Short and Sweet

Here's my address in Bulgaria for the three months of pre-service training (until October 27th):

Vassi Toneva
Peace Corps
PO box 178
Central Post Office, Pazardjik, 4400
Bulgaria

My head is swimming with words in Turkish, English, and Bulgarian...I've been speaking some form of Turklisharian...verrrry interrresting!

Wishing you well!

Landing in Krichim

The adventure continues...feels a bit like a roller coaster ride right now, with a lot happening and something new everyday. Our big group of 50 has split off into 'clusters' of 5 or 6 to learn Bulgarian in different communities. Before we left and went our separate ways, it struck me that I've never been so sought out by Americans because of my Bulgarian roots. It's ironic that this thing of my Bulgarianism, this thing which brought me ridicule and isolation in elementary school, this thing which made me the object of mockery because it made me different, is now admired and considered 'cool' even, as a valuable resource in a group whose goal is to integrate into Bulgarian society. Funny how things can change and transform...once again life shows how nothing is entirely 'good' or 'bad'...it all depends on the context and even that can change in an instant...of course, sometimes it may take a few years, but it all comes back around in some way or another. Maybe :)

Currently, I'm living with a beautiful Turkish family in the town of Krichim, a little slice of paradise, which envelops communities of Roma, Turks, and Bulgarians living in relative harmony. It's surrounded by mountains and proud home of preserved ruins which have been around since Byzantine times. Since I already pretty much know Bulgarian, I'll be learning Turkish during the three-month pre-service training. My host mama is called Atije and she's been teaching me Turkish words here and there, which I instantaneously forget...i'm hoping that with continued repetition, it'll stick...well, i'll be pretty stuck if it doesn't stick...so, send me wishes of 'stickness' rather than 'stuckness' :)

Atije's sister, Oshgyun, will be my Turkish teacher...she also has a volunteer, Andy, who apparently looks a lot like someone in the community called Memmet...everyone's excited about the American twin. It's become somewhat of a full-time job for me to translate between Bulgarian and English so the PC volunteers can understand what's going on and so the families can understand the volunteers. Oshgyun's daughters, Gyuchen and Villi, understand some English, so we're all helping each other to understand what's going on. My inherited younger sister, Berin, busted out her cards yesterday, and all of us 'kids' played, "Gledai si rabotata", i.e. "Mind Your Own Business".

Afterwards, my host-mom, Atije, sister Berin, and host-dad, Oktai, all went to a little mineral water pool up the mountain and played in the water for a bit. Then, we visited some friends of the family and ate ice cream. Bulgarians tend to be extremely hospitable, always ready to make tea, bring out snacks, and chat into the wee hours of the morning. So, we chatted for a while, went back home, watched TV, chatted some more, and then went to bed.

There are six of us PC volunteers here in Krichim...Andy, me, Jack and Rhonda (the beautiful couple who had their anniversary on August 14th, the day we left DC), Trevor, and Fred. This town is quite interesting...it's a place where modernity meets rural life. We wake up in the morning to roosters crowing, walk on the same streets where cows and goats walk, hear American pop and techno music blaring from houses or cars, watch as our families greet everyone on the street and in the neighborhood, and then come home to 50-channel television and very modern appliances. It also seems to be a place of East meets West, influenced both by Turkish pop and folk culture and American commercialism.

That's it for now,
Blessings from the Balkans!
Ciao!

Trees, Anniversaries, Kak si?

It's our second day in Borovetz (land of the pine trees) and so much has happened already!
We all survived the long, grueling flight...I survived a minor nervous breakdown the night before, which my wonderful roommate Toni (who also helped me to start this blog...thank you, Toni!!) helped me to navigate. There was not much sleep to be had, but many people to meet, both within and outside of Peace Corps (hereafter PC). Took us a few hours to get through the checkout at DC with all 5o of us. A group of Catholic youth and about 100 people were flying to Frandfurt at about the same time...to hang out and meet the pope. Needless to say we provided a healthy challenge to the airport and the airlines!

PC Erica and I met a humorous lad called Ian who is from the US but grew up in Saudi Arabia and is heading to study in France. His mom, Robin, teaches kids in Saudi Arabia and was very excited to talk to some of us PC volunteers. So many people, so many stories, ai, ai, ai, it's all so amazing :)

We landed in Sofia in the afternoon of Monday, August 15th, the same day as the 57th anniversary of my grandparents! Coincidence! Some people in the PC group learned how to say happy anniversary in Bulgarian...'Chestita godishnina'. Two of the PC volunteers who learned it were Jack and Rhonda, a beautiful couple from Alaska who had their 29th anniversary on Sunday, August 14th.

At the airport, we were all met by the PC country director, a very nice, funny person who started our training this morning. Outside the gate, i was met by a 'welcoming delegation' including grandparents, two aunts, and cousins. Not much time to talk but enough time to hug, kiss, and hear that "it's not a good idea to learn Turkish". As we were waiting for the bus, some of the PCVolunteers got together and said, "Chestita godishnina" to my grandparents. Grandpa felt very touched by the whole experience, close to tears, and he wanted to say a few words...he said "welcome to this Bulgarian land, soiled with the blood and love of the Bulgarian people...i wish you a successful service. i see in your faces hardworking individuals who will help us get through this chaotic situation in a peaceful way," well that was the general gist of it. IT was so touching...i felt close to tears a few times during the experience at the airport. Then, we all got on the bus, with the help of many staff members from Peace Corps and Bulgaria and we shipped off to Borovets.

The road to Borovets was a winding mountain road, passing by lakes, rivers, and many trees, deciduous as well as evergreen. We're staying in Hotel Zodiac. The youth development assistant trainer is called Daniela...another staff member is called Elena...another one is Vesselka, Vessi for short...she's my 'adash' since we have the same name. We had training all day today and i think i can speak for most of us when i say that we're pretty pooped. The first language lesson was today...everyone learned how to say hello-dobur den, how are you?-kak si? (saying kak si over and over got a few laughs from many people since kak sounds an awful lot like an English word that i won't mention :) ),
i am bla-bla-as sum bla bla (as sum was fun to say for people since it sounds like 'awesome')

That's about it for now...feel free to send me a line from the land of plenty, cheers...plenty of cheers :)

starting on the journey

Here we are in Washington DC...all 50 of us...it's a big group, full of wonderful, quirky, inspiring characters. We're flying out at 5:50 pm tomorrow. It's hard to believe the time is actually here, that the Peace Corps adventure is finally beginning. The room was full of all kinds of emotions today...a hint of anxiety, a touch of nervousness, ( everyone seems nervous about learning the language), a dose of excitement, a pinch of giddiness, and a healthy dose of giggly goofiness.

After a stopover in Frankfurt, we'll be flying into Sofia and then moving onto Borovets (it was initially supposed to be Strelcha, but due to major flooding in Bulgaria, our location has moved to a resort mountain town, which everyone is pretty excited about...the mountains, the hiking, the trees, etc.) It's been interesting for me to watch the beginning of the merging of these two cultures that have both been a huge part of my life...Bulgaria and the USA, it's wonderful to have a big group of people to share that with. More to come...love to all :)