Summer has officially arrived in Bulgaria. It is hot, sunny, and very slow-paced. The "Detsata Na Oolitsata" ("The Street Children", as we have come to call them) ride their bikes all day around town and eat ice cream and go swimming in public pools. They have the childhood that I imagine kids had in the mid-20th century.
We, however, are still in language training. We will be moving to our permanant sites in two weeks, so this has become a mad-dash to learn the language and to get ready to be "camo" (alone). I'm a little nervous, but I know once I get there I'll be fine. It will be nice to be more settled and esablished.
On Thursday and Friday of last week we had hub in Pazardjik, and then Ned (one of my training mates) and I went to the town of Kostenets in the Rila mountains to visit some other trainees. We were there for the weekend, hung out at the pool, and generally relaxed.
Today we have some interviews with Peace Corps big-wigs and language. Tomorrow Ivan wants us to study up at the Krichim pool in the mountains, and we aren't complaining.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Friday, June 10, 2005
A Week in Pazardjik
So life has been going in Bulgaria. This week I have spent four days in Pazardjik (where we go for hub)-- two days for hub with all the trainees and two days for special language training with a few others. Everyone else went on site visits to see other volunteers, but my group and 4 others wanted to do more language. We are getting ahead of everyone now, so that's good.
For several days it was raining all over the Balkans and they had to evacuate a lot of cities (none that I am ever in). It seems like it has more or less cleared and it's really hot.
On Monday evening I went to see a play with the other trainees in Krichim in the Chitaliste (where we have our lessons). Of course it was in Bulgarian and we only understood the odd word, but it was nice to see some local theater. At one point a piece of set fell down, but they were smooth. Some of the castmemebers are kids I have in school, so they were glad to see me there.
So all in all, it's been a good week. Yesdterday a current volunteer in Pazardjik took three of us on a tour of the Mahala (the Roma ghetto). She works there in youth development. The Pazardik mahala is the third-largest in the country (about 20,000 people live there and it is about a square mile big). It was extremely desitute, but no more so than the mahala in Krichim. It was just much bigger and much, much more crowded. We didn't get mobbed as much as we would have had we not had the volunteer with us. She is actually Indian, and the Roma are originally from India, so she physically fits in there and they have completely integrated her.
Seeing the mahala made me look forward to beginning my work in Straldja, where I'll have the opportunity to teach in a totally Roma school part-time inside the mahala. I hope I can integrate myself as effectively as Anessa has (the volunteer in Pazardjik).
For several days it was raining all over the Balkans and they had to evacuate a lot of cities (none that I am ever in). It seems like it has more or less cleared and it's really hot.
On Monday evening I went to see a play with the other trainees in Krichim in the Chitaliste (where we have our lessons). Of course it was in Bulgarian and we only understood the odd word, but it was nice to see some local theater. At one point a piece of set fell down, but they were smooth. Some of the castmemebers are kids I have in school, so they were glad to see me there.
So all in all, it's been a good week. Yesdterday a current volunteer in Pazardjik took three of us on a tour of the Mahala (the Roma ghetto). She works there in youth development. The Pazardik mahala is the third-largest in the country (about 20,000 people live there and it is about a square mile big). It was extremely desitute, but no more so than the mahala in Krichim. It was just much bigger and much, much more crowded. We didn't get mobbed as much as we would have had we not had the volunteer with us. She is actually Indian, and the Roma are originally from India, so she physically fits in there and they have completely integrated her.
Seeing the mahala made me look forward to beginning my work in Straldja, where I'll have the opportunity to teach in a totally Roma school part-time inside the mahala. I hope I can integrate myself as effectively as Anessa has (the volunteer in Pazardjik).
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Hello from Sunny Bulgaria
No, I did not fall off the face of the earth. I have simply been doing too much to keep near an internet cafe.
THe weather for the poast few days has been amazing (sunny, hot) and it put me in the mood to go swimming. THe water in the local river is still a bit too cold, however, so that will have to wait. On Monday my training group went on a hike into the mountains as a "team building" activity and we ended up stealing loads of fresh cherries from the trees up there. We ate until we could barely hike back home. Ivan, our trainer, climbed into one tree and threw branches down to me, and the others kept watch at the head of the trail for the owners of the trees.
Yesterday was Chuildren's Day, so there were local doings for that. The police general of Sofia came to town and autographed my language book. There were tons of games for the kids, and the whole town seemed to be under the age of 10.
Other than that, not much has been happening actually. We've been doing traini8ng, visiting Plovdiv, and so on.
THe weather for the poast few days has been amazing (sunny, hot) and it put me in the mood to go swimming. THe water in the local river is still a bit too cold, however, so that will have to wait. On Monday my training group went on a hike into the mountains as a "team building" activity and we ended up stealing loads of fresh cherries from the trees up there. We ate until we could barely hike back home. Ivan, our trainer, climbed into one tree and threw branches down to me, and the others kept watch at the head of the trail for the owners of the trees.
Yesterday was Chuildren's Day, so there were local doings for that. The police general of Sofia came to town and autographed my language book. There were tons of games for the kids, and the whole town seemed to be under the age of 10.
Other than that, not much has been happening actually. We've been doing traini8ng, visiting Plovdiv, and so on.
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