SO, much to my mother's chagrin, and others I'm sure, I have been quite delinquent in keeping everyone up on all the happenings. So you may be wondering, Sarah what the heck have you been up to since March 22 :), well sometimes a whole lot, and other times a whole lot of nothing, to be honest.
After my last post in March I went in the beginning of April to Greece with one of my friends for about 5 days and then immediately following that trip I was medically evacuated to Washington DC to further check in on a medical condition. After 3 weeks of hanging out in our Nations Capital and getting to the point where it felt normal to be there, I was cleared with no major health issues to come back to Bulgaria. It was an interested experience, but the Peace Corps medical office there at headquarters was great and so pleasant to work with. I was also fortunate and happy to be able to spend some time hanging out there with my cousin Jeff, a family friend Pam and a friend and fellow volunteer from Bulgaria who had just recently finished with her 2 years and is now living in DC! :)
After I got back the beginning of May it was crunch time from then until the 2nd week of July! As soon as I was back it was project grant writing and preparations with my colleagues and then the implementation come June and July. It was another great summer of camps. We are growing each year on our planning and ideas and it's great to watch and be a part of. The kids really enjoy themselves and love meeting the group of volunteers that come to help and play with them!
In the two camps with the older kids, in addition to the games and crafts, we did two different informational sessions. My counterpart and another teacher did a session on communication and the next day I, with the help of the other pcv's (peace corps volunteers), lead a session on tolerance and diversity, as well as stereotypes. It was very interesting to watch the kids interact during the games and then to hear what they have to say on the topics. The term 'stereotype' and the negative implications they can have on a person and/or group of people is fairly a new concept here. Then some of the crafts we did were t-shirt designing, glass painting, and
bracelet making.
And somewhere in all of that in between two of the camps I was able to take one last out-of-country-trip before our time of "no international travel" before we close our PC service becomes effective. I went with my friend Grace and her pcv friend who is working in Africa and Grace's other friend who is just visiting from the states, to ISTANBUL again!! Man do I love
that city. Again, there is just this feeling and something about the atmosphere that is so great but indescribable...and I'm not the only person who has felt this.
This time we went in the Hague of Sofia and it was just AMAZING. We also ventured to the docks and took a boat ride out to the islands. We got off on the largest (i think it was the 5th island and last stop) and had lunch and walked around and caught the boat back. On the way back, however, we stopped and got off on the Asian side of iSTANBUL. We made a cafe stop and
walked around there as well, just taking in the sights and sounds. On that side it was more of the lived/worked-in feel rather than the side where the blue mosque is and the Hague of Sofia, which naturally is more of the glamorous part due to tourism. I love every bit of that city we have ever ventured into. This was the second time around for Grace and I was much more relaxed than our first trip, and we already knew so much about the city it made the trip much more enjoyable. While eating out one night, we got to see one of the Euro Cup games when Turkey was playing Spain or Russia, I believe, and it was so cool to be watching it there in Turkey.
It's been great in general to be in Europe during a Euro Cup championship. I actually was interested in the games unlike when I'm in America. We also ran into a guy who manages a bar who we had met last year when we were there and he remembered us and we remembered him and they kept the place open just for us after hours. I even have friends there now, haha.
I have a family that I am friends with here in Plovdiv in which the wife is Bulgarian and the husband is Turkish and this evening he is taking a bus to iSTANBUL to visit family and they said they are buying me a tea set and tea pot from turkey for me to bring home and I am so excited!
So it's now August 21st and I have been here exactly 2 years and 14 days -- crazy to think! this last week I had my last medical appointments and I found out I have two more cavities to be filled. I go 24 years of no cavities EVER to, 2 years of Peace Corps service developing 4 cavities, 2 per year by the age of 26. I'm not happy!
Greece was great too, backtracking a bit. My friend Taylor and I took a train down to Thessaloníki and hung out in that city. It is so nice and just a cool chill city with lots of young people and places to hang out. There are of course some very awesome ancient Roman ruins in the center of the city, not too far from the sea port. We then trained it down to Athens and hung out there for a night. Upon arrival we immediately went shopping, as the next day was designated for "sight seeing". In Athens we saw temples, palace gardens, changing of the guards, ruins galore and THE Olympic stadium, the old town of Athens where all the cool shops and
restaurants and food markets and jewelry stands are, it was just great! Unfortunately it was quite touristy, unlike Thessaloníki, but it had such a rich history vibe to it still...for sure in the old town. We went out that night, got cheap food from the street and went to a local music-drink
establishment if you will and met no Athenians or Grecians, haha. We met a Bulgarian, an Egyptian and a guy from France...that's besides the other tourists out and about, these guys lived and worked there. Apparently I look like a famous Greek singer. haha I'm finding out I have a face and look that must be able to morph into any look, just about. I have been mistaken for locals in Italy, Greece and Turkey as well as in Bulgaria.
Anyway, our plan was to spend one night in Athens, go to the near-by mountain town of Delphi for one night and our last night go back to Athens before our train to Bulgaria. Well, once we arrived in Delphi and we were in a hotel room, like Thess. and unlike Athens, in addition to it being just beautiful, we decided to stay both nights there. Only glitch with this awesome plan was we never saw the Acropolis in our "sight seeing" day in Athens! So we tried to work it out to cram it in before our train our last day and, well, it just didn't work so we just soaked up all the relaxing, fun time we had in Delphi. We made friends with some of the locals, a cafe and club owner, the bartender and the DJ and had a blast. The reason we picked this city was because of the amazing ruins that are there in Delphi just outside of it, near the highway. There we saw Apollo's temple, the arena where athletes would compete before the Olympics were established
(Pythian Games), an ancient amphitheater, the Tholos (a sanctuary of Athena), and ruins of a gymnasium. This was also the site of the Delphic oracle, one of the most important oracle in classical Greek history. This area was once considered to be the center of the universe. And some people think Greeks are "prideful" for no reason! :)
I've always ranked Italy as one of my favorite countries and it is for many reason, but I have to say that Greece almost tops it...Italy is a soft, romantic and rich place while i feel Greece is a rugged and rough romantic place with a history that is just as rich and ancient. I'd survive in
either country really, with the food, the music/dance and the good looking men, I think I'd be OK :)
This last weekend a group of us went go hike Musala, the highest peak of the Balkan Peninsula. We got up early, took a bus from Samokov (the town where I trained 2 years ago) to Borovets, then took a gondola up (for those interested in details) to the elevation of 2,369 meters then hiked the 556 meters left to the peak. Going up took about 3 hours and down was about 2...up and down to the gondola that is. It was great and beautiful, though unfortunately 'hiking season' and lots of people but it was still great to do! I and a couple others got a niiiice sunburn hiking up. My host family had said, you're going to be cold so take sleeves. Well I only wore my sleeves for 30 minutes while we sat at the peak -- otherwise I was sweating in a tank top.
It's about back-to-school time and I'll be here for the first week of school before my flight home. I could have left earlier to be honest since my work is dependent upon the school year and everything has been wrapped up essentially, but i wanted to be able to say my good-byes to the students and teachers and faculty since the end of the school year was crazy and I was unable to do that then. I have mixed feelings. I can't wait to be back and see my family and friends and have a plethora of food choices, toilet paper in every bathroom nationwide, and last, but not least, be able to drive! though I probably won't be able to afford to take it out of the driveway the way gasoline costs are going back home. On the other hand, I am truly going to miss the
people I have established relationships with, the kids and my Bulgarian family, as well as my family of other volunteers, and the different opportunities we have here. We have opportunities to go places, see things, meet so many different people! But "all good things must come to an end," I believe the saying goes :).
BUT before I can become completely reflective and all that good stuff, I still have work to do! and cleaning and packing AND most importantly just enjoying my time I have left like I normally would...can't force fun, you just have it! :)
So I'll be in touch again before leaving but in the meantime I will make a posting of just my most recent pictures. :)
MISS YOU ALL!!
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