Saturday, February 17, 2007

It's Time to Look Towards the Future

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

The Tragic Comedy Called My Life

Approximately two weeks ago my group of voluneers, the B-20's, reached the three month point of our service at our permanant sites. To mark this occassion, we were all invited to the town of Kazanluk for what is knows as In-Service Training. For those of you confused by what exactly this is, think Pre-Service Training, 3 months later, while we are "in" service. Clear? Without going into too much detail of what happens during IST, for fear of being forcebly removed by Peace Corps Bulgaria, I will say that it was a great time to see the other volunteers who I haven't seen in a while and a chance to brush up on my belot playing (See: The most valuable training session of the weekend, "Bulgarian Culture and Integration Through Cards, Room 225")

Haggard and tired from a long week of... training, yes, training, I arrived home on Thursday night to find that the power had been shut off to my apartment. After some thourough investigating I realized that I was the only unit in the block without power and hence, I had simply forgotten to pay my electricity bill. Being the resourceful volunteer that I am, I lit up a few candles, grabbed a blanket or two, a bottle of good wine, and my book, and spent the evening reading while listening to the sweet sounds of Charlie Parker on my ipod. This was also my blueprint for Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Arriving at work on Monday I explained the situtation to my co-workers and was told that although I paid the bill on Friday, i would have to pay an additional 5 leva fee and would my power back on the following day. This wasn't a problem until I realized that I had bought and used the entire candle stock for the town of Bratsigovo the previous four days. Not wanting to sit around in the dark the entire night I decided to search every possible store within the town. One hour later I arrived at my doorstep with two small candles and my hopes high that they would last more than an hour... Only to find that as I stepped into apartment, the electricity had returned.

Part Two

Overjoyed to have electricity, heat, and water I ran to the store to pick up groceries to cook one of my favorite Bulgarian meals, musaka. In preparation of the meal I realized that it might be a good idea to wash the dishes which had been lying in my sink for far too long, due to my lack of hot water. Midway through washing the first plate, the plate broke in half, cutting a half-inch piece of skin out of my thumb and resulting in me bleeding over the entire kitchen, for two hours. No matter what I did, and how hard I tried, I could not get my thumb to stop bleeding. Yet once again, being the versitile volunteer that I am with the faint taste of musaka already in my mouth, I decided to forge ahead with the meal.

The problem with a meal like musaka is, that when cooked, you cook a large amount in order which can be used for leftovers. When I say large amount, I mean peeling and cutting one kilogram of potatoes, 3 tomatoes, 2 onions, and some peppers. This was all done while pressing my thumb into a towel on the top of my head (see picture) while cutting with my left hand in what can best be described as a karate chop motion. Needless to say, this process took quite a long time with food flying all over the kitchen and me in tears the entire time laughing at how absurd I had to look to anyone who happened to look in my window.

All stories aside, it was also a great week because I found out that I secured a grant from the International Women's Club in Sofia for the renovation and refurbishing of a pensionare's club and youth center in the town of Biaga. Not a bad way to start off my Peace Corps service at a solid one for one record.

Currently Reading:
"Laughable Loves" by Milan Kundera
Currently Listening to: "This Too Will Pass" by The One AM Radio