New Camera, Spring Break, and 50th Post Extravaganza

Well faithful readers, we’ve hit a big milestone. This is my 50th post here on Greg in Bulgaria. There’s been some interesting moments and a lot of good times, but it’s not nearly over yet. The updates will keep on coming until there’s nothing left to say. Luckily, there’s a whole lot left, so stay tuned!

This weekend I headed out to the nearby city of Shumen on a mission. I needed a new camera. As you may know, my old one broke during the Kukeri trip and so it has been in the shop for the rest of March. Well, I got it back, and they were able to fix some of the things. However, most of the buttons remained out of service (including the zoom in/out button, review button and menu button). They informed me that to make over the whole camera back to fully working condition would cost more than a new camera. So I went to the TechnoMarket in Shumen (the BG version of Best Buy) and picked up a good little Samsung. I’m able to share photos again, and just in time for some interesting things around town too… Lucky you!


The kids are all out for Spring Break here in Bulgaria, which is awesome for them, but means more work for me… yay! Actually, it’s a lot of fun hanging out with the kids on break. Plus, we have fewer children in the orphanage during vacations. Here in Bulgaria, some families can send their children to live at an orphanage if they cannot afford them, with the option of taking them back during vacation times. This leaves the children who actually don’t have parents at the orphanage during these times. A little over half of the children stay, which lets me spend more time with them, and also relieves some of the stress of working with 80 children at a time.

Spring Break seemed to come at the absolute perfect time. Trees and flowers are in bloom. The Sunday market lasts longer. Cafes have started putting tables outside. People are actually walking around and act like they’re happy to be outside. Lovely. It’s consistently warm here now, allowing us to start some sports and outdoor activities at the nearby basketball court and the local stadium. Every day, it’s been above 60 degrees – ideal for running around with the kids.

I’ve been running by myself, too. The Athens Marathon is slated for November 8th, and I’m planning on being there. Now that the weather has warmed up I have started training, and have fallen into a pretty good routine, upping the distance every once and a while. There’s some shorter distance races near me in the coming months, so that will help out as well.

Even though I won’t be getting a good chance at a long break for a while (probably not until summer), I’m really looking forward to the coming weeks and months, and am feeling very motivated. I have plenty of interesting activities to hold me over, and a lot of plans I’m getting ready to start following through on. Even so, I really can’t wait to get out and explore the areas around Bulgaria. A few other volunteers have already taken excursions into Turkey, Greece, and Romania. There’s plenty of time left to see it all though… definitely enough to carry a good 50 more posts!

Until next time…