just a view
don't be jealous...it isn't attractive ;)
The Mosque
Love the leaves here in the fall!
View of the main...ok, the only street
My house is the tall one at the end
Ok, so after trying to recruit everyone I know to the wonderful world of facebook I, too, have succumb to the evil that is blogspot. I feel like this is going to be like the many journals I have in my parents basement all empty except for the first pages dated, “January 1st, whatever year” and reading, “Dear Diary, I’m going to write in you EVERYDAY this year.” Anyway, maybe I’ll surprise myself.
So, I’m here in BEAUTIFUL Grohotno, a small village in the Rhodope mountains of Bulgaria. I arrived last Thursday, and am loving it with all of my heart. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, and the colors of the leaves right now are SO vivid. Since being here I’ve been overwhelmed with the hospitality of the locals. I haven’t had the chance to cook one meal in my new kitchen yet, because the families here have sort of taken me in and cook for me constantly. Just the other day I decided that I wanted to make some yummies for everyone as a surprise…a sort of thank you. I snuck into my house and started making apple crumb cake…I must have forgot to shut the window because before I knew it my little kitchen was FULL of people helping me, and awing at the beauty that is the sugar cookie. We ate a myriad of desserts that night for dinner and I was able to get rid of a few of my leftovers at least J
During the day I’m working with the local chitalishte, which is like a sort of cultural center. My office is in the museum, which is a loft above the chitalishte full of historic Turkish/Bulgarian artifacts. The ladies over the center already have a few project ideas for me to be working on, which is great. Besides translating the information cards in the museum, and teaching a couple of English classes, I’ll also be creating brochures and a website for Grohotno. The bigger projects include working in conjunction with the municipality for plans and possible funding sources for an eco path. There is also talk of coordinating a few cultural exchanges with groups in both Turkey and Greece, which I am super stoked about. It’s a bit overwhelming at the moment, but I’m really excited to get to work.
Besides that I’m just kind of wandering around finding people to hang out with. I have a wonderful group of 4 teenage girls who must think I’m at least a little cool, because they come over every night and teach me kurchek (Turkish belly dancing) and drink juice. I didn’t realize how much I depended on my former American site mates during PST and the anticipation of seeing the others in the group every two weeks at HUB. I was honestly blessed with the best site mates in the world, who I now consider family, and some other really amazing volunteers who have become really special to me. So, yeah, now my downtime is spent a little differently, but it’ all good :)
Till next time, or next year,
Rajun :)
So, I’m here in BEAUTIFUL Grohotno, a small village in the Rhodope mountains of Bulgaria. I arrived last Thursday, and am loving it with all of my heart. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, and the colors of the leaves right now are SO vivid. Since being here I’ve been overwhelmed with the hospitality of the locals. I haven’t had the chance to cook one meal in my new kitchen yet, because the families here have sort of taken me in and cook for me constantly. Just the other day I decided that I wanted to make some yummies for everyone as a surprise…a sort of thank you. I snuck into my house and started making apple crumb cake…I must have forgot to shut the window because before I knew it my little kitchen was FULL of people helping me, and awing at the beauty that is the sugar cookie. We ate a myriad of desserts that night for dinner and I was able to get rid of a few of my leftovers at least J
During the day I’m working with the local chitalishte, which is like a sort of cultural center. My office is in the museum, which is a loft above the chitalishte full of historic Turkish/Bulgarian artifacts. The ladies over the center already have a few project ideas for me to be working on, which is great. Besides translating the information cards in the museum, and teaching a couple of English classes, I’ll also be creating brochures and a website for Grohotno. The bigger projects include working in conjunction with the municipality for plans and possible funding sources for an eco path. There is also talk of coordinating a few cultural exchanges with groups in both Turkey and Greece, which I am super stoked about. It’s a bit overwhelming at the moment, but I’m really excited to get to work.
Besides that I’m just kind of wandering around finding people to hang out with. I have a wonderful group of 4 teenage girls who must think I’m at least a little cool, because they come over every night and teach me kurchek (Turkish belly dancing) and drink juice. I didn’t realize how much I depended on my former American site mates during PST and the anticipation of seeing the others in the group every two weeks at HUB. I was honestly blessed with the best site mates in the world, who I now consider family, and some other really amazing volunteers who have become really special to me. So, yeah, now my downtime is spent a little differently, but it’ all good :)
Till next time, or next year,
Rajun :)
ps above are a few random pics
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