In the 5th grade, we had a sports competition day called ‘the Olympics’ where we competed with five other schools in running, jumping, javelin, wrestling, and the discus throw. I remember that competition well – I won the long run, and at that moment vowed never to run long distance again, as it was awful. [...]
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, or navigating states and derivatives of a fluid process in real-time, to achieve a desired end within a human, emotional and flexible system. [This is how a science person moves into a world without numbers]. When you study an economic system, there are hard facts, there may be complex facts, and there may be [...]
Much emotions – this is a phrase that gets used in Bulgarian a lot more than its literal translation does in English. Granted, this is true about a lot of things, but the point here isn’t to write about funny idioms and translations, it’s about a group of great kids that got together, met knew [...]
i haven’t written anything here for quite a while. it’s been a great summer so far, full of new people, great experience and not a lot of time. i often try to write funny things that are deep observations about life, as opposed to just saying what’s been going on here in Nikopol, Bulgaria. well, [...]
The Peace Corps has been in existence for 50 years as of 2011, and has been in Bulgaria for 20 years. Earlier this summer, there were events to celebrate this fact in Sofia. The US Ambassador to Bulgaria and the Mayor of Sofia gave short speeches, along with the directors of PC Bulgaria. There was [...]
definition the word definition has a few different meanings, and some of the aspects of the idea of ‘definition’ can penetrate society deeply. at first, we probably think merriam-webster, or perhaps oxford unabridged. definition can also refer to muscle tone, low body fat, and a cut figure. however, ‘definition’ can affect more then how we [...]
Nice. I've been to Sofia more times in the last three months than my counterpart has in her entire life. Embarrassing.
I’ve been thinking recently a bit about what it’s like to have/host a PC volunteer. I’m gonna try to describe the situation from the hosts’ viewpoint, and adapt it to the US. *** day 1 you go to work, and there’s a kid from Japan there. he doesn’t work with you directly, but in the [...]
Chess is good, chess is better with coffee. I think this phrase sounds better in Bulgarian – Shax e dobre, shax e po-dobre su kafe, see title. We’ve started a chess group in Nikopol. Technically, we’ve re-established a chess club that used to exist, but I believe fell by the wayside at some point. It’s [...]
i'm certainly liking it, have you read it yet, or is it somewhere on cue?
Hey, I brought that book to Bulgaria! It's one of my mom's favorites. I'm so glad you're enjoying it.
INTERNET STALKER,
Huelo
I’m currently reading a book about someone who escapes from jail in New Zealand, moves to India, spends time working for the Indian mafia, then opens free medical clinics for slum dwellers and becomes a writer. The point is, I just read an amazing dialogue, which struck amazingly close to home regarding how things feel [...]
if you want to see more pictures of the pig etc, let me know, I didn't think all of those needed to go up here.
Happy Holidays Everyone The holidays are a big thing here in Bulgaria, as they are everywhere. Naturally this will entail nagostis [на гости, visiting dinners / gatherings with friends], travelling many hours on icy roads, and office parties. I think that this is pretty much the same everywhere. However, something you don’t get to feel [...]
First off, sorry – this was supposed to be a funny post. That the last thing I wrote was not very entertaining; in fact, it even had a division sign. That’s just not very fun. However, I thought of something worth sharing, so I’m just gonna throw it out there. But first, something that is [...]
Hi Tom,
Looks like you had quite a crowd for your outing. And all ages. Just finished tonight's YPF meeting. Remember those days??? All is well here. Best wishes.
Roger
We’ve recently started an Eco Club here in Nikopol, Bulgaria – and did a little hike where we made a fire and hot chocolate. Here are some pictures.
I remembered reading something you wrote for the last PC newsletter and being really impressed cuz it was thought-provoking and interesting and all that crap (I really did like it, don't be mislead by my use of the word "crap") and I've been meaning to look up your blog for awhile. I like it. Except for the quotient part - I'm not very good at math.
Have you seen the movie Dogma? In the movie, there’s a scene where the main character describes faith as a glass of water. When we’re little, the glass isn’t very big, so it’s basically full of water. As we get older however, the glass gets larger but the water doesn’t grow with the glass; it [...]
From one expat to another: agreed. And to add, the best sleep I've gotten has been on trains!
Hi, all – hope you’re doing well! A few weeks ago, we went to help make / see how rikia is made. the volunteer I’m replacing – Billy, made this great video about it: Making Rakia from Billy Knox on Vimeo. The process is pretty simple – put a bunch of fruit in a barrel [...]
Traveling. Traveling by train is a great exercise in meditation. There is the continuous gentle rocking. There is the classic clack-clack from the front & rear wheels of the car passing over the spaces in the tracks in succession. There is scenery – always changing; present but not intrusive. Most importantly, there is sitting. It [...]
Some things I’ve been working on recently: i. Background – I’m working in the municipal building in Nikopol, a city/town of 4,500 in North-central Bulgaria on the Danube river along the border with Romania. Nikopol is the head municipality for 11,600 people in 13 surrounding villages. 1. Integrate into the Community – being friends with members [...]
Thomas,
Sounds and looks great! It seems that you have landed in a good place. That picture of the sunset over the Danube was spectacular. I have just come off two beautiful weeks on Block Island, off the Rhode Island coast. I think of you often and am glad to hear that you are safe and happy. Do enjoy yourself as you serve the people of your new town.
Roger
The actual title I’d want to go here would be “Smells,” but I think that would just be a little bit strange for a title. We had to write aspiration statements when we applied for the Peace Corps, and we had to provide some reasons for why we wanted to join, some of our motivations, [...]
A lot has happened since I last posted regarding Bulgarian food. Recently, we have ‘sworn in’ as official Peace Corps Volunteers and taken the official oath of service [here is the text, although we aren't uniformed]. We had an official ceremony in Vratsa [Враца], including the U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria, and two Ministers of the Interior from Bulgaria. The [...]
I’ve been thinking of a marketing slogan for Bulgaria, and something I’ve come up with is: “Never an empty plate or an empty glass.” The culture here is very food and drink focused, so we always get to eat a lot of food. The food is usually dense, a lot of meat, oil and cheese [...]
I’ve alsways considered that one of the most visceral experiences one could have would be to be a doctor. To put your hands inside someone and to connect pieces of flesh to save a life would be a very intense endeavor. Something happened recently that gave me another perspective on enhancing wellbeing by reaching into [...]
Nikipol! We learned where we’ll be living for the next two years a few days ago, and just returned from visiting these places. I’ll be living and working in Nikopol, a town of 4,500 along the Danube River on the border between Bulgaria and Romania – check out the red star in the map below. [...]
Добър ден! Тази е първата осъвременява в български. След време, ще превеждам всяка осъвременява когато имам време. Сега аз посещавам града Никопол, където ще живея и работя след четири още седмици на уча български. Аз много харесвам града Никопол. *** Dobur den! Tazi e purvata osuvremenyava v Bulgarski. Sled vreme, shte prevejdam vsyaka osuvremenyava kogato [...]
Hi there, thanks for reading. I believe I’ve mentioned before that we all live with host families for three months, then move to our permanent sites. Here is a bit more detail about the whole process: Live in a town with 4 to 6 PC trainees plus language teacher, learn the language, and perform certain [...]
We arrived in Bulgaria on Wednesday, May 13th. We then took a bus to a mountain retreat with the following view: It’s a little winter mountain hotel whose only occupants are our 87 person group, trainers, etc. This is a short post, as we are headed off to live with host families in Sunday. Specifically, that means [...]
Last night I attended a Peace Corps Welcome Back, Send Off event that included nearly 200 people. This included nominees, invitees, and returned volunteers from as early as 1962. Yes, that’s right, 1962. It was great to see the span of the Peace Corps community that brought all of these people together, and to be [...]
This is a test post to make sure that I can post by writing and sending an email. Success!
Welcome to my Peace Corps Blog; I’m going to Bulgaria, I will chronicle the adventure here. More to come, thanks for coming by!
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