I guess I'll post becuase there isn't much else to do today! I have been kind of a bum this weekend and not really gone out. On Friday night I met some fo the people i work with for drinks at a local place for a few hours. It was just the 5 of us and Pepi had to leave after a short period because he had stuff to do.

I had made myself a big old dinner called Gyuvche (or something like that). Its a bulgarian meal that is so easy to make and it is absolutely delicious. It is basically just tossing all the leftover veggies and meat you have laying around into a ceramic bowl and a lid with a small hole in it for hte steam to escape. Of course you add some cheeses too... after you cook it for a while, you take it out and crack an egg on top and toss it back in for 5-10 minutes more. It is so damn good...

Anyways - a little sidetrack there - after the drinks, Dani took me to go meet a friend of his in the town over. It wasn't far and I was under the impression that we were just going to a cafe or something to meet a buddy. Oh the joys of the language barrier... Instead we showed up to a house with a family of 4 and a full course meal prepared, salads, cheeses, rakia, kebabcheta, kyuftetas - the works. I was a little surprised and totally not looking for food! i was stuffed, but as any good guest does, i ate the food and drank the rakia. It was nice becuase this man had one son that is 18 years old and speaks phenominal english. So i was able to converse with him for a while. Dani and I didn't end up leaving until around 3-330am after arriving at around 10. I was absolutely exhausted.

Rosen had come - my language tutor :) - the night before for some studying. Of course we studied for 3 hours or so, but after that it was still early (at midnight) so we went to a cafe downstairs for some beers to unwind. But we didnt end up getting to sleep until around 4am. It was like a middle school sleep over! except the beer of course. So needless to say I was totally exhausted from both Thursday and Friday night. Therefore I slept in real late yesterday and just kind of cleaned up the apartment and watched some movies on my laptop. Today, I am just hanging at the house - kind of doing the same thing to be honest. I am currently cooking a vat of all the misc stuff i have laying around here. It better be good because it will be all i eat for the next week! haha... oh my life.

This is quite a different life. I am frequented by all sorts of bugs during the day and night. Some eat me, others pester and most eat the stuff in my garbage. I made a bet with Pepi earlier last week that I didnt have cockroaches here. He just laughed and told me that of course i did. I lived on the first floor of this apartment building... Well - we came and sprayed for them. and the next day there were a few laying around the floor nice and dead. So i have those nasty critters too. Good times. Asides from the bugs, tempermental water, and heat - life is good. I am getting some headway on projects and meeting new people daily.

This week, another volunteer is coming and we are putting on a movie for the kids. I figure its a good way to meet some. After that, i am headed for 2 days to his location to see him in action. So I have a busy week ahead of me!

Quick story - kind of funny. On Friday I was headed to a neighboring town, maybe 10 miles away, to make some purchases for the apt. Violina was driving and Pepi was with us. About 5 miles into the trip, the car turns off. We had run out of gas. It took about an hour, but someone we knew passed us, picked up Violina and took her to the nearest gas station. It was just a funny experience. Never ran out of gas before...

Hope everyone is doing well out there. Things are starting to pick up here. My social life is no where close to what it was in Moravitsa, but it will get better. I am just taking it slower here. Heck, i have 2 years!

Also - if you want to see some shots from Koynare - go to www.picasaweb.google.com/roryjnolan I have some posted.

Settling in.

Again, I regret not writing in this sooner as I am sure I have forgotten plenty. As you know, each day brings a new adventure with new experiences. Some more than others. And when I forget to write in this blog, I don't capture it all. But I doubt anybody wants to read everything going on in my life...

So I have been in Koynare now for the past few weeks, I guess since July 25th. On July 24th we had a big "Swearing In Ceremony". If you wern't aware, I wasn't really a PCV before July 24th, I was just a trainee. Now I am official. I said the oath that all Federal Government workers say about protecting the US and all it stands for basically.

That night, the 24th, I stayed in Moravitsa with Ashley and Scott. Sarah left to her new place. Since Moravitsa was the place to be, many other volunteers showed up and partied there that night to say goodbye to everyone. It was a blast. It was actually a really emotional night. I really truely love the people I was with when I started my experience here. You know, you get thrust into a totally terrifying and unfamiliar environment where you are completely helpless and if someone, or many people, reach out to you to make sure you are safe and comfort you - you will never forget them. That goes for all the people in the town, as well as the other volunteers I was with. It is pretty powerful stuff. When you first get put in a place like this, its like the military. You are stripped of your identity completely. You can't joke, laugh, share stories. You don't know how to cook, do laundry, use the shower or the toilet. Everything is new, everything is scary. And you aren't you. It gives you an opportunity to start fresh. The other volunteers I was with are really the only people that can truely understand. And for the Bulgarians in the town, we were the first Americans they had ever seen. The first outsiders they got to experience and know. They laughed at us and took care of us like family. And I know they will never forget us either. I think our group in Moravitsa, for such a short period of time, made a lasting impact there. Even if it was just by adding a goofy experience that residents can laugh about later down the road.

So Farewell Moravitsa. (even though I've already been back to visit)

And Hello Koynare!

So here I am. Arrived on the 25th of July. Rosen and his cousin drove me here since it's less than an hour away and Rosen wanted to make sure I was taken care of. So we came and I was pleasantly surprised by my living situation. Some of you may say its nasty and uncomfortable and primative, but I am happy with it. I am living in a Blok - which is like a concrete 6 floor soviet apartment style building. I have a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom (with a flushing toilet!), a shower (that is tempermental as to whether I have hot showers or not...), and another room that is like a bedroom, but not really and it needs some work. I don't really go in there. I will take pictures and post them later. I live above a fairly busy cafe that plays music into the night. I told Rosen about this and he had the best answer ever. He said "oh thats great! you can listen to music when you sleep!" and he was dead serious. I love that guy. But the nice thing about living there is that the cafe has free wireless... so I get internet at home without having to pay for it! kinda nice seeing as though I get 15 lev (12 dollars) a day to live off of... Also - I don't have a washing machine, so I do my laundry by hand and hang it outside to dry.

The town is nice, there are lots of shops and people. There are a good amount of young people, but I haven't really met a lot yet. I will soon. Right now I work in a cultural center in town and with the Mayor. I have some ideas for projects and I hope they work. When school starts again in Sept, I will be teaching English. The children learn basic English in the young classes, but they don't have a teacher for the middle school/high school age kids. That will be me. Kinda excited/nervous about it. But it will be fine.

Other than like, life is a lot more relaxed here for me. I loved Moravitsa, still do, but I was having too much fun there... Now I am in reality again and on my own. And it's nice for now - I need to make some friends, but that will come with time.

Oh, Rosen is my language tutor. So he comes here like once a week to study. It's freaking awesome. If you don't remember, Rosen is my brother from Bulgaria that I hadn't met till I came here.

I also have skype now. Send me an email if you have it with your info, or just look me up by my email.

That's it for now.