LG's Excellent PC Adventure

A week ago today Veneta & Stoil drove me from Saedinenie to Stara Zagora and then they left. My group from Saedinenie has been spread out to the far corners of the country and I have to get to know a new city and a new group of people. I'm settling into my apartment and I think I'll be very comfortable there for the duration of my stay in Stara Zagora. Of course, the weather has been wonderful and I might be singing a different tune when Winter sets in. Apparently, the practice is to collapse down into one or two rooms and keep those rooms heated. Fortunately, I have some options because of the generous space I've been given, so I'll play it by ear as the weather turns colder. My office is well equipped with heaters and each of us has one nestled under our desks. All in all, I think it'll be alright.

I've spent this week putting stuff away and going on long walks to try and find odds and ends that I still need for my apartment. I still don't know where any of the stores are or which stores sell what goods and just wandering around is my way of discovering what's out there. I get to the office just before nine each morning and it's only a five minute walk from my apartment so I don't have to worry about catching a bus. One big drawback to living in a major city is that I don't walk past the Baba's on their benches and thus I lose an opportunity to gossip and practice my Bulgarian every morning. Stara Zagora is just like any other big city, in the morning people are hurrying to school or work and they bustle with energy but don't stop to smell the roses. It would have been very difficult to have been stationed in Saedinenie for two more years because there just wasn't anything at all to do in that small village, but I will miss it and I'll go back fairly regularly to visit. In fact, Veneta has already called to ask when I'm coming "home" because I've already been away a week!!

I have my own desk and computer at work and I sit by the window which can be very distracting. It occurred to me that in my entire working career, I never once had an office with a window. I'm beginning to believe that I was a lot more productive because of that. There are five of us here at REDA (Regional Economic Development Agency) of Stara Zagora, four ladies and me. There wasn't an awful lot for me to do this week, so I just tried to observe and keep out of their way. Petya gave me a chore to keep me busy and asked me to review our website with an eye towards updating information and correcting awkward English grammar and phrases. It took me three days to go over every page and I typed up nine pages of notes which I dutifully handed over to her. She looked at my report as though a bird had crapped in her hand and dropped it on a pile of papers on her desk and that's where it will live from now on is my guess. On Monday I'm supposed to begin polishing the English version of a training proposal we're bidding on. It has to be emailed to the sponsor organization by the end of the day Monday and they'll have it ready for me sometime late Monday morning.

I've been told to just bide my time and observe before leaping right in and trying to "help" so this kind of work is perfect for me for now. At lunch I take walks around the city to try to see what's out there. I've found a couple of movie theaters and two or three casinos along with a great bazaar and a beautiful theater. It looks like it'll be a great place to live.

On Monday, we're going to begin interviewing tutors for me. The PC encourages us to hire tutors to continue improving our language skills and in my case, the sooner the better. Initially, I'll try to get three hours a week with a focus on conversation skills. My goal is to be able to ask with confidence, "Where can I buy soap?" and to understand the answer.

It's time to go explore now, so until next week...Ciao!!