Ok, so I haven’t updated in a God-awful long time. Sorry. I actually meant to update this evening with more pics of Cairo, and maybe even get as far as Sarajevo, but the gallery happens to be down at the moment. Bummer. Oh well. At the same time, this allows me to update all of my by now sure to be disloyal readers on the vents going on in my life.
On November 26 I started working for the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness as a Grant Administrator. Basically I was supposed to be administering federal dollars for Hazard Mitigation projects throughout Louisiana, many of them as a part of the hurricane recovery effort after the storms of August 2005. In reality I’ve been doing a lot of sitting on my ass and doing nothing. Now that I think about it, I probably could have updated this blog from work fairly often. Sorry again, guys. Anyway, I’ve been really unhappy with the job, and the little work that I have done has been boring and, because of the dependence on other people’s (lack of) data management, quite shoddy. I don’t mind compiling spreadsheets, as long as I can do so with some degree of accuracy, but the stuff I was working with there was a ghastly mess, to take a page from Mr. Banks’s book. So, in the meanwhile I’ve continued to pursue employment elsewhere.
On Friday, January 11 I gave my two weeks notice at the job I’ve just described. I have been offered a position at the Capitol Area United Way, where I will be spearheading their research and policy advocacy efforts, which is really exciting. They know that I lack experience in the area, but would rather have me with my enthusiasm and interest than someone who has the know-how already, but who will not bring the motivation that I’ve displayed to the table. For me this is a dream job. It allows me to really learn some new stuff in a field I’m really interested in. This could play into grad school really well for me, and I may even be able to take some classes on work’s bill. We’ll see how that plays out. In the meanwhile, I’m really happy about this turn of events, and I can’t wait to start.
Did I mention it pays more? That’s right, not only is it a better position, but it’s better pay too! With the extra money I’ve decided that it’s time to buy a new car. I’m hoping to get a late model Toyota Solara. Right now I’m driving an old Chrysler LeBaron, and it was a pretty poor car to begin with. Now that it’s about 15 years old and falling apart I want something about like it, but better. There’s the Sebring, which is basically the same car by Chrysler again, but then there’s the Solara, a two-door, four-seat convertible that’s basically a Camry. Rock. It’ll be dependable, sporty, and will have a lot more room and safety than a Miata or other roadster.
So that’s the news for now. I’ll probably talk a bit more about things like being home for the holidays, seeing the tigers win the national championship, and all that sort of stuff soon too, but for now this small immediate-life news post will have to do. I really hope the gallery gets back up soon.
Cairo… What to say about Cairo? Well, I think that the picture above says it all. It’s big, disorganized, dirty, polluted, and BUSY. Think about the busiest most trafficked days of most places in the U.S. Things like right after the Super Bowl, or Mardi Gras, or New Year’s Eve in New York. That’s what it feels like every day in Cairo. The streets are packed, it’s always noisy, and it never stops (well, almost never… more on that later).
It’s easy to see why the Nile is so important with this pic!
Carey and I arrived in Cairo mid-day on Sept. 10th. It was our first day of complete freedom. We had officially COSed and left the country. I should have known that Bulgaria would stab out at us one last time, though. As it happened, the first thing we discovered upon our arrival was that my primary bag had been lost in transit. I had to go fill out a claims form and all that, which took a while because, you guessed it, I wasn’t the only one in line. After about 25 minutes or so of dealing with that we made our way through customs and immigration and were finally able to find our driver from the hotel we booked outside. Our “adventure” in Cairo had begun.
Our friend Andy had told us while hanging out in Sofia that he may have seen about three traffic lights his whole time there, so Carey and I were on the look out for them. Andy’s impression wasn’t a false one: there are almost no traffic lights in the city. The few that do exist are only on the intersections of the most major arteries of the city. They are non-existent on the smaller streets. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a cop there directing traffic with his whistle and white uniform, AK-47 at his side. Aside from that, it’s just pray and go, though somehow this organic method of getting around somehow seems to work. Crossing the street was thus pretty difficult. The old game Frogger constantly came to mind. Carey is convinced that I had a death wish during our time there.
A Butcher’s in Kan el-Khalili
Anyway, after losing my bag, the second thing that happened to me was that I got sick. I blame the pollution. It was really bad there. It was the first time I actually found it difficult to breathe the air that was available. I developed a sinus infection almost immediately, and was also stricken with some pretty harsh bowel problems that didn’t go away for about a week and a half. Anyway, this all developed during the first night there, which Carey and I basically spent wandering around downtown Cairo and getting our bearings. We really didn’t do anything touristy. The one thing we tried to do, which was order some pastry at El-Abd (a super good pastry shop), we failed at because it was so busy and we didn’t know how the system worked. We were able to ask for help in English, but everyone was so busy and it was so crowded that we just ended up giving up in the end.
A spice store in Khan el-Khalili… I like Istanbul’s better.
For dinner Carey and I went to a “Nile Cruise” boat hoping to get a good mix of Egyptian food while soaking up some mild entertainment. Well, it was something else entirely. First off, the food was good, but it wasn’t really Egyptian, or even all that Middle-Eastern. It wasn’t even all that Mediterranean. We were disappointed and felt it really wasn’t worth the money. The entertainment was bawdy at best. There was pair of a dervishes consisting of a dwarf and a “giant” which, while talented, just weren’t that interesting. This was followed by some live music with really, really dorky dancers in day-glow silk outfits that shouldn’t be thrown out but burned, because if you throw them out, someone else might find them and wear them. The last entertainment was a belly dancer who was older, not very fit, and kind of aggressive (having refused to participate in whatever she was trying to get various audience members to do, she smashed her stick that she was balancing on various parts of her anatomy on our table). To top it all off, this lasted for HOURS on end. Carey and I were pretty much exhausted by the end, and I am not ashamed to say I napped at our table. That night we went to bed thinking that Cairo was a little bit different than we had hoped it would be.
A Mosque’s Fountain
The next day, Tuesday, Carey and I decided to head out to Islamic Cairo. This basically consisted of walking around Khan el-Khalili and seeing some of the old mosques and city walls. It was interesting enough, but aside from just the sheer crowdedness of it (which is quite uncomfortable), I was rather unimpressed. For all of its history, Cairo just didn’t seem to offer much to us. We ended up buying some perfume oils (overpriced) after a guy “volunteered” to show us around before taking us into his shop. It was worth buying them just to say we had the experience of haggling, but I still feel ripped off and that I would have been better off not even letting that guy talk to us in the first place.
View From the Top of the Minaret
The thing that we did that I really enjoyed on this part of the trip was that we visited one mosque that was actually quite beautiful. The lighting for pictures in the main square of it was perfect, and we were also able to climb up to the top of one of the minarets and get a pretty decent view of the city. Of course we had to pay for admittance, and then tip the guy “bakhshish” for the trouble of showing up there, but it was still worth it.
View from the Odeon Palace Hotel’s Rooftop Terrace
That night Carey and I went to a place called the Odeon Palace, which was recommended to us by a friend of a friend who had spent some months in Cairo a a Fulbright scholar. It had a rooftop terrace which was comfortable, and good shisha (that’s a hookah to Westerners). I had some of the best moussaka I’ve ever had that night, and that dinner was one of the highlights of the time we spent in Cairo. Again that night we went to bed feeling that Cairo really wasn’t all that great.
The Pyramids Peaking Through the Giza Skyline
Stay tuned for the second half of the Cairo trip, where I’ll post all the pics from the Pyramids. I hope you’ve enjoyed that little preview up above.
Fountain Rainbow. Why could Bulgaria always be this Beautiful?
Hey All,
I’m going to about my trip home in a couple of different parts, each part consisting of a location. Part one will be about the time I spent in Sofia leading up to finally leaving Bulgaria.
Carey and I Celebrate Being DONE!
In Peace Corps, like any organization, has a lot of acronyms. COS is an important one for Volunteers. It means Conclusion of Service. This sounds like it’s something that happens, as though it were an event or specific milestone. The reality of the matter is that it is a process that takes up quite a bit of time and patience. Basically, there are four steps to take. The first step is the COS conference, which I blogged about in a previous post. Basically everyone learns what paperwork you’re supposed to do, learn a bit about what going back home will mean, and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate with the friends you’ve made over the past two years that you are finally going home.
There’s actually an extra one to the side… We had nine of them.
The second step is your COS I. This is when you come into the main office for a few days, get some tests run, have a physical, get your teeth cleaned, etc. This is probably the second to last time you’ll be at the main office before you leave the country. COS II is the closest business day to your actual departure date. It’s when the last of the last medical tests are done, and when the final paperwork releasing you from Peace Corps service is filled out. My COS I went fairly well, and I seem to be disease free. I got an MRI for my knee injury, which confirmed the diagnosis of a torn ligament, and I am STILL taking it easy. I can’t wait to start running again, though.
Why do girls always look better in my caps than I do?! It isn’t fair.
My COS II was a bit more of an ordeal than the other stuff. First off, as I was going to leave on Monday Sept. 10 in the early morning, I had to come in the week before that to get my stuff done in the office. However, since Sept. 6 is a holiday in Bulgaria, the office was closed the Thursday and Friday the proceeding week. That meant that I had to go to Sofia on the night train on Tuesday evening to arrive early enough on Wednesday to take care of all the stuff I had to do at the office that day. That meant that for the better part of the week that Carey, who was leaving with me, and I had time together in Sofia to cause trouble.
Boudreaux and Jack nurse our new baby.
Pretty much that whole time period was spent celebrating, doing stuff in Sofia that we’d been meaning to do but hadn’t, catching up with and saying goodbye to friends, and saying goodbye to Bulgaria. The most important of the activities were on Saturday and Sunday nights. On Saturday we had our large, goodbye dinner. At the center of the plan for it were steaks and a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue. Carey, Jack, Boudreaux and I all went in on a bottle of this bottle of amber goodness to celebrate our finishing, and it was worth it. In the end, it wasn’t so much the scotch itself, but the experience of sharing it, but JWB was still darn good stuff.
Hallelujah! 40 Leva Well Spent.
We had a bunch of other people there too, of course. Boudreaux and Jack’s wives, Andrea and Ronda, were essential to the party, and some other folks came along too: Hrisi, my Bulgarian friend; Matty, an indispensable member to celebrating anything in Bulgaria; Melanie, the 20 that seems to show up to everything fun; Anna, the silent sweetheart of the 18s; Max, yet another of the 18 boys fun to have at any party; and Toni, who makes a celebration in Sofia complete.
GRRR! Steak!
There are lots of memories that I’ll have from that night, but the most prominent ones will be the table game we played at dinner, stepping outside to the monument to Tsar Osvoboditel to drink our scotch from glasses smuggled out of the restaurant, and the great after-party we had a Andrea and Boudreaux’s place later that night. It was really wonderful seeing everyone one last time and being able to say goodbye. I’m going to miss many of them.
Hrisi and I
The following day was a final-final dinner, this time just with Jack, Ronda, their friends from home, and Melanie. We had this one because we wanted some more intimate time with Jack and Ronda, that we couldn’t have gotten at the large gathering the night before. It was good to say goodbye and to have that closure with them (not that we aren’t going to keep our friendship going strong now that we’re no longer in Bulgaria!). Jack gave us his old cowboy boots and, well, that’s another story for another time, but let’s just say they have a personality and identity all their own. We all ate at Priyafata, which is a Bulgarian restaurant in Sofia, probably the best in the country.
The Boys and Their Scotch
The next morning, Carey and I got up really early, grabbed our bags, and headed for Cairo. That’s all for Sofia. I’ll post more soon. I’ll close this post with some more pictures from the party.
Carey Enjoys a Cuban; Thanks Matty!
Max, Andrea, and I Enjoy One Last Evening Together
Boudreaux and I… Well, I don’t know what, but it involved “Eye of the Tiger” I think.
The following two bits of text are copied from emails home. Sorry there aren’t any pictures right now, as I haven’t uploaded any yet. I’ll do some proper blogging once I’ve done so.
—–
I just wanted to let you all know that I have arrived safely in Cairo. My main bag got lost on the way from Sofia, but I was able to give them the contact info for me here, in Sarajevo, and in Louisiana. I should have the bag tonight and if not, tomorrow.
The cab ride over here was… interesting. I should be able to give a better description of my experiences later on once I’ve showered and settled.
—–
Good news! I have my bag back. It was here when I woke up this morning, having shown up around 4am. It had all my stuff without anything missing. Last night Carey and I explored a bit of downtown Cairo and ended up (unwisely I think) going on a boat ride on the Nile for dinner. We had arranged it through our hostel, but we were dead tired already, and the thing lasted to midnight, but we figured it would be touristy and have Egyptian food for tourists and would be a decent thing to do. Well, it’s not that the food was bad, but I felt I could get things like roasted chicken and cabbage salad anywhere. Also, there were two wedding parties on the boat as well, not a bunch of tourists, so Carey and I felt very out of place. Aside from saying we were on the Nile, I really don’t think it was really worth it in terms of “experiencing Egypt.” We got home well after midnight and went to bed immediately and slept in till 11 this morning.
After getting up today we decided to take our first showers, which I could finally do with all my stuff being here (brushing my teeth never felt so good!). We hailed a cab on the street and they took us just outside of Al-Hussein mosque, the most important in Egypt for state affairs. It is in the old quarter, near the main shopping bazaar called Khal-Kallili. We explored this area for a few hours, haggling heavily with one particular oil merchant. Carey and I finally agreed to buy four small bottles of perfume oil for 300 Egyptian pounds (about $55). After that we started walking towards the old city walls at the north gates, stopping by one old madras in ruins and climbing the minaret tower of Al-Hakim mosque. It provided some amazing views of Cairo. After that we walked down one of the main roads back towards Al-Hussein, which was an adventure in itself. I thought Sofia and Bulgaria had bad drivers and traffic. They have nothing on Cairo! I will have plenty of pictures and videos to share later on. I hope to have some of them uploaded tonight, as we are planning a quiet night in the hotel without going out to late.
Tomorrow Carey and I are taking a hired car to go to Giza, Memphis, and some other sites outside of the city to see the Sphinx and the Pyramids. I’m excited about it, more so than I was about what we did today. As of right now Egypt has not disappointed, but it hasn’t impressed either. Hopefully the Pyramids, the oldest and biggest tourist (man-made) attractions in the world, will live up to the hype.
Last week I had to go into Sofia for my COS I, which is three days during which all volunteers take care of administrative and medical stuff within a month of leaving the country. It basically consists of a TB test, getting new vaccinations for any that have expired, a physical exam, and an exit interview with one of the top three administrators. My particular schedule also included getting an MRI done on my knee, which confirmed the diagnosis that the doctors had made earlier, that being a small tear in the ligament. Basically I still have to keep from doing anything that would put too much strain on the knee is all.
Matt and His Old Host Parents
I came in on a Tuesday and had my TB injection and my physical exam, and was told that I had to go back in two days to get it checked. That evening I didn’t have too much to do, so I went to the theatre to see the new Harry Potter film. I am still disappointed in it as an adaptation of the book. There were many things I felt it did poorly, such as the discovery of the DA and the revolt of the Weasley twins, but as a film in itself I really enjoyed it. The relationship between Harry and Sirius was done particularly well. After the film I went to Andrea and Boudreaux’s place, where I was staying. Ended up that Thomas and Apryl were there too, so it was a nice little group to hang out with.
Carey and Matt Entering Nessebur
The next day I had nothing to do until my MRI appointment at 6, so I ended up hanging out at Andrea and Boudreaux’s watching TV shows for a few hours before heading out. I ended up meeting Ronda eventually, who was hanging out Rachel, a friend of a third PCV named Grace who was in Bulgaria visiting from Cairo, where she’s been studying. We ended up chatting about my own upcoming trip to Egypt, which was nice. After getting my MRI done I ended up hanging out with Alex, who was in town for the SPA committee meeting (as was Ronda). We went to the mall, had coffee, and he went over SPA stuff while I wrote some note cards. Late that night Matt finally came in from Sarajevo (via Belgrade). Matt used to be my sitemate a year ago, but he left and there was a year gap before Joe showed up. We went out for beers and food and had a goof time catching up.
Nessebur’s Old Town
The next day we had to go to the office around 10:00 to go to my interview and to get my TB test done. Matt wanted to come along to meet with his old program staff and other friends still working with PC HQ that he knew from his time there (we’ve since gotten quite a few new folks to replace ones who left just before or after he did). My interview was interesting. It was with the new Country Director, who is the head of Peace Corps in a given country. Our new CD is Lesley Duncan, who has apparently been PC her whole life - rumor has it she was born while both parents were serving in the Peace Corps, or something like that, was a volunteer herself, and has been a PC staffer since. Anyway, there have been a lot of stuff going around about how Peace Corps Bulgaria is going to be very different with her at the lead, and now that I’ve interviewed her, I agree with it.
The Old Bishopric in Nessebur
She has a very specific idea of what the life of a PCV should be, and she is prepared to mold PC Bulgaria to fit that image at the cost of existing PCV lifestyles and institutions. From what I understand, she’s already shut down the At-Risk Youth Fund, a PCV run organization that gives micro-grants to organization that work with at-risk youth, and has suggested that the Volunteer Support Network, a group of PCVs that function as peer counselors and social even organizers, may be next. She also seems to have hinted that the Volunteer Advisory Committee, which is the voice of the PCVs to the administration, is not mandated for according to PC rules, and is likewise disposable. Whether or not she actually does any of this things will be quite another matter, but she shared with me her thoughts of what a PCV’s life should be, and what she said was that a volunteer should spend all his time that is not vacation or work-related leave integrating in his town. This means an end to what I like to call “freebies” for PCVs. De facto PC policy in Bulgaria had been this: if your school or organization was on vacation and you were not working on a secondary project - read already completed yours or were set to implement it later without need for immediate work - then you could leave your site without using up vacation days provided you stayed in the country. That would mean that, now that my summer camp is over and my institution has no kids, I could simply go to the beach or visit friends whenever I want to without taking official leave. This is important because that means that you could save you leave days for traveling out of country, which is when you have to use them no matter what unless it’s an official holiday. This practice has ended.
A Seagull on the Tarp Above Our Table
There are arguments to be had for both sides of this decision. Some would say that the extra freedom allowed us to see more of Bulgaria and take in more of the culture of the place. I’ve been all around this country, and much of that would have been impossible if I had had to do it with just the 48 vacation days you get over two years, especially when you look at the limitations they put on when you can spend them - not in the first six months from your arrival and not within three months of leaving. There’s nine months where you can’t travel already. Of course, if you travel outside of the country, you’re probably leaving for extended periods - visiting home, traveling Europe, etc., so those days can go quick. So it made sense to say that the official policy was not as healthy a policy in a place like Bulgaria and that we should adapt it to our own needs. In a place where the only place you’d go is the capital city, it makes sense to keep PCVs dispersed in the country and from gathering in the capital constantly. However, Bulgaria has places to go all over the place, and there’s something to be said about being able to talk about the whole of Bulgaria when we get back (as that’s one third of our mission as PCVs!).
Folks on a Beach in Nessebur
On the other hand, one could say that being forced to spend the majority of your free time in your site makes you that much more integrated. If you’re gone every weekend and never hang out with the locals, you’ll never know what it’s like to be a normal Bulgarian. However, I think that the belief that PCVs are being negligent of their integration into their host communities to the degree that Lesley might imagine them being is misguided. Sure, we travel a lot, but we do it in spurts, with large blocks of time spent right at home with our local friends and neighbors. She seems to want to make that the be all and end all of PCV life outside of the work environment - unless it’s your one free weekend a month, a holiday, or you take leave. She spoke of how she went out into the fields on her free time, and that PCVs here should go work tobacco here in Bulgaria if they have nothing else to do. I really think that’s extreme. I know Matt did it while he was here, but that was because it was his girlfriend’s family’s plot. I don’t imagine that working to bring in crops which I think are a blight on the world to begin with is something I should be encouraged to do. PCV life in Bulgaria is going to have a lot more sitting down with locals doing nothing. That’s not integration; that’s assimilation. Don’t forget, folks, they’re supposed to learn from us too. We’re volunteers folks, and I know there are rules and that they exist for a reason, but life for PCVs in Bulgaria is going to be a lot harder now, and I feel really bad for the folks who, like me, have to live without a sitemate for any period of time or are stuck in small town or, worse, both. Looking at this, I think that organizations like VSN and VAC are more valuable than ever. I hope they don’t get shut down.
Anyway, that’s that, and I’m leaving. So long Bulgaria. I’ve only 17 days left with you. I feel bad for those I leave behind, but at least it’s not my problem. So aside from all that, I thought the interview went well. I had a good talk about my own service, let her know my opinion on a few things, and got out alive. After that, Matt rented a car and we were out of Sofia by 18:00. On our way to Burgas we went to visit his host family (see pic above). We got lost on the way because the roads are so confusing here and are poorly marked, but we surprised them and stayed for about an hour or so. After getting back on the road we got to Burgas without too much trouble, though we didn’t arrive until about 01:00. The next day we got up and went to Nessebur with Carey, who had not seen it before. I had been when seeing Sting in concert a year ago, but it was nice to see it again, as it’s a pretty place, as you can see from all the photos. That night we went out with a bunch of folks to a cool bar where I danced a bit and listened to some of our party play the piano too. It was a good night.
Oh No!!! The Site from the Window
The following morning, however, we discovered that Matt’s rental car had been vandalized! Someone threw a lot of yellow and red latex paint all over it and also let air out of two of the tires. We were able to clean up the important windows and mirrors and inflate the tires, but the body’s paint job is probably ruined. Thankfully the locals hanging out in front of the bloc were able to help us out (paint thinner for the windows and mirrors, a pump for the tires, etc.) and Matt bought insurance, but what a shame! Apparently there was a similar vandalism the week before too! They even showed us where it happened - just on the exact other side of the street we had parked! You can see the paint that dropped on the pavement from the previous week in the picture above - just feet away from our car! Matt had to make a police report for the rental company, which I can tell you is a pain in the butt in this country. Luckily the car was still drivable and Matt didn’t let it spoil his trip. He was soon off to Zavet to visit his friends there. I gave him my keys and stayed in Burgas one more night, which was fun. Carey, Jack, Ronda, Mary-Kate, and I all had a night in watching a movie and eating home cooking. Carey made yummy sandwiches and Ronda did another great lemon meringue pie. Carey and I left the next day, but it was great hanging out at the sea with Jack and Ronda one last time. Below are more pics of the vandalism.
Note This Side Has Flat Tires
One funny thing to come of it all was a news article about the vandalizing. Some PCVs get news briefs sent out from PC with all the headlines. Here is an excerpt showing how much a paper can get wrong in this country:
From 24 Chassa A liquid the color of oil was thrown over the vehicle used by an American national in Burgas’s Pobeda neighborhood on Saturday night. The car had its tires flattened too. Matt Thomas from Washington was staying with friends who had recently got an apartment in Burgas when this incident happened. Reportedly he was teaching English in a village in Razgrad region. Monday – pg. 5
Come on, “a liquid the color of oil?” And it’s Matt Thompson, not Thomas, and he USED to teach English in Zavet, which is a small town, not a Village. Oh, and Jack and Ronda have been in Burgas for a year now. There’s nothing recent about the move. *sigh*
Anyway, back in Zavet this week things have been spoko. Monday Will came over from Isperih to help Joe with Baseball. Tuesday I was able to send a package home of all the stuff I don’t want to pack with me but don’t want to leave behind from Razgrad. Yesterday I cleaned house quite a bit, and last night Joe and I went out with some local girls and had a good time at our favorite little bar. Last night my boiler stopped working, but I got it fixed again. If it stops again the guy knows what part he needs to replace, so that’s good. He’s the same guy who fixed a different problem on it before, and isn’t charging me anything, which is great. We had a good conversation where he explained what was wrong to me, and little by little I got it. Apparently the switch inside the boiler that senses the water is cool and should be heated is faulty. I was quite proud of myself for getting all the other details too, but that’s the actual problem. In other news, I have some pics of the kitchenette units that we purchased with my PCPP money. You can see one of the units below. If you click on the picture for a larger image, you’ll see the nice new tile work on the floor, and some on the wall, which still needs to be finished. I think that’s what they’ll all look like in the end. I’m hoping they’ll be done in two weeks, so I can see the finished product when I’m done.
Sink, Stove Top, and Fridge All-in-One
That’s pretty much it for now. I have only a few weeks left and I can’t wait to start my travels. If you want a post card, by the way, let me know. I’ll send you one from somewhere if you give me your address.
So it feels like a month of Sundays since I’ve posted, and I’m sorry about that. I say that every time. I suck at posting regularly. I do it in spurts. I get the itch to say stuff here, do so in a fit of being prolific, and then I end up not posting again for a month. Oh well. If anyone is reading this, however haphazard I end up posting this stuff, I guess I’m doing something right with the content.
This post is going to be another large one covering lots of topics, so just bear with me as I go through what I’ve gone and done since Istanbul (wow, that I haven’t done a real journal post since then seems crazy when I think about it!).
The Bride and Groom Slice the Cake
The first big event that happened since Istanbul is that I went to a party in Gorna Oryahovitza. Gorna is a major rail hub for Bulgaria in the center of the country just north of the Balkans. Anyway, Melanie was throwing a themed party there, the theme being weddings. The idea was that since most volunteers will miss at least one wedding while in Peace Corps that we should have a party to celebrate the weddings we had missed. To do so Melanie planned out a faux-wedding reception. We all drew cards with our role for the evening on it (Bride, Groom, Best Man, Maid of Honor, etc.) and acted out the wedding reception according to our roles. As a bridesmaid, I was able to catch the bouquet as you can see in the first pic at the top of the post. Of course after we got through all the ceremonial aspects (toasts, dances, etc.) we all just sorta had a normal party, but it was still really fun and silly. We also filmed a toast to all the new couples back home, which I’ve uploaded onto YouTube:
Anyway, that was the weekend of June 8. The next thing that was fun and interesting was the weekend before my birthday (weekend of June 22), when we decided to celebrate the day a bit early at Carey’s apartment in Veliki Preslav. Lots of folks made it down for it, and all in all we had Carey, Jack, Ronda, Susan, Gina, Anna, and myself. It was a good crowd of great people, and Carey did some good cooking to boot. Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures of that weekend, so they are lost to memory only.
Gina, Center, Looking Resplendent as a Bridesmaid, Alana Left
The following weekend weekend was John Dunne’s and Tia Goodwin’s wedding. They are two TEFL volunteers from the group before mine. John had had to go home early, but came back to marry Tia in Bulgaria “where they met.” I wasn’t planning on going at first, but Gina said that Carey and I were expected to be there and that we were to take lots of photos. The wedding itself was held in the Methodist church in Shumen. I was rather surprised that it even existed, to be honest. John’s dad did the ceremony, which seemed fraught with confusion at points and gave the impression that it wasn’t rehearsed at all, but that actually seemed to lend sincerity and honesty to the whole affair. It didn’t seem at all like pageantry, which weddings sometime come off as, especially in Bulgaria.
Carey with Alana and John McKinney
I sat with Carey and the McKinney’s, to whom I would be saying goodbye that evening for the last time until I see them again in the states. They were finishing with Peace Corps in the next few days and flying home. It was a good opportunity to say goodbye to them, as well as Gina, who was also leaving. After the ceremony we went to a restaurant that had been hired out for the reception, which was a lot of fun. Lots of drinking, dancing, and general merry-making.
Erin Looking Elegant, Jeremy and John Behind
There was an… incident at the reception during which I felt unjustly abused. I won’t go into details here, but I felt embarrassed not only for myself but for the bride. My friends sitting around me were shocked at the behavior of the perpetrator and were rather upset on my behalf. Anyway, at that point it was decided, quite wisely, that the only thing to do was to get over it and have a nice time with my friends, which I proceeded to do. Aside from seeing John and Alana and Gina for the last time, I was also able to catch up with Erin, Jessie, and Jeremy, more TEFLs for whom I have an affinity. Grace and Melanie, some volunteers a year behind me were also there, and it was good to see them too. Finally, there were also some Bulgarians that I knew there. Anyway, Carey was right, and I ended up having a great time anyway.
Mounted Up and Having Fun, Care-Bear
The Monday following the Saturday wedding my brother Jason and his wife Allison arrived in Russe for a week-long visit to Bulgaria. They had come in on a morning bus from Bucharest. I was to meet them at the bus station, but they got an early start and I was delayed by a slow bus, so we arranged to meet at a cafe that they could get to easily via taxi. After our initial greetings and a cup of coffee, I arranged to drop our bags off at the apartment of a volunteer in Russe, after which we strolled around the center and had lunch at a street cafe on the “Glavnata,” which is Bulgarian for the main road (usually meaning the main pedestrian shopping street in the center rather than a highway). Afterwards we met back up with the volunteer holding our bags and went to the bus station for our trip to Zavet.
Jason and Allison in Russe
After a short rest in Zavet we took a trip out to Ahinora, a local cultural site. I had arranged for a friend to drive us out there with his car. Jason and Allison thought the area was really interesting. The only disappointment was that the Thracian tombs, which are part of the attraction, were closed that day. Still, they got a kick out of visiting the tomb of Demir Baba, a holy man for the local Turks who supposedly caused the local spring water to come forth from the rocks. Afterwards we came home and just had a quiet evening at home having dinner and watching a movie.
Allison Drinks from the Holy Spring
The following day we had a lightning tour of Zavet and Razgrad, where we ate lunch, before heading to Veliko Turnovo. We spent the afternoon walking around and doing some shopping, which was fun. Turnovo is my favorite city in Bulgaria, and it’s really something apart from the rest of the country. That evening we dined with Alden and Crystal, a couple of PCVs serving in Turnovo, and I think Jason and Allison really enjoyed the conversation. They had only seen Peace Corps Bulgaria through my reports and experiences, so having someone else tell them of their experiences gave them some perspective. The next day we had planned on a pik-nik lunch in Tsaravets, the local fortress, but we were all a bit tired and just stayed in before our bus to Sofia.
Jason Demonstrates How Best to Travel on a Bulgarian Bus in Summer
Once in Sofia the comedy of errors started (though I suppose with my bus to Russe being late the the Thracian tombs being closed you could argue that Sofia merely was the start of Act II). As soon as we arrived I left Jason and Allison at the bus station to wait on me to buy our train tickets for the following night. We wanted to take a night train to the coast to have some time at the sea before they left for Istanbul. Well, we arrived at a reasonable hour in the early evening (6 or so), but, of course, the ticket office for sleeper cars was closed. There were at least a half a dozen other ticket offices open, of course, as there always are 24 hours a day, but God forbid that Bulgaria’s largest train station have a centralized computer system for selling sleeper car tickets (or tickets in general!) so that one can buy them at any booth. Anyway, I returned empty handed to take Jason and Allison to the hostel. We checked in without problem and headed to dinner with Andrea and Boudreaux, some of my favorite volunteers, who live in Sofia. We had dinner at Taj Mahal, an excellent even for America Indian restaurant. Again, I felt it was really good for Jason and Allison to get the PC Bulgarian experience from someone else’s eyes. That night we three retired to Hambara and Apartamenta, my favorite bars in Sofia, for a night cap before going to bed.
Jason and Allison in Hambara (The Barn), or “Candlebar” as Ex-Pats Call It.
The next day I sent Jason and Allison on a trip to the Rila Monastery while I took care of some business with Peace Corps. I wanted to get the lenses in my replaced, and I also had an appointment to get my knee looked at (I apparently tore a ligament while dancing at the wedding… again). Anyway, that took most of the day for me, but I met up with Jason and Allison again that afternoon. They were able to explore a bit of Sofia between their trip and my return from the doctor’s, which was nice. I had given them a quick night tour the previous evening, so I think they were able to look around for themselves and have some idea of where they were and what they were seeing. Sadly, I was unable to secure night train tickets yet again as the sleeper car had sold out. I made the executive decision to take an early morning bus instead. Well, that was a poor idea since the hostel was booked up. Thankfully Assen, the owner of Hostel Mostel, has a soft spot for volunteers and gave us an apartment that the hostel also lets out for the same price, so yay Assen! That evening we went to a store called Traditzia, which sells Bulgarian hand crafts from around the country at a fair-market value. Jason and Allison really loved the place (as did I), and I really think it was one of the highlights of the trip for them. They bought a LOT of stuff and seemed gleeful that they got most so much of their Christmas shopping out of the way. After shopping we went to a place called Priyafata, a restaurant that serves really good Bulgarian fair, which we all really enjoyed. A Spaniard named Louis who went on the Rila trip with Jason and Allison was sitting alone, so Jason invited him to join us. He seemed really nice and we all had an enjoyable conversation. Afterward we all went back out to Hambara for another set of night caps.
Jason and Allison in the Black Sea
The next morning we got on the bus for Burgas alright, but I missed our stop because it wasn’t at the bus station in Burgas that I knew. I thought we were in Pomorie and by the time I righted myself we had gone an hour too far. I was extremely upset at myself at this point, having failed to get sleeper car tickets and then adding two hours travel time before getting to the beach. Jason had been having a really rough time with the buses (they usually aren’t very well air conditioned and it was in the 90’s), and I felt like I had let them down. When we finally arrived (back) in Burgas Ronda met us at the bus station and took Jason and Allison to get a kebab while I watched the bags. They brought one back to me and I chowed down on the way to Jack and Ronda’s apartment. We turned straight around and went to the beach for a few hours so as to salvage a bit of the day before meeting Jack, Ronda, Tye, and Christin at a Chinese place for dinner. Jack and Ronda are another set of favorites of mine, and I was really, really happy they could meet Jason and Allison. Tye and Christin and I ended up going out to a bar that night while the other went home, which was fun. The bar actually played real jazz music, which was great. The rest of the time in Burgas was spent on the beach. We had a full day on Saturday (having arrived on Friday). Sunday morning we got a quick breakfast and said goodbye. Jason and Allison went to Istanbul, and I went to my COS conference. It was great seeing them both.
DJ Ice Koub
COS stands for Conclusion of Service, which is one of the many acronyms that you learn as a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers). The conference was the last time everyone in the group of 50 (at that point more like 35) that I came to Bulgarian with in August of 2005 were together at one place. It serves as an opportunity to tell us all we need to know about finishing up our service and to help those that need it prepare to reintegrate back home. Of course, the volunteers also use it as an opportunity to have one last bit of fun together as a group. As such a karaoke night was organized. I DJed and was quite impressed with how well it all went. The sound system could have been a lot better, but we made do. I was able to pull up lyrics to any song anyone found on my large collection of music from a wireless internet connection and have them projected onto a screen within seconds. I was even able to download a song or two on the fly for people who wanted to sing something I didn’t have.
The Boys Sing a Song (Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me,” I Think)
I sang “Take This Job and Shove It” and “Friends in Low Places” myself, with a bit of help from Carey of course. The highlight of the evening, though, was obviously Matt Sumpter singing “Baby Got Back” with backup dancers Tim, Carey, and Andy. Tim and Carey went with a bikini top each, but Andy just went for the Speedo. It was hilarious. That night I stayed up late playing pool with a couple of the boys.
Everyone Dressed Up for Dinner
During the days we spent most of our time in meetings and at the pool. Each night after dinner there was usually something to do, and the third night we took all the stuff we used to karaoke to another room to have a dance party. It was a lot of fun. This was the night of the official dinner, so everyone was already dressed up, which added a bit of class to the evening. It felt good celebrating with everyone. We’ve been here for two years and have survived and done well. I for one thought we all deserved a good time, and I was all the happier that we looked good while doing it.
Dancing
Ultimately, the lessons of my COS conference are that I’m extremely proud of not only my service but the service my friends have done and that I’ve matured a lot in these two years. Little by little we’ve all made Bulgaria a better place. Some of us have done big things, others lots of little things that add up. Either way, we’ve made change in the lives of the communities of which we’ve become a part. On a personal scale, I’ve learned a lot about myself in terms of who I am and what I can do. I also learned a lot about how I fit into a group. I know now that I am strong and can do just about anything that I want to do if I try hard enough. This is also the first time in my life that I’ve don’e something completely different than what my older brother has done. I followed Jason from our old high school to the Louisiana School, a boarding school for gifted Jr.s and Sr.s, and then to LSU. I followed in his footsteps for six years, and I have finally taken a path he hadn’t taken. I feel like I’ve, literally, come into my own.
Carey Makes an Entrance
On top of all that, and maybe most importantly, I’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff. I can deal without things now. I’ve grown much more patient with circumstances I can’t do anything about, and have learned not to tolerate people who aren’t worth it. There are friends I have from my group that I will keep for life, and, while it’s a sad situation no doubt, I now know that there are some people in my group that are not worth keeping in touch with. There are people that I don’t like, and who don’t care for me much either. For the first time in my life I feel that I’m ok with not being liked by someone, and that’s an incredibly large step for me. If you knew me before I came to Bulgaria and during the first long bit of Peace Corps, you know that I was someone who tried to make everyone happy, and let the inability to do so get to me way too often. I’m passed that now I think. I’ll keep in touch with the ones I love, and, like the small stuff, not sweat the others.
Camp Happy Summer 2007
After the conference I basically had one week to prepare for my town’s annual summer camp. Veselo Lyato or “Happy Summer” was started five years ago by a TEFL volunteer in my town and is still going strong. This year we had about 90 kids total. Including myself, I was able to recruit 21 non-local volunteers to help out. Most of them were only able to come up for a few days of the whole week, but some were there for 4 or 5 days. Two of them weren’t even Peace Corps. We had a friend of mine from Sofia come and help out and an English girl that another PCV knew. She was in Romania while traveling Europe and came down to my camp for 3 days! I was very happy to have the help. The camp was a great success, and I think that the new PCVs that came (there were a lot of the newest group) got some great experience. There were a lot of different activities led by volunteers, including baseball, kickball, rugby, quiditch, ultimate frisbee, tai-chi, and ballet. It would take a post this long and more to describe the camp and all the activities, so I’ll do it in pictures only:
Simona at the Start of Camp
A Base Hit, No Doubt - Kickball
Trevor, Nicky, and Kristina Tuckered Out
Trevor Teaches a New Game
I Don’t Know Who’s Cuter
Decorating Pin Cushions
Volunteers Take a Break to Play on Their Own
Making Picture Frames
Patchwork
Ballet Led by Elizabeth
Toni Leads Tai-Chi
It was a wonderful week, but very tiring! I was very glad to slow down a bit, finally, after that. I’ve done a few day trips here and there since then, but mostly I’ve stayed put in Zavet and have tried to keep my head down. This weekend right now Zavet is having its town festival. Joe, my new sitemate, and I have been going each night. There is folk dancing from Bulgaria, Hungary, and Turkey each night followed by a concert by a different Bulgarian pop singer. Last night was Emiliya, and tonight was Andrea.
Representing America in the Crowd of Internationals
The first night (last night, Friday), Joe and I headed out, but when we saw a procession of flags from the international dance troupes, we decided we needed our own. First we thought of putting it on a jerry-rigged pole, but then decided a cape would be much more interesting. Anyway, you can see the result above. That night we watch the folk dancers and then the concert after. It was interesting, and is definitely a big deal to have something on this scale each year. Rossen, a Bulgarian I know, is the organizer, and it’s amazing that a town like Zavet can pull this off in this country.
Joe, in Cowboy Hat Goodness
One of the first things we did at the festival was that Joe bought a hat. We had both planned on getting one, but I decided that the only reason I wanted it was to travel with, and it wouldn’t hold up well in travelling conditions (they were pretty cheaply made, but still expensive in price by Bulgarian standards), and so didn’t get one for myself. Still, Joe in cowboy gear and I with my flag cape made quite the pair.
Hungarian Dancers
The Hungarian dancers were by far the coolest. Their dances were certainly Western as well, but with obvious Eastern influence. It was need to see how the two dancing styles came together in their traditions. Afterwards Emilya sang. Joe, who had won two artificial flowers at the shooting gallery allowed me to take them and give them to Emiliya, which I thought was hilarious.
Emilya Takes the Flowers
Emilya was my first real Chalga concert. Chalga is a kind of popular music here in Bulgaria. It’s popular all throughout the Balkans under different names. In Serbia it is called Turbo-Folk, but it’s the same stuff. Anyway, I had seen live Chalga before, but never a whole set, so this was a first. It was fun as a cultural experience, but I’m pretty sure I have had my fill. She didn’t even play my favorite song of hers that she does.
Emilya Sings
The second night (tonight), we went out again, but only watched the Hungarian dancers, who we had established as our favorite from the night before. We ended up hanging out with them a bit afterward as Rossen noticed Joe and I admiring some of the prettier Hungarian girls and introduced us. Some of them spoke English and we had a pretty decent time. They even taught us some of the most basic moves for male folk dances.
A Pretty Hungarian Girl
Ends up they’ll all be back tomorrow night for a third exhibition. I’m looking forward to it and being able to talk to them again. I’m thinking I might even teach some Cajun dancing to them in exchange for the quick lesson on Hungarian folk dancing they gave us tonight (and I’m gonna bring along an LSU brochure for the 16 year old guy with the best English) . I’m really glad I got to experience the festival this year, as I missed it last year. It’s been fun.
Joe and I with Hungarians
Finally, in other news, I finished Ben’s old SPA project’s paperwork in Shumen, and have purchased all the materials for the kitchenette project that I got a PCPP grant for. Oh yeah, I wrote a grant and got 3,251 Leva in funds from donors via Peace Corps! We’re building small kitchens on each floor of my institution’s dormitory hall. Anyway, I went to Russe to by the all-in-one kitchenette units with some of my staff members and had enough money left over since the units fell in price to buy pots, pans, glasses, grills, and coffee pots for all three units! The most interesting part of the experience though was the fat wad of cash I pulled out of the bank to pay for it all. So, if you want to know what 3.25 thousand Leva looks like, check this out:
This Would Choke a Donkey
And that’s the news. I’ll be home on October 1, so I’ve less than two months left, and only a month and 5 days left in Peace Corps. I’m ready for the end, and am really pumped about closing this chapter of my life and starting a new one. Hopefully I’ll find a job quickly, so wish me luck!
It’s approaching my two year mark here in Bulgaria. I arrived in August 2005, and this place seemed strange then, in the sense that it was unfamiliar. Since then it’s gotten familiar, but weird and wonderful at the same time. One thing here that shows both the splendor and horror of Bulgaria is politics.
I actually have hope for Bulgaria when it comes to politics. While it is true that the Socialist party is still in power, things are moving forward, even if at a snail’s pace. The simple commitment to a democratic state is a miracle in many ways. Look at Russia right now. That could be Bulgaria, but it isn’t. They have choosen the West. A recent milestone was joining the EU at the beginning of the year. Many Bulgarians are still uncertain about what this will mean for them, but it’s a positive move in my opinion. It will move things forward. Markets will open. Labor here will become more valuable. Employment will rise.
The socialist rule in a coalition. One of their partners is a party that, in essence, represents the Turkish minority living within Bulgaria. They are the largest minority here, taking up about 10% of the population. I happen to live in a region with a lot of Turks, and things seem fine here on the surface. But the more time I spend here I realize that it’s deeper than that. In recent conversation with a Turkish neighbor of mine who lives on my floor, she expressed a bit of shock that if I fell in love and wanted to marry a Turkish, Bulgarian, or even Roma girl that ethnicity in and of itself would not be an issue for me, my parents, or my friends. In Bulgaria, Turks marry Turks. Roma marry Roma, and Bulgarians marry Bulgarians. Marrying outside the blood is talked about and frowned upon. My old sitemate wore a t-shirt with the Turkish emblem on it ater a trip to Istanbul and got dirty looks and comment - even though he had been respected as a Peace Corps volunteer in our community for over a year at that point! The longer you’re here, the more you notice things. Even in a town as integrated as Zavet, there are still the stores where Turks shop, and the ones where Bulgarians shop, and the same with cafes. Children generally don’t play with people outside of their groups, and many grow up speaking their own languages at home and start learning Bulgarian at school.
“European Deputies Elected in Turkey? No Thank You!” - Anti-Turkish Sentiment in One of the EU’s Newest Members.
One political party in particular, called Ataka (full name “National Union Attack”) has recently made some waves. They are a nationalist movement who want to expel the minorities (especially Turks, Roma, and Jews), make criticizing things “Bulgarian” illegal, and to create laws to punish “crimes” of betrayal against the Bulgarian nation. Ataka considers most of the politicians in power, and especially those who work closely with minorities “national traitors,” who would be prosecuted for being so if they had their way. As you can tell from the banner above, they don’t like the idea of Turkey joining the EU either.
In a way, I can almost understand all of this. The Ottoman Empire DID take away Bulgarian freedoms, but a lot of it is like that scene in Monty Python’s Life of Brian: “All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?” The fact is, is that while there were many atrocities (forced conversions to Islam, children taken to serve as janissaries, and simply the illegitimacy of government - but what government was legitimate back then?). But the fact of the matter is that Ottoman rule ended 100 years ago, and as horrible as individual acts of tyranny throughout the years were, Bulgaria developed faster as part of the large economic and political bloc that was the Ottoman empire.
Which brings me to this:
Ataka Poster
This poster says “Today would be like this if we weren’t the Bulgarian nation. Stop the Fezes and now!” This misconception of history goes way beyond what I was talking about about above. This isn’t focusing on one bit of history and ignoring the other. This is plainly revisionist. I mean, right, if it weren’t for the Bulgarians, then the Ottoman’s would have conquered Europe. Who might we be forgetting here… Hrmmm… Oh right! The Habsburb Monarchy and the Hungarians! Oh yeah, and things like the fact that the Bulgarians had long been conquered by the time the Ottoman Empire stopped expanding westward. Oh, and that the French were actually ALLIES during some of those wars, and that if anyone in Eastern Europe helped hold back the Ottomans it was the Austrians and Hungarians.
This particular poster is rather extreme, even for Ataka, but it is symptomatic of things here. Bulgarian education is a product of 50 years of the communists’ lies followed by democratic upheaval. Education in history is very Bulgarian-centric. World history and things like geography are tertiary concerns, and a lot of conceptions held now are more myth than anything. When your teachers are products of a communist education system to which truth was irrelevant, how does the cycle break?
What I feel is the greatest irony is that the most celebrated of all national heroes in Bulgaria, Vasil Levski, was a true democrat. He believed in a Bulgaria for all peoples, and envisioned equal rights in a democratic state for all peoples - Bulgarians, Turks, and Jews (my sources, however, are suspiciously silent on Levski’s thoughts on Roma). His image is iconic in Bulgaria, schools, roads, and football teams are named for him, and yet the idea he died fighting for is being betrayed by people who claim his legacy. The same with Gotze Delchev, another prominent figure, and others. It’s a tragedy that the images of these men of principle are tarnished by the vileness of ethnic hatred. It’s just so frustrating.
But like I said, I have hope. Most people here know Ataka and their ilk are holding the nation back. The stereo-type of an Ataka supporter is an angry old man who lives in the past and has no vision for the future. I have friends who are supporters of the liberal party here (as in free market liberal meaning not socialist). They are hopeful that democracy and liberty will work here, if given the chance. The cultural segregation here isn’t hatred. It’s just folks keeping to themselves because it’s more comfortable that way. The same way I have more white friends than black friends back home. I have more in common with those of a similar background to me. But there is hope. Another Bulgarian friend here in town is dating a Turkish girl. It’s spoken of, but they do it anyway. A new generation is moving the nation forward. The liberalization of information is also helping. Things like the internet, international news, and more freedom to travel are educating the people informally. Perhaps it is time for it to be morning in Bulgaria?
Sorry about the delay in getting this one up. I’ve been meaning to blog more frequently, and I actually have quite a few ideas to post about, but what can one do?
Anyway, on the morning of day three in Istanbul we went out to the bath house to experience that. Despite the image in peoples’ minds about bath houses being a haven for certain illicit behaviors, most simply simply supply saunas and massage treatments. Our experience was that we had a large towel covering all our unmentionable bits after changing out of our clothes in a private room. We then laid on a large stone circle that was heated from underneath. The firm heat on your back feels really good. After about ten minutes laying there and sweating we were called over to get our massage and exfoliation. This lasts about 8 minutes or so (apparently the others in my group had much better attendants and were in there much longer than I was), and then you are rinsed clean and sent back with a bunch more towels to dry with. All in all it felt really good and is an experience I recommend.
Carey Post-Bath
After this we made our way to the Blue Mosque, which was absolutely gorgeous. Everything about it, from the gardens outside, to the towering minarets, to the windows inside seemed otherworldly and alien in a beautiful way. It’s easy to see how one can reach out to God in a place like that. I’m just going to post up a series of pictures now, without text except for captions, because words really can’t describe this thing.
The Exterior and Gardens
Interior Courtyard
Linzey and Leslie in Their Shawls
Inside the Mosque
Casey Staring Up (My Favorite Pic from the Trip)
As you can tell, it’s quite the beautiful place. Afterwards we went to the cistern, an underground reservoir from the ancient city. It was really pretty down there too, and very Phantom of the Opera-esque. It was rather romantic, in a way. Had there not been such a crowd it would have been really serene and still. I felt like it would be a great place to go and sit and think or have a coffee at.
The Cistern
Inside the cistern are a couple of columns with Medusa heads at their base. Apparently these are from older columns which were reused, and are hauntingly beautiful in their own way. Neither of them are upright. One is upside-down, and the other is on its side.
Medusa, Herself in Stone
After the cistern our group broke apart. Carey and Leslie had a bus to catch to go South. Linzey and Casey and I were taking a night train back to Bulgaria. We had one last round of Turkish tea together at an outdoor cafe nearby. Our server was kind enough to photograph our group, so here we are all together.
Casey, Linzey, Leslie, Carey, and Me
After tea the three of us left headed for Topkapi palace, where the administration for the Ottoman Empire once ruled. The palace was interesting for it’s museum of treasures and the decorations of some of the rooms, mostly, though some gardens were rather pretty too. Here are two pictures of some of the more elegantly designed rooms.
Ceramic Mosaics
Mother of Pearl Mosaics
The palace is actually quite large and took a while to walk through, especially since we visited the many treasure rooms. Lots of jewels and relics from ages gone by were on display, and most were interesting enough to spend a few moments admiring them. We actually didn’t have all that much time, as we knew we wanted to eat and buy some food for the train ride home as well before going to the train station.
The train station was, of course, another adventure in traveling. Linzey had misplaced her and Casey’s reservation slips for a sleeper car, and it took a lot of running around and trying to speak Bulgarian to the Romanian train lady what was going on, who of course tried to speak back in Romanian because she spoke neither Bulgarian nor English. While Casey and I ran back to the ticket office to figure out if we could get new ones, Linzey found them in her purse and all was well… for a while.
The cabin we had was GREAT. After riding in Bulgarian sleeper cars, a Romanian one was heaven. Look at this thing, it’s got nice wood, a big sink, comfortable beds, and more!
Linzey Models with Our Cabin
Our honeymoon with our train ended a few hours into the ride, however. You see the bed at an angle there? Well, it’s designed to lock into the wall and pop out again later when you want to sleep. that way you don’t have to slouch forward when sitting on the bed below. Well, apparently ours was busted, so it didn’t pop out again after we popped it into the wall. We had the Romanian lady from earlier come and try to fix it with her key thing, but it was no good. Ends up that Casey and Linzey had to snuggle the whole way up to northern Bulgaria on a small single bed. Poor guys. We had been so excited about the cabin!
Anyway, that concludes my Istanbul experience. I’d like to go back someday. It was an amazing place, and I miss the food already.
Sorry I haven’t gotten this out sooner! I’ve had quite a few problems with my internet lately. I know, I’ve said that a lot here, but it’s true! My internet often becomes completely unreliable for a week at a time, and that gets me lazy, and it means I can’t upload photos well, and then I can’t post, etc. Anyway, here we go.
Our morning started early (considering how little sleep we had getting to Istanbul and how much we did our first day there) so that we could attend church at St. Antonio di Padova, the biggest Catholic church in Istanbul. Carey really wanted to go, and the fact that they offered an English mass was appealing to me, so the lot of us trekked out to the church on Sunday morning. It was nice to be in church again, especially with a friend as close as Carey. The sermon could have been better, but the ceremony of it all was familiar enough (I joked with the others, most of whom were Catholic, that when they finally got to spots of the mass that I recognized I perked up real quick).
After church we were all a bit hungry, so we decided to try to find some food in the same area we had been walking around the night before (which is where we discovered the church and its English mass to begin with). We went into a cafe which had a large second floor window from where we could people watch. There was no food, but decent tea and chess. I taught Leslie Lindsey a bit of how to play, which was fun. The had open the window for us, which was wonderful in the warmish weather. As we were sitting there, parts of a demonstration (of which we were ignorant of at that time) came by. We saw some of the story on CNN that evening at the hostel.
After we left the cafe and found some food down the street, we made our way to the Galata Tower, which you can climb to get some magnificent views of Istanbul, even if the place is extremely crowded. The tower has a lot of history, and was to me one of the more interesting places we visited.
After that we wanted to catch a ferry to head over the the Asian part of Istanbul. The Asian part felt far less touristed and was a lot cheaper. I bought my spices from a bazaar there, rather than at the Grand Bazaar or the Egyptian Bazaar. It was a lot cheaper there. Carey got the idea of buying some fish there and making it for dinner at the hostel. I put my well honed scrounging abilities to the test and found a five lire disposable grill (charcoal included!), we grabbed the yummiest looking fish, some fresh herbs and spices, and took it all home with us.
Where I Bought My Spices
I can’t begin to explain how this idea became the perfect storm… Perhaps I should have known something like this was going to happen when Casey contributed the idea of calling the toilets of Georgiana simply “Auburns,” as in, “hang on a sec, I’m going to the Auburn.” Any trip that has that good of a contribution to Carey’s and my retirement plan to open up the ultimate Southern restaurant is gonna have some crazy like a fox fool idea from Carey and/or me and turn out to be a miracle. As it ended up, Carey grilled up some of the tastiest stuff ever.
The Fish Monger’s From Where Our Dinner Came
At the hostel things were going perfectly. First off, they said itwas no problem to grill on the roof. They even gave us extra charcoal. There was actually a grill up there, but it was is such a state that we didn’t want to even attempt to clean it or use it. Nonetheless, we fired up our own disposable, which did quite well enough anyway. Carey grilled some vegetables, including green onions, after oiling them up with olive oil. I had never had grilled green onions before, and they were absolutely delicious! I mean, just amazing how yummy and yet so simple.
Carey Works His Magic
After the vegetables finished, Care-Bear started grilling the fish. He had been preparing them all along, but basically he spiced them with olive oil, salt, red pepper, and some other stuff, but then put fresh mint, lemon, and green onion between the fillets to cook in a foil packing. The result was wonderful. Tender, tasty, and oh so complimented by the grilled veggies. For dessert he made a steamed apples thing too. We decided to call the whole meal the “Istanbul Special” for when we offer it at Georgiana.
A Perfect Night
I think that experience of grilling and eating at the hostel with Carey, Leslie, Casey, and Lindsey was my favorite bit of the trip. It was just great to sit back, have a few beers, grill, and enjoy the open air (oh year, we grilled on the roof!). It felt like being home again.
The Pièce de Résistance
Near the end of the evening Carey had to go use the restroom. He had given me instructions to get him another beverage, but I got the idea that he deserved a bit of a present for his great work. I grabbed the leftover foil and made quick work of wrapping up his beer. The following set of images are Carey discovering and opening his present:
As you can see, he was quite happy. He especialy loved the foil ball used for a bow.
After dinner we were all pretty tired and went to bed, which wraps up day two of my Istanbul trip. Sometime soon I’ll add day three, which includes the Blue Mosque and Topkapi palace. Thanks for hanging in there with me. Also, please don’t forget to donate to my PCPP project if you haven’t yet. You can donate here.
A recycled pic, but one that shows the difference your donation can make
My PCPP grant has been approved and I am now seeking sponsors! The project is to build some kitchenette units in the dormitory of the reformatory institution at which I work. With the kitchenettes (which include a sink/stovetop/refrigerator combo made by Whirlpool) the kids with whom I work will be able to keep leftovers from the cafeteria and heat them up whenever they want. If you are interested in donating, please click here.
In other news, I’ve begun teaching some basic weight training to the kids at my institution. It’s always a struggle to get them to understand everything, mostly because they don’t have too long of an attention span and tend to drift off when I’m talking, but most of them are getting it. The other thing is that they all want to be in there at once, but it’s difficult to manage more than 4 at a time, especially when everything you’re teaching them is new. They need to know which exercises do what, how to spot someone, how to lift properly (wrist position, go slow, etc.), all of which requires close supervision. Doing groups of fours allows me to pair them up on different exercises and keep an eye on everything going on. With more than that you have kids running off to different machines or weights, possibly damaging equipment, hurting themselves, etc. Still, it’s rewarding to have that thing open and running.
This weekend should be a lot of fun. A group of friends - some old, some new - will be coming up to attend a festival at a nearby village. It’s going to be a lot of good food and conversation. I’ve been cleaning the apartment in preparation, but am starting to wish I employed a maid.
Finally, I understand that Adam’s mom reads my blog, so hey there, Mrs. French. Thanks for reading!
