Well readers, for the third and final time I am starting a new blog.

http://thomaslodwick.wordpress.com/

wordpress is a lot nicer than blogspot, and hopefully any inconvenience it causes all 3 of you will be worth it. This will be my last post on blogspot. I will leave this blog up for a while till you folks get used to the new link.

Sorry if this is annoying.

- Thomas

Hey Gang. Here are a bunch of mildly random photos.

First, a picture of me taken by one of our guests at the Eco-center. I am explaining the sweetness of our plaster made from clay, sand, hay and water:

Here are a bunch of pictures of Kresna I took on a walk yesterday. I went towards the Maleshevska mountains, which make the border with Macedonia.

First, the Struma River:

Next, a turnaround from the path that took me into the hills. See Kresna, the Sand Hill, and the peaks of Pirin in the distance:

It snowed on Saturday, but as the sun rose yesterday most of it melted:

Pastoral life. Sheep and their shacks:

Apparently I was rambling in a protected bird area:

I live in one of those buildings, yeah, the ones surrounded by beautiful mountains (clouds cover the Pirins):

Sheep:

And here is a pictures of the Christmas cards my grandma's friends signed for me. Or why my grandma is sweeter than your grandma:

As I barely speak the language, life almost always seems random here. It's not just for me, many of my friends feel the same way. On top of not understanding people when they explain things to you, little differences not worth explaining make life seem almost perpetually random. Maybe it's just a matter of becoming desensitized to the randomness as I have in the U.S.

A prime example of randomness occurred last night. I was kind of grouchy after work, and didn't have anything planned for the evening. This was partly because I have work today in the municipality, despite the fact that it's Saturday and there is nothing to do. A week or so ago someone handed me a piece of paper, which they explained was a petition to work today, the 15th, instead of on New Year's Eve. Without thinking, I signed it. Not because I agreed or disagreed, but because when life is so random it's best to go with the flow on as much as you possibly can.

Anyway, I got a call around from 7:00 PM from a guy I knew of through CVS. He was looking for a place to stay with his "French friend" as they were in the area working on a project of sorts. I quickly agreed, and around an hour later I was showing them the way to my house. The French guy spoke very little English or Bulgarian, but Ivo, the guy from CVS, speaks English, Bulgarian and French fluently, so we managed.

It turns out they are working on making a film about Kukeri, which is something like a Bulgarian carnival or masquerade steeped in a tradition of chasing away evil spirits. The costumes are very ornate, and there are celebrations or parades all around the country. Apparently it's quite a big deal, and I was glad to learn about it so I won't miss out on the festivities.

I was a pretty awkward host, and my apartment set up didn't help things much. It's funny living alone, because everything in my apartment makes sense to me, but when guests come it appears that I am reasonably to significantly awkward. Ah well, it was a completely unexpected visit, and I at least was able to offer a place to cook and sleep for free.

I wished that I was able to speak French, as the French guy seemed very interesting. I was sad that the only thing I could remember from high school was the title of my French book, "Allez, Viens!" Any time I tried to think of a French word, a Bulgarian one came out. He was young in the radical days of '68, and he participated in many protests in France. He spoke of his fondness for Woodstock era musicians, such as Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, and of his love for Janis Joplin. He also talked about his admiration for Jerry Rubin, one of the leading American radicals of the time and member of the Chicago Seven. Seems like we probably would have got along if we could have communicated. Anyway, grunts and hand gestures managed to get us by.

As I had to work this morning, it was agreed that they would lock my place up and bring me the keys at the municipality. The French dude woke up early, and I managed to utter an "Au Revoir" to him as I left. A few hours later they brought me the keys, and I thought all was fine.

Right after they left, I got another call from Ivo, this time a much faster speaking Ivo who was only using Bulgarian. I was confused. I then figured out it was my neighbor Ivo, he was saying something about locking the door. My guess was something went awry when my guests left. Ivo speaks lightning fast Bulgarian, and all I understood was that he was coming to the municipality to get me.

He came in, and, despite my colleagues effort to slow him down, I still had no idea what was going, so I got up and went with him to figure out the problem. My guess was that a door was left open or something. We pulled up to my apartment building, and, all I had to do was unlock the door to my side of building so they could get to the attic. I think when my guests locked up, they must have locked him out somehow.

I then discovered that apparently Ivo is trying to install solar panels on the roof, and the only way to get there is through my side of the building. I would like to mention that the attic room, which he took me to in order to explain the situation, was covered wall to wall in old Michael Jackson photos. It was like a preserved shrine. By this point my mind was officially blown. I don't think I will ever sleep properly again knowing the spirit of Michael Jackson is forever sealed in the attic above my apartment.

After going back outside with them, the back door on the van containing the solar panels was jammed. I stood in the light snow for a few minutes waiting for a ride. Upon realizing that opening this van door was going to be another lengthy, random adventure, I said "I'm going to walk." So, here I am, back at work, still baffled by the random sequence of events I experienced in the last 24 hours. Oh random Bulgaria.

I am engaged in a scandalous affair - I am cheating on my magazine.

*note, the Bulgarian word for store is "магазин" or "magazine." So I will refer to my shopkeep as my magazine lady, sorry if it's confusing. It has nothing to do with periodicals.

So, I've spoken of my praise for Ani, my magazine-lady before. She owns the store closest to my house, so I naturally chose it as my regular shopping place. This was probably 50% because Ani is wonderful and talkative and 50% because of the proximity. I basically went there every day to buy food and talk to Ani.

Recently, however, I have stopped going there, and I'm starting to feel guilty. The problem is that Ani, for the entire month of December, is standing guard at her other store, which is rather from my place. I think it's because her sister is in Spain, irrelevant. Anyway, the other lady who works at Ani's store close to my house is rarely in a good mood and is not talkative, so I feel like I'm a burden when I swing in to buy my awkward amount of daily produce. I can't understand it, but she is not nearly as amused as Ani when I bustle into the tiny store only to stare at the produce for a couple of minutes debating in my head whether I will eat lentils or pasta that night.

I kept going there for a little while, but then I found myself cheating on my magazine. I would go to the other one down the road, "because it's bigger," or so I would tell myself. But now, I've found a new magazine, and I'm engaging in a full fledged affair. Indeed, it is beyond my new food store, it is my new hangout joint. It is big, cheap, and has a table and chairs where I am encouraged to sit and drink coffee and watch TV. They have better bread (sorry, Ani), and a busier more diverse crowd, which enables me to meet new people.

It's really the people in there that make me return each day. Yesterday, I went after work in hopes that they would have peppers, and I was given a cup of tea and told to sit down and watch the football match. I sat next to two crusty locals and was bombarded with a bunch of funny questions. After the match, they told me to come back today, and I did.

Despite all these pro's, it still feels like I'm partaking in some sort of scandalous affair by frequenting another magazine. And today, believe it or not, I was called out on my action.

I saw my barber/neighbor on my way back from work and talked with him about the sweet christmas lights he put up. After our brief chat, I continued my way down our street, past our house, much to his confusion.

"Are you going to work?" he asked

"No, to the store...." I replied

"But this one is closer..." He called

"I know, but...." I said, scraping for an excuse.

He saved me by providing a reason I didn't understand, but said, "Da" to anyway. I felt guilty, but my guilt swept away when I chilled out with "the guys", drank coffee, ate vafli, and learned local dialect words. I'm worried that if I try to go back to Ani's for coffee some Saturday morning that I will be rejected, but I don't believe Ani would ever do such a thing. We'll see.

Probably the funniest part of this story is that it seems like people almost only visit the store closest to their house. They basically all sell the same thing, so convenience is really the only determining factor. Usually when in Ani's store I would see other regulars, but the crowd is completely different in the new place, and these stores are about 1 block apart. Will I continue to go against this cultural grain? Well, all I can say is, for now Ani is far away and the guys invited me back tomorrow...

Last Sunday, while waiting outside of the CVS office in Sofia, my colleague and I noticed something strange directly in front of us. There were two, extremely nice and new black BMW's with police lights on the top. When I say nice, I mean I've never seen this nice of a car turned into a police vehicle. They were parked, one was running, and we had no idea what for.

We continued to wait near the cars, wondering what the heck was going on. The CVS office is located in the heart of downtown Sofia, near the main shopping street Vitosha, so, there were a lot of people passing by who seemed equally curious. We even saw some folks look out of there windows at the scene.

At one point, from the bigger BMW, a guy in casual dress with a discreet ear phone on got out and walked around. He talked briefly with a guy standing outside of a nearby shop who wore a long black leather trench coat. From what I could tell, we were either standing very close to some big crime bust, or some ripe corruption. Yet, they didn't seem to have a problem with the goofy foreigners standing around, so we continued to wait.

And wait. Until, finally some action. One of the two cars pulled out into the lane, and quickly backed up the street, screeching the wheels as he changed gears. He backed up to the store front where the trench coat man was standing. This was starting to feel shady.

They popped the trunk, and random men started carry several shopping bags out of the store. This was quite the shopping spree. It remained to feel shady, until, at last, the reason for this intense security emerged:

If you don't know who this man is, then you probably don't live in Bulgaria, or don't care about Bulgarian politics. He is Sergey Stanishev, prime minister of Bulgaria and chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party. I've seen him on the news a bunch of times giving press conferences, which is how I recognized him. I imagine it's difficult for such a high profile fellow to go shopping, hence the high security. Sadly I didn't have a camera, perhaps for the better, as I might have gotten into a bit of trouble trying to snap paparazzi style photos of the head man.

Anyway, he bought a lot of stuff. They kept on loading bags into the trunk. They ought to have given him boxes or something. Well, he's always a sharp dressed man, and I suppose you can't blame the PM for wanting to do a bit of Sunday shopping.

It's a funny thing though, because it makes sense, since Sofia is the capital city. However, since it's such a small country, I just think of it as the big city, not the capital city. The good news is that this is a legitimate, or at least understandable, reason to have such high security suspiciously hanging around Sofia on a Sunday afternoon. Anyway, as we began to walk away from the scene, the cars took off carrying the PM and his new threads through the alleys of Sofia.

Although I haven't cashed in on it yet, I am starting to realize just how sweet it is to be a part of international networks like the Peace Corps and Service Civil International (which CVS is a part of). There are at least two reasons for this:

1) You meet righteous people from all over the world

2) These righteous people will let you stay with them in their home countries for free!

I haven't had the opportunity to meet Peace Corps volunteers in other countries, but, thanks to the bum travelers dream website Couchsurfing, I will soon have the opportunity. The way it works is that you post if you will let people crash for free at your place. It's great because it's free, and you get to stay with people who know about the area and actually learn about the place while you are there. In Bulgaria and other Eastern Europe Peace Corps countries you can find several PCVs offering a couch. While anyone can couch-surf, it's cool being a PCV crashing with other PCVs because it will make it easier to relate to my host and make the situation miraculously less awkward than it might otherwise be.

For CVS, I learned this weekend just how great it is to be a part of the SCI family. CVS-Bulgaria hosted the International Committee Meeting for SCI, and we had members from something like 40 countries come to Bulgaria. I didn't experience much of the meeting, but I was there for the last day and everyone's final words. During this time, many many branches offered their office as a place to crash if passing through their countries. I asked someone if they were serious about this, and I was assured that yes, I could crash at these places bezplatno (free).

JACKPOT!

On a more personal note, I talked to one of the representatives from Malaysia, and the first thing he said to me was, "So, when are you coming to Malaysia?" Glorious. Additionally, there were offers to stay in Japan, Belgium, Mauritius, Hungary and possibly Sri Lanka. Since a big part of SCI is cultural exchange and understanding, it makes perfect sense, but I was still giddy to hear all the offers to crash. If anything, even if I weren't to stay for free, I would still have local contacts in many many countries, which makes a world of difference when visiting a foreign land.

Other than giddily thinking of traveling east, I did have a bit of work to do. Julia and I organized a visit to the Eco-center for some of the delegates which took place today. Things didn't go exactly as planned, and we experienced a short rain/hail storm when visiting our Bear friend, but all in all went well. The group seemed pretty impressed with the Eco-center, which is great since they have heard so much about it. I could have organized things a bit better, but, anyway it seemed like everyone was pretty tired from their multi-day meeting, so we had to be flexible.

Anyway, here wraps up another weekend where I got to meet amazing people from all over the world. Although some of these weeks have been dragging, the weekends are completely re-energizing. If I get any pictures, I'll be sure to post 'em up.

Sometimes, I don't think I miss much from home, at least in the typical sense. I love my life at home, but I don't often find myself yearning for it. There is one thing I have been missing, but it's a bit more abstract than directly missing a person or place.

It's hard to define it, but the closest I can come is to say I miss being able to be radical. I miss the subcultures that I have associated myself with for so many years. In general, I miss being able to be different in any way without people batting an eye. I talked about it before with drinking, and maybe a bit with vegetarianism, but, whatever it is, it is just hard to be different here. Even when I can explain it, some people I know never seem to accept it.

One example is last night. As I mentioned, a lot of my colleagues have left work due to the new administration. So, last night one of them had a going away dinner party at a local restaurant which I attended. At the dinner party, to avoid having to deal with the drinking question all night, I decided to order a glass of wine and just take sips of it whenever it was demanded by people saying, "Nazdrave!" (Cheers!). It was the most disgusting thing I have ever repeatedly tasted, but I did it, no big deal. I didn't get drunk or anything, all I did was eat food and think about how gross the wine was.

But then came the meat question. Everyone there knew I was vegetarian, in fact, my one friend had them prepare me a tasty vegetarian plate. Somehow, despite this, some people (sadly the people I know the best) continued to try to get me to try the meat on the table. When I said "no," I was bummed by how upset my one friend seemed about it. It wasn't like he was doing the "tell the vegetarian to eat meat" gag, he really wanted me to eat it and was upset that I wouldn't. There is just some disconnect where, although this guy knows I am a vegetarian and he has eaten out with me a bunch of times, he still wanted me to eat meat. This is a cultural difference I have no grip on.

It was frustrating for me, because I thought that drinking a bit of alcohol was a big compromise, yet still they wanted more. This is obviously only my understanding, and it's not right or wrong the way I am treated on these issues, it's just different, and it's frustrating. Sometimes I think it would be better if I could more clearly explain these things, but then I think it really doesn't matter, and that I will be prodded no matter what. The real problem is that in the States, I am used to people either automatically accepting these decisions, or being a big idiot about them causing me to not associate with them. Here it is much more indirect and confusing for this foreigner. Sometimes it seems o.k., then other times it seems like they dislike me for these decisions. I can't read it, but it's certainly a learning experience.

In any case, what I don't want any readers at home to interpret from this people are mean here or something. I'm just a fairly awkward person in a very different culture.

Moving along, more on the radical side of things. My life immediately before the Peace Corps was that of a student and part-time traveling vagabond. That being the case, it was more or less my duty to think and say whatever I felt, especially when it came to issues like politics. There was no chance of negative consequences for such talk, except perhaps socially since it's hard to get a group of anyone other than Bryan Cohen and myself stirred up about various political theories. Anyway, I was a student and I was free.

Now, however, despite that all that thinking led me to want to help out some folks for a couple years, being a development volunteer in a small town, I don't have so much freedom of expression. For example, if I disagree with the mayor on something and I go talking about it to someone in a cafe, there is a remarkably good chance that will get back to the mayor. No big deal right? Free speech, democracy, EU country, all that jazz? Well, kind of. I am free to talk about whatever I want, but the mayor is also free to fire me, or shut me down on any and every project idea. Anyway, although I am kind of independent, I am also working out of the municipality. And so, like any work place anywhere, if you trash talk the boss and s/he finds out, you run into trouble.

I really got frustrated by this last week, and I kind of realized that I am much more suited for shaking my stick at a government than tip-toeing around it. So, that's good, it makes me realize maybe I'm more suited for activist work in the future. But for now, I have to compromise. I have to try to be a bridge in the community and bring people together to help them achieve their goals, not organize protests. No doubt these frustrations with compromise peaked this week due to my high level of inactivity right now. It's difficult to keep giving-in on issues that are so important to me for what at times seems for nothing at all. But, the belief that will keep me going is that I will accomplish greater things here if I am willing to compromise.

Really, what this all comes down to is the more basic struggle with not being able to do what I want when I want, or act how I want to act. Although in some ways it is different from more material yearnings such as "going to my favorite ice cream place" on some level it's really all the same. I don't miss much on the material side, but the personal side can be tough.

Throughout my whole life I have had nearly absolute freedom in the accepting, loving and understanding environment of my friends and family. But now, for the first time I don't have it, and that is what I miss the most. I can have all the freedom I had in the U.S. in Bulgaria, just not necessarily as a foreigner and development worker.

On the material side, however, I no longer miss peanut butter, because my wonderful mother sent me this mega-jar*:

*For scale, view size of mega-jar in relationship to head

In other news, the main event of the week was my laptop power cord breaking, and me replacing it the very next day! Although it was tough to not have my sound system that one, cold, dark and lonely night, believe it or not, kind readers, I pulled through. So far, based on getting internet connected and buying a power cord, computer related things are much easier here.

Here is my peanut butter (again), my new power cord, and my first stick of deodorant purchased in Bulgaria. It was either this aptly named "Aroma" brand or Adidas for twice the price. Would you believe they don't sell Tom's of Maine here?

Idiocy accomplished, I bid you goodnight.

Well, I had what was undoubtedly my slowest week so far at work. My colleagues at CVS were busily preparing for a conference we've got coming up. Due to my late arrival and remote location, I haven't been able to help that much. Since they are busy with something I'm not really helping on, it leaves me with not much to do.

In the municipality, well, that requires some explanation. During my first two weeks in the municipality everyone was crazily working on the local elections. Although the people in my office are bureaucrats they nevertheless get involved in the politics and elections. And, as I found out once a new mayor was elected, those that get involved with the politics also go with the politics. Immediately after the new mayor started, one of the guys from my office was laid off. Additionally, this is going to be the last week for 2 other people who work in my office, which is a big bummer since I'm pretty close to them.

The only good news is that the new administration is happy to have me. Also, since I haven't started any work, no work for me is really being interrupted by the shake-up. But, since my current colleagues have basically checked out, I'll probably have to wait to get new colleagues to do any work with the municipality.

I didn't really mind not having work from the municipality when I had other work, but this week it was a bit frustrating having nothing to do for either organization. Not having CVS work made me want to start thinking about potential community projects. However, when my current co-workers are being fired, I can only ask so many questions about future projects without feeling bad. So, what did I do? Well, not much. I did a lot of independent research on potential projects, as well as a lot of thinking about where I want my focus to be. In any case, I finally got a good taste of the ambiguity that is the beginning of Peace Corps service.

Fortunately the weekend was better. Friday night I hung out with a friend in town. His name is Lubo and he happens to be the only person I know in Kresna who likes music similar to me. So that's nice. He introduced me to some Bulgarian bands and I showed him some music from home.

On Saturday I went to Vlahi to spend the day hanging out with a pack of people being trained to be environmental educators for the Eco-center. Once we have the center up and running, they will act as a network of on-call staff who can come to do environmental interpretation and education to groups. Basically, to teach us the developed programs, they had us do them. This involved a big group of 20 and 30-somethings running around doing environmental education programs designed for children. But, being eco-dorks, we may have enjoyed the programs more than the children they are designed for. Fortunately, to carry on this "work" we had quite nice weather:

These were taken Saturday morning from my balcony. That pretty wall in the back is called the Melo sand hill. It is a natural formation, and it is one of the reasons this is the most beautiful place I have ever lived (blow up the bottom picture, see snow-capped Pirin mountain on the right for another reason). We had a blue sky and crisp winter weather all day. Honestly, although work was slow during the week, all the talking I did with people about Vlahi on Saturday made up for it.

I got to talk to Julia about upcoming work, and a project I am going to try to initiate. I also talked for a long while to a guy who has spent a great deal of time in Vlahi and really cares for the place. He gave me invaluable insight and a variety of project ideas. In addition to him, I talked to and met several great young Bulgarian environmentalists.

Today the Peace Corps country director came to check out my site. It was a nice visit and I think she is a solid country director. After that I wandered around town and finally bought a new pillow and sheets set. While continuing my walk I ran into my shop keep friend Ani, who invited me to check out her other store. It's much bigger than her store closer to my house and it is equipped with a hang-out room where I was given tea, vafli, and got to watch part of "Blazing Saddles" on TV! Ani and I talked for a while about things which I will write about in another more specific post.

Since we are buddies, Ani lets me walked around and pick out what I want from the store. I took this opportunity to check out the spices, and, lo and behold, I found cumin! I stocked up on spices and am currently resurrecting the curried split pea soup taught to me by Mr. Sean Conway via his vegan cookbook. Although I don't have my good buddy to enjoy it with, the smell in kitchen reminds me of many a warm dinner made with friends as we escaped the frigid Boston winter. So, although work was kind of slow, this wonderful weekend has more than made up for it, and I've got a lot of things to get started on this week. Sorry this was not a thematic post, they can't all be gems.

I realized that there were many birthdays in a short amount of time, so I've decided to give you all a little present.

First, Happy Birthday Dad! (11/25)

Happy Birthday Pete Lumbis (11/26)

and Happy Birthday Peace Corps friend Alexa (11/28)

In honor of you fine people, I give you the happy birthday, or честит рожден ден video. It is a fine example of a chalga video. View at your own risk. It may be the funniest, strangest, most awesome or most annoying thing you've ever experienced:

Although I live in a very small apartment building in a very small town, I haven't done much associating with my neighbors. My landlord repeatedly told me to avoid the people that live below me, and, even though I'm not about it, I never see them, so it hasn't been an issue. Until tonight, the only person I had hung out with was the barber and his wife. They live in the building and have a tiny barbershop outside of it. For 2 leva you can't beat the haircut.

Anyway, I kept running into one guy named Ivo who lives in the other half of the building, but we never got to hang out. We kept making plans to drink coffee, but then not following up. Since it has been over a month, it was high time that I get to know some of these folks, and, luckily I ran into Ivo and his wife when I was in Ani's store tonight (Ani's store, if I haven't mentioned it, is almost the only place I buy food because it is the closest to my house and Ani is a total sweetheart). We had a coffee in the store, and Ivo asked if I wanted to Na Gosti (be a guest) at his place tonight. Of course I agreed, and I had a really nice time.

They are a young married couple, Ivo is 25 and his wife is 20. I really couldn't believe they were that young, but that happens to me a lot here. People that I'm sure are at least 30 turn out to be in their early twenties. For Ivo and his wife, I guess I thought this not because of their looks, but because they are living in Kresna and have a little baby (6 months, named Ivona, who is adorable of course). Really to be their age and have a new born is totally normal, I just assumed they were older. This is most likely because the early 20-somethings I know are far from being married and having kids and a place. It's a strange thing: I always feel much younger than these settled adults, and much older than the high school kids, but in reality the years between either group are not so many. I guess it shows that age, for me, and my understanding of it, have much more to do with life experience than time.

Ivo's place is probably the most modern I've seen in Bulgaria. All fancy new furnishings and appliances. He explained that the place was completely remodeled in the last year, and it showed. Really nice - so nice I would almost be embarrassed to have them over. The design was very modern and well put together. I guess they moved in there when they got married a year ago and have been redoing the place ever since. It's not quite finished, but it's well on the way.

As per usual at a Na Gosti, an abundance of delicious food was placed in front of me, including the best Tarator I've had to date. Other than eating, I spent most of the night trying to converse with Ivo, who speaks the fastest Bulgarian I've ever heard. It's kind of a good challenge, because it makes me try to speak faster, and it helps with comprehension. Somehow we managed to speak on some level for most of the night, which always surprises me in hindsight.

When we weren't talking, we were paying attention to Ivona. Nothing like the fascination of an infant. Seeing Ivona, and thinking about how much she will grow and change in my time here really put this whole 2 years thing into perspective. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and the more I become settled, the more I think about how this is not just my new life, but that it will be my life for the next, well, 23 months. It's hard to appreciate the significance of 2 years when you are already an adult, because there aren't really anymore monumental physical developments that can easily define it. The significance of my 2 years will be in my mental growth and my personal experiences, which is amazing, but difficult to grasp in advance.

But think about the difference between the 6 month old baby I just met and the 2 and half year old toddler I will say goodbye to. Tonight I met an infant who can't speak, walk, or take care of herself at all and is still figuring out her basic motor skills. When I say goodbye to Ivona, she will be 2 and a half, she will be walking, exploring and probably speaking better Bulgarian than me! It's really a phenomenal thing, and the best way I've come across to put these 2 years in perspective. Although I will probably change and develop as much as, if not more than Ivona in the next two years, I'll never be able to properly define it. But with her it's obvious how significant the next two years will be.

I guess this brings us back to the topic of age. To me, a 2 year old is significantly older than a new born. Those years mean so much in terms of development. But a 24 year old and a 22 year old? There might as well be no difference in my mind. The flaw with this kind of thinking is that there will be a tremendous difference from this 22 year old writing and the 24 year old returning to States. Ivo is only 25, but he has a wife and a child, so to me his life experience implies an older age. I will only be 24 when I am back, but, much like Ivo, my experiences may not be accounted for in that young of an age. This, I guess is why age in terms of life experience is much more understandable to me.

How to explain this paradox of time, well, that I will have to figure out on the plane ride home. Until then, I look forward to being Ivona's neighbor as we both undertake two of the most significant years of our lives.

Believe it or not, today marks my 1 month anniversary in Kresna. I arrived on October 18th at night, but the 19th was my first whole day here. It has been a busy month, and I am happy with my work. On the other hand, since I've been so busy with work, I'm disappointed with my Bulgarian skills and my level of community integration. I think the language will start to improve as soon as I start my language tutoring (tomorrow!). On the community side, I think things will get better, and I meet more people all the time, I just haven't spent enough time here.

All the same, I'm loving it here. I am in the position where, although I can't believe how much time has passed, I also can't imagine being anywhere else, and all my past places of residence seem distant. I am happy. Here's to 23 more great months.

To celebrate, I made my first batch of chili in Bulgaria. I used the white beans that I cooked the other day and some fresh tomatoes (far superior to canned tomato chili). It turned out great:

Ever since I arrived in Kresna, people have been asking me if I will go to the discotheque (дискотека) with them, and if so, when. I always said that I would go, but due to working on the weekends, I have yet to have the time to go. That is, until, last night.

Although I had to make another trip to Sofia on Friday, I managed to come back to Kresna on Saturday night. I was pretty tired from the trip and didn't feel much like going out. However, since I've been here almost a month now and have still yet to go out, I felt like I really should. So, around 10:00 I got a hold of my co-worker Garasim to see if he still wanted to meet up. Sure enough he did, and we agreed to meet at the "disco" in the center of town.

Now, this "disco" is actually a restaurant which happens to turn into a club-like atmosphere on Saturday nights. It also happens to be the only restaurant in the center of Kresna, and the one we go to almost every day for lunch, so I thought it was kind of funny that it turns into a club. Anyway, after some hanging around in a neighboring cafe, we all went into the disco and sat at their regular table. With techno music blasting and every table full of the young people of Kresna, a waiter came over and asked us what we wanted to drink.

I couldn't here my one friend Peter too clearly, but I knew he ordered a bottle of something. I ordered a water. Moments later the waiter delivers a full bottle of Johnnie Walker Red to our table, as well as 5 glasses and the requested waters. Apparently, I was sitting with the big shots, because no one else had a bottle on the table. It made sense I guess, since I was with the older guys, who, you know, have real jobs and can afford such habits. Although one of the glasses was placed in front of me, Peter moved it away, since he knows I don't drink.

Well, this was fine until another one of the guys sat down and wanted me to participate in saying наздраве, or "Cheers." You are not supposed to do it with anything but alcohol, so, despite my protesting he poured me some of the whiskey, or scotch, whatever it is. He probably held his glass up while looking at me and insisting I drink for a solid minute. I kept trying to explain, but it didn't really work with the music blasting. Occasionally, I would just start laughing because it went on so long, the other guys laughed as well. Eventually he quit at the insistence of Peter. Fortunately, he didn't seem mad, and it was pretty funny. He tried again later, but stopped when I tried to ask him why it was such a big deal. He said it was no problem, and, despite that it was the most insistent anyone has ever been on the issue, it was all in good fun.

Honestly, even if I were to start drinking, I don't think that would be the wisest situation to begin, because as soon as you drink a little in those circumstances the pressure just builds for you to drink more. I guess this might not be true all the time, but I've seen it played out that way at least 1,000 times in my life, so I wouldn't risk it.

I spent most of the night watching the interesting social scene of the discotheque. In the beginning the DJ was only playing techno, and probably only one or two people were dancing, which I thought strange. Later in the night, he started cutting-up rap songs, and then more people got into it, but still not that many. I kept wondering why he wasn't playing any Chalga music, and why more people weren't dancing, since I thought that was the point.

Then, I'd say close to 2:00 AM, the Chalga came on and the people went crazy. The majority started dancing and singing along. True to the legend, people began dancing on tables and chairs. In fact, I saw one of the bouncers hand out newspaper for people to put on the table if they want to dance on it. Funny. Despite the entertainment factor, I was still pretty tired and decided to head home. On my way out I ran into my friend, Georgi, and he convinced me to stay a bit longer to talk with some of his friends who speak English.

Much like Georgi, these guys were from Kresna, but live elsewhere, either for work or school, and just come home on the weekends. They were all pretty blown away by the fact that an American was living in Kresna, or "at the end of the earth," as they put it, for two years. "I heard about you two weeks ago, but I just couldn't believe that an American was living in Kresna." They wanted to know what I thought about their town, and, unsurprisingly I think much more highly of it than they do. But, as we agreed, it's typical for people to not be interested in the places they are from. Life is fascinating here for me, but to them it's all old news. While I was trying to figure out the disco atmosphere, they've probably come here and seen the same people hundreds of times, so it's no wonder why they seek out bigger cities.

One of the funny things is that people always seem concerned that I must be bored in Kresna, or they think I need some sort of nightlife action like going to the disco. It's funny for me because I'm much more interested in the simple life, and I would rather just meet new people and talk to them to learn more about the place I am living. I can't really explain this, and it makes sense that it would be hard for people to understand, but it's the truth.

Anyway, my first trip to the дискотека was an entertaining one and I'm sure I'll make plenty of visits in the future. Based on what they told me last week at work, things should get even more interesting: "First we'll take you to the disco in Kresna, then to Blagoevgrad, then to Sofia!"

OK, not really. But, a new arrangement!

So, it has gotten quite chilly, and, to combat this all I have is one of those radiators-on-wheels, which works fine for heating up one room. My problem was that I spend most of my time in my kitchen each night making food, reading and writing, so I would run the heater in there. However, when it was time to retire for the night, I would move to my rather chilly bedroom, and, although I would take the heater with me, it didn't do much to combat the accumulated cold. My bedroom has 2 nice windows and a door to the balcony, so it's not terribly well insulated, hence the coldness. What was the logical Thomas Lodwick solution to this problem?

Move the bed to the generously sized kitchen!

There it is folks, my bed sitting just beyond the sliding doors that create the barrier between my kitchen and former bedroom.

My bathroom is extra-cold, so I have already been brushing my teeth and whatnot in the kitchen, so why not go for the full move and sleep there! This way, I get to sleep in the place that is nice and toasty from my radiator and faulty attempts at cooking. I don't plan on making this permanent, but, if I like it, I'll probably keep it this way through the winter. It's a little cramped in there, but I think I'll get used to it.

The only downside: Any accidental guests will discover that, although they thought not possible, the American is somehow stranger than they already believed.

PS: If there is anything unsafe about this arrangement, please let your beloved and oblivious host know.

Unrelated to anything Peace Corps:

My great friend Curtis makes music and you should check it out, either in person or on the internet. He is independently recording and producing his own album, and so far it is fantastic. Although we both grew up in lovely Newton, PA, he now lives in Philadelphia where he plays open mics with all his heart. Check him out.

-Thomas

From Friday night to this morning I took a little spin outside of Bulgaria. Where did I go, you ask?

To Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Doesn't make sense, does it? Well, let me try to explain.

While in Sofia, I went to a college party, drank filter coffee all weekend, chilled out in a tea house, met an American on the streets, visited several shops in pursuit of new shoes, saw an abundance of foreigners and was able to communicate in English to basically everyone. To me, none this sounds like the Bulgaria I know, and, honestly, for most of it I really felt like I was in a different country.

Oh, and it snowed. It snowed a lot:

Above is the storm in action, and below some snow-covered rooftops:

The first shot of winter weather is from Saturday morning. Friday night I went to a college dorm party with one of my co-workers, and, except for the musical consumption of chalga and the liquid consumption of rakiya, this was pretty similar to any college dorm party. While interesting, the only problem was that the location of the party was in Studentski Grad, which is rather far from where my colleague and I needed to be Saturday morning. So, we had to take a long bus ride and walk quite a ways through the snow storm to reach the CVS Office.

This brings us back to the saga of my 12 leva shoes. Early on in the walk through the snow, it became apparent to me that I was not equipped with appropriate footwear. Indeed, by the time I got to the office, my shoes and socks were completely soaked, and I was a cold boy. Naturally, I had not packed an extra set of shoes, but I did have plenty of socks, so I wasn't too worried. However, Julia quickly brought it to my attention that I was to stay until Tuesday morning and that it probably wouldn't be so good to walk around Sofia in the aftermath of a snow storm with leaky shoes. She was correct, which is why, on Sunday, after much scouring for a pair of cheap, decent and agreeable shoes, the 12 leva shoes got stomped by the new 45 leva shoes:

Take that 12 leva shoes! I think the 45 leva shoes should last a bit longer, and they appear to be less prone to leaking. It's funny to have goofy skate shoes again, but so far they are pretty comfy. Buying stuff is kind of fun in a foreign country, but it's a bummer not really knowing what you are buying (what the shoes are made of, how clean is the company, etc.) So, I just guess and shop within my pitiful price range (brands popular in the States that I saw for sale were generally 3 times as expensive as my new pair). In any case, it was at least nice to have a few stores to browse, rather than going to the one store in Kresna that I think sells shoes.

Moving along. On Saturday I attended a Green Fair with my co-workers from CVS. This was a really cool opportunity to get to see what other environmental projects are going on in Bulgaria, as well as developing further interest in our Eco-center. I was quite impressed with the other activities going on, and I was surprised to discover that I know volunteers placed with at least 3 or 4 of the other organizations present at the Green Fair. Although good, it was a long day and I was tired from the night before, so afterwards I didn't really do to much of note. I attempted to go to the epic vegetarian restaurant, but it was full.

Sunday, after a glorious sleep in the CVS-Office, I did some work related things in the morning and then set out to buy my shoes. After returning, Ute (a CVS volunteer from Germany who is with us for 6 months) and I set out to explore Sofia a bit. Our goal was to check a photo exhibition called Children's Gazes which is a collection of pictures taken by Roma children in Sofia. Upon arriving at the Red House, we learned that it was closed on Sunday, but another group that arrived right after us managed to talk the guard into letting us have a peak. This was completely awesome and the photos were fantastic. Perhaps most impressive is that the pictures were taken by children. They were very honest pictures of their lives, and I think the children captured a glimpse that outsiders could not have.

Here I am at the Red House in Sofia, which is the place hosting the exhibition, as well as a bunch of other cool stuff:

Gotcha! That's not really your endearing host. It's a giant statue, which I tried to make look more gigantic, but actually did just the opposite I think. Now you can actually see me in front of the appropriately named Red House.

After this we made our way to the Tea House where I enjoyed a nice cup of Darjeeling tea and was convinced I was somewhere in Boston. Sunday night we caught a movie as part of a film festival going on, and, sure enough, the one we chose was an American movie which takes place in Boston ("Gone Baby Gone" is the name). It was pleasant to have every character serenading me with their best Bahstan accents, and it was actually a good movie. It was also my first cinematic experience in Bulgaria. Lucky for me I got the student discount and only paid a cool 5 leva for my ticket.

Monday I slept till about 9:30, because work in the Sofia office doesn't start till around 10:00, and it was delightful. I brewed up a batch of coffee in our drip coffee maker, which you can see here.

Although I prefer my recently mastered moka, every once in a while it's nice to have a big mug of coffee. I found out that what I usually call an "American coffee maker" (drip coffee) is also a "German coffee maker." Turns out that espresso is not the norm throughout all of Europe.

After my coffee, I worked at the office for a while, then made a jaunt through a snow storm to go to the Peace Corps office in order to drop off some paperwork and acquire a water distiller. The office was closed because it was Veteran's Day (they take American and Bulgarian holidays at the Peace Corps office), but the guards helped me get what I need. Monday night we had some meetings (the reason I stayed in Sofia) and after that I met up with one of the people I met at the Volunteer's festival. All in all a good time.

I jumped on an early bus this morning to come back to Kresna and return to Bulgaria. Although I enjoyed my time abroad, I'm much more interested in my little town life. Everything about Sofia made me feel like I was abroad. In fact, I forgot to mention my bit of culture shock.

Saturday night I went into a real grocery store to acquire some peanut butter (since none has come in the mail!). It was so strange to be in the big aisles with all the lights, people and choices that I could barely handle it. I just kept thinking about how when I buy my food at my local store, if there are 2 people in there other than myself and the shop keep, the place is packed. While in Sofia this weekend I quickly realized how happy I am to be living in a small town.

If anything this experience shows that I really am only familiar with small town Bulgarian life. I'm sure my experiences in other big cities in Bulgaria would be similar to those of Sofia, I just don't know them yet. The life in Kresna is not very different from that of my training site, which is why it's always such a shock to me to spend time in big cities. Bulgaria is a very diverse place, and it's fascinating to get to experience the differences first hand.

What is Vafli? Vafli is a chocolate filled wafer treat that is delicious, reasonably cheap and popular here (why shouldn't it be? It's delicious). I enjoy vafli, but it was not until tonight that I discovered that the act of giving vafli can lead to rides home in an ambulance. An ambulance with a patient in the back.

I'll start from the beginning. Yesterday, after work I decided to walk in the direction of what I thought was the local hospital based on a road sign I had seen a couple times. The reason for this jaunt was because I had to fill out some emergency information for the Peace Corps, and, sadly, it's easier to go on these kinds of excursions than communicate my needs with my colleagues.

Anyway, upon arrival I saw a parked ambulance next to a small building. "Definitely not a hospital," thought I, but what the heck, maybe they can help. I go in, look through the tiny reception window at 3 people, receive a "Da?" and then am greeted by a woman in scrubs. So begins my stumbling Bulgarian speech about why I am there and what I need to know. As soon as I get to the part where I say that I am an American living in Kresna for two years, I get treated to stupendous Bulgarian hospitality and am offered help in getting my information.

After meeting another woman, also in scrubs, who introduced herself as what I thought was the "sister of the woman I had just met" they sat me down in their little waiting room. There was a big box of vafli on the table, and I was immediately offered one and poured a glass of cola (which I drink here, because it's better here). From here on out, I mainly talked to the second woman, the "sister."

We talked for a little while, and I gradually procured the info I needed. Turns out that it is not a hospital, that the nearest hospital is in Sandanski, but that it is a doctor's office and the local ambulance center. It also turns out that the first woman I met was the doctor, and the woman I was talking to then was the nurse. Apparently, "sestra" or "sister" in Bulgarian also means nurse. Live and learn.

In addition to vocab building, I found out that the nurse was a nurse in Libya for two years (well before the Bulgarian nurses crisis in Libya). We chatted for a little while, and she was really nice and incredibly sympathetic to my slow Bulgarian. I'm guessing this is at least partly because of her time abroad in Libya where she had to learn to speak Arabic. We talked about our families (she, like most moms I meet, was especially sympathetic towards my mom), what I was doing in Kresna, and some other things. Our conversation was cut short because she had work to do, but she invited me to come back the next night! I thought this was a strange way to start integrating into my community, but I certainly wasn't about to pass up the offer.

So today, after making some dinner, I made my way back to the doctor's office / ambulance station. En route, I decided to pick up some sweets for my new friends, as this is kind of a good thing to do when people invite you over. I was going to get a box a chocolates, but then I remembered how they had offered me vafli the night before and how we discussed my love for vafli. So, I bought them a new box!

Upon arrival I noticed that the ambulance was gone. This made me worried that I was going to be present for some ER style action, or that it wouldn't be a good night to hang with my new crew. Sure enough, when I got in there the only person present was my nurse friend, and she explained that the ambulance and the doctor had to go tend to a patient in one of the Municipality's villages. Anyway, I presented her with the vafli and sat down, though it was clear that we wouldn't get to hang out long because of the medical emergency that was bound to arrive.

We talked for probably 45 minutes or so and it was totally awesome. She told me all about Libya, her family, how much her family means to her and the tough life of a nurse in Bulgaria. She told me that a full-time nurse in Bulgaria only makes about ~250 BGN, and that, only with a 2nd job is she able to pull in a mere 400 BGN a month. Remember folks, not including my rent and utilities, I get paid 414 BGN a month and the only person I have to support is myself. So, as it turns out, not only the teachers get rough wages here.

She told me that when she was in Libya, she literally wrote a letter a day to her family and that her husband kept and numbered all of them. Despite this, I think she said she is trying to apply for nurse work abroad yet again, because of the wages I'm sure. Basically, this is a huge issue in Bulgaria (rising prices, stagnant wages, people looking abroad for work) and I'm in no position to discuss it at length. However, I hear about first hand examples of this struggle almost every day.

Anyway, we talked for a while and it was really nice. Eventually the ambulance returned, and I decided that was a good time to leave. Since we hadn't tapped into the vafli, the doctor tried to make me take them back, but I prevailed in leaving the vafli for them to enjoy. They offered me a ride in the ambulance, but considering there was a patient in the back, I really wasn't comfortable with the idea, and I started to walk away. In response to this, all three of them called me back, and the doctor literally walked me back to have a seat in the ambulance. So I obliged.

As soon as we started the engine, the driver flipped on the siren. This was when my nurse friend said, in English, "action." After this she asked me why I left the vafli, and I just re-iterated that they were for them. She also told me that the guy in the back was a drunk who got beat up somehow, I'm not really sure. In any case, it couldn't have been very urgent, or, at the very least, it was less urgent than prohibiting me from the dangers of walking home in the cold (sorry drunk and injured guy).

Walking home I couldn't wipe the smile off my face from what a silly adventure I had, and, I'm pretty sure I owe it all to vafli.

What a weekend it has been. In order to prepare the Eco-center for the winter, CVS organized a weekend work camp on Saturday and Sunday. Julia came to Kresna on Friday so we could take care of some preparatory matters. This was rocking because I got to leave the Obshtina around 1:00 while still technically "working." Boo-ya.

We had to make a quick trip to the Eco-center to see what food and things we would need for the weekend. While there I had the pleasure of meeting the protector of the Eco-center, Baba Raina. She is a sweet old woman, and one of the 7 or so permanent residents of the village Vlahi. Her house is right across the street (I mean the street) from the Eco-center, so she is quite a nice resource. In addition to Baba Raina, we saw a young man who regularly walks to Vlahi from Kresna (9 km, up into the mountains), and perhaps even further to help his dad in some doings that I didn't understand. Anyway, he said it takes him about 3-4 hours to walk from Kresna to Vlahi, depending on the amount of baggage he has. Crazy. Fortunately, we were able to help him with a ride down that day.

Friday night we didn't have much going on, so Julia proposed that we go to the city of Sandanski and visit my friend Kellen. I was excited about this opportunity, especially because with my weekends jammed with work, I didn't know when I would get to see someone from my crew. It was great to see Kellen and hear how happy he is with his new home. I know some people are having a tougher time settling in, but I am doing extremely well, and it was nice to be around someone feeling just as good as me. Sandanski is a nice city, and Kellen's apartment made me realize that I am in some ways "roughing it" (comparatively at least). But, Kellen is a classy man who needs classy digs, so I won't contest the situation.

Saturday morning I had no breakfast food in my apartment, so I decided to go to my favorite store for a pre-packaged chocolate filled croissant. While I was there, a man named Georgi, who also happens to be the barber in the little barber shop next to my apartment building, asked if I wanted a coffee. Since I had yet to formally meet him, I obliged and sat with he and his wife for a while. They were reading the news, so I tried to decipher some articles as well. The teacher's strike has ended, I think.

Shortly after this I went to the Eco-center with Julia and another volunteer. Why is the Eco-center in Vlahi, you ask? Well, the epic scenery is at least one reason. Here are some stellar views from the Eco-center garden:

We had a long fun day of work, mostly including insulating and burying the pipes to the showers and painting (whitewashing) the walls. There were over 10 of us there I guess, so I got to interact with a lot of cool people. The language, as always, was an issue. In fact, I find it's the hardest when I'm around such cool people because I really want to be able to talk to them on a normal level. Some day, I suppose.

The hardest thing, or the thing I can't do at all, is follow conversations with multiple participants, such as a dinner conversation. So meals tend to be quiet time for Thomas. However, I did get to talk quite a bit to one kid who didn't speak any English. This happened because we sat together and communicated one on one, and when I didn't understand something we could work around the word so I could figure out its meaning. In a group conversation this simply isn't possible, but, I'm definitely making progress. It's always encouraging to take a step back and realize that I'm able to somehow have conversations in a language that I never heard until about 3 months ago.

Saturday night we all slept at the Eco-center, which was warm enough thanks to a wood stove acquired from one of my co-workers at the Obshtina. Sunday, after breakfast, we finished up with painting and took a small walk to one of the other eco-tourism attractions in the village, the large carnivores center. Where is this, you ask? Well, just across the valley from the Eco-center, look here:

In addition to large carnivores, there is a rare breeds center, where they breed and herd Karakachan dogs, horses, and sheep. You can read more here. Anyway, there are interesting animals walking around all the time.

Back to the large carnivores. Besides the breeding party that goes on, they have a bear and a wolf in separate large fenced in areas. I'm never that interested in seeing animals behind fences, but it was way better than a zoo. Did you know that bears eat cabbage? Because I didn't until I saw our guide lady toss a head of cabbage over to our bear friend. It was clear that the bear preferred the apples and bread, but he certainly did eat the cabbage.

After bear time people began to leave and I decided to see if I could bring one of the bikes from our shed down to Kresna for me to work on and make my own. Upon asking it turned out that no one could drive it down, but, they asked if I could maybe ride the bike down. Now, at first I didn't think this would be possible, because the bike I had picked had two flats and other problems needing attention. So, they proposed I take a different bike. A Peugeot!

I know, monumental. My only true love in the States was my Peugeot road bike, and here I was being offered with a functional Peugeot mountain bike. After pumping up the tires, it appeared to be in working order, but I was still a little sketchy on taking it on a 9 km ride down a mountain. After some deliberation and acquiring a helmet, I said ciao and embarked on what could have been a disaster. I mean, this bike had been sitting in a shed since it had been donated to the Eco-center via the eco-bike tour in 2005, and I was about to take it on an awfully bumpy road, so about anything could go wrong. Well, somehow, nothing happened and I booked it down the mountain in no time.

Things of note: I was passed by a red Lada sedan and red Lada station wagon almost simultaneously. I also passed a man on a horse-cart. Take that horse.

In conclusion, I now have a new roommate, and it is my new Peugeot bicycle. Check out the happy couple (thumbs up for safety!):

And, here I am posing so you folks at home can imagine what I'll look like cruising through the Bulgarian countryside:

Maybe the most amazing part is that, despite working every day, I still have time for this kind of idiocy.

For my regular reader(s) out there, you know one of my greatest struggles in Bulgaria has been attempting to make a cup of coffee with my moka without having water spurt out from the seal. Now, I haven't written about it recently, because it is such a trying subject, but, I basically resigned myself to never having a properly functioning moka.

But, kind readers, I did not let this bring me down. Oh no, in spite of the demoralizing malfunction, I continued to use my moka every day, and that is why today is such a glorious day.

That's right, today I made coffee and my moka functioned perfectly. In fact, it worked so well that I let it go too long because I wasn't alerted by the usual sound of water spurting out and sizzling on my burner. So, I have climbed over what has been the hardest peak yet. Having accomplished this, I'm sure the Bulgarian language will be a breeze.

In honor of the success, here is my now functioning moka and the successful cup o' joe:

And here I am, being an idiot on this Saturday morning and proudly holding my coffee maker:

Here is what will likely be the first of many posts on the ridiculous view from my balcony. Sadly, my camera doesn't do it justice, but this is the kind of thing I wake up to everyday:

Things of note: Mountains to the left, endless mountains and hills in the distance.

I just got an email from a fellow PCV who was charged a whopping $175 (~230 BGN, over half our monthly living allowance) in customs and other charges for a package sent from America. Part of the reason the cost was so high was that the sender itemized the contents of the package, and customs applied its own values.

"Used goods / for personal use only / not for resale" any or all of these phrases are crucial. And don't list what is in the package. If the postal person demands it, just say used clothing or something. Basically, no matter what: Lie.

I'm not trying to be a stickler about it or sound mean, but, you know, if I got hit with such customs fees, I would not be able to pay it and the package would probably be lost in limbo forever.

But please, don't let this prohibit you from sending me peanut butter, bread and jelly for breakfast is getting old!

This weekend I made my way to Sofia for the "2007 Volunteer Festival" hosted by my organization, CVS-Bulgaria. Basically, CVS organizes many volunteer projects in Bulgaria and it sends Bulgarian volunteers abroad to participate in projects run by partner organizations. So, they do a lot of stuff, and each year they host a gathering where any participants in such activities (or any members of CVS) can come together to discuss work done in the past year and begin planning activities for the upcoming year. Lucky for me, this festival happened to occur just as I was beginning my work with CVS.

I trekked it Sofia on Friday via train. Once I got to my destination, my counterpart Julia picked me up and drove me to the hotel where we held the festival. The first night was mostly introductory stuff, and during this I began to get to know some of the totally sweet CVS volunteers in Bulgaria. Most of them were around my age, and all very environmentally and socially active people (hence their participation in CVS events). This was really exciting for me, because these were probably the first Bulgarians in my peer group that I've met with a very similar mindset to my own. It was really cool to be around such active people, and it certainly showed me that small town Bulgaria is not an accurate representation of all that goes on in this country.

In fact, one guy I got to know named Plamen happens to have nearly the same interest in music as me. That's right, not American nor Bulgarian pop, he likes dirty old reggae and ska, and he was even equipped with some Trojan Box Sets on his laptop. So yeah, ska/reggae loving socially and environmentally active people are in Bulgaria and I made friends with some of them, so I am a happy boy. Sadly, most of them live in Sofia, so I'll probably only get to see them at CVS events.

Outside of meeting righteous individuals, we had a lot of interesting sessions throughout Saturday and Sunday. The main theme of the festival, and this upcoming year, was human rights. We had an Amnesty International employee from Switzerland come to speak with us, as well as a Bulgarian lawyer who works on human rights issues. After the human rights sessions, we began project planning for this year, and this was a great opportunity for me to begin to offer my input and brainstorm with my colleagues. Besides physical projects, throughout the whole festival I was observing how things were run and talking with other volunteers about potential organizational problems I can work on with CVS. Some people were very willing to discuss these issues, and I've already got a few ideas brewing that I plan to take up with Julia. All in all, very cool stuff which I look forward to working on.

The only issue I had with the festival was my weak Bulgarian skills. Most of the people I met spoke English, so the language wasn't such a barrier in making friends. However, a lot of the presentations were in Bulgarian, and instead of requesting a translator I just sort of toughed it out and tried to understand what I could (since this is my life now). Also, when around so many Bulgarians who do speak English, I'm usually too embarrassed to even try my Bulgarian out. So I didn't... that is until I had to present to the entire group!

On Saturday night it was organized that everyone create and give a presentation on a volunteer project they did in the last year. Most of the people worked in groups, yet, since I was new there were no projects I could tag along with. Somehow, this did not exempt me from the requirement to present something. All of the groups knew about this activity in advance, so they had pictures and other nice materials prepared for their posters. I had nothing, so I needed some way to make my poster special. I chose to write it in Bulgarian, with some spelling and grammar help from my new friend Mitko. I also decided that, on my own, I would present it in Bulgarian to everyone.

This was probably the most intense and embarrassing thing I've done upon arrival, but I felt really good about it. I was so nervous that I messed up a lot when reading the poster, but I think the humor of the situation made up for it. The poster had three headings, the third of which translated as "What does Thomas do in Bulgaria?" and they laughed hysterically when I read this one. I'm guessing it was funny since I was reading something about myself in the third person, that or I just sounded completely ridiculous. Anyway, even though I didn't have pictures, songs or dances, I managed to be entertaining, which I guess was the goal.

Honestly, no matter how hard learning Bulgarian is, I think learning a language while immersed in it is one of the greatest things you can do for yourself in terms of personal development. It really thickens your skin and forces you to get over being self-conscious in public. No matter how hard you try you are going to mess up and get laughed at, not because people are mean, but because it's funny. For example, in one store I wanted to ask for pretzels, and I ended up asking for airplanes because the words are kind of similar in Bulgarian. And, just like you might be laughing now, I got laughed at for this hilarious blunder.

I've kind of always had the luck of being the guy making the jokes in social situations, but in Bulgaria, I'm the one getting laughed at all the time. And although sometimes it's hard, I think it's really good for me as a person, and, once I overcome this challenge, I honestly believe it will be one of my greatest achievements ever.

That's right, I finally have a permanent address where you can send me jars of my favorite protein source!

It's actually not my apartment address, as it is safer to have things sent to work. So below is the address for the Municipality of Kresna. It really helps if you can put both the Latin and Cyrillic scripts of the address (much like it would be hard for a U.S. postal worker to deliver something written in Cyrillic, it is hard for Bulgarian postal workers to deliver mail in Latin script). The best way to do it would be to copy the address from here, print it out, and tape it on the letter/package/jar of peanut butter.

Final note: If sending packages, no matter what is in it, please write "Used goods, not for resale" or "Used clothes, not for resale" - always value the package at less than $50 otherwise I get whacked with a customs fee, and nobody wants that. Besides, if you lie about what's inside the package, then it remains a surprise for me!

Thomas Lodwick

Municipality of Kresna

96 Makedoniya Street

2840 - Kresna

Bulgaria

Томас Лодуик

Община Кресна

Ул. “Македония” № 96

2840 гр. Кресна

България

Thanks in advance. Now that I am settling down I should be good about replying to letters, and I apologize if you've sent me things already and I haven't written back (especially you Grandma! will write soon). If you have any questions, let me know.

Do Pocle,

Tomac

Here it is folks, the picture from swearing-in day. You can see all 36 B-22s, as well as the country director and U.S. Consul General (2 folks on the left). I'm barely visible, but you can see all my rocking friends dressed abnormally nice:

This will be brief, I just wanted to post a few pictures.

I'm basically using this weekend to try to get settled in my apartment. Today I bought some necessities for my house, but I still have more to buy. Doing all my shopping in Kresna is kind of expensive because there aren't any "cheap" places to get what you need, there are just the places to get what you need. I paid 4 leva for my new "washing machine" aka the plastic bucket in which I will heretofore wash my clothes in. I think this was a rip-off, but oh well.

I bought my first moka (stove top espresso maker) yesterday, and so far each time I've used it water has spurted out of the seal. I'm hoping that I will figure out a way to stop this (any friends who have mastered the moka, please do give me tips). In general, my apartment is nice, but I honestly wish it was smaller so that there would be less space to keep clean and/or think about. In the extra bedroom there is a piano, so maybe I'll learn how to play.

OK. Here is the municipality building of Kresna. This is where I will work out of for the next two years. It is very blok-ish:

Here is the same building at night, only with lots of people gathered in front of it for a chalga concert. This took place last night. I thought it was awfully nice that the town had such a tremendous welcoming party for me. And by welcoming party, I mean I happened to move-in on the town's holiday:

Finally, here you can see me cleaning out the 1 million cupboards in my kitchen. I'm actually not done yet, but I took a break to take that sweet photo and post it here. I am aware of how idiotic it is to clean while standing on a narrow and slightly wet counter top, but hey, at least I'm wearing a mask and gloves! And, it makes for a totally sweet photo! Sadly enough, the only time I almost fell was when trying to set up the picture, what a moron:

I am in Kresna! In fact, I am writing this from my apartment on my own laptop! With the help of my awesome counterpart, I was able to get internet installed in my apartment this morning. Having arrived here last night around 8:00 PM, I find this to be record time. I am certain I could not have gotten it this fast in the States.

Oh! I forgot to mention something crucial. I knew coming to permanent site that I would need a cell phone, if only to call my counterpart and tell her when I would be arriving in Kresna. I decided that I would get one at the last hub, the day before swearing-in. Before I had the chance to do this, during the first hub session one of the staff members asked if anyone had yet to buy a cell phone. In fact, I was the only person in my group who had not done so yet, so I raised my hand. As luck would have it, the Country Director walks over and hands me a cell phone box from a volunteer who recently ended their service early. So I got a snazzy phone completely free (this saved me about 100 leva)! Additionally, the phone came with about 50 leva worth of pre-paid minutes on it, which is a lot of money and very lucky. I think all my fellow volunteers wanted to kill me for hitting the jackpot like this, but, as they say, patience is a virtue.

On to swearing-in. The ceremony was emotional only because I had to see off all my great friends. Sad as it was, I was itching to leave my host family and get started with my actual Peace Corps service. Everyone but me took about a million pictures at swearing in, so I'll post one when I get one emailed to me. The best part of swearing in was the speech given by my friend and fellow B-22 Eddie. He really spoke for all of us and I was quite amazed with his words.

After swearing-in I spent the afternoon in Sofia with my counterpart Yulia. The reason for this was that my host organization is actually based in Sofia, so she wanted me to see the office and meet the staff. They were all super nice, and they are pleased that I, as the only gentleman working for the organization, will contribute slightly to gender balance in the organization. Around 5:00 PM we hit the road for Kresna and arrived sometime around 8:00. Everything was basically in order with my apartment, except the cold water knob on the shower was busted (has since been fixed). After eating a bit in my new pad, I went to bed pretty early as I was exhausted.

I had to wake up early though, since the internet people and my counterpart were due to arrive at my apartment at 9:00 AM. I actually already had work to do, and I wanted to get it done before meeting with my counterpart. All I had to do was edit the English translation of my organization's business plan. It wasn't too hard, but correcting some translated phrases/sentences can be a bit tricky.

Once this was done, and after I found a nearby store that sells coffee for 30 cents, I met up with my counterpart for a bit of running around. After errands and a quick lunch, I parted ways with her and decided to do a bit of shopping in Kresna. My apartment has not been inhabited in over a year, so I pretty much need everything except for the big stuff (bed, desk, table, chairs, fridge, etc).

It's hard having to outfit an apartment in a place where you barely speak the language and don't know where to buy such things. My counterpart tipped me off on a place to find kitchen wares. I succeeded in buying a trash can, trash bags, coffee maker, and some food items (coming in at a steep 20 leva). I still need tons of stuff, mostly a dish rack and more cooking ware, but I'll get there.

More to come later, blogger is being lame so I can't post pictures right now, but they will come.

Ciao from Kresna,

Tomac