Park project completion, interviews and new blood

I was on here like 2 days ago and I swear there was a button that let me upload videos... Apparently it is no longer there. I really want to show the video that I made of the park project we did last weekend, but I guess it won't happen. Unfortunately I added a great song to the video, and now youtube won't let me upload it do to "copyright violations"... whatever that is.

The park project went unbelievably well. We had at least 30 kids there, the mayor, my coworkers, Cveti, and a news crew came. I was interviewed along with the Mayor and one of the other kids in my group. It was awesome. I am a super star. They had me on TV. I think the interview is terrible and that I am just a mumbling fool trying to answer the questions, but the Bulgarians that have seen it said I did a "great job" so I guess it wasn't all that bad. Or they are just being nice... 

The kids and I worked from 9am until about 1pm or so, maybe later. We all had pizza and drinks and cleaned while listening to music. Everyone was really enthusiastic and the such. Now we are waiting until next week to get some park benches installed, flowers, bushes and maybe some actual pathways made. If it all goes to plan, this park is going to totally be transformed. It's really great to see that these kids are the ones responsible. I have just kind of guided their hand, but in the end, it was them that made it all happen. 

In a few weeks, the new volunteers come! They will get here on May 15th, which is Cveti's birthday, and also a Saturday. Koynare is getting 6 new American volunteers! I will unfortunately not be here when they arrive as I will be celebrating Cveti's birthday. On Monday the 17th, I have to be in Sofia too for a dentist appointment... So I won't get to meet them until they have been here 3 days! I really want to get to see them and their wide eyes during the first few days when they see what they have gotten into.

Plus, any of you that know me well, know how much I love to take people under my wing when they are going through something that I have experienced. I've done that my whole life and I will do it again! This is gonna be fun.

That's all for now, projects are moving forward, weather is getting warmer, and I'm staying busy. 

Summary of Booboo and Pop's Visit

I am back from my vacation and time with my parents. To say that the trip was great would be an understatement. I had an absolutely amazing time! I met my parents in Sofia on Saturday the 10th of April. I was with Dan when we picked them up from the airport. We rented a car and got checked into the hotel, which was probably the nicest hotel in Sofia! Then met up with Ashley. The five of us went out to a traditional Bulgarian restaurant for dinner. Afterwards we did a little walking around Sofia to see the sights and what not. From the travel, my parents were obviously tired and they went back to the hotel. Dan, Ashley and I went out to a bar and met up with some other volunteers that were in town. Day 1 with the folks was over. On the second day, we got up, ate some mexican food and dropped Ashley and Dan off at the train station. My parents and I enjoyed a long drive out to Veliko Turnovo. We arrived late in the afternoon, got a hotel room and did the old walk around Veliko Turnovo. We were still a bit tired from the trip and all that, so we crashed early. We got up and did the old tourist stuff around town. We went to a big castle, went down some old streets, saw some cool monuments and those kind of things. We then got back in the car (after we charged the battery since "someone" is used to cars automatically turning off their lights...) and drove to Koynare. On the way into town, we ran into Pepi, my coworker. We talked to him a bit, then went to go check out my apartment. It was super duper clean and everything was good. After that, we went out to Cherven Bryag, a nearby town, to check into the hotel that is there. Ok, now we are on the next day. My parents and I went to Koynare again, I went to work for a bit where they met all the people I work with on a daily basis. There was a meeting that we attended and then went to the cafe with the mayor of the town. I had an afternoon meeting with my group about the park project too. From there, we departed Koynare, went to get Cveti in Byala Slatina, and then continued on to Vratsa and Moravitsa.

My folks got to see Moravitsa where we met up with Rosen and his family. We had beers at the cafe and then headed back in to Vratsa for a dinner with his parents. It was an absolute blast. The food was amazing. His mom cooked all day for us and had a million things to eat. We drank rakia, ate salads and traditional food, and laughed and laughed. It was wonderful. I think it was probably the most memorable dinner ever, even if we did consume a bit too much rakia.

The next day we awoke with headaches, packed our bags and headed into Sofia. We went to the Peace Corps office for an hour or so. My parents got to meet my bosses at the Peace Corps and see where the Bulgarian headquarters are. Then we got to the airport, and without any problems, departed for Barcelona.

We arrived late at night, around midnight, in Barcelona. Cveti, my parents and I together went to the hotel where we quickly fell asleep. The next day we walked all over Barcelona checking out whatever we could. Actually, the next 2 days were like that. We were staying in a beautiful hotel in central Barcelona and we just walked all over the place when we were there. After those 2 days, we moved locations to The W Hotel in Barcelona. We were living large! The W is on the water and kind of removed from the city. But the hotel lacked nothing. Beautiful rooms with beautiful views. Good food, nice people, a pool, bar, club, restaurant... the works. During those days, we went out into the city and saw a castle and a cathedral that is being built. Cveti and I made a trip to the aquarium one day to see the sharks. She had never been to one, so it was a real treat.

Anyways, come the last full day we were there, my parents realized that their flights were cancelled due to some volcanic activity that shut down almost all flights in Europe. This was Sunday and they were supposed to fly out Monday morning at around the same time Cveti and I were. Well, the next flight they could get booked on was on THURSDAY. This was a slight problem because my dad is starting his new job on Wednesday.

Well, Cveti and I went to the airport on Monday morning, around 4am, with fingers crossed that our flights were green-lighted. And luckily they were! We had no issues getting back. The flights we were on flew south of the ash cloud that was causing all the problems.

So we left my parents in Barcelona where they enjoyed a few more days on their own. I just got an email from them saying that they are travelling back right now and that there are no problems so far.

All in all - the trip was amazing. The last 10 days or so couldnt have been better. It was amazing seeing them, we had a great time, made many memories, shared many laughs and they really got to get a feel for my life in Koynare. Things were perfect. Needless to say, it was very difficult to say goodbye to them.

Sorry this wasn't real funny - this was more for my own records, but hopefully you enjoyed reading it anyways.

Take care,
Rory

My Parents Are Coming! and a special thanks to Hannah Montana.

Maliiiiii!!! As they say around these parts... I think it means like "Oh wow! It's unbelievable!" In this case, I use the phrase to describe my last couple of weeks. Let me say it again:  Maaa-LIIIIIIII!

I am writing this blog during quite a busy time for me due to a special request from a Mr. Tom Stien, former controller of my life at work. But Mr. Stien, I thank you for the request, because I gots me some things to say!

First off - I want to thank Miley Cyrus and her organization "Get Ur Good On" for granting my volunteer youth group $450 dollars to complete our first service project! The win was huge - 100 groups got grants up to $500 dollars. 90 of the groups were in the US, my group was one of ten to win internationally! Pretty sweet! I am totally pumped and so are the kids I work with. As always, with a win like this, comes great responsibility and more work. I have been busting my behind to get everything set up for the project completion deadline of April 25th.

And now to throw in the kicker - my parents are coming here on this Saturday, April 10th! I am so freaking excited for that it's not even funny. I will pick them up on Saturday from the airport in Sofia where we will stay for the night. That night, they will meet a couple of my closest friends here. Then, the next day, we will travel to a great city here called Veliko Turnovo where we will stay the next night. After that, we will travel to my town, Koynare, to check it out. We will stay here for 2 days. Then on the 14th we will pick up the lovely Cveti and head to Sofia again. This time we will catch a plane and bounce on over to Barcelona where we will stay until the 19th!

On the 20th I have a meeting in Sofia with the Peace Corps. I will return to Koynare on the 21st.

So if any of you were paying attention to the dates, you will know that I will only have 4 days after they come to complete this project of installing park benches, tables, flowers, shrubs, maybe a gazebo, painting the benches, cleaning the park, planting grass, and educating as many people as possible on environmental awareness and recruiting volunteers and getting the media there. Oh, and we still haven't received the money yet, so I have to buy everything too... This is not a lot of time. So these past 2 weeks I have been getting everyone on the same page to execute these needs without me. I will be in town on the 13th though, with my parents, to really finalize it all before I depart.

I am actually pretty confident in the people here that are helping with this project and I think it will all come together smoothly. I will still lose lots of sleep over it though.

And here is yet one more thing - Cveti and I are not 100% if she needs a passport to fly to Spain, or if her ID card will suffice. Some websites say ID card is enough, others say a passport is needed. She was told by a police officer in her town that she needed the passport. So today she went to the passport place to apply for a 3 day passport - but as our luck has it, Bulgaria just mandated a new format for their passports for EVERYONE. So the place was packed. Totally packed. They told her after she waited 4-5 hours that they would "do their best" to get her the passport in 3 days. If they can't do it in three days, it will be within the month and they will refund her the extra 40 leva... gee, thanks.

Well, that's where we stand now. I have heard from some people here that have traveled to Spain that they didn't need a passport, while others say you do. Websites even are confusing. One website said that passports were required, then under that it said "passport exemptions: Holders of National Identity Cards issued to nationals of Bulgaria." I am confused - a straight answer from a credible source would be nice.

Other successes - I got about 60 books in English delivered here from the Darien Book Aid Plan. That was sweet. Also, I was told that a bunch of sports equipment is on its way here. I've started lifting weights again. Annndd I had a great Easter weekend.

I'm sure that I am forgetting something but that's what's going on right now with me.

Till next time - I'll post pictures from Barcelona.

Rory