I and Blog and You

The camp was a real turning point for me here. Since then my friend Jennifer and I travelled to Shumen to visit with Brittany. It was a long trip but totally worth it. We went for an early celebration of Jennifer's birthday. It was great seeing Shumen and Brittany. She took us for a tour around where we shopped at some great 2nd hand stores and we visited a monument that represents all of Bulgaria's history with 1300 steps, one for each year. (No I don't know if they add one each year) By the way that is a lot of freaking steps!!!! It is painful on the way up, luckily there is a small cafe about 3/4 of the way up to give you a little rest, but my legs were shaking for sure on the way down!

Back in my village I have been busy (finally) I told my counterpart I was ready, I want to start an after school program and start teaching English to adults. I don't know if it was a communication thing or what, but now I am teaching an after school English class to kids! ha!! We meet every Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday was just a quick introduction and I had 16 kids not only show up, but run there after school. Today I thought, ok, if I get half of those kids back then I will be happy. Well 17 kids showed up! 17 kids at all different levels of English, and me at all different levels of Bulgarian! =) I walked home with the best smile on my face and the most amazing feeling in my heart. Not only did my lesson plan work out to exactly the right amount of time, I had a blast, got to know some of the kids, and am so ready to dive in with so many more ideas and plans!! I will start teaching English to adults soon, but I am just really enjoying my first program and the kids! Hopefully I can maintain my sanity and keep them entertained as well as time goes on.

This picture is for my Mom. She sent me a couple great packages and this dress was in one of them! I have worn it a few times and love it! I have been lucky to receive a few packages and know that a few more are on the way. Thank you to everyone for the packages and letters, and honestly thank you for even thinking of and wanting to send one! =) I can't tell you how much I appreciate it and it lifts my spirits!

At the top of 1300 steps you are treated to some great views of Shumen as well as some transformer! =) Jennifer named them the steps to Mordor. There is certainly a transformer feel to the structure. But then when you turn the corner there are some beautiful mosaics very similar to the ones I saw in Russia. Well worth the steps!

Here I am on my last step! (up)

Jenn and Brit on their last steps!!

This is where they start. If you look in the distance at the top of the hill you can see the monument. It is the big thing that does not look like a tree!

Blog up

One of the coolest things about the conference in Sliven was that my counterpart approached me and wanted to see if I was interested in helping out some fellow volunteers at a camp. She had previously not allowed me to leave to go to another camp so I think this was her way of trying to make up for it. I very very happily accepted the invitation, once I figured out what she was talking about and when the other volunteers actually invited me themselves. I had such an amazing time!!! It was a camp put on by two volunteers from another group, Shah a B24 who has since COS'ed (his service ended) and John who is a B25. Another B25 CJ was there to help out. There were 3 Vols from my group of B26's, Amber (my first PC friend and roomie) and Ryan, a fellow Pacific North-westerner, and of course me. We had about 8 kids from ages 15-18 and they all spoke relatively good English, which was a huge relief for me! =)

It took place in the Rhodopi Mountains in the small beautiful village of Borino. The villages and people of the Rhodopi mountains are so friendly and it is SO beautiful!! We stayed in tents and the weather for the most part cooperated. The 3 of us B26's got in after dark since we were travelling directly from our conference. Our directions were that once we got off the bus in Borino there would be a man to meet us in a green van. I knew it would be one of those amazing experiences that drew me to join the Peace Corps and it did not dissapoint.

Here is Shah leading one of the English sessions

Amber and John in one of their sessions

And we shall call her "Old Faithful". This was our group transportation from where we were camping to the village. She rode about as good as she looks, but certainly was dependable!

We went to another village for their town celebration on Sat. This is Ryan, Amber and I.

They named the camp "Myle" I still don't know why, but here are the kids spelling it out. We followed this photo with a fun game of Duck Duck Goose.

The interior

Here is CJ, Amber and Ryan on our trip into town. There is a good reason Ryan is laughing in this photo. He and I sat in the very back and often got launched off of our seat a good foot or more from the "road" that we had to traverse in order to get to and from the camp.

Blogorious

After our conference in Blagoevgrad we had to wait about 2 weeks and we were all back together again. This time we were together with out counterparts. It was for our Project Design workshop and it took place in Sliven. It was great to be all together again. There are a few more photos that I was tagged in on facebook if anyone wants to see more.

All you need is Blog

So lets go back in time a bit. Towards the end of August we had a conference in Blagoevgrad, which is a city in the South Western part of the country very near to Macedonia. It was a great conference but by far the best part was getting together with my other friends and getting to meet and finally get to know some of the other volunteers. I didn't take a lot of pictures but what I did are posted here.

You be saying to yourself, why the heck haven't you blogged in so long, well to that my answer would be that better nothing than the emotional wreckage I have been trudging though. Some people put it all out there and others clam up, I would be in the latter group. I love this country, and I love the people here. I know that I read through a lot of blogs before I joined the Peace Corps. I read them to get a wide range of feelings and experiences of the people actually living the "dream". If there is anyone out there who would like to know more in detail what I have gone through or certain feelings and emotions that you may (or may not) feel your first few months I would be more than happy to share those with you. I do not feel prepared at this time to put everything in my blog though. Wow that sounds dramatic doesn't it! Seriously though, I am in a very good spot and can feel some great momentum now but it was not easy getting to this point.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

This was our first night together hanging out in almost a month! I had missed my girls very much. There was a very nice stairway from our hotel to a really pretty park that had some restaurants in it. It was a great location.