LG's Excellent PC Adventure

At breakfast tables everywhere across America the one burning topic of conversation that unites generations in common concern is, where have all the accordians gone? I, myself, used to lie awake at night pondering this mystery. Well, you can all rest easy now, they're here in Bulgaria - all of them! Every band in the country has at least one accordian player and that musician is always prominently featured right out in front. So there you go.

Although we haven't done too much other than study language this week, a couple of little things have happened. A major International Trade Fair is being held in Plovdiv this week so our group took Friday afternoon off and went into town to check it out. There are a lot of exhibitors showing their wares in a very large and modern facility. We couldn't seem to discover just how the show was arranged. In America a trade show will represent something with a common theme, printing, cars, computers, etc. This Trade Show apparently represents anything from large construction equipment to a small firm that makes plastic dresses. There was no rhyme or reason for the layout of the booths and you might find jack hammers located right next to a booth selling the latest fashions in hair coloring. Much to our disappointment, no one adopted the American custom of giving away freebies so we all went home empty handed. All in all it was about as interesting as a Trade Show focusing on the sand industry.

Another interesting cultural experience this week was that coal was delivered to homes throughout Saedinenie. Aside from being a graphic reminder that winter is coming to Bulgaria, it was very interesting to note the way coal is handled here. It is dumped into driveways and onto sidewalks in front of houses and businesses and then it is shoveled into cellars, bins, sheds, or whatever. The interesting thing about this is that it is primarily the Babas who do the shoveling, even in homes that have healthy teenage boys the Babas shovel the coal. Two Babas with shovels can clear a small mountain of coal in a morning and still have time to sit on their bench and gossip in the afternoon. Can you imagine Grandma at home shoveling coal while her teenage grandson sits upstairs and watches videos?

I have received a letter from my counterpart in Stara Zagora informing me that they have found me an apartment. It's in the center of town which is really nice and it has "sunny rooms" which is encouraging. However, it's "not luxurious" and they "will try to make it nice" for me before I get there. When I joined the Peace Corps I distinctly remember reaching an understanding with them that my accommodations would, at all times, be luxurious. Isn't that what volunteering is all about? There are only three weeks of training left and it would be an understatement to say that the time has flown. We've all been told that tutors will be set up for us in our new cities so we can continue our language lessons. In the meantime, we'll be back in the travel exercise groove beginning with this week. We have three days of language in Saedinenie and then go to Pazardjik for two days of technical training. The following week we'll go into Sofia for a day of networking and identifying sources of revenue for our organizations. Our biggest concern at this point is how each of us is going to move all our belongings to our sites over the weekend of October 22nd.

My site mates have all gone on a mountain hike this weekend, leaving me here to hold the fort. Just as I was about to volunteer to go along with them I remembered the monotonous tendency of mountains to go uphill and I've got quite a bit of homework to work on and a document I've agreed to try to translate into English for the ladies at the local cultural center (Chitalishte) which is where our classroom is located. It'll be my first shot at a formal translation and I think that with Stoil's rakiya and my own cigars, I should manage just fine.

Until next week, I hope you are all well and happy.