Some Much Needed Time Off...

If I ever thought I knew what 'hot' felt like, I was wrong. When some Americans conger up images of Eastern Europe, they think of a cold, dark and somber place filled with ex-communistic monuments and gigantic government building facades. Well, the monuments and facades are true remnants of days gone by, but the notions of the temperature and atmosphere couldn't be more wrong here in Bulgaria. While yes, North-Eastern Europe may fit that colder, darker image more-the South-East is a totally different scene. Here, the winter can be cold but in some ways no more than the mid-west in the U.S. On the other hand, the summer is unbelievable hot, sometimes humid and very, very sunny and bright.

Right after school wrapped up this year, I was able to get out of Shumen, head to the coast and enjoy some of that previously mentioned sun. While the summer is only about half over, it have been having a great time enjoying the weather when I can. I honestly can't remember the last time it rained but the real problem with going outside here is the ridiculous heat. The streets actually empty around noon and no one comes again until 4 or 5 if they can avoid it. Being from the Northwest U.S., I can say nothing at home-even the hottest days has ever felt like it does here. Anyway, its been a great summer so far so I thought I'd share some pictures of what I've been up to with this much needed time off.

On the last week of school, PC volunteers were allowed to leave school to attend our mid-service conference. Since it was one of the last conferences to occur in Peace Corps Bulgaria, the staff was thoughtful enough to make it in the resort town of St. Constantine and Elena, just out of Varna. This was great for all of us because it was on the beach but especially for me because I live only an hour and a half from Varna. We stayed in an old communist era resort hotel from the 60s and 70s so things were a bit old but who cares...the views were amazing and the beach was only 200 meters away.

View from the room out to the Black Sea.

One guy from our group thought it would be cool if we all had matching  U.S. flag  swimsuits. Clearly over the top and obnoxious but we all had a good time with it for the week. I don't think I've ever loved something and hated something so much all at once. 

Some of us guys in our mankinis. Never again. Oh yeah, that's Seth with the mo-hawk in the middle. He was the guy with the swimsuit idea.

After our MSC (Mid-service conference), a smaller group of volunteers decided to stay in the region by the N.E. coast and go sightseeing and camping for a few days. The culmination of the trip was spending the night at 'July morning' an event that has been going on in Bulgaria since the communist times. It is a music festival that was original a "subtle protest against the communist regime." "In Bulgaria, there is a tradition called July Morning (Bulgarian: Джулай Морнинг) which is believed to be an echo from the hippie era of the 1960-1980s. Although not universally observed in the country, it is unique as it is not observed anywhere else in the world. Usually, in the days before 1st of July, people from across Bulgaria travel (often hitchhiking) to the Black Sea coast to meet the first sun rays on the first day of July. People gather around fires, share drinks, play music and wait for the sunrise. There is no mandatory ritual, ceremony or rite for this tradition and it is up to participants' discretion how will they spend the night before July 1. On many locations, there are concerts with professional and amateur bands. Camping at the locations of choice for the July Morning celebration is also very popular"(wikipedia.com).

As stated, hitchhiking in a group is the common form of transportation in this region and  this is the landscape up there. Sunflowers and windmills as far as the eye can see.

Sunflowers and windmills galore...

 Our first night, we camped on the coast east of Shabla, Bulgaria. While we were there we were able to do some cliff jumping off of these cliffs below.

"Just avoid those rocks to the right...you'll be fine!"

This is the hill we camped on. Actually there was a cave underneath us where most people set up camp because they didn't have a tent. 

A pic of my tent on the bluffs at night.

More hitchhiking the next day.

A small church in a little village we walked through. Seriously, this place was so small and the people who live here don't have anyway out of the town other than their own car, horse cart, or hitching a ride. No mini-buses in sight.

We eventually made it to our destination after hours of hitchhiking and sore feet-Kaliakra Cape and Fortress. The weather was hot but after seeing the sites, we took shade in one of the restaurants for a beer and snacks. 

At the end of the cape you can make out an old staircase leading to the bottom  as well as a  rock shelf where people throw money for good luck.

The smallest church in Bulgaria is at the end of the cape.

Old stairs of the church.

The restaurant we took our break. Feet, your welcome.

The restaurants interior section is built into an old cave in the cape itself. Awesome. 

View from our table across to the mainland where you can see  all of the widmills. Bulgaria actually has a lot of green energy in production.

And then, after more hitching, we joined 10,000+ people for July morning......

Our disheveled campsite at July morning after a long trek and maybe just a few drinks.

Everyone watching the sunrise. 

After the sunrise, we hitched back to Shabla where I had my first cup of coffee in 3 days and 2 nights of very little sleep. It gave me just enough energy to make it home, take a shower and pass out.

That's it for now all. More summer fun and stories to come later...Чао!

Here Comes the Heat

After months of working and trudging through cold temperatures, the weather finally turned  about 2 months ago and the spring has been great. Now, the heat has arrived and everyone is out enjoying it. So much so in fact that students stop coming to school as much as 4-6 weeks before the end of the school year. The senior class finishes school early, during the first week of May while the remaining students are supposed to continue until around June 30th. This doesn't actually happen of course and many teachers are left with nearly empty classrooms the last 2 weeks. Eh, who can blame them. With a beach an hour away and the heat growing oppressive within the schools, it has been this way for years here.

As soon as the spring warmth showed up, I decided to have a go at planting my own herbs this year. Starting from seed, I have been able to start some basil, thyme and even some cilantro-an herb impossible to find in Bulgaria, which makes cooking Mexican food or some Asian foods sub-standard. Seriously, one comes to miss certain small things like that so much that, I swear, none of those foods will be safe around me when I return. When I get off the plane back in America, it's straight to Vietnamese or Mexican food.

Evening watering on the enclosed patio

The basil has been the fastest growing from the get go.

Cilantro takes a while to pop up but you can just make out the start of some leaves in the foreground. The skinny looking ones behind that are the thyme shoots.

Transplantation of basil into a bigger home.

In May I was able to get away from Shumen to the Radope mountains to help with a Music festival project called Meadows in the Mountains. It was the third annual event, organized by a British family that lives in both Bulgaria and England. The musicians were mainly from Western Europe with a few from Bulgaria but the people in attendance were from all over the globe. While there were probably only 300-400 people in attendance, they included Australians, Kiwis, Dutch, Danes, Swedes, Brits, French, Germans and of course, Bulgarians. A true multi-national event. Not everything was good about the festival though. While as volunteers, we worked 12-16 hour days-difficult on its own, the organization was so poor and the work load so heavy that many volunteers had some intense disputes and fights with the people 'in-charge'. Overall, it was a lot of work helping to run everything but we had a few hours off in the evenings to enjoy some of the music.

Some of the attendees and volunteers on the way to the meadows site. We had to help translate for them at the lunch stop here on the way up.

the horse cart transportation from the village store up to the  festival site. 

The view from one of the campsites.

Riot Jazz, my favorite performers at the festival.

The Cowboy....or at least that's what everyone called him. Minutes before this set, he didn't look like he could even stand up but everyone said he managed to play an awesome show.

Dawn breaks with music still thumping in the background.

They hired some villagers to pit-roast and serve 5-6 pigs and a ton of chickens over the weekend.

The man hired for the job, cutting up the meat with the beautiful vista in the background.

A local giving rides to party-goers 

Alas, all parties come to an end. After so much hard work, I think all of the volunteers welcomed it. 

Near the last day of school, it is a tradition at my school and I'm sure many in BG to have a priest come and do a ritual blessing of the school for closing out the year and presumably for the coming years success. The priest himself was a former student and he seemed happy to come back to his former school and deliver the blessing. The ceremony involved some prayers, blessing of bread and wine(which everyone then eats), followed by being sprinkled with holy water by the priest or director of the school as they walked around the faculty. The rituals in Eastern Orthodoxy are not entirely different than Roman Catholicism but there is more of a focus on idolatry and old, pagan rituals retained from this area woven into their version of Christianity.

My director sprinkling us with holy water before the celebratory meal afterwards.

So, with summer finally here, I'm planning on taking a little bit of a break, enjoying the beach a few days and hopefully catching up on some personal duties I haven't had time for during the school year. My dad comes to Bulgaria later this summer so and we have a trip planned around Bulgaria, ending in Istanbul before he heads home. To all back home-have a good summer, I miss you all and I'll see you in a year!