rain

well the meeting is over and now we can focus on the cultural presentation we have to do for other satellite sites tomorrow.  we didn't have anybody else show up at the meeting outside of our families and the lady who works in the training center but overall I think it was productive.  of course when we are right in the middle of putting the final touches on for tonight, of course we were all kinda nervous in our own way, what happens??  RAIN!!!  and a hard downpour for about 2 hours, maybe more.  it rains quite a bit here and when it rains it doesn't mist, it RAINS HARD!! so hard that the streets turn into rivers...really.  of course all this is happening and then on top of everything else pc pulls out the emergency action plan preparedness lesson and we all have to stop what we're doing and go home and gather our emergency bag we have packed, more or less, and report back to the training center.  and one of the things we have to do is to explain to our family where we are going.  so imagine if you will it's pouring down rain, I'm kinda in a hurry b/c of course I want to meet the time limit (i was more or less packed.  there were some things I forgot but overall I think i was pretty ready) and then on top of all that I have to explain to my baba what is happening in my meager b!  of course I didn't have my dictionary it was back at the tc with all my other stuff I I had to leave and how can you describe  "emergency drill?"  it was interesting to say the least!  I really like rain, plenty of puddles to jump in mom:),but it just so happens to come at times when I really can't enjoy it.  oh well!  I think I'll call it a night or maybe go over what I'm saying , in english this time:), for our presentation tomorrow.  we're also dancing the horo; those of you who know me beter know how much I love dancing!!

busy time

this is going to be quick because i have ton to do!  we are having a community meeting tom pm for the day camp we have to put on and i need to "rehearse" what i'm going to say...and even then i'm sue i'll say it wrong!  anyway that's tom and then on thurs we have to give a 7 min presentation on a cultural topic from b.  we are doing ours on the valley of the roses and are sort of done but it needs some work.  then of course there's the 4th.  my trip to glodshevo went well and i am excited.  that's where i'll be living after vershets. don't know very many details and when i have an address believe me you'll know!  g is in the northeast part of b and is 80% turkish with a little bulgarian and roma population.  i will be working in an english school, a kindergarten (which has ages like our child care centers), and with the municipatily, or town offices.  there are about 4900 peoplethe main religion is muslim and there are 3 mosques and a church is g.  the unemployment rate is about 30%.  i'm looking forward to developing some things but understand it will take time.  the wheels in my head already started spinning!  the english school has about 8 teachers and their priority is teaching english.  everyone i met seems very nice and i look forward to working with them.  that's going to be it for now.  things are getting busy and it's not to be any time at all i'll be heading to g for the next 2 yrs!  i'll try to post some pics soon!

a few of my favorite things

while traveling back from my site visit the other day I noticed some things and thought I'd share.  I love that while riding in the bus and passing fields and empty structures and more fields right in the middle of everything will be cows grazing.  I love how the sheepherders we read about in Indiana actually exict here in B.  I love how you can be walking along and see a woman leading her two goats.  I love how I left flat and cornfields in Indiana and traveling to my site I passed through flat and cornfields.  I do have to say though the flat fields in IN are flat and here there are rolling hills which are very beautiful even though they aren't cultivated.  I love how the other day while in Pleven while having lunch with a fellow trainee I met along the way we saw a BMW.  Not long after that we saw a horse-drawn cart, or maybe donkey I can't quite remember.  I love how while traveling along right in the middle of nothing is an empty building.  And the sunflowers!  Fields of sunflowers!  I love that!  Kinda like a dandelion yard.  I love how there were times during my trip where I'd look out the window and on either side of the bus as far as my eyes could see were nothing but fields.  I love how there ae seemingly no rules on the roads.   a car, or horse drawn cart, in front of you is going too slow you pass them regardless how close the oncoming car is or what color the line is IF there is a line.  And the potholes we complain about in the States?  if I called the Mayor for every pothole I encountered just i the drive between here and Vratsa I'd never hang up the phone.  Oh and that's something else I love.  When I said there are no rules, or at least to an outsiders eye, I mean that you don't stay in a lane while driving.  The road is one giant lane!  When you get into a car you're in for an adventure!   There are no u-turns.  The other day I looked up at just the right moment and saw a horse-drawn cart totally cross about 3 "lanes" of "traffic" and go the other direction!  It was too funny!  I love how dinner can take hours and everywhere you go you're offered coffee, something to drink and people just drop what they're doing!  I love how the other day while helping Dani dry dishes I accidently closed a ddrawer with dishes inside hard and was afraid I had broken one and Dani said "it's just a thing, it's not important!"  I love how when I visited my school where I will be working the staff made a big, not sure exactly how to describe it.  maybe sticky bun without the sticky part, "loaf" of bread just for me (of course after I took a piece and ate it everyone else did too) and had a little bowl of honey for me to dip it in.  I also love how all of a sudden Im back to bold or normal typing instead of italics and I didn't do anything.  I love how people here, grandmas and host families in particular, think I'm doing a great job speaking B and I butcher the language they love but they just smile and rub my cheek like I just did something awesome.  I love how after going about a month without American music, more or less-there was some but not the songs I really love, when I listened to my ipod, thanks to Sophie, I felt a warm rush of home.   really can't describe it but it was pretty awesome!  andd then when I heard Maya's song a big smile came to my face, even in bed.  I love how suddenly I have forgotten to take my dictionary with me to meals with my family.  I love how everyone knows the Americans by the backpacks or bags that we carry all the time because we have so many books.  I love the feeling of freedom of riding my families bike down the middle of the road with my helmet on.  the other day when it was very hot we were on a bike ride and between my glasses sliding down my nose, my hair getting in my eyes, and my helmet not being tight enough I was a sight for sore eyes!  these are just some of the things I have noticed are different than the states and I have grown accustomed to over here.  I'll try to write about my site in a fe days or tomorrow if time.  things are piling up and between now and July 23rd we are super busy!  Thoughts are with Marsha and the rest of my family!  Love!

some answers

forforbrad i have not taken your advice yet and did not create a seperate doc for my blog so once again lost what i had and the followup is going to be kinda short.  the interviews i had with the yd people from the corps had to do with getting to know me and how i want to spend the next 2 yrs and not about moving from a trainee to volunteer.  that will happen july 23 at swearing in.  whether a person becomes a volunteer has more to do with attitude and desire than anything else.  if a person wants to spend the rest of the 2 yrs in b. they will and the corps will make that happen, but only if A PERSON WANTS IT!  if the language is not going so well and you have not achieved the level needed to move on the corps will work with you to make sure that hhave toappens.  they are not going to send you home just because you can't speak well enough.  the language for me is coming slowly i think and just like english it's the grammar that is killing me!  my host family is great and they do a lot for me!  for me i guess the only expectation i had about the corps, not really expectation, had to do with where i would serve and the idea of the people i would serve.  i have to say at first it wasn't europe.  i had pictured more of a underdeveloped country like the dominican republic.  but then i checked my attitude and realized i applied to help and if they need help in europe so be it!  the food here is great and i really am going to have to watch myself!  lots of tomatoes and cucumbers and soup.  of course tea and coffee are big over here.   and bread.  breakfast is kinda like an open faced sandwich with some kind of meat and cheese.   now my job.  i will be working in with young people at an english school, a kindergarten, and the Mayor's office.  the focus of the school where i will be working is english, so good for m e in that dept b/c i got that part covered!  they want some new and exciting activities for the young people.  we'll see where that takes me!  more details on where later when i know the exact address.  i have to say as of right now i'm not sure the "help" i provide to my b friends will even come close to what i have received from them so far!  i am going to do my best and work hard to try to live up to my end of the bargain but right now i have to say i think i will fall short!  everyone i have come into contact with from my host family to the headmaster of the school where i will work to my counterpart has given me so much!  it is so incredibly humbling!  anyway i'll leave you all with that.  how come mathis and wayne aren't in camp?  is it a money thing?  i dove my colts but now that i'm over here all that money does seem kinda pointless.  i have to be up at 6 tom so am going to head to bed which is so very comfy!  i love you all!  keep that streak up fever!

r first test

a week from today will be our "test" to see if we can travel back to our homes by ourselves.  no counterparts, no language trainers to hold our hands, and no pc buddies to figure things out with if we don't remember the words.  just us!  tom we are going to vratsa to find out our permanent site, fri and sat we will meet our counterparts and figure out our relationship as well as find out a little about our best friends for2 yrs.  then on sun we travel with our counterparts to our site and stay there till wed of next week.  i am taking toni's advice and pre-writing out cards for "when is the bus to..."  and "where is the bus/train station?"  and things like that.  i'm a little nervous but know i can do it and have a fail safe.  not really a plan b but have emergency #'s just in case.  we can take one of our bigger bags along and our counterpart will store it in a safe place for us so that when we travel back to our sites we won't have as much luggage as when we first got over here which is nice!  i got most of my packing my extra bag done on mon pm and just have to pack for the trip to vratsa and my site.  again i'm not sure if i'll be able to blog till next fri, maybe thurs but we have a cluster on thurs after we get back...not much time to recooperate!  assume no news is good news!  for those of you that need info before next fri. get in touch with my parents.  if anyone knows anything it would be them!  i am going to let my family over here know too but that is a very expensive call for you just to hear my whereabouts!  the haircut went fine!  it is short but not as short as i wore it the last 2 yrs,.  maybe after it had grown out for 3 wks. or so.  at first dani thought it was a little too short (i did ask her how women in b were viewed if they have too short of hair) but she quickly changed her mind because she said it looked good on me.  tyler in my group called it my "teacher cut" and when we went to visit a schood this am asked me if i was ready to teach.  NOT QUITE!  i do have to say on that note im glad they decided to change my program to td instead of tefl!  so here goes nothing!  thank you all for not forgetting me and the continued letters, thoughts, and support.  i sure can feel it!

calm before the storm

today is kinda a slow and uneventful day.  went home for lunch and it was uneventful, not like yest.  so just now marisa has made friends with a dog and her dog came over to see us.  i'm sitting at the training center where i write my blogs everyday.  when marisa came for her tutoring session the dog came out of nowhere and found her.  i would pet him too but i don't want fleas and every animal here has them or just about.  he's just lying her in front of me waiting for her to get done.  tonight or tom night dani and i are going to get our hair cut.  last night dani, krisi, and i went for a bike ride; i guess we have 3 bikes.  i looked so very stylish with my helmet, glasses, and hair getting in my eyes!  my helmet isn't very tight and it kept sliding to the back of my head.  I WAS A SIGHT!  anyway i guess the reason i said it was the calm before the storm is because our lives will change yet again on thurs and right now it's kinda like we're just waiting for something.  i'm anxious to see where i'll be living for the next 2 yrs. after pst and will miss my host family.  there are 200 pc volunteers in b right now.  some leave at the end of the summer, some have 1 year left, and 87, like my group, have 2+ yrs left.  we are pretty spread out over the country and i'm pretty someone will be closer to me, maybe from my group and maybe other volunteers.  the volunteers getting ready to leave are b24's.  the volunteers a year ahead of us are b25's, and my group is b26.  sitting here watching what is happing is kinda interesting.  people walk right down the middle of the street and there is always foot traffic no matter what time it is.  imaging the sidewalks in the states.  our roads are basically big sidewalks that occasionally cars travel on.  you can walk anywhere in town in about 20 min's, not even.  and the dowg and cats.  they roam the town!  i guess the dogs that are kept in homes are treated worse than the dogs on the street.  they are everywhere and you can't tell which one belongs where or at least i can't!  interesting.  well i'm gonna finish up some work and maybe go have a beer or something.   until tom!  oh!  brad if you read this thanks for the tip!  lisa

LPI

once again i had a lot typed and lost it all somehow.  just got done with my language proficiency interview and i think it went ok.  dani, the interviewer, said i did and spoke in long sentences.  i was certainly trying to!  she told me to have more confidence in speaking and i guess that means i have to get out more.  but we went for 15 minutes in b which is a feat in itself!  when i went home for lunch krisi met me and said she needed help with something and she sounded kinda urgent.  i was thinking maybe english homework or something else more urgent.  she wanted a can of sardines for lunch and the pull tab had come off!  i tried with their broken can opener for awhile and then went to see if my pocketknife would do anything.  it did but not enough to get anything out.  i would've given up but krisi was not about to!  she got a kitchen knife and tried cutting.  i told her not to and she was going to cut herself.  she said "it's ok."  not really but she was not going to stop.  she actually made some headway cutting the top open a small bit(with dani's good knife i might add) and proceeded to pull the top off.  i did tell her to let me at least do that and that she did do.  so now i smell like sardines, or whatever kind of fishy fish(yes Pam...FISHY fish) she was eating.  in the process of trying to figure out my pocketknife i found out it really is super sharp and stabbed myself a little and bc of that my band aid smells like fish!  not a big fan of fishy fish...or onions that smell like onions either!  anyway just wanted to give you all an update!  please pray for my moms cousin marsha who is in the hospital with complications of lupus.  after wed i'm not sure if i'll be able to post for about a week.  i leave for vratsa and don't get back here till a wk from wed and not sure what the Internet situation will be.  the YD group is staying in a hotel outside vratsa and then fri and sat we have a conference with (hopefully) the person who will become our best friend the remaining time in b, the counterpart.  then on mon and tues we visit our sites, the place where we will live the next 2 yrs and return to our home away from home next wed.  i'm off to do some errands.  till next time!

words

Мамо(mom), татко(dad), брат(brother), сестра(sister), баба(grandma), дядо(grandpa), обяд(lunch), вечеря(dinner), къща(house), добро утро(good morning), добър вечер(good evening), довиждане(goodbye), стъпка по стъпка(little by little, really malko po malko, or how we learn and speak),здравей(hello), куче(dog), котка(cat), кон(horse), крава(cow), пиле(chicken), шунка(ham), сок(juice), добро(good).  it occured to me i have not included any words, or very few, yet.  also after i did this and it actually worked i realized i should have given you the alphabet!  that will have to be another time becaus i'm afraid i'll lose this if i leave this page.  it's the weekend and on mon we have our midterm language proficience interview.  lots of inerviews!  next week is busy and to tell the truth i'm not sure how it is all going to happen but i'll go with the flow!  the 17th we travel to vrasta to find out our permanent site placements along with the 86 other trainees, there still are 87 of us here in b) and then we get introduced to our counterparts and spend a few days at our new home.  i'm not sure if we leave on thurs. right from vratsa or come back to our satelite site for a few days and then go.  anyway it's a busy week starting on mon!  i signed up to be the first interview mon afternoon to get it over with.  i'm actually really interested in where i am at with the language.  if you think about it only having been here 1 month tom we've accomplished quite a bit for that short time!  sometimes it sure doesn't feel like it though!  my family is leaving the 23rd(i think) for turkey and will be gone till the 4th of july.  dani's mother is coming from pyce(ruce'- it's in north b) and speaks no b.   really think we'll be fine...as long as i have my dictionary!  well i'm going to close now and get some language work done.  have a great weekend!  lisa    

bulgarian friends

i have to say it's been awhile since i've had a bday party like that!  we had little finger sandwiches, salad, little chicken and potato fingers,beer, wine, and to top it all off a huge torta, like a cake with layers.  OH MY GOSH!!  again i have to point to the generosity of people i've known for only 24(?) days!  and they even got me stuff!  i'll include some pictures so you can see a little bit of last night.  it was very fun and almost the whole group came.  n. was sick and didn't feel well and she stayed home to rest.  we go to vratsa tom to have a lesson on how to teach english since we probably will have to at some point during the 2 yrs.  i think some of us are going shopping too for clothes we can't find here and will need.  it's a relatively quiet day without class this afternoon...but always plenty to do!  what is the price of gas now?   i do have t say with the oil spill and all i'm kinda glad i don't have to worry about driving for these next 2 yrs!  all for now!  

the process

well it's left up to God now!  i had my interview for my placement and i think it went really well!  i told them what i think i am going to need to be effective and overall what i want to accomplish.  i aked some impressions they have of me and the 2 things hey said were pretty right on!  we have had lots of access to curently serving volunteers and they give us advice on what to do and vice versa.  i picked out about 10 that i thought peaked my interest without discounting any b/c of language skills or the organizational skills i really don't have.  we'll see!  what i did learn today from our group meeting with the people who are resp for our placements is that the whole process is very much effective and no stone has beeen left unturned!  the ALL work very hard to make sure we are in the right place...from the country director on down to including our language trainer during pst, these 3 months.  i feel comfortable with the whole process.  the steps organizations have to go through to host a volunteer are very thorough.  safety is a biggie but even before that is if the site really needs a volunteer, which is important for us as volunteers and for the overall goal of who the corps serves.  security and safety are next.  if a site isn't safe it gets filed in the circular "file" and is not considered.  i feel very comfortable with this process and will see what happens!  i'll know next week!  on another note, my host family totally surprised me this am!  dani and lexi got me ceramic bell that says "time to party" in b and two kissing pigs held together by a string and they come back together if you pull them apart.  krisi gave me a flower.  i think that's it actually.  i skyped this am early b time with steph and was able to talk to my american family on my bday and that as good.  i usually don't make a big deal about my bday but figured since i'm in a foreign country and can't be with my loved ones i need support so have told people today is my birthday and i took chocolate to class and gave my family my m&m stash.  have a good week till i talk to yo all again!  lisa

cheating

Every time i find, ok 2 so far, myself in a situation where i don't understand what is going on and neither does the other person and want to try to get myself out of it something ends up happening and i end up cheating.  for instance i went to the pharmacy to buy some foot powder so my shoes don't stink up the place and confused the lady working there.  i tried to talk my way out of it but after awhile gave up and told myself to go back the next day more prepared.  that is exactly what i was going to do!  i looked up what i wanted in the dictionary and was prepared to get it right, darnit!  well, dani and i went out for lunch and while out she asked me if there was anything i needed and i explained to her what i wanted and she said " i know."  turns out the lady went to see dani at work and told her i needed something but she didn't know what.  totally took me out of the picture.  i'm so thankful for help and everyone looking out for me but on the other hand...  another example.  dani and alexi invited my group over tomorrow night for a reoghtenden den, birthday, party for me and they went to shop for food today.  we have another teacher going to be with us and i wanted to let them know she will also be here tom pm. i went to their office to tell them and they had already left.  i told their secretary(?) and i don't know if she didn't understand or what but we confused each other.  instead of getting out my dict and trying to alk myself out of it what did she do??  bring up google translate on the computer and tell me to type the message and have it translated!  see what i mean.  i guess the lesson for me is there is always a way around a misscommunication!  i am so thankful for everyones help,patients, understanding, and most of all consideration i guess is the word.  tom is our interview for our placements.  i want to look over the site lists one more time but i think i'm ready for the most part.  if my comp. lets me i will include some pics  of  whatever. the 1st 1 is of the mineral water that comes out of taps all over town.  there is one of the lang b/c i still think it looks funny, and a couple of the town where i am living.   preatin den!  (have a good day! and no i'm not going to google translate!  i like phoenics better)

thank you

i'm quickly learning that the words "thank you" (blagadaria in b) just don't seem to cut the mustard.  i learned this while in the dominican and am learning it again.  you have people, who not even 1 month ago, were total strangers going out of their way for you.  yest my host fam and i, minus veci, went to the monestary and then lunch.  while going home we stopped at a store to buy some groceries and dani told me to let her know what i like.  i got broccoli and peas, neither of which dani likes, although im not quite sure about the peas.  last night alexis parents came over and with the rice we had vegetables complete with broccoli and peas!   did notice krisi picking out the broccoli but still!  they also told me to invite the group of trainees over on tues pm to have a birthday party of sorts.  how nice!  mom, she wanted me to tell her my favorite food for my bday and somehow i didn't feel like i should tell her about the cream chicken!  anyway...on fri we got a list of all the possible placements for the remainder of our stay in b.  i find it interesting the placements that seem the most interesting have to do with working with Muslim people and a very conservative town.  you know what that means!  no jeans ever and dresses!  my favorite! last night just for kicks i gave dani and alexi all the placements and listened to them da or ne, yes or no, my choices.  alexi told me id also have to wear a scarf, only he used a napkin, on my head.  it was pretty funny listening to them tell me id get lice if i worked with the roma population and maybe fleas.  we have interviews this week which will be interesting.  the corps does not give us locations and i totally understand why but i will know where im going by/on the 17th!  kinda scary and exciting at the same time!  i'm fiquring out it rains quite a bit here but only for a little and then it's sunny, not an all day mist like in seattle most of the time.  i have some work to do (venegi domashno, always homework) so im going to close.  i'll try to add a  of lunch yest, an experience i have to say i've never had before) and more pictures of my town.  happy birthday ron!  the one pic you see with the nail polish was the girls going upstairs and doing our nails, yes my sister did mine, while alexi and a guest were downstairs talking, doing business, and drinking rakea.

irritating

i had a whole page typed out and now it's gone.    i really hate that.  yest my group went to see a roma schood presentation and then the kids followed us to the top of the hill,streets?, and we took pictures with them and talked to them in our very elementary bulgarian.  we kept getting our cameras out and putting them away and after awhile it got kinda old.  little gabby asked me to take her picture and i didn't because i had just put my camera away.  right away i regretted that when is she going to have access to someone with a camera again, a real camera?   I could've kicked myself!   I showed all my pictures to my family to show them that it's ok to be with roma.  to tell the truth at first I was kinda leary and kept checking to see if I still had my wallet.  but then i saw how cute they were and obviously they were curious because they were so eager for attention.  can you blieve I counted to 10 in spanish with a roma girl?   don't know if bulgarian is her native lang and if not spanish is her third.  we of course counted in english and bulgarian too.  we(I) was able to get across a little in my broken bulgarian.  we then told the kids goodbye and met with the mayor of their little community.  at dinner i showed my family my pics hoping that the good feeling towards roma would rub off.  i think krisi has more of a problem than anyone else in my family.  she was the one who told me not to address a roma man with the formal hello because he was roma  . time foe class.  try to do more later!