Construction

It is worth putting a picture of a typical construction site in Bulgaria, which is completely different looking than construction sites that I was used to seeing in the states. In Bulgaria, there is not so much of the wooden frame approach, or even too much in the way of metal I-beams. This is a small addition to my work building, a new separate enterance for this portion. You can see almost all the steps, from the concrete drying in its scaffold supported mold at the top to the brick fill at the bottom. The concrete is poured around metal re-bar. In this case, the workmen carried the concrete in buckets up the steps as they built them.

At another work-site near my house, I once saw a man kick a board loose from the concrete mold to free fall to the ground...FROM 4 STORIES UP. And this mold was for the ceiling of the third floor, which meant that he was standing on the fourth floor with one foot, and vigourously kicking in mid-air with the other. Can you imagine how quickly an American construction worker would call his lawyer if he were asked to do that?

Sex sells....

...but cucumbers? Do we really want to think about the further implications here? It is a dark path, and this blog will not go there.

This is an advertisement in a food store window near my apartment. They do, in fact, sell cucmbers and I often buy them to make delicious traditional salads.

Field day with falcon boxes!

So, we spent last Thursday in the field installing nest boxes for the Red Footed Falcon, which is a globally endangered species. Historically, Red-Footed Falcons do not build nests, but use the nests from old Rook colonies. Rooks are not so popular with the farmers, so they have been "persecuted" in recent years, and their colonies have been in decline. Also, the falcons like to live in tree stands near open areas (like agricultural land), so that they can hunt for insects (the falcons are pretty small).

So, we placed some nest boxes out among some tree stands near agrilcultural land. Often near water swarming with all sorts of "falcon food." We did this loop during the day in northwest Bulgaria, covering quite an ammount of territory actually. Where we were is much flatter than most of Bulgaria (most of which is just chock-a-block with mountains), but the region is scattered with rolling hills with some limestone outcroppings up above river valleys. We passed through all these dreamy-quiet little villages of ramshakle little old houses with gorgeous flower gardens full of tulips at the peak of their blooming. It makes me happy to see that even in the poor regions outside the more quickly devloping larger towns, that people still have some beauty in their lives. We passed over the Iskar (among other rivers I believe); it was brimming with spring runnoff and far enough away from the bigger roads to be relatively free of litter.

Frankly, I am not sure how to react to the litter problem here. My instinct is to condemn it! To scold Bulgarians that I see littering in the same way that I would scold any American that I saw littering back home (full disclosure: I was once a volunteer park ranger, so shaming people into picking up after themselves was part of my JOB!). In the US, we are told from a very young age, "Don't through that on the ground! It is bad for the animals!" I remember all the education campaigns about birds getting their heads stuck in the plastic rings for soda cans, and endangered sea turtles dying from ingesting plastic bags that resembled jellyfish. Plus, in the US, there are signs everywhere warning of steep fines (I've seen $1,000 posted) for littering.

The hidden linchpin in the American system is this: we have had for years, and continue to have, a dependable and efficient waste collection/disposal system. Despite the fact that we are filling landfills and as a nation, produce far to much trash, that trash has a destination. And when the land fills are full, they are capped, burried, monitored and turned into parks! In Bulgaria, I have seen trash heaps on the side of the road, and official landfills and are not nearly as well contained as the ones I grew up seeing (and I grew up going to the dump with my father, as we didn't have collection in our town). Here, if you throw your trash in the dumpster, it is possible that it will be collected in a timely manner. It is also entirely possible that it will stay there until the dumpster overflows and the trash blows around on the street.

In any case, I picked up a few pieces of trash at the end of our field day (causing the Bulgarians to scratch their heads), at our last falcon box site. It was near a fishing pond, with islands in the middle, that happened to be home to a breeding colony of White Egrets (Бяла Чапла) and Night Herons (Нощна Чапла). I had never seen Night Herons before, so it was a highlight for me! Here is a wider shot of the pond.

Here is a "close up" in relatively speaking terms. The white things in the trees are the egrets!

My Best Day Yet!

So, just a quick one on what I think was my best day yet as a Peace Corps Volunteer.



On my way to work the trees looked like this:

I went to a village and presented to a room full of kiddos about migratory spring birds. I think it was almost all the kids who were in school that day. They were SO attentive, and knew a fair ammount about birds, from living in a small village. They have at least one stork nest there, but the weather was bad so I didn't get a chance to see it. In any case, I had a great time presenting, and the kids were very welcoming. I like to have a little fun when I present, so I made them sing like cukoos, which they did wonderfully. In the photo with me and the two girls, the girl on the left was my little helper...I gave her the "job" of pressing the arrow on my laptop to advance my presentation. She took it SO seriously, and being one of the younger kids I think she was kind of proud that SHE was picked.

Then I had what is arguable one of the best lunches in Bulgaria, called Surmi. Little bundles of rice and meat wrapped up in grape leaves and steamed. Mine were served with yogurt. There are vegetarian versions and versions with cabbage as well, all delcious.

After lunch, I did a little bit of translation for BSPB's website, which I is challenging, but teaches me better Bulgarian. Then, I had my Bulgarian lesson, and would have normally been headed for home, except I had an operetta to go to.



A musical theater company in Veliko Turnovo was putting on "Die Fleitermaus" (English: "The Bat" Български: "Прилепът") by Johan Strauss. They did a FABULOUS job, and I thoughoughly enjoyed the show. I had heard lots of the music before; Die Fleitermaus is supposedly one of the examplars of the genre, and for good reason. Operettas are supposed to be "lighter" in subject than operas, and this one is a society comedy set in old Vienna. The plot has all sorts of kniving behavior and intrigue, and was well acted as well as well sung. Plus there were some only in Bulgaria touches, aside from being performed in Bulgarian. At one point the scantily clad bat dancers (who attend the midnight ball taking place in the second act) let out a pretty distinctive whoop, that is very similar to what you hear from young girls doing traditional folk dances.



Here are some pics from my up high seats (I got comped). I did not manage to capture the bat-dancers unfortunately!

Spring? Maybe?

So, it being March, and I being from the American Northeast, I will not say that I have survived my first Bulgarian winter just yet. I think the places where I have lived in the states have prepared me well for the fits and starts of spring, that may happen here.

I have been thinking quite a bit lately about my role as a PC volunteer here. The economy here changing rapidly. One of the surest signs of economic growth that I have seen is the new construction projects that seem to be all over the place in Svishtov. And these are not just personal homes, these are pretty big buildings with retail and living space going in. Having lived in some rapidly growing areas in the US, the sound of hammers has always been sort of symbolic of economic growth to me.

Now of course, that doesn't mean that there isn't work to be done here. The economy is growing, but that doesn't mean that it will help everyone equitably, nor does is mean that it will grow in an environmentally sustainble fashion. While I know some Bulgarians would disagree with me, the problem doesn't seem to be the money. The problem is what is done with the money.

I think it is difficult for Bulgaria, because this is all happening so rapidly. They have not had time to mature as an economy like many western nations. The EU is having conversations about limiting carbon emissions, corperate social responsibility and sustainable development. This is something that western nations are arriving at after many years of economic prosperity, whereas here, it was only 10 years ago that they had to whack three zeros off the currency because of runaway inflation. To many Bulgarians these concepts seem to be luxeries that only rich countries can afford, whereas westerners see them as things that we can't afford to ignore.

In any case, I am not sure what to make of it. Far be it from me to post a conclusive statement on issues that are still playing themselves out. What I do know is that spring is beginning to arrive, flowers are popping up, and that everyone here seems to be cheering up. I have been visiting some classrooms, and I am trying to wheedle myself into a group of teachers that really care about enviromental education, and try to meet some of their needs. More on the day to day stuff later, I was more in a big picture mood today.

OH.....before I sign off, if you are reading this anywhere in Europe and you like birds, being a nature geek, being outside or the arrival of nicer weather, you should log onto www.springalive.net There are at least versions in at least 2 dozen languages! So righteous!

Riding the rails to Karlovo

Last weekend I took a trip to Karlovo to meet up with some fellow PCV gal pals. This trip marked a few of my firsts: first weekend trip out of Svishtov (other than the holidays), first train trip in Bulgaria and first time to Karlovo. It was a welcome change, to break out of my life here for a short time.

Karlovo has several things going for it on the tourist attraction front. It is right at the foot of the Central Balkans, so there are these absurdly gorgeous mountains looking down at you everywhere you go. Also, Karlovo is the site of an annual rose festival, being right in the middle of Bulgaria's famed rose growing region. Bulgarian rose oil goes for tens of thousands of euros per kilo, and is highly prized in the perfume industry. Last and not least, Karlovo is the birthplace of Vasil Levski, Bulgaria's famed "apostle of freedom" who was the major leader of the National Revival period. The National Revival took place late during the 500 year rule of the Ottoman Empire, and was the beginning of the eventually sucessful push for sovreignty.

We did not get to the Vasil Levski museum, but we did go for a lovely walk in a park at the base of the mountains, and ended up at the waterfall pictured here. And because I was crazy enough to clamber down off the bridge over the stream, I also got this shot of Cindy, Joan and Rajun peering down at me. What can I say? There was a cool rock down there that I wanted to take a look at.

On our way back, Joan and I were able to ride together for a good portion of our journey on the train. I've noticed that Bulgaria PCV's either fall in to the categories of "train people" or "bus people." After my journey, I am FIRMLY a train person now (Thomas, if you are reading this, I have seen the light). The train travels at a nice constant speed and does not ever need to pass slow ladas (a Communist era model of car, not famed for horsepower) on the highway in the fog, nor swerve back into the other lane when an oncoming vehicle is spotted. There is a bathroom on the train. The windows on the train are bigger, so you can see the often GORGEOUS scenery and the interesting little tiny train stations in the middle of the country like this one shot through the somewhat grimy window (note the EU flag, right there next the the BG one). There is more space on the train for baggage, legroom, and possibly for lying down to take a nap. Finally, the train is way cheaper than the bus. To temper my accolades, the bus is a little faster than the train, and there are some destinations to which I would still consider taking the bus if it was a straight shot, versus a complicated set of transfers. The final factor for me though, is that I tend to feel a little motion sick on busses and feel like pondscum when I arrive at my destination. At the end of a train journey, however, I feel like a real human.

Mid Winter Bird Count.....better late than never!

So it has been almost two weeks since the mid-winter bird count, our biggest field excursion of the winter months, but I am only addressing it now. I have had a mild case of the winter blues compounded with some delayed-onset culture shock as I encounter more everyday situations. I think that my brain and my enthusiasm had frozen over for a short time, but they seem to be recovering nicely now.

To illustrate why I am experiencing culture shock I will provide a fun example of a completely alien everyday activity. Did you know that in Bulgaria to retrieve a package you must: 1st) Notice the absense of a log book in your PO box 2nd) Stand in line in the PO box office window to inquire about it and then sign to receive an "invitation" to retraieve your package 3rd) Go stand in line in the parcel office that has it's own separate entrance from the other side of the building in order to be issued a payment slip for a small fee of undetermined origin. 4th) Go to the payment office (yes, another seperate office) on the second floor to pay and have the slip stamped to prove payment. Oddly enough the parcel office does except payments for stamps on outgoing mail, but not for this particular procedure. 5th) Return to the parcel office in order to submit the properly stamped payment slip, so that you can fill out a form with your national ID number and signiture. 6th) Receive the package! Even more perplexing, is that this procedure has been DIFFERENT every time depending on the weight of the package, whether it fits in the post box, who is working that day and possibly the angle of the sun. Again, this is not to criticize Bulgaria as a whole, but it does take a lot of energy to negotiate these wrinkles of being in a new culture, when the wrinkles so often seemingly come out of nowhere. To paint a fuller picture, all of the various ladies behind windows were extremely patient with me in my confusion, and helped me jump through these various hoops. It seems though that I am the only one confused by the existance of the hoops in the first place.

It is high time to get back to the birds. It was one cold day, although very interesting. We saw pelicans, ducks, cormorants, eagles and buzzards! It was extremely exiting to see all this, even in our limited visibility. We were in quite a cold snap at the time, and so many of our small local wetlands had been frozen over. The mighty Danube was mostly clear (although we had some concerns leading up to the day that icebergs which had been spotted upstream of us might arrive), so birds were concetrated there. Even with the cold, we were lucky to be out there. So many potential logistical snafus could have reared their ugly heads, but Emil managed to make it happen. Some of these said snafus: if the roads would be clear to get the boat to the river and allow a jeep to transport our other team along the banks of a smaller river, whether we would be able to see any birds at all in the fog, whether the Nature Park staff would be able free their boat from under the snow in time, whether the engine could be coaxed into working in the cold, which volunteers were crazy enough to come with us and no doubt, myriad other details that were lost in translation.

On the boat ride, we actually were doging floating ice. As you can see, it is an open boat, so it was not the warmest place I've been. It was also not the coldest (having grown up skiing in New England), and I should have been quite comfortable in my absurdly warm ski gear, except for the fact that I needed to go to the bathroom for about half of the duration of the trip. Anyone who has worked outside in the cold knows that "holding it" is about the most cold inducing thing you can do. But what could I do? I was a girl on a rapidly moving open boat accompanied by all males!

In the end though, it was a sucessful day. I was glad to be a part of it, and glad to help compile our data afterwards. Is it weird that I find data entry relaxing? In any case, I am continuing to learn a lot and am looking forward to our next field opportunity.

Bulgarian Christmas and a METER of snow

I appologize for the delay in writing about the holidays, but I will do my best to make it worth the wait. I spent Christmas with my host family in Southwest Bulgaria, along with another Peace Corps Volunteer (Magi, second from left)who lived with them (previous to me). My host family really went out of their way to make us feel welcome, and kept referring to us as "the kids." Here we are on Christmas Eve: Eli is between Magi and I, Bobi is on the far left and in the background is Stoil senior with the ever important wine pitcher.

And next, we have the men of the family: Stoil senior, Stoilcho the teenager and Vasco. Bulgarians tend to skip generations with family names, so there is a distinct possibility that if Soilcho ever has a son, he will be called Vasco as well. Stoil senior still has his wine pitcher; as you can see, he takes his glass filling duty very seriously.


One of the most touching moments for me was Christmas morning in church. It is tradition in the Bulgarian Orthodox church to write the names of your family on a small piece of paper,

and then the priest prays for everyone by name later during the service. Our host grandma (Baba Bobi) included us on the list too, right after the grandkids. Being as this was my first holiday season spent away from my biological family, it felt good to be part of an adopted one.

In Orthodox tradition, Christmas Eve is considered a fast day, which means that no animal products or any kind are eaten. So, Christmas Eve dinner is completely vegan, much to the delight of some of my vegetarian friends. Also Christmas Eve dinner in always eaten on the floor, which must have some sort of symbolic or theological meaning, but I don't know enough to conjecture about it here. As you can see it wasn't really a fast. We had mashed beans, peppers and cabbage leaves stuffed with rice, sweet and savory banitsa (the national pastry) and ceremonial bread with little slips of paper baked into it with "luck" written on them. It was almost like a Bulgarian fortune cookie (not the flavor, the luck).



I also got to visit with the goats, who some of my loyal readers will remember that I befriended. It turns out that my host family has a sheep now too. The goats are named Maya and Galla. The sheep, rather ominously, is not named. Magi, Stoil senior and I took them out for a lovely stroll through the edge of the forest.

After Christmas, I came back to Svishtov for New Year's . Bulgarians do not stop with a simple Happy New Year. They continue on to wish you health, wealth, luck, happiness and a long life. But that is not the big story. On New Year's Day in the evening it started snowing, and really has not let up much since! Today it accumulated to over a meter. The roads out of town are closed, and the sidewalks are just piled high with snow. Many regions of Bulgaria are in offical states of emergency. My power is on and everything, so I am quite comfortable, but I have heard of some power outtages in the villages. We're expecting to be shut in for several days, so I have been buying a little extra food.

Here is a row of parked cars in front of my block.






















Here are people walking down the middle of what normally is a very busy street.















Here is the walking park in the center. It is a nice place to walk, but not an absolutely essential walking corridor. I think it is pretty awesome that someone cleared a path through it for the sole purpose of enjoying the snow.