This is Preslav: Chapter 1

So I’ve finally settled into life here in Preslav, starting to get into routines, starting to see the same people every day. This is only a good thing, as I keep telling myself every day. Even though I have a while to go before I’m fully “integrated” (PC buzzword) here, I’m certainly starting to become somewhat comfortable in this somewhat new place.

The town itself is a nice one despite its somewhat small size. In fact I had the realization the other day on my way to the bus station that the entire town might actually be smaller than the campus of Florida State. I can walk the town from one end to the other in 20 minutes. Regardless, the town is surprisingly dense, having a lot of cafes and shops, and there is a lot to keep me occupied outside of the walls of the orphanage.

The town is the seat of the municipality ("Obshtina" in Bulgarian). For a comparison to America, if each region in Bulgaria were a state, the Obshtinas would be like counties.


The fact that the town is the seat of the Obshtina is just about the only power this once great city (former capitol of Bulgaria) has left. Even so, there's still a lot of history and beauty here. The church in the center boasts having the only frescoes in Northeastern Bulgaria, and dates back to the mid 1800s. It's probably my favorite building in town, and can be seen from most places around town.

The town center is located right in the middle of the Chitalishte, the Obshtina, town hall, and the church. Most of the things to do here (shops, cafes, restaurants) are located either on or very close to here.
There is also a small park behind the center, overlooking the church.
This gigantic statue of the former king of Bulgaria serves as a reminder of the once great status of Preslav. Even though I think it's Communist era (looks that way at least), it really is a big presence in the town and it seems to be a source of pride of the residents here. Plus it looks really cool.
While the center pretty much lives up to its name, in that pretty much everything is located around it, there's a lot to do outside of it as well. There's the Sunday bazaar, the school and orphanage, and of course, the ruins of the old capitol, but those are all topics for another day.

I'll start posting more info on the orphanage at which I work soon. I'm still kind of feeling out the situation there, meeting the kids, and trying to get into some sort of routine. I'm in a sort of experimentation phase - seeing what works and what fails miserably - and documenting everything that I can. I already feel like I'm differentiating myself from the previous volunteer... More on that later.

Until next time...