Well, its 6:45ish here on Monday morning and my house guests have all taken their respective trains/buses back to their sites. On Friday, my friends Ali, Craig, Josh, and Mindy came to stay with me and celebrate Josh and Craig's 24th Birthdays. Craig let us all know that he and Josh have both officially lived 1/3 of their expected life span. How's that for perspective?
We had a great time together. Because my guests don't live in urban centers like Ruse, they were excited to come enjoy some of the ammenities the big city has to offer. Friday afternoon we went to one of the pools here in Ruse. Not only was the pool refreshing, the scenery was 'attention-grabbing' to say the least. Thong bathing suits for women and the Euro-speedo for men are somewhat the norm here. Its a classic example of taking the good with the bad. Friday night we enjoyed a great dinner at a local restaurant with some great Ruse Chardonnay from the local vineyard.
After dinner, I had some of my friends that I have met here in Ruse come over to my house and meet my American guests. Giorgi and Silvia (my friends from Ruse) left this Sunday for The American University in Blagoevgrad. They are really cool people and am excited for their return to Ruse for college breaks.
Saturday night Mindy cooked some absolutely amazing Chicken Curry. After we all ate way too much. After this we heeded the lifestyle of the greatest character in movie cinema history: we went bowling. [if you don't understand that reference, smack yourself and watch Big Lebowski at least 7 times] Yes, Ruse does have a bowling alley. A pretty nice one at that. Josh and Craig beat Ali, Mindy, and I. As punishment, we must lead a HORO dance at a discotec of their choosing the next time we all meet up. The HORO is a bulgarian folk dance that generally looks like a line dance with a lot of fancy footwork.
Sunday, the rains finally came to Ruse and cooled the temperatures down to the point where we could no longer boil water in a pot on my balcony. We cooked a beef stew that made my apartment smell pretty amazing. (It tasted unbelievably delicious also)
All in all it was a great weekend celebration.
Tomorrow I will be heading to the town of Shumen for a regional meeting with other PCVs. The purpose of the meeting is to share our summer experiences and most importantly, get some materials for the upcoming school year (textbooks, workbooks, language exercises, etc.) My school year starts September the 17th and I will have to go to school everday starting the beginning of September in order to prepare for the upcoming school year.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
My trip to the Rock Churches of Ivanovo
On Tuesday, I went on a day trip with some of my students from the summer English course that I have been teaching since I arrived in Ruse. Also, my new friend and hopefully someone who I will do a lot of work with over the next two years, Emo, came with us. He works at the Youth Center in Ruse and is an amazingly friendly and good man.
We took a train to the village of Ivanovo and hiked to the Rusenski Lom (Ruse Valley). It is a breath-taking plush river valley sandwiched between huge rock faces that have numerous caves carved into them that served as monasteries during Medeival times. The 'Rock Churches of Ivanovo' are one of the landmarks in Bulgaria protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=31064&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Besides the beautiful views and challenging hiking trails the trip provided, we also met a very interesting man who collected the admission fee to enter the Rock Church that is still open to tourists. When we first entered into the church, he told us it would be 50 stotinki (roughly cents) for the four students we were with and 1 lev (roughly dollar) for Emo and I. We began talking, and it was clear to him that I was American and soon enough, I provided that I was in Bulgaria to teach English and work with young people here in different sorts of capacities. His reaction was one of skepticism to say the least. He believed that this situation was backwards. Bulgarians should be traveling to America and other 'new countries' and teach Bulgarian language and culture to these countries. After all, Bulgaria is thousands of years old and this area of the world cradled some of the first pre-modern civilizations 1000s of years ago during the Neolithic Period. American Nationals with a country who's life can be measured in half the time that the Ottoman Empire spent occupying Bulgaria (to put things into perspective), according to this man, have very little to offer Bulgarians.
A very interesting perspective indeed. I could have responded simply by bashing this ethnocentric, idealistic paradigm so frankly expressed by this man. But instead, I thanked him for the chat. (Hey, at least he eventually let me enter the rock church for free) A wiser man than me once said something to the effect, "It is better to live humbly for a cause than to die nobly for one." If I argued with this very proud man with the limited Bulgarian that I have at my disposal, I couldn't guarantee that I would have the chance to live much longer (humbly or otherwise).
So instead, I let his thoughts marinate. I let this conversation serve as an example of the national pride that is ubiquitious in the Balkans. Sometimes this quality of culture can be evinced in such awesome ways (i.e. the folk festivals where countries show off their pasttimes to a excited and jovial crowd). Other times it can rear its ugly head in awful conflicts (i.e. the all too current debates over malleable borders and the Roma minority).
I guess for now, any sort of conclusion would be made in haste but that man surely served as an example of how ethnocentricity is very real to some people here in Bulgaria even during a time of political progession into the E.U. and cultural progression (not necessarily a good thing) into the globalized western world.
We took a train to the village of Ivanovo and hiked to the Rusenski Lom (Ruse Valley). It is a breath-taking plush river valley sandwiched between huge rock faces that have numerous caves carved into them that served as monasteries during Medeival times. The 'Rock Churches of Ivanovo' are one of the landmarks in Bulgaria protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=31064&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Besides the beautiful views and challenging hiking trails the trip provided, we also met a very interesting man who collected the admission fee to enter the Rock Church that is still open to tourists. When we first entered into the church, he told us it would be 50 stotinki (roughly cents) for the four students we were with and 1 lev (roughly dollar) for Emo and I. We began talking, and it was clear to him that I was American and soon enough, I provided that I was in Bulgaria to teach English and work with young people here in different sorts of capacities. His reaction was one of skepticism to say the least. He believed that this situation was backwards. Bulgarians should be traveling to America and other 'new countries' and teach Bulgarian language and culture to these countries. After all, Bulgaria is thousands of years old and this area of the world cradled some of the first pre-modern civilizations 1000s of years ago during the Neolithic Period. American Nationals with a country who's life can be measured in half the time that the Ottoman Empire spent occupying Bulgaria (to put things into perspective), according to this man, have very little to offer Bulgarians.
A very interesting perspective indeed. I could have responded simply by bashing this ethnocentric, idealistic paradigm so frankly expressed by this man. But instead, I thanked him for the chat. (Hey, at least he eventually let me enter the rock church for free) A wiser man than me once said something to the effect, "It is better to live humbly for a cause than to die nobly for one." If I argued with this very proud man with the limited Bulgarian that I have at my disposal, I couldn't guarantee that I would have the chance to live much longer (humbly or otherwise).
So instead, I let his thoughts marinate. I let this conversation serve as an example of the national pride that is ubiquitious in the Balkans. Sometimes this quality of culture can be evinced in such awesome ways (i.e. the folk festivals where countries show off their pasttimes to a excited and jovial crowd). Other times it can rear its ugly head in awful conflicts (i.e. the all too current debates over malleable borders and the Roma minority).
I guess for now, any sort of conclusion would be made in haste but that man surely served as an example of how ethnocentricity is very real to some people here in Bulgaria even during a time of political progession into the E.U. and cultural progression (not necessarily a good thing) into the globalized western world.
Monday, August 13, 2007
A Few Thoughts...
As I sit here in my apartment in an 8-story concrete apartment block in true soviet-era style in the city center of "the aristocratic city" of Bulgaria, I feel the past 4 months since I left the Crowder house in Woodbridge, VA have gone as-expected in some ways; in other ways, they have been so extraordinarily outside the realm of any of my expectations. I digress...
First off for those of yall who I haven't had the chance to tell...I am living in Rousse, Bulgaria as a member of the 21st group of volunteers to serve in the country since the fall of the Communist regime in 1989. Presently, there are 4 Peace Corps programs here. Youth Development, Community/Organizational Development, Primary Education, and last but not least Secondary Education. I am with the Secondary Education program. Starting September 15th, I will teach 8th and 9th grade students at one of the many high schools in Rousse (the 5th biggest city in Bulgaria with approx. 160,000 people here). That is my 'primary assignment.' Additionally I will work with a local NGO that has ties with YMCA and the Rousse Youth Center subsidized by the Ministry of Youth and Sport.
That is what I have in store for me in the near future. Now, what the hell have I been doing with myself for the past 4 months while all of you have been: enjoying the beach, graduating college, celebrating the 4th of July and numerous birthdays without me, mourning/grieving the events of 4/16, starting new jobs, and playing golf, and most recently speculating if [insert 'guaranteeing that' if you choose] Jason Campbell is going to take us to the promised land. Well, actually I have tried to do stay as much in contact with it all over here in Bulgaria, but inevitably, as my service over here has evolved into what it has over the past 4 months, I feel increasingly detached from you all (tear).
Since arriving at the Sofia International Airport on April 16th, 2007, I have had the honor to meet some pretty damn awesome volunteers who I'll be in Bulgaria with (There are over 100 total but only 40 B21s[see above]). I lived in Kyustendil, a small town relatively close to the Macedonian border at the foot of the Rila Mountains, with my host family the Stoyanovs for my 3 month training period. Mariana, Alexander, and their twin son/daughter Velisar and Velislava (21 years old) were the kaleidescope through which I first looked into the Bulgarian culture. Slowly but surely, as I began learning more and more of the language I established one of the coolest bonds one could ever experience with Mariana. As we would sit at the dinner table late into the night studying my new language (no one in my host family speaks English) and smoking Victory Brand cigarettes, we began to know each other in a way that any language would insufficiently express.
During the week in Kyuestendil, 4 of the other volunteers from the B21 group and I would have language training and teaching training until the evening. Anni, our language trainer is one of the most fun, intelligent, and funny women I will ever meet. It is because of her (and the fact that I'm a straight ballllllller) that I can speak Bulgarian at the level I can at the moment. As we grew into our new role as Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) Amanda, Josh, Mindy, and Nancy became true friends as the sometimes odd and undeniably foreign culture would push my patience and sanity. (for this you guys, I kick you!)
I visited so many amazing places during my stay in Kyustendil (e.g. The Rila Monastery, Sofia to visit Velisar and Velislava at University http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/travel/01surfacing.html?ex=1184126400&en=b3db05d314597df3&ei=5070&emc=eta1 , The 7 Lakes in the Rila Mountains, many different small villages where it seems like the clocks are turned back decades compared to the fast-paced electronic life in which I grew up).
So I have given you a bit of an idea of what I will be doing during the next two years, and what I have done in the past 4 months. Now I can attempt to answer the question that I ask myself sometimes after I ask for 250 grams of Bulgarian cheese at a supermarket, or finish a glass of beer at dinner with the very real monogram showing at the bottom of the glass: Made in the USSR....WHAT/HOW AM I NOW?
I am happy. I am lonely. I am overjoyed with the decision I made to join the Peace Corps. I am overwhelmed. I am learning. I am meeting people and starting friendships with people in a language that is not my own. I am training for the Athens Marathon in November. And one thing is for sure...I'm livin my life.
First off for those of yall who I haven't had the chance to tell...I am living in Rousse, Bulgaria as a member of the 21st group of volunteers to serve in the country since the fall of the Communist regime in 1989. Presently, there are 4 Peace Corps programs here. Youth Development, Community/Organizational Development, Primary Education, and last but not least Secondary Education. I am with the Secondary Education program. Starting September 15th, I will teach 8th and 9th grade students at one of the many high schools in Rousse (the 5th biggest city in Bulgaria with approx. 160,000 people here). That is my 'primary assignment.' Additionally I will work with a local NGO that has ties with YMCA and the Rousse Youth Center subsidized by the Ministry of Youth and Sport.
That is what I have in store for me in the near future. Now, what the hell have I been doing with myself for the past 4 months while all of you have been: enjoying the beach, graduating college, celebrating the 4th of July and numerous birthdays without me, mourning/grieving the events of 4/16, starting new jobs, and playing golf, and most recently speculating if [insert 'guaranteeing that' if you choose] Jason Campbell is going to take us to the promised land. Well, actually I have tried to do stay as much in contact with it all over here in Bulgaria, but inevitably, as my service over here has evolved into what it has over the past 4 months, I feel increasingly detached from you all (tear).
Since arriving at the Sofia International Airport on April 16th, 2007, I have had the honor to meet some pretty damn awesome volunteers who I'll be in Bulgaria with (There are over 100 total but only 40 B21s[see above]). I lived in Kyustendil, a small town relatively close to the Macedonian border at the foot of the Rila Mountains, with my host family the Stoyanovs for my 3 month training period. Mariana, Alexander, and their twin son/daughter Velisar and Velislava (21 years old) were the kaleidescope through which I first looked into the Bulgarian culture. Slowly but surely, as I began learning more and more of the language I established one of the coolest bonds one could ever experience with Mariana. As we would sit at the dinner table late into the night studying my new language (no one in my host family speaks English) and smoking Victory Brand cigarettes, we began to know each other in a way that any language would insufficiently express.
During the week in Kyuestendil, 4 of the other volunteers from the B21 group and I would have language training and teaching training until the evening. Anni, our language trainer is one of the most fun, intelligent, and funny women I will ever meet. It is because of her (and the fact that I'm a straight ballllllller) that I can speak Bulgarian at the level I can at the moment. As we grew into our new role as Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) Amanda, Josh, Mindy, and Nancy became true friends as the sometimes odd and undeniably foreign culture would push my patience and sanity. (for this you guys, I kick you!)
I visited so many amazing places during my stay in Kyustendil (e.g. The Rila Monastery, Sofia to visit Velisar and Velislava at University http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/travel/01surfacing.html?ex=1184126400&en=b3db05d314597df3&ei=5070&emc=eta1 , The 7 Lakes in the Rila Mountains, many different small villages where it seems like the clocks are turned back decades compared to the fast-paced electronic life in which I grew up).
So I have given you a bit of an idea of what I will be doing during the next two years, and what I have done in the past 4 months. Now I can attempt to answer the question that I ask myself sometimes after I ask for 250 grams of Bulgarian cheese at a supermarket, or finish a glass of beer at dinner with the very real monogram showing at the bottom of the glass: Made in the USSR....WHAT/HOW AM I NOW?
I am happy. I am lonely. I am overjoyed with the decision I made to join the Peace Corps. I am overwhelmed. I am learning. I am meeting people and starting friendships with people in a language that is not my own. I am training for the Athens Marathon in November. And one thing is for sure...I'm livin my life.
Finally, my blogging commences
A wide variety of feelings have finally caused me to go where so many other peace corps volunteers have so boldly gone before: to the land of Blog. Before I enter into this world (I guess more importantly before any of my friends and family enter into MY blog world) I would like to provide you with my Blog's waiver: As you read on you will probably find out some new cool things about Bulgaria, me, and my adventures here in Bulgaria. But if at any time you feel like you want to call me out on something I say that you think is bogus in any way (i.e. I sound like an idiot that has stolen your beloved Eric and replaced him with an out-of-touch Eastern-Euroland ex-pat) please do so and we will settle it in a way the two parties deem appropriate. Anyways...thanks for taking your time to see what's going on in my life; and you can be certain that I would love to hear what's goin on in yours!!!
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