classes started

my meeting with my boss from headquarters was freaking awesome. we got a lot of good ideas flowing with the people i work with and i have noticed a real change in the way things are going. i am excited about it! i am going to use these english classes as a spring board into the next wave of projects. the kids that come and work with me this winter will be my ambassadors for the other projects i want to get started down the road! right now i have 25 kids signed up for the classes with rumors of another 10-15 that want to come as well! this will surely keep me busy.

last night i went out with one of my coworkers to a cafe for "a beer". well, a beer is never a beer. and a beer turns into 5 or so. and then i wake up with a killer headache and wanting nothing more than to lay in bed for the whole morning. but i was glad i got to work today because it was one of the better days ive had! even if i was slightly to extremely hungover. one funny something - i went to a 10th grade class today. there were about 10 or so people in it, and only 2 of them were guys. the teacher tells them i dont understand bulgarian and they must ask me questions in english. this is a daunting task. the girls giggle like crazy and want to ask me things, but they just dont know how in english. so i listened to many things said about me between the girls becuase they thought i couldnt understand the language. well, i understood everything. it was pretty funny - just stuff that 16 year old girls say about the new young teacher from america. so after answering a few questions about my favorite foods and about my family, something funny happened in class. so i laughed. well, the girl in the front said something along the lines of how beautiful my smile was. i quickly looked at her, said thank you and told her she had a pretty smile too... well this set off panic amongst the girls because they then thought back on all the things they had said about me during the class! every one of them turned bright red and i had myself a hearty chuckle over the situation.

during the afternoon, i had a whole bunch of 17 year old students come and take the test i had set up for them. its just a test to see how much english they understand. 3 or 4 of the girls that came dont understand english at all. and as i was later told by another student, they have no interest in learning english either - they just want to come to my class and get to know me. so yea, its kinda funny being the popular guy and i get a kick out of it. a little ego boost.

other than that, nothing too interesting is going on this moment. another day, another experience.

staying in touch

Hello world! So my work is coming together. I have gone to a couple classes in the school where i help the teacher and the kids to understand a native english speaker. its definitely interesting and i really enjoy it. i get a good energy from the kids and it makes my day a whole lot better. Yesterday I went to the school and then after that i ate in the cafeteria with a bunch of kids. one cute girl, about 10 years old, came up to me and gave me a leaf from a tree. I have heard that "leaf art" is actually kinda common since other materials arent readily available. so she gave me the leaf, i gave her my chocolates. haha i think she won on that exchange, but it was really cute!
well i left the cafeteria, saw some kids that were just hanging out and might be classified as "bad kids" - i approached, asked what they were doing and when they responded with "nothing" i took the frisbee out of my bag and tossed it to one. They were shocked, adults dont really play with kids here. so i got about 5 or 6 kids in a circle and taught them how to toss a frisbee. we had a lot of fun and it didnt take long for a crowd to gather and watch us play! we played for like an hour and i have a feeling that these kids skipped class to play. i asked if they had class, and was assured over and over that none of them had class that hour... i think it was BS. but i had fun, they had fun, and everything was grand.

I also administered an english test in my chitalishte to kids that are interested in furthering their english studies after school. i got about 8 kids to show up and take a test so i could find out what they knew in english. they were excited and hopefully i will get something started up that has meaning.

so yea, i dunno what else. my birthday is coming up. it will be interesting to see what happens with that. and Brave Yankee lives in Pleven now and i went to visit him and help him move in. Pleven is a city of over 100,000 people and has pretty much anything you could want. so he is going to have to learn how to budget that small amount of money that we get!

Is that a light at the end of this tunnel?

oh my! its starting. its about time too... i was getting pretty anxious and i was really distraught for a while. Finally, there is organization and maybe a purpose for me here. My boss from headquarters is coming out here on tuesday and that news has sent a panic amongst my coworkers. my boss wants to know what work im doing, wants to see what im doing, wants to meet the kids im working with and all the other people in town i work with... well. its funny because i havent really been doing much of anything.

I knew she was coming since early last week and made passive mentions about it to my coworkers. then yesterday she called and actually talked to them about her future visit. and thats when the ball got rolling. i am getting all the broken stuff in my apt fixed... i went to the school today FINALLY to meet the english teacher and help with classes... i am getting a place set up in the culture center where i work so i can teach classes there... we are finding people that want to learn english... I HAVE WORK! so now i can finally breath a little easier. i have more freedom believe it or not because i am working. i have purpose. nothing has started yet, but now i am 100% confident that it will start soon. Oh Thank God!

i feel a large weight lifted off my shoulders. nothing worse than waking up in the morning with a lot of energy and good feelings and wanting to do stuff only to walk into an office, sit down and do nothing until 530pm. then do more of nothing after that. its draining. but now - i have something!

oh, and here is a fun story. well a couple fun stories i guess. yesterday morning i put some clothes in my new second hand washing machine and started her up. i sat down at the computer to get on the internet and after about 3 minutes i heard a thud and my power went out. i investigated my apt, nothing looked out of the ordinary and nothing fell, so i left for work. came home and still no power. i heard music... so someone had power. i found the buildings electric box and my fuse was blown - i flipped it and had power. i went to the washing machine to restart it... but apparently the electricity decided to show ultimate power on the washing machine and gave it a good hard lethal dose of shock. now my washing machine is dead. i bought it two months ago and paid a fair chunk of change. UGGGGGG. never catch a break.

and let me take you on a journey. close your eyes.... wait. that wont work. uhm, think really hard about it being Monday night. i was tired, i laid in bed maybe around 10pm. i sat in bed, awake, until around 2pm when i decided it was ridiculous, i flipped on the light and read a book til about 3. fell asleep at 3. woke up at 6am! why? becuase i was stressed about my life here and what the heck i was doing. so i get 3 hours rest. i go to work. i come home a little early, around 5pm and say to myself, "man, i just want to grab a beer for tonight (the beers are 2 liters or 6-12oz beers) and drink a little with dinner and fall asleep at like 7pm. so i leave my building to purchase said beer. i see a man that lives in my building. he asks me what i am doing and why i havent come to his apartment yet to meet his family. i told him i was doing nothing. he said, well lets go then. so i 180-ed and re-entered the building and headed to his apartment. this was 5pm. i was exhausted. i sat in his kitchen and enjoyed a glass of cola and some sweets with him and his wife. another woman entered, she was nice and we talked, she had cola too. then she left after an hour or so and i tried to depart at the same time. i was told to sit. i did. then our conversation resumed and many topics discussed. one being google earth. so we went to the other room to the pc and tried to find google earth. it wasnt there. so we downloaded it and visited many places. it is now 745pm, past my planned bedtime. i ask when the shops close and i knew damn well they closed at 8pm. i wanted an excuse. he said, why are you going to the shop? i said i have to cook dinner and need meat(a lie). he said, no no - you will eat dinner with us tonight. i said, ok thank you. (uhg, they are so hospitable here!) so we listened to music and watched a bit of some western movie. then dinner was served and it was good. dinner ended around 10:30pm or so. but i couldnt leave after dinner! conversation continued until past 11:15 or so when i was literally falling asleep in my chair. i finally stood, said i must go and thank you for everything. we made arrangements for another dinner tonight. i slept well last night - so i should be ok.
but that is just a small example of how you can never plan anything and in the blink of an eye, everything changes. my neighbor is an incredibly smart guy and very nice. so i was happy to meet him and spend the time there. its just that i wish i had slept the night before!

So things are looking up. except that my freaking washing machine and electricity decided to brawl. i lost some good money on that fight.

and dan the brave yankee is moving to a nearby city in a sweet apartment. im going there this weekend to help him move. dig it.

so long, farewell, and keep it real.
Rory

Zimata idva.

not much to write about today. ive kinda started work and i think tomorrow ill get these damn english classes started that ive only been waiting since july 25th to start. its cold out and rainy. and i have a little radiator that i drag around with me to the room im in. i wonder what my electricity bill is going to be? i was in moravitsa last saturday night and it was pretty chilly. i got a taste of how the winter will be spent. let me describe it to you.

Cafes will be crowded because it is warm in the cafe and you dont have to heat your own house to stay warm if you are sitting in the cafe. the doors are closed and windows are closed. everyone is dressed warm. alcohol keeps people warmer, or so it seems to the person drinking, so the drinking starts earlier. but not with beer, or not as much with beer, its mostly homemade wine and rakia. and i believe i have told you this before, everyone smokes here. if not everyone, at least 90%. so the rooms become like a cloud of smoke, everything you are wearing stinks and your eyes burn. the stove in the room is burning wood and coal and keeps the room incredibly hot. so a hot cloudy room full of people drinking and laughing and wearing warm clothes. and this is what i foresee winter being. oh, and i ate donkey meat. so in like 2 weeks time i have eaten both animals that i have seen pulling carts around town. donkeys and horses. donkey was gross, horse is better.

so i have a birthday coming up on the 6th of november and if anyone wants to be awesome and send me a little sumthin sumthin than that would be sweet. so here is the shameless plug. SHAMELESS and i feel bad about doing this, but this is the stuff i want/need as of now: http://amzn.com/w/2P9QL1CYSZYJ4 oh, and any types of spices are welcome. Ranch dressing and hot sauce too... :)


I will be indebted to you for anything that is sent. it isnt cheap to ship stuff but its also proving to be difficult to find these things here. especially books in english... and earplugs. which are needed becuase i live above a lively cafe with loud music... 

Dan - Brave Yankee.

So to keep you posted on the situation Dan is a-ok, he is moving towns to a nearby city where he will live, but he will still work at the same place. Dan called me last night because he was at dinner with a family, but he had received a phone call from his host family (from the first 2 months here) wondering if he was ok. They had heard in the news that a 25 year old american thwarted a robbery attempt in his town. well it turns out this is quite a story for the media. An american peace keeper has 3 men break into his house with weapons and the peace keeper thwarts the attempt using "karate and a knife" - good story. well they caught the guys with dans help and it turns out they had quite a criminal record and were suspected of multiple other crimes... here is an article. copy and pasted off a translater...

Pleven. U.S. peacekeeper revealed gang robbers. American Peace Corps, deployed in the town Pordim enter into melee with three dangerous bandits who broke into his headquarters.25-year-old Daniel Baker-Smith was attacked on Tuesday night. Like sitting behind your computer in 21 hours in his room in the balcony jumped up three Roma, armed with poles and a shovel. They climbed in gutters without trying to hide their faces with masks. Gypsies seeking money, but proved karatist Peacemaker. Brave Yankee applied them two or three tricks. He grabbed a kitchen knife and then resting in the throat of one of Roma. Aver onemeli panic-stricken and withdrawn. In their flight they even pulled off the iron fence of the facilities. The alien escaped without a scratch. The next day dark-skinned assailants were caught, but they recognized Smith in the police station. The chief Simeon Alexiev, 19 years Pordim been convicted 6 times. He was suspected for 22 thefts and robberies. Collateral his Veselin Benchev, 20 years from the village of Assen has a file with 15 robberies and three convictions.The third group - Stoyan Velev, 18, is criminals. Three have made a full confession before a judge in his complicity in the abortive attempt. Tiknati are in custody for 24 hours, police said. 
Evgeni Goranov 

pardon the racism and the poor translations... but you get the gist. 

Our new friend, Dan has a native-american name. Brave Yankee.

So yea - exciting times. 

This week there hasnt been much other than the fact that it is getting COLD. and its funny cause its not that cold, its just that there isnt heat. my office isnt heated yet because they have to burn wood for heat, and thats a pain in the bum to get going, so we will just wait till its really cold. and my apartment has 3 rooms, a kitchen, a bedroom and another room with a small bed in it and its where i hang out most the time. well now i am debating which room to live in now. The room that i hang out in most the time is bigger and right above a cafe that plays loud music. so i dont really want to sleep there or heat that big room. I have one small electric radiator that is the size of like a large computer box.... not very big to heat a big room. it heats my bedroom fine. but when the real cold hits, im going to have to just live in one room. the others will be frozen. ive heard that the food in your refrigerator will freeze. so maybe i can save electricity and just keep my food on the table in the kitchen where it will no doubt be frozen. yee haw. im also trying to get used to the fact that my fingers and toes will be cold until...say... May. it makes typing fast no work so well. my fingers are moving slower than usual and my backspace button is getting a lot of use. so yea, summer is hot - no AC. winter is cold - limited heating. dig it. 

i used to be able to only feel cold when i got in my car. but that jeep heated up in just a few minutes. the glory of having a gas guzzler... and i could wear short sleeved shirts to work in the winter because the office was always warm. but now... damn. 

oh wanna hear something gross? my mother sent me another box of contact lenses not too long ago becuase i was running out. well, i think i lost those boxes which totally blows. but i tossed my contacts before i realized that i didnt have anymore lenses.... so what did i do? i retrieved my lenses from the garbage. washed them a lot, and put them back in. they work for now but ill probably only get a few more days out of them. then its time to stop seeing so well too... cold and kinda blind. its going to be a fun winter. 

my coworkers are starting to get on the ball about me teaching and stuff. so thats good. and there is a rumor that a group of kids want to learn american football! so yippie! i might get to play some football!! 

thats all for now. enjoy the central heating.

The weekend that Dan was here.

I find myself compelled to hop on my blog this rainy monday morning and tell you of the weekend. So Dan was with me all weekend. After the incident in his apartment, i spoke to our safety and security officer who advised dan to either spend the weekend in sofia in the "sick bay" at headquarters, or come to my place and hang for the weekend. I think it was an easy choice for our hero Daniel the Lion. So he came in on Friday and we did basically nothing. He got in late, hadnt slept much the night before, and didnt feel like going out. I think we watched a movie, but that was pretty much it. On saturday we went to a nearby town to go shopping and get some food. i picked up a dress shirt that was a XXL but in the states it would be considered a M or a slim L. Its awesome. Dan and I said goodbye to another volunteer that is in the area and finishing up his service next week. He is heading back to the land of the free and the home of the brave soon. i bet he eats some good fast food when he gets there... jerk. maybe at IHOP. wow. IHOP... what a concept. pancakes... coffee... Americans...sorry, i digress.
So dan and i picked up some food at a store and found what we were looking for to make PIZZA. The conversations we had with the women that worked in the store were hilarious, embarrassing, humiliating and memorable. but we finally found the yeast.
We went back - cooked some pizza and grabbed a couple beers (2 liter beers of course) and watched movies all night. It was actually (this is going to sound so odd) really nice to just sit with a buddy, eat pizza, drink beer and watch movies on a saturday night.
Yesterday, we were feeling the effects of the night before and didnt do much until... ohhh... about 7pm. and by not do much, we kinda just sat there and played video games on our computers... so nerdy. but anyways, at 7pm or so we headed outside to go to a cafe in town. we sat at a regular place, got joined by the 2 women that work there and had a couple drinks. it is typical when you sit at a cafe and drink to have some meat or something on the table to pick at. so the women brought a meat on the table and some forks. The meat was dark in color, looked like muscle and was covered in like an onion gravy. we asked what kind of meat it was (can never be too careful) and they kind of looked at us confused and didnt answer. so we shrugged it off and grabbed a piece. it was delicious. we looked at each other, said - "kinda tastes like beef. i like it." so we ate and ate and it was pleasant. at one point, a horse cart was being taken down the road with a guy driving it that appeared to be intoxicated. the horse was confused because the guy was just kinda going crazy with reigns. the horse didnt know what direction to travel in. Dan says, in bulgarian "If horses become aware and smart, then the people are in trouble." basically stating that horses are big strong animals that are too docile for their own good. Well this comment brings lots of laughter out of our friends at the cafe that are still watching us eat this food. after all is said and done, we ask again what kind of meat it is becuase it tastes just like beef! and there isnt any beef here... well, they smile and say the word "horse" in bulgarian. we say, "Horse?!" they respond with a hearty "Da" (yes) and we say, hmm... ok. well, it was good. and we both had another piece and smiled.

So if you ever want to make lasting friendships in this world there are things that help.

1. travel to a foreign country that you nothing about with them. try to learn the language. decide to live there for 27 months.
2. share beds frequently when sleeping on the floor is an option.
3. listen to your friend almost get seriously hurt during a break in while on skype.
4. eat horse together within that week.

Yep. Bonding.

And sorry to those this next comment offends - i kinda wonder when im going to eat horse again. its good.

Floods, Another Let Down, and Unexpected Visitors

ok, i wasnt really planning on posting tonight, but heck - its been quite an interesting 24 hours or so. lets start where i left off. stick with me, this has been quite the day. so last night, after i got home from work, i sit down on the computer and start talking to my lovely sister, Molly, on skype. we get chatting for a while about the joys of peace corps and how she is doing in life. It's her birthday tomorrow, or in less than 2 hours for me, so wish her a happy birthday. anyways, we are talking it up and i start hearing water dripping in my apartment. well, it was a sunny and beautiful day yesterday so i start wondering whats going on. i let it continue for a bit becuase i dont really want to start investigating. i know it only means disaster and as everyone knows, ignorance is bliss. so after 10 or so minutes, i finally decide to see whats going on. i live on the second floor here, in this beautiful soviet concrete socialist blok apartment. It's an architects dream. i leave my second floor apt and start heading upstairs. i know that no one lives above me, so i go to the 4th floor where i find a Baba standing outside her open door. she says, "hubavo li e?" which means, beautiful isnt it? and i kinda chuckle, glance in her apartment and notice the multiple buckets that are under all the leaks. her apartment is like a big shower. i say sorry, and continue to the next floor where i find a significant amount of water coming from under the door and heading down the stairs. i knock on the door a few times and try opening it. its locked. i start calling all the people i know here that can help, but to no avail. no one answers. so i go back to my place on the second floor and continued talking to molly. later i heard people fixing the water while the Baba screamed. everything is a-ok now.

and for today... well, i woke up excited because i was going to be heading to the school to meet the people and start my project of teaching english! what a day! so i got up, dressed in my sunday best, and headed to work. only to find out that today was a day for painting the inside and staining the furniture! i asked why we werent going to the school and i was told that there is a problem with some forms and what not and i might not be able to teach there all year. granted, i was not happy. I was told i needed to help paint. i was dressed in good clothes, and angry about what i recently discovered, and told them i would not help them and i had work to do. so i wrote an email asking for help from my boss here at the PC headquarters. I was not happy. and i think things will work out eventually... I didnt paint, and i didnt do much of anything

sorry if all that was rushed, i want to get to the craziest thing that just happened moments ago. still on a little bit of an adrenaline rush from it. so, im on skype, talking to my buddy Dan who is out here with me and we are using skype like a phone. no video, just talking. after a while, he says, "hey, i think i hear something outside. it sounds like people, but they are being too quite to be close. but they sound close" a few moments later, he decides to check it out. so he says to me, "hold on a second". i start hearing him talking. it sounds like a cell phone call - calm, relaxed, in control. but soon it turns to him saying in english "Get the f@ck out of here!" and i hear another voice. then i hear him repeat this, each time getting a little more urgent. then after a few seconds... nothing... then a few seconds later, a loud crash.... then nothing at all.... then, after what seemed an eternity, i hear dans voice start screaming " GET THE F*CK OUT OF HERE!" and more of the same. the noise drifted off for a bit. then the drifting of the sound became silence. and a bit became 30+ seconds.... i started getting pretty nervous. (not that i wasnt nervous already...) I called dans phone only to hear it ring on the other side of the computer... So i called again, and again. still nothing. after about a minute or so, i heard someone enter the room. i was a "send" button away from calling the PC main security office to get the US Marine Corps out there to raise all sorts of hell. I yelled out, "Dan - is that you?" he said, yea. Anyways, after he called the police and the PC we had a moment to chat. 

I guess 3 guys scaled his balcony, broke in, asked for food and money, and when he obliged to them for the food, they followed him into the kitchen, brought weapons like a shovel and some pieces of wood to beat him with, and dan quickly controlled the situation like the awesome guy he is by grabbing a better weapon, a kitchen knife, to keep them at bay. he demanded again that they "get the F out." to which they started to listen. He actually had to toss one of them on the floor, while wielding the knife, before they actually started moving. He eventually got them to leave.

I will say, the police in his town (i had video chat on at this time) responded within a matter of a few minutes and were combing the area. Dan is now at the headquarters filling a report, and helping identify the perpetrators. I also just received a call from our main safety and security officer here to make sure i was ok and to hear what i heard while i listened to this scuffle. We are all happy that dan is ok and was able to not only thwart the attempt, but to control the entire situation. Dan is in fact, The Man. Thank God he is ok and unharmed from what could have turned out very poorly. Good thinking Dan and way to keep control! 

Anyways, hope that doesnt scare anyone out there. I am ok and I don't have any easy to access balconies here. Plus, the quick response of both the local police and the PC themselves was very comforting. Everything is ok and the night turned out well. but it was pretty interesting to say the least. 

On another note, i think i have lived maybe 5 years of experiences in the 4.5 months ive been here. 

I'm headed to sleep. what a day.

Rory

no water and bad "dreams?"

Well it's nice to see that i have like 25ish people already signed up and approved! Thanks! It makes me feel like i got some good followers here, people that actually care! yay :) This blog is giving me something to do during the day. I don't have a ton to say right now though. hmm - I went to bed last night and the water was not running and when i awoke it still wasnt on. i havent showered since sunday... everytime it is more than a couple days without showering, the water runs out! its like they just wait. i think there is a spy actually... someone walks by me or sits near me and takes a whiff... says "hey, he kinda smells. and looks like he will probably want a shower tonight... lets kill the water!" there is a diabolical plan out there. i am sure of it! the water only seizes when i have a sink full of dishes that i want to wash, dirty clothes that i need to clean, or a filthy body that needs some washing. hopefully when i return home this evening, the water will be running and i can smell nice again. i did brush my teeth this morning with a bottle of water i had laying around. but i also needed to use the toilet this morning... that little present is still waiting for the water to come back before he heads to his rightful home down the pipes.... pleasant.

Speaking of diabolical plans, i had a really nasty dream last night. ever seen harry potter? the newer ones? what are those things called that attack harry a couple times? they look like grim reapers and they suck the air out of the room and make everything really cold - they make all the happy feelings go away. well i had one of those visit me last night, i swear. i was having this pleasant dream about my family and we were just hanging out and what not. and i literally remembering thinking, wow -this is a pretty nice dream. well right when i thougth that, the dream went blank. just blank. and i felt something in my room - it was a black figure. and as it came closer to me, i got more paralyzed and scared. i felt the air go out of the room and i couldnt breath. i felt the figure lean over me while i was sleeping and i could see it there. i struggled to gain control of my muscles again as i laid in bed watching this thing and finally i was able to snap my eyes open and take a breath. it was pretty odd. pretty scary. maybe my ghost in the room got angry with me about something. he has only aided me this far, but that was kinda freaky last night. the rest of the evening i had crappy sleep and ended up waking at about 5am to just sit on the internet and email friends from the states becuase it was only like 9pm there.

my toast came quickly today. that was a happy moment.

Pepi is back - he was on vacation (in town) for the last 3.5 weeks. It's nice to have him back because he adds order.

I was told that a local newspaper wants to interview me. i wonder if/when this will happen. ill let you know.

Still havent gone to the school to start teaching. Still doing nothing.

Yesterday I negotiated a cell phone contract without using english. and i got the plan i wanted and talked her out of upselling me other phones/contracts. made me feel like i was in control! not a feeling i have been used to for a while. the first of many future successes, im sure.

I found a funny website that made me miss home. www.peopleofwalmart.com check it out. its so america.

if you know anyone that cant read this that might want to, let me know their email - ill get them signed up. (look, i have control of that too!)

I skyped like crazy last night. i talked to Rita for like an hour, my dad called me, i talked to my mom for an hour or so on there and then Mr. Bill Hilbish of Hudson Ohio, an old customer of mine, gave me a ring and we talked (like usual) for like an hour. Reminded me of our old conversations. i was a sales man then and i think we would talk technology for a whopping 2 minutes during an hour long chat. i wasnt the best sales guy.

Enjoy the states, enjoy the day, eat a cheeseburger with ranch fries for me if youre in the midwest, on the east coast, eat either an eggie or some new york pizza. and if you are near aunt cookies - have one for me ;)

Til another time.

Oh - and you are reading all about me. tell me what you are up to. im interested. skype me at roryjnolan or send me an email at roryjnolan@gmail.com. tell me whatever you want. i tell you whatever i want - its only fair. and i want to hear from you.

Rory

added security, Tom's visit, and the pensionaires party.

howdy all. so i think i am going to password protect this blog because i got a comment on one of my posts that i dont think could possibly come from a friend of mine or anyone that i really care reading this. ill send an email to you with the password and if you dont get one... i dunno, because you wont be able to read this. sorry.

Well, i just did it and it looks more like an invite thing is sent to you. enjoy. and if you want to comment on my grammar, feel free because i invited you and dont mind if you do.

and now i can pretty much say whatever i want. that makes me feel better.

So Tommy Pattison came out here last weekend and it was awesome. I picked him up at the airport on Friday afternoon and we went to go visit my friend Ashley in a town about 1:30 away from the capital of bulgaria. We partied in Dolna Banya with her, but it was not as much fun as it could have been because within moments of arriving at her apartment, her kitten got loose and we couldnt find it all night. so there was kind of a dark cloud lingering. but in the end, everything is good- she found her cat. Anyways, on saturday Ashley, Tom and I went to Moravitsa. we met 3 other volunteers there. so the town of 800 hosted 6 americans! it was a lot of fun. i have a ton of pictures thanks to Krista stealing my camera and becoming the nights photographer. after a 5:30am bed time, we got up before noon on sunday and tom, ashley, dan and i went into sofia to check the place out. we stayed in a sweet hotel that tom paid for becuase we dont have any money. Thanks Tom! On sunday, we went and ate dinner at a MEXICAN restaurant that was full of americans from all over the states. and guess what they were watching. AMERICAN FOOTBALL! it was great! they were watching the giants game, and at half time they flipped the bears on for me. and it was just in time to watch Knox return a kickoff for a touchdown. just the way the bears like to do it. It made me happy. I had a burrito and a margarita there. mmmm... I've had a lot better mexican in my life, but never has it tasted so good! there was guacamole.

So Tom left on Monday and i headed back home exhausted. It was a great time and i was really happy to see him.

On Thursday night last week, so the night before Tom came to visit, I was invited to a party to celebrate the retired peoples holiday here. I wasnt really told much other than where the party was, that there would be music, food and beer for 5 leva and to show up at 7pm. i said ok, can do. well i got talking to Rita on skype and we were having a good conversation. so about 715 rolls around and i notice the time, dont really think much of it. then 745 comes around and i get a phone call from a guy i work with, he asks me where i am, i tell him im coming. then at 8pm, i finish talking to Rita and i head downstairs to the party. Well, i walk in the cafe and find that there is a nice long table set up with about 22 spots for dinner, 21 people were occupying 21 of the 22 spots. and they were all the retired individuals for whom this party was, and 2 people i work with. and my seat was empty, and they had all eaten dinner already... I felt like the biggest jerk in the world. i had no idea that it was THIS kind of party! so anyways, i eat a little, get a couple drinks and the music starts. off the 22 people, there were 5 guys. 2 that were not in the band. of the 2 men available to dance, i was the only one that wasnt retired. so needless to say, i was on my feet most of the night dancing with the Babas and getting sneak attack cheek kisses all night. it was pretty fun. i felt like the most popular person in the world!

so yea, life's good. the comment that i got on my one post annoyed me - so im sorry for having to add extra security or whatever. it was just uncalled for and i realized that if there are people that will take offense to me and my style, then its better they cant find this.

Hope you're well - till next time!

Rory

Shaving, The Usual, Sausages(again), and the Mysterious Visitor from AMERICA...

Did i tell everyone that i have a totally shaved face now? well - i do. and it sucks. i hate shaving. i shaved this morning and for the 100th time asked myself why almost every man in America and in Bulgaria and many other places, finds the need to shave. a beard is comfortable, warm and manly and incredibly easy to maintain. you dont have to do anything! why do we shave? i dunno. but again, it sucks.

oh - and i wanted to update you on the time it took for this mornings "toast" from the cafe. i arrived at 7:40 and didnt even have to say a word. i sat down, my coffee was brought to me and i knew the toast was coming. everyday this week ive done the same thing and now i am ordering "the usual" or "Obiknoveniyat" (literal transtlation to - the usual - i love when that happens.). and as usual, my usual made me 10 minutes late to work again. but i am a volunteer, so its hard for them to really reprimand me for being a little late... what are they going to do? reduce my pay? fire me? i guess they could just stop supporting me and seize all the projects i have going on... oh wait...

I slept really poorly last night. it was the kind of sleep i used to get when i was a working man at CDW. the kind where you are stressed out and stay up most the night with a mind that doesnt turn off becuase you are asking yourself a million questions. those nights in the past used to be about work, the expectations, goals, money, customer support and sales stuff. last night i think it was just based on the fact that i am so far away with such big goals and aspirations and receiving nothing but challenge after challenge with very little successes to date. hmmm... that actually kinda sounds like my old job... (sorry Tom, you are the greatest manager of all time, and John, the greatest academy manager ever.)(sorry Justin, Laura, Stan etc... you have my old customers.) except then i used to make a little bit of money, speak english, drive a car, tell jokes and talk all day, and eat american food. now i make just over 11 dollars a day here to buy food, drinks, pay for electricity, travel, internet bills etc... hahaha wow. next time you spend over 11 dollars for a meal, or ... i dunno, what costs 11 dollars? 3-4 gallons of gas? think about that. i used to pay like 15-20 dollars a day in gas just driving Rubi to and from work... poor Ruby, i hope she is doing well...

well, i like this posting thing now. hopefully i keep it up and dont bore you. its a good way for me to get out my thoughts on stuff because believe it or not, i dont really have anyone nearby to sit down and have a real in depth conversation with. I have skype too, if you have it let me know. we can chit chat.

Now for some pictures of me as a sausage in bulgarian fashion. Enjoy.

I wonder how much weight I've lost. i think those jeans are a 34. last i was in a 34 i was in like junior year of high school. mwa ha ha! how skinny can i get? i kinda like it - dont worry, i have many shops nearby and stuff that i can buy food if i want. its just that i am eating how i want to eat. and thats pleasant. lots of veggies and there arent any quick food options here (as you can see by the simple sandwich i order in the morning) so you cant really impulse eat. dig it.

uhm. yep. sitting in my office doing nothing. maybe ill go back to reading about the poor invisible Tonino.

Tomorrow starts a great adventure. Tom Pattison arrives at 330pm in Sofia and i must meet him at the airport. then we are going to the mountains to visit my good friend Ashley. on Saturday we are heading to Moravitsa and then returning to Koynare Sunday and then back to Sofia Airport on Monday to see Tom off... so it will be a good time with lots of time spent on trains.

Til next week (fingers crossed, i want to keep writing)

Rorcho