Thoughts Fom the Top of the World

Every day I feel more and more like a Peace Corps advertisement: “Life is calling… How far will you go?” Last weekend I hiked into the mountains up to about 10,000 feet to see the Seven Rila Lakes, which I can say with confidence is hands down one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It takes a good 3 hours to get up to the lakes, and once there, another 2-3 hours to get to them all, including an hour hike almost straight up from the 5th lake to the top of the mountain where the last 2 are hidden, but it’s definitely worth it. Any questions as to why I’ve come this far were wiped away as I looked down at Bulgaria… Then a hailstorm came and we pretty much slid the rest of the way down the mountain in huge piles of mud.



Am I living my life? I like to think so.

From that point, at which I’m pretty sure was the highest elevation I’ve ever stood, I couldn’t help but feeling small. I also couldn’t believe how far I’ve already come in such a short time. It’s hard to believe that just 2 months ago I stepped off the plane into this crazy adventure, where now so many weird things seem completely normal to me. I’m trying to imagine what kind of warped reality I will be living in after 2 years, or how many things I’ll be missing in the States. But I can’t quite wrap my mind around that yet… Maybe I will have finally integrated into this Bulgarian life. Maybe the lack of oxygen was just getting to me…

One thing I’m not missing is the ridiculous amount of politicking that is going on this election year. Pretty much my only lifeline to American news is internet sources, and right now they’re jammed with worthless personal crap about the candidates. It’s everywhere, including places where I thought were safe havens (like my email inbox). I know that election years are usually crazy, but this year seems to be on a different level. I don’t know if it’s that the stakes are so high or if the media is just more prevalent than ever. Whatever it is, I’m glad I’m not in the thick of it right now…

Thankfully I can escape the constant bombardment by simply focusing on my work here. I taught my first class ever this week – an hour long English lesson about parts of the body, concluding with a pseudo dance party (Do a dance move using your… arms!). This weekend marks the beginning of the most important events of our pre-service training. We will be painting our mural on the town’s chitalishte on Sunday, and then we’ll be presenting our cultural topic on Friday (our group will be talking about Bulgarian superstitions).

Until next time.

PS: I’ve posted more pictures from the hike on my facebook page. I hope I can get more up on here, but in the meantime, if you have a facebook account (which I think everyone should have haha), you can check them out there…

Rilski Monastir Pics

Enjoy!

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...