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.

PST is OVER.

Wooowww Ho! it has been quite a while since my last post. or at least it seems for me. That was basically the last time i had internet for more than a few minutes. So i am sorry about the delay in posts for those that actually follow this thing. :)

So i came back from Koynare to Moravitsa and it felt like coming home. The people here are so warm and familiar for me.

I honestly regret not writing in this more because I am having a hard time remembering everything i have done since then! We celebrated the 4th of July with the townspeople and we made cheeseburgers, hotdogs and salad and sang the national anthem. It was a success. People liked the cheeseburgers, i have a lot of pictures but most are on facebook. We also held a camp for the kids of the town on a 100 degree day. It was a success as well, some photos on facebook, more to come later. I cant really upload right now. But i do have maybe... 4000 pictures from Bulgaria already. Ill get a few up there soon.

I have really been enjoying hanging with the people in town. I am starting to speak more and understand a fair amount of whats going on and what they are saying to me. That is empowering becuase finally i dont feel so freakin stupid.

Yesterday I went into the mountains with Rosen and a few other people from town. Scott and I went hiking with one Crazy Bulgarian Man who is the cousin of Rosen. No, he's not crazy for real. Hes a good man. He took Scott and I on a couple mile hike up and down some mountains around a river and such. i have pictures. they are sweet. Maybe youll get to see them one day. We then spent most the night there just laying under the stars by a fire. Pretty nice.

Oh, i went to a Bulgarian wedding too. It was pretty fun, it would have been more fun if i hadnt been throwing up the day before. I was a little nauseaus but like a good bulgarian, i drank some rakiya and the pain went away. did you know Rakiya is not only rocket fuel, nail polish remover, sanitizer, and straight up booze, but it is also medicine? Why dont we have this in the US?? And they all make their own. It only takes a couple weeks too...

So tomorrow i have my final language interview. Then wednesday i am going with the mayor of moravitsa to the mountains to some restaurant that is supposedly gorgeous. Not just me and him... its not a date. there are other people too... So after that, i have a meeting with peace corps on thursday and i swear in on Friday and become an official volunteer! not just a pledge... or trainee. Friday night i am staying in Moravitsa for one last party and then headed to Koynare for the next 2 years. I am seriously going to miss this place. I really do love this town. (isnt there a toby keith song about that? maybe its "i really love this bar" - either way, it works)

So fairwell. hopefully youll hear from me next week in Koynare. Miss you all.

Desitination: Koinare

Koinare here I come! Or Koynare, as it can be found spelled in English as well. I dont know which... Either way, when I say the name of the town, I always get corrected anyways... So since last post I found out exactly where I will be for the next few years and what I will be doing. Last Wednesday the whole lot of volunteers met in Vratsa and had a big shindig about who was going where and doing what. My program is going to be, as I mentioned before, in Koinare working with the chitalishte, kindergarten, high school and mayor's office developing programs for the youth of the town as well as teaching english to pretty much everyone interested. I am pretty excited about it. The job description is fairly vague which allows me a lot of flexibility when working. After we found out where we will being going, we met our counterparts. These are the people that will be our direct supervisors during the next couple years and our liason to the new community. My counterpart is named Petroslav, or Pepi, for short and he is very nice. He speaks a little english and I speak a little bulgarian, so together we can pretty much understand whats going on. After we met, we went to a hotel up in the mountains for a few days to have conferences to get everyone on the same page. It was a lot of fun and a very pretty place. We visited a really large cave that was unbelievable. I didnt bring my camera which was sad, but im sure I will be going back there. The cave was 40 degrees farenheit which was a beautiful change from the 90 degree heat outside. Although I broke out in a ferocious sweat after I got out of the cave and back in the heat... On Sunday Pepi and I traveled via train to Koinare and the trip took us just about an hour, which was sweet. A lot of volunteers had more than 5-6 hours of travel. I am maybe 30-40 miles away from Moravitsa and I am really excited about that. I have established some life long friendships there and it is great to be close enough to make an easy visit on the weekends. Koinare is about 5000 people and is right on a large river. The people here love to fish and everyone, of course, seems very very nice. I think thats just Bulgaria for ya... I am staying at a house with a Baba. If Bulgaria were a brick house, the Baba is the mortar, brick and roof that holds it all together. They are the single most powerful people in the country. A Baba is a grandmother. But a Baba is so much more. I witnessed an 85 year old Baba single handedly snatch a fly out of the air while eating dinner. While she only stood at 4'10”, her hands were not only larger than mine, but more calloused and a whole lot stronger and quicker. They don't grow old and frail here, they grow strong and efficient. So the Baba I am living with now manages a huge house with a garden like I have never seen. It is enormous and grows all the food she needs to survive. She tends it herself, harvests the foods and cooks it into all sorts of delicious things. She also has a bunch of chickens and turkeys and dogs and doves and other animals. This is just one Baba, and her home. It's more work than I could do on my own. They are super people. Anyways, Koinare seems great, I am only here for a few days and then I go back to Moravitsa to study more Bulgarian. I will keep you up to date.

Some stories

Sorry it has been so long since my last update. I'm sure once I get to my permanent site I will have more frequent access to the internet. Now I have to stroll the whole hundred yards down to Ashley's host family's house to connect. I know it's not far, it's just that it's kinda rude to just pop in there every other day and sit in the corner on my computer. Bulgarians don't really let you just pop in either. Well, let me rephrase that. Popping in unannounced and not knocking on the door or anything is perfectly acceptable. I guess as long as you call out the person's name you are looking for while standing just inside the door. I don't think it would be too cool of you to just start taking a stroll or going through their refrigerator before announcing your presence... It's just that when you “pop in” for a moment, you will quickly be offered all sorts of food and drinks. This includes meats, snacks, candy, coffee, beer, juice, rakia and depending on the time of day, a place will be set for you at the table to stay for lunch or dinner. It's just that everyone is so eager to feed you and make sure you have everything you need. Everyone is a friendly bunch.

So since I last posted, I went to the soccer game (or futbol match) last Saturday night. What an experience. Bulgaria was playing Ireland and Bulgaria needed to win to have a shot at the World Cup tournament. (sorry if I use improper terms here, this was the first soccer game I ever watched...) Words are hard to explain this. I have a few pictures, hopefully they will get posted soon. The match was held in Sofia, the largest city in Bulgaria with about 2 mil folks. The stadium seats around 45k or so. It was completely full. Maybe Ireland, who had a single section to themselves that was COMPLETLEY surrounded by fences and riot police (for their own protection I'm sure), had 1000 people. So do the math, 98% of the people were rooting for the home team. We arrived an hour before the match started and it appeared as though we were already late. The stadium was nearly full. And everyone was already standing and starting cheers and waiving flags. For an HOUR before the match even started. The only time we sat down was during half time. The crowd was constantly cheering and singing chants and singing the national anthem and anything else to show their support. Even setting parts of the stadium on fire and throwing small bombs at the riot police. All of which is totally normal and even expected. See pictures once I post them. Pretty amazing. Well, the match ended in a 1-1 tie (which I didnt know could happen) and the crowd got quiet and peacefully departed the stadium. What a night.

As far as events that were scheduled for me, we visited an orphanage for truants and an orphanage for kids with special needs. I also had an interview with the staff to get some more info on me and what kind of a job I am looking for here. I pretty much left it open for them to decide because I figure they know what these jobs entail more than I do. I find out on Thursday the 18^th as to where I will be for the next 2 years. And right after I find out, I have to pack a bag, figure out the public transportation of this country, and get to that location to check it out for the weekend and to see what my job will be. Pretty friggin crazy.

On another note, my Bulgarian language skills are getting better. I am able to understand a chunk of what people are talking about now, but I cant really talk back to them. It's a tad frustrating to say the least. I sit at the cafe most the evenings where my host family works. I listen to groups of people talk to each other, sometimes even to me, and I catch bits and pieces. Sometimes enough to figure out the context of the conversation. Everyone is very nice and will generally share their food with me and buy me drinks. (wow, that kinda sounds like I am a stray dog.) I guess maybe I feel like a stray dog at times, but a very welcome stray. :) I dont think they could have put me with a nicer family in a better town. This place is pretty sweet.

So take a moment and think about what I am going through here. Those of you that know me will get a kick out of this. I am in a small town where nearly every single person knows my name and who I am. They are all eager to get to know more about me and for me to tell them about all sorts of things. But I cant. There is no way for me to communicate more thoughts than basic survival ones. I can tell them what I want to eat, drink and when I want to go to bed basically. I can tell them what time I do certain things and how to get to a bus stop. I can also tell them the absolute basics about my family. Like name, relations and age. Pretty much it. So let's go back to a normal day for me. My classes start at 9am and go to 12:30. These classes are with Ashley, Sarah and Scott and Veronica, my language trainer. We chit chat for a few hours learning Bulgarian. Then I am basically done for the day. Sometimes we have other things to do. So sometimes I head back to the house. Usually no one is here. So then I head back over to the cafe. There they are! Sometimes food is ready, sometimes I have to ask. Sometimes other people join us for lunch, or else I just eat with Rosen and sometimes his wife. Sometimes I eat alone at Rosen's grandmothers. I never really know until I start walking around town looking to find lunch (once again, I am a stray dog). So there is lunch. And usually a beer is placed in front of me. Pretty normal really. So then I can decide what to do next. Sometimes more people show up and then a second beer is placed in front of me and so on until I leave. Other times I head back to the house for some studying or a nap. But everyday I spend the afternoon at the cafe and into the evening. There are many people who sit with me and smile and say hello and ask how I am and I can answer all that jazz just great. But then they ask another question or say something else. That's when they receive my blank stare or a quick phrase from me that states “i dont understand”. Most times the talking ends there and another beer shows up. Other times, depending on how determined the individual sitting with me is feeling, more questions will surface. 99 times out of a 100 they get the “i dont understand” phrase again. Maybe that 1 time it will be something simple that I can answer, like “do you want a beer or soda or coffee?”

So people are always talking around me, heated conversations go on, I am asked questions I cant understand, and maybe if I do understand them – I have no idea how to answer. Thank God Rosen speaks a little English or I'd really go nuts. So you may ask yourself, “How does he get by?” Well, again, those that know me understand that this isnt really much of a problem. I have a couple coping strategies. First, these people become the single most interesting people of all time. The stories they are telling become grand stories of epic adventures. Life changing and world altering tales that they lightly talk about while sitting at a cafe. Either that, or I just talk back to them in straight English and act slightly confused when they dont understand. But as you know, I am always entertained.

So yesterday the group went to this river like a half hour away past Vratsa. We went at like 9am or so and took 6 cars for the 3o people. All us awesome Americans in Moravitsa came. There was swimming in the river, which was freezing, and some playing of football, both american and everywhere else football, and we tossed the ole frisbee around too. We stayed all day long and got very sunburned. I wont go into too many details but there were a lot of "firsts" that occured yesterday. It was probably one of the better days I've had in a long time. I love this country.

Thanks for putting up with all the words I just wrote in English. I gotta get some of these stories out there or I might just explode. Enjoy your day. And always remember, no matter where you are in the US, it's not as pretty as what I'm seeing in Bulgaria! (Even when we had to navigate through a herd of cattle on the road yesterday in a car.)

Oh and thanks a million to those that have written me emails. I very much appreciate them and love hearing what's going on in your life. I cannot respond because I usually just dont have time. Don't think I am ignoring you. I had like 20 emails the other day and just do not have the time to respond back.

One more thing – I have no way of ever knowing what the weather forecast is. Take that into consideration. Two days ago it was 95F outside and there I was strolling around in jeans dripping like a firehose. And the people here dont sweat. At all. Its kinda freaky. But they probably think im freaky cause I was wearing wet clothes. Now today is like high 70s. Go figure.