food I've had here so far has to be the Shopska Salat - a simple salad made with tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, red peppers, parsley, and sirene cheese (sort of like feta), mixed together. No dressing necessary - the secret to Shopka's taste is the freshness, picked literally miutes before being put on the plate.
Anyway, I have to head out now, as we are about to head out of Dupnitsa and head back to the village. I promise to put up pictures as soon as possible!
Until next time...
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