Disaster has struck!

Misfortune has fallen upon me recently and my computer has died. This is a serious event, since my computer contains pretty much everything that I use on a day to day basis. Malko Turnovo was a boring place to live before, but now it has become mind numbingly so.

(The victim)

I'm not sure what went wrong with it, and I took it into a shop to get it repaired last Wednesday but I don't even think they have looked at it yet. I'm hoping its something easy and cheap to repair and I can have it back and working again by the middle of this week. My worst fear is that its some major issue with the hard drive and the computer place loses all my information. Music and movies aside, this would mean the loss of all my trip pictures, all my documents and pretty much all my important information. I had been getting ready to back up all my info when the 'incident' took place, and in retrospect I should have been a bit quicker with it.

Aside from that though, things are going well. Tourism in Bulgaria this year is slower than normal and as a result we are getting less visitors in the park. It means less work for me because last year I spent a good deal of time working with foreign visitors and this year not so much. The flip side is that I have more time to hike, work on projects, and do other things. Still though, work in general is slower than I would like it to be. Things seem to be winding down already though, and I recently received a packet of information on stuff I have to do to prepare for my 'close of service' seminar, which will be held next month. I have less than four months left here and I have a feeling that the time will just fly by. It seems that it was just beginning of May a few weeks ago and now its moving into July. The summer will be over way too quickly.

(The Black sea)

My brother is also on his way over here to spend a bit of time, and I am super excited for it. I secured a pretty sweet apartment for him in Burgas and he should arrive here tomorrow or the day after. After that, it will be a lot of laid back beach weekends with him and my friends from the coast. Cant wait!

(the brother)

East of East

I have just returned from the last big trip I will take during my service here, and quite the trip it was. I traveled more than 2,200 miles by car, bus, train, taxi, hitchhiking, walking, and running (only one time when I was late for my train) in about a week. I set out on this adventure by myself, but I met so many people all along the way that other than my time spent in transport, I was almost never alone. My goal for this trip was to really get out there and go places that no one goes to, to get the 'real' experience, away from all the tourist infrastructure, away from food menus written in English, travel around country where I cant read the signs. Turns out, I should have gone to Africa, because this place I had envisioned doesn't actually exist for me in Europe. Transport was easy, signs in Romania are in English, and while the signs in Moldova and Ukraine are in Russian, I can read Russian so it wasn't a hindrance.

I think that with globalization proceeding the way it is, the far far away destination spots no longer exist. Everywhere you go you can find the same products, the same services, and the same foods. McDonald's in Odessa, Andy's pizza in Chisinau, the list goes on. This trade and connectivity is of course a good thing, but sometimes makes me wonder what it would have been like to travel abroad some 100 years ago, before everything became so homogenized.

Still, my trip was a good time, and Moldova and the Ukraine are about as different from the states as you can get in Europe without going to Belarus (good luck getting visas to that place). These places are still dotted with reminders of the communist rule; the soviet star adorning the train station in Chisiau, the hammer and sickle on top of every column in an art gallery, and good old fashioned soviet style tenement apartments everywhere you look.


Of all the places I visited though, I enjoyed Braşov the most. It is an absolutely beautiful town nestled up in the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania that has preserved its original character, feel and architecture from when it used to be fortified. There is lots of hiking around the town, and in the center is seems there is always something interesting going on. Its just a good time walking around the streets exploring.

(Brasov)

Moldova was a good time as well. I didn't spent all that much time there, but for my first day I met up with a volunteer who is working there and he showed me all around Chisinau (pronounced Kishe-now). Its an interesting city with a surprisingly large number of parks and shaded boulevards. In fact, the entire city looks like it was almost built in a forest from the number of trees that are present. It make for a pleasant place to wander around and relax at. It was nice though being there with someone that was familiar with the area because I was able to learn a lot about the place in a very short amount of time.

(Train Station in Chisinau)

From Chisinau I was off to Odessa. It turns out that pretty much everyone that lives in Odessa speaks Russian instead of Ukrainian, so I got plenty of chances to brush up (aka 'start learning') Russian. Actually, I can already understand some Russian because of its similarities to Bulgarian, so I was able to get my point across most of the time without too much difficulty. I was also able to somewhat follow along with the topics of conversations, if not any of the details.

(Learning Russian in Odessa)

From Odessa it was a long and tiring trip back down to Bulgaria, and I got stuck one night in Varna before I finally made it home. It ended up being a sweet trip though and it was over way to quickly. Now its back to work again and, unfortunately, it looks like I will be doing some in-country travel for work as well, which means even more time stuck in trains and buses. No rest for the weary I suppose. The good news though is that my brother should be here in just over a week and then summer beach weekends can begin! Summer here rocks.


Check out all the pics on my picasa page http://picasaweb.google.com/justinrobarge

festivals and adventures

Its been a busy last few weeks and it doesn't look like things are going to change in the near future. The end of last month I got invited by my counterpart to go camping for a night along the sea with a couple of other friends. I had nothing else going on that weekend so I joined him and it was a good time. The weather was great and the black sea is just finally starting to warm up. We spent most of the day relaxing and catching crabs and shells out of the water to cook for dinner. I had never caught (or cooked) crab before, but it turns out it isn't too hard. We boiled them all over an open campfire that night and everything was delicious.

The next day we had to attend the traditional festival for the fire walking people out at a sacred site in the forest. There were a lot of people that attended, and once the main icon blessing ceremony was over, we spent the next few hours just hanging around eating and drinking. I took some video of the event, but unfortunately (and rather ironically) my offices video camera that I used is too advanced for the computers here, and I cant transfer any of the footage (If anyone knows anything about using a canon XM2, let me know...). It was a great day though and a good finish to a great weekend.

Last week I had some friends come out and visit me for a few days to attend the main fire walking festival that is held on the 3rd of June and is open to a lot more people than the first one was. It was a good time, and I got to guide my friends around the park for a few days before and we even got invited to a banquet out in the forest with a group of Irish folk singers. Needless to say that It was a crazy time, and we spent the whole night learning Irish folk dances. The next day we made it out to the main festival and aside from a bit of rain in the afternoon, it was a great time.
This last weekend I traveled out to the other side of Bulgaria to visit another volunteers eco-center that his organization is working on. To make it worth my time to travel 12 hours by train across the country though, I also coupled it with a white water rafting trip down the struma river. The rapids were nothing intense, mostly 2s and 3s, but it was still a good time and nice to finally get back out on the water like that. My guide was super cool, and told me that I was the best in the boat after only the first set of rapids (Not much of a statement though if you had seen the other guys I was with). It was definitely worth the money.

The day after rafting I went out to see the green eco-center. I got some good ideas I want to try and introduce to my coworkers after seeing the place, and it was refreshing to see a project like that underway out here in Bulgaria. After visiting the eco-center and learning about the work going on there, we took a short hike out to a cool waterfall and took a reprieve from the oppressive sun by swimming in a small pool between a smaller 10ft fall and a larger 100ft fall. It was a great time.

The road less traveled

Last weekend was the second annual nature park clean up day. Its hosted by all the nature parks in the country, and lots of people volunteer to go and help clean up trash of some of the hiking trails and camping sites. Its just a one day event, but there was a good turnout and we cleaned up several dumpsters worth of trash. The day ended with some live music, lunch and a short hike to see some natural springs. It was a good time overall, and its nice to do volunteer work where you can instantly see the benefits of your work.

In other news, I finally came up with a plan for my final trip abroad during my service. I am going to Odessa, Ukraine, taking a rather meandering route through Romania and Moldova to get there. I decided after my last trip to Italy and Greece that I want to go someplace a bit less traveled that would offer a more intense experience. I want to have to struggle with the language, to order food that I cant read from a menu, and see places that no one really goes to. Im super excited. And to make the trip even more intense, I will be traveling solo, really throw myself out there. Hopefully I can set up some meetings with couchsurfers along the way to meet new people and have a place to crash, but I aside from that I dont really have a strong itenerary like I normally do when I travel. I will sort of wing it this time, and figure out transport as I go along. I wont be leaving until mid-june sometime, so there is still a bit of time to figure out the couchsurfing thing, but im sure it will be here before I know it.

(My tentative route from Malko Turnovo to Odessa)

Zelenikata Festival

Last weekend was my parks annual forest festival, and this years event was a big success. The weather was perfect, there was a good crowd that showed up, and everything went according to plan. The first day we started the festival in a nearby town and had booths set up with local foods, crafts and activities to check out while a band played and some local groups danced the traditional Strandja dances. Then everyone went on a nice 5 hour hike to the next village along one of our brand new hiking trails. The night ended with a giant outdoor banquet and party that lasted until the early hours of the morning. It was really cool, and over 100 people attended the late night festivities. There was music, dancing around one of the many bonfires, and plenty of food and drinks for everyone.

The next day we all drove out to the coast and hiked along another new hiking trail that follows the sea-side cliffs of southern Bulgaria. It was a relaxing hike and ended with a late lunch party at a nearby camping site. Everyone that attended seemed to have a good time, and it was nice to get to spend an entire weekend just hiking and relaxing. It was also a big relief for my coworkers, who have spend a great deal of time preparing for the festival and now that its over its a big weight off their shoulders.

In the meantime, work is continuing as normal and I'm busy filling up my schedule and preparing for summer. I have been getting a lot of couchsurfing guests lately, which is nice because it offers the chance to meet cool new travelers and help break up the monotony of living here in malko turnovo by myself. Hopefully this trend continues.

The Spring Doldrums

Consistently nice spring weather is finally here and it is awesome. Nice warm days and cool nights, i just hope it lasts a little while before the blazing summer heat arrives. In the meantime though, it perfect outside for hiking and exploring the forest, and I have been taking full advantage of it.

Work however has been a bit hit and miss as of late. My park has been busy prepping for their big annual forest festival that will take place next week, and I'm helping set up for that as much as they need me too, but some days in stuck at the office with no work. Other days though, I will go out in the forest and mark trails all day (which is one of the coolest jobs there is). Sometimes it seems like its either all or nothing, no steady in between. I am hoping though that after the festival is over then tourism will start to pick up for the summer and I will be busy guiding people through the park and helping with those kinds of activities.

As for myself, I can tell that I am itching for some sort of change in my life. I am getting really bored of life here in Malko Turnovo, and while do really enjoy the hiking, there is still nothing going on here outside of that. I have hopes that summer will offer me a bit of the change, once the beaches open up and a lot more stuff is going on at the coast. I have just been isolated out here for way too long and the sooner more people start coming out my way, the better.

Out in the Mountains

I just got back from a short trip out to the Rhodopi mountains in south-central Bulgaria today. May 1st and 6th are holidays here, and everyone takes off all the days in between to get a nice 6 day vacation. Its kinda crazy, but I don't mind.

My trip was a ton of fun. I stayed with a couple of friends that live in small Turkish minority villages out in the mountains and I got to experience life out there first hand. A few of the towns were having festivals as well and one of the days there was even a big Muslim wedding that we got invited to. Turns out that Turkish Bulgarian weddings are very similar to regular Bulgarian weddings, although with a bit less drinking involved. It was a cool experience though and I got to meet a ton of people. Everyone out there was super friendly, and I have to admit that of all the places I have been to so far in Bulgaria, the villagers in the Rhodopis are the nicest.
I spent most of the days just hanging out, relaxing, cooking good food, and hiking all afternoon. The trails out there are fantastic and wind in and out of impressive canyons and valleys. The last day there we went on a 6-7 hour hike along a picturesque canyon with a cool natural land bridge. We made it all the way through the canyon and got to the very end, right in sight of the main road when we discovered that the bridge connecting our side of the river and the side with the road was gone. We had to finish the day with a pretty intense river crossing, struggling against the current while cars slowed down and watched.

The last day, May 6th, is a special day for the Muslims in the area. They are supposed to go out early and wash themselves in the river and get good luck and health for the rest of the year. We joined in, and discovered all too soon that there was more to it than just washing your hands real quick in the river. We had a bit of a late start and didn't get going until about 6 (way too early still if you ask me) and its was soon after that when I realized that we weren't going to the river that ran right through town, but had to climb a good ways up the mountain to this little steam. Along the way we paused to roll around in the grass (good for health I guess) before reaching our destination and performing the ritual cleansing. The water was ice cold, but fortunately the sun was coming up over the mountains so it wasn't unbearable.

After washing we hunted for green tree branches so that we could make hats and belts out of them for the walk home. It was kind strange, but my hat ended up being pretty sweet and made me look a bit like Caesar with my short hair. Then, once we were accessorized with our forest apparel, we had to crawl through three sets of old thorny bushes to complete the ritual. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, and we all made it through without too much trouble.
Overall it was a rather strange ritual but it was interesting to see and a lot of fun to participate in. I have definitely never done anything like it before and it was funny because we were doing it with all the old grandmas from the town.

(Thanks to Thomas for some of the pics) http://picasaweb.google.com/justinrobarge