My Trip to 'Old Town' Plovdiv

I will write more soon but for now here are some photos from my trip to Plovdiv.

I'm Famous in Krichim!

Эдравей!!

I write at last. Life has been busy here in Bulgaria. We left Borovets last week to go to our satellite sights where we will spend the next 10 weeks studying language and doing various other training sessions and activities. My group of four is staying in Trude, a small town located between Pazardjik and Plovdiv. People have cars and motorbike here but I still see many with their horse and cart during the day. Tonight I saw the mayor go by in his with a large bale of hay. I also saw someone herding goats down the street this evening.

I am nearly at the end of my first week in Trude and have been loving every minute of it. My family is great! Vladislav, my new Bulgarian father, is awesome or as he always says "Sup-ar!" He speaks no English and is very fun. He tries to tell me what every thing is in Bulgarian all at once. Ivanka, my Bulgarian mother, is very nice as well. She does speak some English but is trying to use it sparingly so that I can work on my language skills, which at the moment only rely consist of introducing myself and discussing what I like and do not like. I also have a Bulgarian brother or as they say here "brat" - no really. And as an older sister I am his "Kaka!" It is hilarious. Someone was explaining to their child who I was and they said "Valantine's Kaka." It makes me laugh.

The house that I am in has three levels. We are on the second. Below us lives My host Dad's grandmother. She is 77 years old and reminds me of the grandmother in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." I must seem cute like a small child because she likes to pinch my chin a lot. It is probably because I have the vocabulary of a small child. Living above us is Vladislav's brother, his wife and their daughter Alexandra, or "the cutest child I have ever seen." The first day I was here she put on the Cardinals hat and foam finger that I brought and kept saying "Jenay . . . Jenay." The way she says my name reminds me of "Forest Gump." Speaking of my name. I was introduced to a woman at the mayor's office earlier this week and she said, "Oh 'Jennifer,'mnogo hobav (very pretty)." That was a first for me since every other girl my age seems to be a Jennifer in America.

The uncle is very funny. He wants to learn English so he comes to study with me sometimes when I sit on the bench outside. Our conversations are hilarious because we both know some French so when we speak it is a little French, a little Bulgarian, and a little English.

A few nights ago I was sitting and talking with my host mom and the aunt and they told me that I was very interesting in Trude. They looked up the word 'Gossip' in the dictionary and pointed it out to me. There is definantly that. Another volunteer, Holly, did not know they sip vodka here and when offered some at her host house simply took a shot. We were walking past some other people a few days ago and they stopped us to talk and when she introduced herself one man said "Oh, Holly vodka."

There are many animals here in Trude. On a typical day I am either awoken by the roosters or the sound of horses feet clapping against the pavement. A number of us have chickens and one of the volunteers lives with a family that raises pigs. He is up the street so sometimes the smell wafts over my way in the evening. A few days ago I was outside chatting as best I could with my family and the Baba who lives across the street became very excited, I had no idea why, but she led me to her back yard where I saw the biggest cow I have ever seen. It was huge! With it was one small calf but I was pretty sure there must be another on the way. She also had a rely cute rabbit. I mentioned this to another volunteer and he teased me that they are going to eat it. I hope not. There is also the cutest dog that has made the local cafe/restaurant ("The Station") his home. I would love to pet him but he probably has fleas so I compensate by feeding him a lot. Today he followed me most of the way back to my house - I wonder why. I would love to adopt him. All he needs is a good flea bath and a few shots but then I would never be able to go anywhere.

This past week has consisted mostly of school, either in our class room in the mayor's building or at "The Station," studying, and getting to know the local children. We went by the cultural center in town and made the acquaintance of some children there who were studying English. One is fairly good but the others are just beginning. We had our language instructor Ani there to interpret. It was very cute, some of the cirls chased me down to give me their email addresses. Yes email. There are a few local internet cafes. Well not so much internet cafes as just a room with a few computers where kids go to play games. I also plays football (Soccer to those in the states) with the other volunteers at my site and some of the local Roma children.

Yesterday we went with a large group of children to Krichim, a larger town near by. The kids had been invited to perform at the local festival and when we visited one of their practices we were invited to go. It was a great time! I was very popular with the children because of my digital camera. The all wanted their picture taken every other second. It was also nice to head to Krichim because some of the other volunteers are staying there and we got to visit with them during the festivities. The funniest this also happen. A girl, probably around 12, asked me for my autograph!! She also took a picture of me with her camera phone - yes 'her' phone. I think more people have cells here than in America. It was a very interesting experience. I am still not quite sure who she thought I was.

In the bus on the way back we listened to some of the latest Bulgarian hits. The girl next to me tried to show me some dance moves. After we got back and the kids wound down we headed to "The Station" to meet up with some Bulgarian girls our age one of which speaks English. We had run in to her earlier that day during language lessons and arranged to meet up and then hit the disco. There is not much in trude, maybe 4-5 place to eat, but there is a disco. We ended up dancing till around 3:30. The music was a mix of Bulgarian hits and a few random American songs including, 'Gangster's paradise' and 'It's My life,' among others. Going dancing reminded me very much of life in America but hoping to not step in horse poo while we were walking home in the dark brought me back to reality - Yes I am in Bulgaria. Every once in a while that clicks.

tomorrow I will be going in to Plovdiv with my host mom. We are going to see the old part of town which is supposed to be neat and then Monday and Tuesday I have HUB!! That is when all 50 of us come together for more training stuff. I am excited to see everyone again.

Oh, here is my new address for during training:

Jennifer Owens
Peace Corps
PO box 178
Central Post Office, Pazardjik, 4400
Bulgaria

I will have my permanent site address after assignment are made in a few weeks but feel free to write to this one in the meantime.

Well this entry is running long so I am going to bring it to a close. I will have to start writing more frequently so it wont be so much at once. Hope to hear from you all soon.

Photos from Borovets:

The B-18s:

Wild Dogs, 'Fanta' and More

Hello all. I am here in Borovets, Bulgaria!! I am currently in the first week of my Peace Corps training. We are at hotel 'Zodiac' till we move in with our families on Friday (eeek)!!! Thus far my time in the Peace Corps has been quite eventful. We had a very long plane ride which stopped in Frankfurt on the way. They collected some of our carry-on bags there but when we arrived in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, much to my dismay, our checked luggage was missing. I had grabbed my passport out of the bag they lost before I checked it but my money, credit card, and digital camera were all still in it - needless to say that made for a bumpy start. Luckily the bags appeared yesterday and there was nothing missing from mine. However, one girl was missing the digital camera in hers. Other than the mishap with the airport everything has been GREAT.

They have been keeping us very busy with language classes, technical classes, and shots :( The mountains are beautiful here. We are located in the Rila Mountains which are host to many skiers in the winter time. Our hotel was much nicer than expected but I do have one of those showers where it is just a drain in the middle of the bathroom floor and a nozzle on the wall. So basically after my roommate or I shower the bathroom is out of commission because everything gets soaked - the toilet and all. I did find that there are a number of wild dogs in Bulgaria. I was serenaded by their barking when I went to sleep last night. Despite being on the skinny and mangy side they are still cute. I named one 'George' but am trying to avoid petting any strange animals. I don't think the rabies series would be much fun on top of all of our other shots. Speaking of which, I had my medical interview today and they wanted to know all about the form of protection I use for STDs. The doctor was very focused on that topic like I'm planning on running around with a whole bunch of the men here or something (don't worry Mom. I have no plans to do so - Yet . . . he he . . . just kidding).

Last night a few other volunteers and I had a rather eventful evening. We went for a walk and came across this bar/hotel place and were invited in for some Fanta (Yes, Fanta. It is apparently a big thing here). We spent some time talking with this Bulgarian man (around 21). It was hilarious because our Bulgarian is very limited and his English was as well. There were moments when we would all get quiet and then start laughing at the awkwardness of the moment. It was a lot of fun. We were invited to come back in the winter when it snows. Other than that I have been having a lot of fun with my training team.

We learned to dance the horo! It was hilarious. Another volunteer said he got some video of me when we were dancing so I may try and post it or at least some stills later. I will also put up some other pictures of the area we are in now. At the moment I am at an Internet cafe so it is not very convenient to try and hook my camera up. Can I just say I love Bulgaria's music - everywhere we go they play 80s and other very random American songs that I have not heard in forever. In the place I am at now they are playing "Addicted to Love." I am surrounded by little children playing computer games and other Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) trying to get in touch with people at home. Oh . . . they gave me another address but the one you have will still be checked, however, less frequently (oh . . . thanks for the card Marie! I got it just before I left San Diego - I just about cried. Be sure to keep in touch. I want to hear all about life at Harvard!) I will try to post the new address the next time I get to a computer but for now feel free to write to me about all of your happenings in the states at the address I sent out (or you can always email). I would love to hear from you all. Well I should finish up now. I only have so many leva (that's Bulgarian money) to live on. We get 4 lev a day to live on. My friends just bought banana splits and they were 3,50 so as you can see the 4 will not take me far (I passed on the ice cream). I am rely hoping to stick to the money they give us. Others have been known to frequently use their personal funds but I think living like the people you are serving is a very important part of the Peace Corps experience. I hope you are all well. I will try to write again and post pictures soon.

Staging . . .

Things have been crazy these past few days. On the 11th I departed San Diego for DC to begin my Peace Corps journey. The flight went well and most importantly I was very fortunate to not be charged extra at the airport. I pretty much threw the 100 pound weight limit out the window. One bag was 66 lbs and the other was somewhere there about. Here is a photo of all of my stuff in the hotel:

I arrived a day early since I had a long flight but my roommate was here as well so we walked around Georgetown, which was gorgeous, and became acquainted over some Starbucks (we though we should treat ourselves before we go). On the 12th we had till 1:00 to register so we ventured out to see more of our nations capital. It was great - It made me feel very patriotic! Here are some photos. I have more on my Kodak page but I need to look at how others can access them still - stay tuned for updates.







That afternoon we were joined by 48 other wonderful PSTs (Pre-Service Trainees)!! Everyone was very nice and it was refreshing to hear from others who have been going through the same trials and tribulations. Everyone seems to be very energetic and excited about what's to come despite the uncertainty. However, there is at least some apprehension and/or stress with most.

Other than meeting each other we have been spending a lot of our time going over the general Peace Corps policies and procedures along with some logistics (taking care of insurance stuff, going over how we will all be transported to the airport etc . . .).

AND, last night my friend Kathleen came for a visited! It was great to have the opportunity to see a close friend before I leave. I think it made me sad but also excited about both of our quickly changing lives.

OK . . . It is 2:30 DC time now and I need to be up soon so I should get some sleep. I will write more later from BULGARIA!!