things are still moving along ok, but i can tell you that malko turnovo does not offer much in the way of entertainment during winter. fortunatly, however, my real counterpart has returned from Germany and i now have someone else to interact with after work. he spends a lot of time up in borgas, but when hes here we usually hangout. the good thing is that im meeting new people in town through him, so hopefully i will know a lot more people here soon.
i have also started working with a woman that runs an afterschool program for kids. i have to admit that i havent been very useful yet, as im not the best with kids, but the kids seem to enjoy talking to me and once january comes i will begin teaching them english. I also went to an english class taugh by a teacher from out of town and i think i will continue to go to them because i will be able to help give them an opportunity to speak and it is helpful to me to learn new words and grammer. the class is taugh mostly in bulgarian but that makes it a perfect learning opportunity for me. the other people in the class are nice, but i feel silly because its just me and about ten married ladies. interesting class dynamic.
the weather has gotten cold, and this weekend a big snow front moved across most of the country. nothing as bad as in the states recently, but malko turnovo has gotten a decent amount of snow and right now there is fog so thick i can bairly see across the street. it was nice though because we had a huge christmas party for all the staff from the nature parks on this side of the country held up in a mountain lodge in central bulgaria. ten of us left in two russian jeeps (a rather uncomfortable setup) early saturday morning and drove all day to Kotel where we met up with the people from the other parks. it was a parking lot full of identical russian 'lada nivas'. it was pretty funny looking, but i had neglected to bring my camera. sorry. anway, it was about 25 of us up in this lodge in the forest with snow falling all night and we had a huge banquet with games, prizes and dancing. get that many excited bulgarians in a room together with all you can drink and it will be a memorable experience. it got pretty crazy, but most of the time i had no idea what was going on. but it was still fun.
now its back to work for a bit before i take off for simitli to spend a traditional bulgarian christmas with my host family. im taking my camera this time so i should have a lot of pics to post when i get back. take care and you all have a great holiday
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
routine
well, not a whole lot has been happening lately. everyone else in my office is gone this week on a work trip to croatia to visit a national park there. im kinda bummed that i didnt get to go, but its because i have only been allowed to leave the country since last week due to my visa. hopefully i can go on the next trip.
as far a work for me, i have a language tutor now and i might be helping out with an english class pretty soon. ive been brainstorming other project ideas that i could do as well, but theres nothing else underway quite yet. the weather here is been kinda crappy, it usually rains most days and we had a lot of snow last saturday. today it was nice and warm but rained off and on in spurts all afternoon. then tonight there was a thunderstorm, which is unusual for so late in the year.
last week there was a jounalist in town that i had to take around and translate for. it really put my language skills to the test because she asked some pretty tough questions. it was good practice though because i probibly dont talk as much as i should. by the way, i put up a few more pics in the malko turnovo album from around town and such if you want to check them out. anyway, talk to you all later
as far a work for me, i have a language tutor now and i might be helping out with an english class pretty soon. ive been brainstorming other project ideas that i could do as well, but theres nothing else underway quite yet. the weather here is been kinda crappy, it usually rains most days and we had a lot of snow last saturday. today it was nice and warm but rained off and on in spurts all afternoon. then tonight there was a thunderstorm, which is unusual for so late in the year.
last week there was a jounalist in town that i had to take around and translate for. it really put my language skills to the test because she asked some pretty tough questions. it was good practice though because i probibly dont talk as much as i should. by the way, i put up a few more pics in the malko turnovo album from around town and such if you want to check them out. anyway, talk to you all later
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
more pics
hey, i got two new albums up. not sure how i can send a link to the main page where you can select which album you want to view, but here are the two links to the two albums. enjoy
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EbOGLZo3cMXKQ
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EbOGLZo3cMXOA
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EbOGLZo3cMXKQ
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EbOGLZo3cMXOA
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
cool adventure
things are going well and i am still getting used to my new setting. i got to go to borgas last weekend and had a great time hanging out with my friends. it was a nice break from the solidarity of living here in malko turnovo alone. i have a good group of people to do stuff with there and i always look forward to seeing them.
work yesterday was awesome. my counterpart took a photographer out to shoot some pictures of a cave in one of the park reserves. they are trying to get new pics for a park calander. anyway, i got to tag along and i convinced my counterpart to accompany them into the cave. it was a decent sized cave, nothing like the huge networks they have at mammoth or jewel caves, but it had several large rooms and connecting tunnels. the entrance was about the size of a large doorway and led in a ways before it dropped down a short way that we had to scramble down. we had helmets and headlamps and there were a few passages that we had to squeeze through on our hands and feet. once get got into the main room we kinda pissed off the bats that resided there, and they were flying around in the dark, illuminated occasionally by the wandering glare of a headlamp beam. the cave had lots of interesting rock features such as stalagtites/mites, columns and beautiful sparkling ribbons of formed rock. we were down there for about an hour and a half or so before we had to head back. it was a sweet trip though.
other than that, the weather is slowly getting colder and colder and winter will soon set in. i am hoping work picks up soon, so i have more to do. winter is a really slow time for the park because no one wants to be outside. anyway, thats all the news for now, i will talk to you all soon. later
work yesterday was awesome. my counterpart took a photographer out to shoot some pictures of a cave in one of the park reserves. they are trying to get new pics for a park calander. anyway, i got to tag along and i convinced my counterpart to accompany them into the cave. it was a decent sized cave, nothing like the huge networks they have at mammoth or jewel caves, but it had several large rooms and connecting tunnels. the entrance was about the size of a large doorway and led in a ways before it dropped down a short way that we had to scramble down. we had helmets and headlamps and there were a few passages that we had to squeeze through on our hands and feet. once get got into the main room we kinda pissed off the bats that resided there, and they were flying around in the dark, illuminated occasionally by the wandering glare of a headlamp beam. the cave had lots of interesting rock features such as stalagtites/mites, columns and beautiful sparkling ribbons of formed rock. we were down there for about an hour and a half or so before we had to head back. it was a sweet trip though.
other than that, the weather is slowly getting colder and colder and winter will soon set in. i am hoping work picks up soon, so i have more to do. winter is a really slow time for the park because no one wants to be outside. anyway, thats all the news for now, i will talk to you all soon. later
pics
i finally figured out a way to get pics up again. i will try to update them as i take them, and i still need to post some older ones, but posting them still takes a lot of time. enjoy. share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EbOGLZo3cMXGg
Thursday, November 1, 2007
my new job
so i started work a day or two after i got into malko turnovo and so far things are going well. i work for the natural park strandja with eight other people in an office overlooking the center square of malko turnovo. i currently have my own office with a computer to work from, but i think i will share it with my counterpart once he get back in december from his project in germany.
we start the day off at 8 in the morning everyday with coffee and tea together in the breakroom and usually meet there again after lunch at 1 for coffee and tea. coffee and tea breaks are really popular here in bulgaria, i think my office is not out of the ordinary. for a couple of days i rode along with some of my colleagues running errands around the park so that i could get used to what all was there and where everything was.
since then i havent really had a whole lot going on. i am having a much harder time with the langauge here than i was in simitli because there is such a heavy dialect and everyone speaks quickly and slurs their words. so communication has been tough and its up to me to start my own projects but since im not quite yet familiar with the park and office that will still take time. most of my day at work is currently spent studying bulgarian, doing paperwork for the pc, and kinda hangin out. i feel like im not really accomplishing anything, but i think it will just take time. once i know people, have a better grasp of the language and a good feel for the park i should be able to get a lot done. one step at a time.
outside of work i have been kind of a loner. my colleagues all go home to their families and i just head back to my apartment to read and relax. i am excited to start going on hikes around here because the forest and mountain are so beautiful, but it gets dark now at about six and the weather has been real overcast and rainy almost everyday. last saturday i was lucky enough to get some clear weather and i got out for an afternoon hike. i walked a little way out of town and found a trail that led up through some pasture land up into the forested mountains. the trail was nice, and the forest was super tranquil. the leaves are all changing colors, making the canopy a blend of bright yellows and muted reds. the forest floor was a bed of leaves punctuated occasionally by pure white bolders with patches of vibrant green soft moss.
since then i havent gotten to go out, but hopefully there will be more opportunities before it gets too cold. i know there are some old thracian tombs and a fortress nearby that i would like to get to, but we'll see.
the good news is that i finally have internet in my apartment (which is why i am able to write out this blog now). hopefully i can update this thing more often (assuming there are interesting things happening worth writing about) and respond to emails and such on a regular basis.
this friday i might have to go back out to borgas to finish up my registration and get my national identification card. if its not ready by then i will have to go up there sometime next week. well, thats about all for now. i have been trying to post some pics on here as well, but blogger seems to be having technical difficulties with it so i might have to post them later, sorry. until next time....
we start the day off at 8 in the morning everyday with coffee and tea together in the breakroom and usually meet there again after lunch at 1 for coffee and tea. coffee and tea breaks are really popular here in bulgaria, i think my office is not out of the ordinary. for a couple of days i rode along with some of my colleagues running errands around the park so that i could get used to what all was there and where everything was.
since then i havent really had a whole lot going on. i am having a much harder time with the langauge here than i was in simitli because there is such a heavy dialect and everyone speaks quickly and slurs their words. so communication has been tough and its up to me to start my own projects but since im not quite yet familiar with the park and office that will still take time. most of my day at work is currently spent studying bulgarian, doing paperwork for the pc, and kinda hangin out. i feel like im not really accomplishing anything, but i think it will just take time. once i know people, have a better grasp of the language and a good feel for the park i should be able to get a lot done. one step at a time.
outside of work i have been kind of a loner. my colleagues all go home to their families and i just head back to my apartment to read and relax. i am excited to start going on hikes around here because the forest and mountain are so beautiful, but it gets dark now at about six and the weather has been real overcast and rainy almost everyday. last saturday i was lucky enough to get some clear weather and i got out for an afternoon hike. i walked a little way out of town and found a trail that led up through some pasture land up into the forested mountains. the trail was nice, and the forest was super tranquil. the leaves are all changing colors, making the canopy a blend of bright yellows and muted reds. the forest floor was a bed of leaves punctuated occasionally by pure white bolders with patches of vibrant green soft moss.
since then i havent gotten to go out, but hopefully there will be more opportunities before it gets too cold. i know there are some old thracian tombs and a fortress nearby that i would like to get to, but we'll see.
the good news is that i finally have internet in my apartment (which is why i am able to write out this blog now). hopefully i can update this thing more often (assuming there are interesting things happening worth writing about) and respond to emails and such on a regular basis.
this friday i might have to go back out to borgas to finish up my registration and get my national identification card. if its not ready by then i will have to go up there sometime next week. well, thats about all for now. i have been trying to post some pics on here as well, but blogger seems to be having technical difficulties with it so i might have to post them later, sorry. until next time....
the big move
sorry for not updating this for a while, but i have been real busy moving, getting a new place to live and starting a new job. its been kinda hectic. things have finally slowed down now though and i now have internet at my apt.
anyway, we had our swearing in ceremony in Sofia that was attended by all the PC staff and several representatives from both the bulgarian and american governments. afterwards was a nice reception with pretty good food and gave all of us one last chance to say goodbye before we all left to go to our perminant sites. i however got to stay in sofia for the night because everyone in my host organization was out of town for the week and i was in no rush to get there.
had a great time checking out the sofia night life and the next day i headed off to borgas where i met another pcv that i stayed with. i spent the weekend there and got plenty of time to walk around and explore the city. it was a good chance to meet a lot of people that i will probibly be seeing a lot of over the next two years because borgas is only about an hour and twenty minutes away from malko turnovo.
on sunday i left for malko turnovo and started moving into my new apartment. i live in an old communist concrete housing block about a one minute walk from my office (which will be great on those cold winter days. the apartment is not bad at all, it has a nice living room, a bedroom with two beds, a small kitchen (only one burner on the stove works which makes cooking a little tough) a storage closet and a balcony. i have a wood burning stove for heat (still learning how to get it started quickly) and deep below the building is a 'crypt' where i have a small stockpile of wood to get me through the winter.
i spent the first couple of days getting random things that i needed for the apartment, but for the most part it came fully furnished.
anyway, we had our swearing in ceremony in Sofia that was attended by all the PC staff and several representatives from both the bulgarian and american governments. afterwards was a nice reception with pretty good food and gave all of us one last chance to say goodbye before we all left to go to our perminant sites. i however got to stay in sofia for the night because everyone in my host organization was out of town for the week and i was in no rush to get there.
had a great time checking out the sofia night life and the next day i headed off to borgas where i met another pcv that i stayed with. i spent the weekend there and got plenty of time to walk around and explore the city. it was a good chance to meet a lot of people that i will probibly be seeing a lot of over the next two years because borgas is only about an hour and twenty minutes away from malko turnovo.
on sunday i left for malko turnovo and started moving into my new apartment. i live in an old communist concrete housing block about a one minute walk from my office (which will be great on those cold winter days. the apartment is not bad at all, it has a nice living room, a bedroom with two beds, a small kitchen (only one burner on the stove works which makes cooking a little tough) a storage closet and a balcony. i have a wood burning stove for heat (still learning how to get it started quickly) and deep below the building is a 'crypt' where i have a small stockpile of wood to get me through the winter.
i spent the first couple of days getting random things that i needed for the apartment, but for the most part it came fully furnished.
Monday, October 1, 2007
so i finally figured out how to post pics on blogspot. here are a few pics from earlier that i have taken. unfortunatly i can only upload them one at a time, which takes forever so i cant post a lot yet. this first one is me, my host family and two of the other trainees in simitli 
this is the rila monastary that we visited a couple of weeks ago. it is a very impressive building and the inside of it looks equally cool, but you are not allowed to take pictures. you will just have to go there to see it yourself (or take my work for it)
here is the courtyard and surrounding structure around the middle sanctuary. this outside building is where all the priests and monks live.
This is me and my baba (grandma) in the backyard. she showed me how to pick grapes and in the afternoons she often helps me study and practice my bulgarian.
this pic is taken from the garden up in the mountains that the family owns. up here is where the bee houses are and many different kinds of fruit trees. down below on the right side of the pic is simitli, and in the back ground is pirin mountain.
this is the back of the house where we used to eat all of our meals before it started getting colder out. there is an outdoor sink for preparing food and right now my host father is building a new outdoor kitchen just to the right of where the picture is taken. overhead is all the grapevines that provide shade and good food.
this is the rila monastary that we visited a couple of weeks ago. it is a very impressive building and the inside of it looks equally cool, but you are not allowed to take pictures. you will just have to go there to see it yourself (or take my work for it)
here is the courtyard and surrounding structure around the middle sanctuary. this outside building is where all the priests and monks live.
This is me and my baba (grandma) in the backyard. she showed me how to pick grapes and in the afternoons she often helps me study and practice my bulgarian.
this pic is taken from the garden up in the mountains that the family owns. up here is where the bee houses are and many different kinds of fruit trees. down below on the right side of the pic is simitli, and in the back ground is pirin mountain.
this is the back of the house where we used to eat all of our meals before it started getting colder out. there is an outdoor sink for preparing food and right now my host father is building a new outdoor kitchen just to the right of where the picture is taken. overhead is all the grapevines that provide shade and good food.
travels
So I just got back from another whirlwind week of traveling around Bulgaria. I spent two days in Dupnitsa going over more training and information before I took off to Gabrovo to meet and shadow a current volunteer. Gabrovo pretty much in the exact center of the country, and it took about five or six hours to get there. It is a pretty city with lots of traditional architecture surrounded by low mountains.
The volunteer there works for the central Balkan national park, and I spent the day getting a feel for what his day is like and what kind of projects he is working for. Nature Park Strandja, the park that I will be working, for has more land area than Central Balkan National Park, but has a smaller budget and staff because it is not a national park. So my job will vary depending on what kind of projects I want to work on and because there is less infrastructure, but I am excited about it because I will have the opportunity to make more of an impact. I also got to meet a bunch of the people that work for two of the different parks in central Bulgaria, which might be useful later if I ever need to network with them later for a project.
Also living right now in Gabrovo is Casey and Lindsay, a married couple that trained in the same town as me last year. I got to hangout with them for a while and on Friday night we all went over to their place and had a big dinner. It was nice to just relax for a while and take a break from everything.
On Saturday I headed out to Veliko Turnovo, one of the ancient capitals of Bulgaria. It is a sweet city, all built on the side of a steep mountain above a winding river. Buildings were practically built on top of each other, and two parallel streets less than a block from each other could be ten floors different in elevation. The city is also famous for a huge walled castle complex built on a small mountain on the edge of the city. It was a huge fortification, and at the very top with a view of the whole area was the craziest small cathedral like church that I have ever seen. It was normal brick from the outside and the inside was covered with murals and portraits. The strange part was that the paintings resembled more of a gothic frank miller graphic novel (think sin city) than it did traditional religious artwork.
Anyway, other than seeing the castle I really didn’t have a whole lot of time to do stuff in Veliko Turnovo, but I really would like to go back if I get a chance. So far I think that it is the most interesting city that I have been to yet in the country, and there is a lot of history there that I would like to learn more about. Yesterday I headed back to Simitli and will be here for a few days before I head back to dupnitsa for more training. No time for a break i guess. there is only about two and a half weeks now until i move out to malko turnovo for good, so my time here is winding down. I have no other real interesting stories to tell other than my travels, but I will try to write again soon. later
The volunteer there works for the central Balkan national park, and I spent the day getting a feel for what his day is like and what kind of projects he is working for. Nature Park Strandja, the park that I will be working, for has more land area than Central Balkan National Park, but has a smaller budget and staff because it is not a national park. So my job will vary depending on what kind of projects I want to work on and because there is less infrastructure, but I am excited about it because I will have the opportunity to make more of an impact. I also got to meet a bunch of the people that work for two of the different parks in central Bulgaria, which might be useful later if I ever need to network with them later for a project.
Also living right now in Gabrovo is Casey and Lindsay, a married couple that trained in the same town as me last year. I got to hangout with them for a while and on Friday night we all went over to their place and had a big dinner. It was nice to just relax for a while and take a break from everything.
On Saturday I headed out to Veliko Turnovo, one of the ancient capitals of Bulgaria. It is a sweet city, all built on the side of a steep mountain above a winding river. Buildings were practically built on top of each other, and two parallel streets less than a block from each other could be ten floors different in elevation. The city is also famous for a huge walled castle complex built on a small mountain on the edge of the city. It was a huge fortification, and at the very top with a view of the whole area was the craziest small cathedral like church that I have ever seen. It was normal brick from the outside and the inside was covered with murals and portraits. The strange part was that the paintings resembled more of a gothic frank miller graphic novel (think sin city) than it did traditional religious artwork.
Anyway, other than seeing the castle I really didn’t have a whole lot of time to do stuff in Veliko Turnovo, but I really would like to go back if I get a chance. So far I think that it is the most interesting city that I have been to yet in the country, and there is a lot of history there that I would like to learn more about. Yesterday I headed back to Simitli and will be here for a few days before I head back to dupnitsa for more training. No time for a break i guess. there is only about two and a half weeks now until i move out to malko turnovo for good, so my time here is winding down. I have no other real interesting stories to tell other than my travels, but I will try to write again soon. later
Monday, September 24, 2007
pics???
by the way, if anyone knows how to post pictures on blogspot, or even if you can, please let me know because i cant figure it out. and brett, i cant leave the country until january, sorry
second update
Sorry that it has been such a long time since my last update, but lately I have spent more time traveling than I have spent in Simitli. Things are still going well for me though, and I have gotten to travel a lot around Bulgaria. I am getting used to living in Simitli, and know a lot more people here, which is nice. For a while we were having intense language classes everyday from about nine to six, with a break to go home for lunch.
We also started working on a community project, we had to host a community meeting, come up with ideas, and now we are in the process of implementing them. It has been tough though, because things don’t work the same way here as they do in the states, and it takes some getting used to.
More recently however, I have been doing a lot of traveling. My host family took me up to the town of Bansko, which is this huge mountain resort town that is famous for its skiing. It is a beautiful area, but there is tons of European investment in the area and I think that it has become way over developed. It is almost like a sea of hotels under construction. But the mountain is still beautiful, and on the second day there we hiked up to a lake just under the peak of Mt. Vihren, the second tallest mountain in Bulgaria. It was cloudy weather so the view wasn’t great, but it was good to get out in the mountains.
The next weekend me, my host father, brother and my buddy Tyler went up to Rila Monastery, the largest monastery in all of Europe. It was built way up in the Rila mountains, and is a huge place. The monastery itself is beautiful, brightly painted buildings covered with hand painted motifs surrounded by a giant cobblestone courtyard. We spent the day up there walking around the monastery and then went on a hike to see a cave where the founder of the monastery lived for several years while he meditated. It is an orthodox monastery, and it was interesting to observe what went on there. The weather was cloudy again, but I still had a great time.
On September 10 I had to go to Dupnitsa where I found out what my perminate job would be and which city I would be living in for the next two years. I also got to meet my counterpart who I would be working with. Turns out that in the end of October I will be moving to Malko Turnovo, which is in the southeast corner of the country, about 45 minutes or so from the Black Sea and less than six miles from turkey. I spent a few days there to see what I would be doing and what it was like before heading back to Simitli.
Malko Turnovo is a quiet town of about 2,000 people or so and is quite a drive from the next big city, Borgas. There is not a whole lot in the town, just a few restaurants, cafes and such, so I will have to take the bus out to Borgas to do any real shopping or other activities. I am kind of nervous about the coming winter, whether or not I can find stuff to do in the town. It also sucks that MT is so far from Simitli, because I wont be able to travel back often to see my host family. My baba (grandma) said that I should request a new position so I could come visit her every weekend.
On the flip side, my job sounds like it will be pretty sweet. I will be working with the national park strandja, which is the largest national park in the country. The park covers all the land in the southeast corner of the country, along the black sea and the Turkish border. It is all low rolling mountains covered with old forest, with a few small villages scattered about here and there. The park is beautiful, and I think that it is kind of funny that I left the country to become almost a park ranger. I am not exactly sure what all I will be doing or what my average day will be like (I wont know that until a few weeks in to the job) but I have an idea.
My first task is to get acquainted with the park, and when I was there I spent one day hiking through the park with a class of Swiss graduate students working on a thesis program. The park has lots of animal and plant life, several rivers, many miles of undeveloped coastline and I think even a small system of caves. My options for work will include improving things already in the park, monitoring of wildlife, working with conservation initiatives, coming up with new programs the park offers to help increase tourism, and networking with other parks, organizations and NGO’s. Just my kind of job. I will know more as time goes on though.
This last weekend me and all the other trainees in my group went hiking up to the Rila mountains to see the seven rila lakes. It was a great time and nice to get some time off to relax with friends. The lakes were beautiful, crystal clear water surrounded by towering cliffs, and each one was successively higher until we reached the last one, which was just below the ridgeline with an awesome view. There was lots of cloud cover, but at the last lake we were above it so it was like looking out over a sea of clouds.
Outside of my frequent travels, I have been spending as much time with my host family as possible. I am starting to get a hang of the language, and I can talk about more complicated subjects. We still always have a big dinner at about 8 or 9 at night, and I can carry on a conversation (however basic) for about an hour or two.
Last week I got to help the family harvest this seasons grapes, and then we made wine with them. I have never seen such a huge pile of grapes in my life, and it took a day and a half to harvest and process them. Making wine is a very messy business, but it will be well worth it. The wine is currently fermenting in huge casks in the basement and wont be ready until December, but I think that we made close to one metric ton of wine. Hopefully enough for the winter.
With the leftovers from the wine my host father will make homemade Rakia (traditional Bulgarian liquor) aka moonshine. I went to tylers house when his host father was distilling Rakia, and it is very interesting to see. He gave me a sample right out of the distiller, and let me tell you that pure Rakia has some kick. I was about 130 proof! It is hard to try and condense one months worth of activities into a short blog, but once I get to my perminate site I will have a lot more time to write more frequently. Hopefully I can write again week after next. Also, if any of you have skype, I am on occasionally in the afternoon (your time). later
We also started working on a community project, we had to host a community meeting, come up with ideas, and now we are in the process of implementing them. It has been tough though, because things don’t work the same way here as they do in the states, and it takes some getting used to.
More recently however, I have been doing a lot of traveling. My host family took me up to the town of Bansko, which is this huge mountain resort town that is famous for its skiing. It is a beautiful area, but there is tons of European investment in the area and I think that it has become way over developed. It is almost like a sea of hotels under construction. But the mountain is still beautiful, and on the second day there we hiked up to a lake just under the peak of Mt. Vihren, the second tallest mountain in Bulgaria. It was cloudy weather so the view wasn’t great, but it was good to get out in the mountains.
The next weekend me, my host father, brother and my buddy Tyler went up to Rila Monastery, the largest monastery in all of Europe. It was built way up in the Rila mountains, and is a huge place. The monastery itself is beautiful, brightly painted buildings covered with hand painted motifs surrounded by a giant cobblestone courtyard. We spent the day up there walking around the monastery and then went on a hike to see a cave where the founder of the monastery lived for several years while he meditated. It is an orthodox monastery, and it was interesting to observe what went on there. The weather was cloudy again, but I still had a great time.
On September 10 I had to go to Dupnitsa where I found out what my perminate job would be and which city I would be living in for the next two years. I also got to meet my counterpart who I would be working with. Turns out that in the end of October I will be moving to Malko Turnovo, which is in the southeast corner of the country, about 45 minutes or so from the Black Sea and less than six miles from turkey. I spent a few days there to see what I would be doing and what it was like before heading back to Simitli.
Malko Turnovo is a quiet town of about 2,000 people or so and is quite a drive from the next big city, Borgas. There is not a whole lot in the town, just a few restaurants, cafes and such, so I will have to take the bus out to Borgas to do any real shopping or other activities. I am kind of nervous about the coming winter, whether or not I can find stuff to do in the town. It also sucks that MT is so far from Simitli, because I wont be able to travel back often to see my host family. My baba (grandma) said that I should request a new position so I could come visit her every weekend.
On the flip side, my job sounds like it will be pretty sweet. I will be working with the national park strandja, which is the largest national park in the country. The park covers all the land in the southeast corner of the country, along the black sea and the Turkish border. It is all low rolling mountains covered with old forest, with a few small villages scattered about here and there. The park is beautiful, and I think that it is kind of funny that I left the country to become almost a park ranger. I am not exactly sure what all I will be doing or what my average day will be like (I wont know that until a few weeks in to the job) but I have an idea.
My first task is to get acquainted with the park, and when I was there I spent one day hiking through the park with a class of Swiss graduate students working on a thesis program. The park has lots of animal and plant life, several rivers, many miles of undeveloped coastline and I think even a small system of caves. My options for work will include improving things already in the park, monitoring of wildlife, working with conservation initiatives, coming up with new programs the park offers to help increase tourism, and networking with other parks, organizations and NGO’s. Just my kind of job. I will know more as time goes on though.
This last weekend me and all the other trainees in my group went hiking up to the Rila mountains to see the seven rila lakes. It was a great time and nice to get some time off to relax with friends. The lakes were beautiful, crystal clear water surrounded by towering cliffs, and each one was successively higher until we reached the last one, which was just below the ridgeline with an awesome view. There was lots of cloud cover, but at the last lake we were above it so it was like looking out over a sea of clouds.
Outside of my frequent travels, I have been spending as much time with my host family as possible. I am starting to get a hang of the language, and I can talk about more complicated subjects. We still always have a big dinner at about 8 or 9 at night, and I can carry on a conversation (however basic) for about an hour or two.
Last week I got to help the family harvest this seasons grapes, and then we made wine with them. I have never seen such a huge pile of grapes in my life, and it took a day and a half to harvest and process them. Making wine is a very messy business, but it will be well worth it. The wine is currently fermenting in huge casks in the basement and wont be ready until December, but I think that we made close to one metric ton of wine. Hopefully enough for the winter.
With the leftovers from the wine my host father will make homemade Rakia (traditional Bulgarian liquor) aka moonshine. I went to tylers house when his host father was distilling Rakia, and it is very interesting to see. He gave me a sample right out of the distiller, and let me tell you that pure Rakia has some kick. I was about 130 proof! It is hard to try and condense one months worth of activities into a short blog, but once I get to my perminate site I will have a lot more time to write more frequently. Hopefully I can write again week after next. Also, if any of you have skype, I am on occasionally in the afternoon (your time). later
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
first update
hey everyone!
so i am pretty sure that this will post on blogspot, but let me assure you that it took me forever to figure out how to post something on here, not because its complicated, but because my password didnt work and everything is in bulgarian. the help menu, the emails blogspot sent me and everything. but finally success.
life in bulgaria has been great so far. i attend language class every day and study all day after that. my group is working right now on setting up a community project, and we have a big meeting with community leaders for it tomorrow. i also have a placement interview tomorrow, and in two weeks i will find out where i will be living and what job i will have for the next two years. it will be a big day, but im not too worried about it.
life with the host family is going great. the langauge classes are starting to pay off and i can carry on meaningful, albeit simple, conversations with the family members. i still miss most of whats said, but im progressing. everyone has been really helpful and patient, working with me and assisting my studies. sometimes i will sit with the grandmother or my sister for an hour or two while they quiz me on vocab or correct my grammar. dinner is always a fun time, we usually eat around 9 at night and have a long relaxed meal with the family.
the food is still good, lots of salt and oil, but everything is delicious and i will not go hungry anytime soon. i will be dissapointed when it starts getting cold out because there is so much good fruits and veggies coming from the garden. i think at the end of next month i will get to help the family make wine from the grapes in their vinyard, but it wont be ready to drink until winter. i will just have to come back and visit the family then.
i will try to write again soon, and maybe post pics if i can figure it out. talk to you all later
justin
so i am pretty sure that this will post on blogspot, but let me assure you that it took me forever to figure out how to post something on here, not because its complicated, but because my password didnt work and everything is in bulgarian. the help menu, the emails blogspot sent me and everything. but finally success.
life in bulgaria has been great so far. i attend language class every day and study all day after that. my group is working right now on setting up a community project, and we have a big meeting with community leaders for it tomorrow. i also have a placement interview tomorrow, and in two weeks i will find out where i will be living and what job i will have for the next two years. it will be a big day, but im not too worried about it.
life with the host family is going great. the langauge classes are starting to pay off and i can carry on meaningful, albeit simple, conversations with the family members. i still miss most of whats said, but im progressing. everyone has been really helpful and patient, working with me and assisting my studies. sometimes i will sit with the grandmother or my sister for an hour or two while they quiz me on vocab or correct my grammar. dinner is always a fun time, we usually eat around 9 at night and have a long relaxed meal with the family.
the food is still good, lots of salt and oil, but everything is delicious and i will not go hungry anytime soon. i will be dissapointed when it starts getting cold out because there is so much good fruits and veggies coming from the garden. i think at the end of next month i will get to help the family make wine from the grapes in their vinyard, but it wont be ready to drink until winter. i will just have to come back and visit the family then.
i will try to write again soon, and maybe post pics if i can figure it out. talk to you all later
justin
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