June 10th

This past Friday was a pretty special day in the life and times of Peace Corps Bulgaria.  First of all 41 new trainees became volunteers.  They are the 27th group in Bulgaria, hence the "B27."  I'm a B26, part of a group of 83 who arrived in B this May 12, 2010.  I, and I think I speak for all the volunteers here already, wish them success in this 2nd part of their journey!  They made it through the grueling and nothing but intensive first part, Pre-service Training, and now they get to put into practice more of what they learned!   The second reason the 10th of June was special, and no it's not because it was 2 days after my birthday, was because June 10th marked the 20 year anniversary of the first volunteers in B.  June 10th 1991 was when B 1 paved the way for the rest of the 26 groups of volunteers to live and work in B alongside Bulgarian partners.  They set the tone for all of us.  Because of that first group I was able to come to B.  They established the ongoing relationship between our 2 countries.  Kudos to them!!  I have to think of all the advantages I have now that I'm certain they didn't have.  I can talk to my family by emails and skype.  I can say that 10 years ago when a good college friend of mine was leaving to join the Peace Corps in Africa digital cameras were just coming out.  Interesting stuff to think about and reflect over!  I remember when I first got here, to my new home.  Those first couple days were a whirlwind; this whole year has been!!  One of the things that sticks out is that for the first day or so I didn't have a towel to dry myself off.  But then again it was the end of July and so hot that I didn't need one!  Well it's several housrs after I first started this and that means several hours closer to bed time.  Love and hugs!!