I am the Master of all the bugs.

So, one of the things that I've noticed about living on your own is that you have to do everything yourself. I have to cook for myself, do my own laundry, clean everything by myself and kill every single bug that I find in my apartment by myself. It's exhausting! As of right now, I'm not very good at most of the things on this list. I am, however, insanely talented at killing bugs. I owe this, in large part, to Leslie Dent, who is my best friend and my college roommate. She had a rather irrational fear of all things with more than four legs. Whenever a bug would come into our room, Leslie would screech and then repeat "EVAN! KILL IT!" until I had successfully squashed the life out of the little guy. We were both usually never satisfied until it had received at least three whacks of a shoe, magazine, book, clock (or whatever just happened to by lying around). Because of this training, I have been rather successful at keeping my apartment bug free. Every now and then one slips out from between my fingers (not literally, though, because that would be gross) but overall, I would say that my apartment is one with not a lot of bugs. I even killed one on my white walls and left the mess there as a warning to all bugs who enter: This is the fate you will have. So, thank you, Leslie for giving me the ability to be the Master of all the bugs. Maybe within the next two years, I'll figure out how to do all of that other "living on your own stuff."

This last week, I feel has been pretty productive. I started tutoring a small group of kids (that has somehow managed to get smaller and smaller by the day) of all ages in the mornings. We meet at a cafe and then we walk to the school for a rousing hour of English learning! Originally, the session was supposed to last for about two hours; it didn't take me long to realize that two hours was entirely too long for, both, the kids and myself. The ages varied from preschool to a girl going into the eighth grade. Their skill levels were equally as varied. Some of them know a decent amount of English so that direction giving and explinations are understood. But, the smaller kids have absolutely no idea what is going on. I try to incorporate some games so that they'll have fun too, but I think the older kids think that the games are stupid and they ask me questions about grammar and stuff. Which reminds me, I need to look up a bunch of grammar stuff on the Internet before our session tomorrow. By now most of the smaller kids have stopped coming. Only one boy, named Bobby, remains. I hope he can stick it out. Rory came and taught one day for me and did a great job. I think it will definitely be easier once my Bulgarian gets better.

Today is my first day of Bulgarian tutoring with Rory's girlfriend, Cveti (Svety). She tutored him and she's really the only one around who knows enough English to be a suitable tutor. I was originally going to have two tutors. One of them was going to be the Bulgarian Language teacher at my school. Which would have probably been pretty cool, except that she doesn't speak any English. Problem. The second was going to the my Counterpart, Polya, who is another English teacher at my school. She speaks English but isn't confident with it and I'm not confident with my Bulgarian all the time. Problem. So, it came to be concluded that Cveti would be my tutor and soon I will be fluent. Problem solved.

Last Friday I went to some beautiful waterfalls with a Bulgarian family. The woman's name is Betty and she works at the cafe that I always go to. She, her husband, Kracimiere (Kraci for short) and their daughter, Dani have pretty much adopted Rory, Cveti, and myself. Friday was Dani's 14th birthday and they were going to these waterfalls and then to go to Pleven to go see the fourth and final installment of the "Shrek" saga. Betty was nice enough to offer me and invitation, so I was nice enough to accept. These waterfalls were about two hours away and another couple were coming with us. I sat in the front seat (which was kind of awkward), Dani had her iPod in, and there was little conversation. It was in the morning, though, so I didn't mind the silence. When we got to the waterfalls and got out of the car, I was almost knocked over by the overwhelmingness of the heat. I was not prepared and had worn skinny jeans and my [fabulous] lime green Pumas. I could only hope that it would be cooler closer to the water. We bought our tickets and began to make our way up the trail. It started out simple enough with a little creek thing and some rapids. I was forced into taking a picture with an unsuspecting Bulgarian family. Betty wanted me to get close to the water for the picture, but there was a family there. I tried to get as close as I could without them thinking that I was trying to join their family. The picture is awkward. The pictures from the falls are also all on Facebook, if you're interested.

We proceeded upward and it became obvious that these waters were open for anyone to just get on in. I wished that someone would have told me that so that I wouldn't have worn the skinny jean and [fabulous] tennis shoes. Just looking at the water and not being able to get in was like torture. Betty didn't hesitate and was walking all up in the falls. The woman from the other couple joined her and I was sad. The further up we hiked, the more epic the falls became. It was truly a beautiful place. If I can ever remember the name and you come visit me, we can go there. Be sure to wear clothes that will allow you to get in the water. At one point, though, there was a set of stairs that we had to climb. These stairs, though, they might as well have been a ladder, they were almost completely vertical. Some of the boards were a little loose. It was kind of insane. After we explored all of the falls and hiked up to see where the stream began, we had some lunch. It was so hot and I was so tired from the hike that the last thing I wanted to do was eat. I just wanted to drink water and only that. There was a little restauraunt in the park thing, so we ate there. I ordered a salad and Betty told me that that wasn't enough food. I ordered a salad and some french fries and Betty said that I needed to try this bread thing with some kind of spice and cyrene on it. I ordered a salad, french fries and that bread thing. Betty said that I needed to have some chicken because she knows how much I like eating chicken. I ordered a salad, french fries, that bread thing and chicken nuggets. Then I needed two cokes and a bottle of water to wash it down. I assumed that everyone else had ordered similar portions of food. I was wrong. Everyone else had somehow managed to only order what they were able to eat. I looked at my four plates of food and my heart dropped. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to eat all of this. I tried my best, but alas, I failed. I split my chicken nuggest with everyone at the table (except Dani because she's a vegetarian), put a dent in my french fries, ate a couple bites of the bread thing, and finished almost all of my salad. I think Betty was disappointed. I'm sorry Betty. I just couldn't do it. My stomach would have exploded and that would not have been pretty.

After lunch, we headed to Pleven to see "Shrek"...in Bulgarian. Did I mention that before? Because it's a kid's movie, it was dubbed in Bulgarian and it didn't have subtitles. "Shrek" is still pretty funny even in another language that you can barely understand. The movie was also in 3D, which made it even more...special. Dani liked it, though, and that's really all that matters since it was her birthday. All in all, I'd say it was a good day.

Saturday evening, I got my washing machine and got it all hooked up and everything. It was one of the most exciting things that's happened to me since I've been in Koynare. I spent all of Sunday resting my mind from all of the Bulgarian that had been spoken to me on Friday and Saturday and doing all of laundry that I hadn't been able to do since I got to Koynare. I'm telling you, that machine came just in time because I was running out of clothes (which is kind of a feat for me).

Now I'm off to become fluent in Bulgarian! Wish me luck!

"You don't have a refrigerator, a washing machine, or internet...but you have MTV!"

I'm sorry that I've been so negligent of my postings but PST is quite the time-suck. But, I am happy to report that I'm COMPLETELY finished with PST and I'm now OFFICIALLY a Peace Corps Volunteer! Whoo! The past two months really haven't been that bad and I managed to make some good friends in that time. I'll miss my PST group, but I'm not going to lie, I'm really really really excited to have my own apartment in a new village.

Though PST has a reputation for being the most intense training...ever, we still had some really good times these last few weeks. We had to do a community project for Byala Slatina, so we thought some sort of festival thing would be a good idea. We had to meet with the Vice Mayor and propose our ideas and be willing to listen if she had any suggestions or be ready with another idea in case she hated ours. We went to meet with her and she was, actually, excited about our idea. She thought it was a good idea and liked that it would give the youth something to do instead of just going to the cafes and drinking. We also managed to get an invite to a dinner that evening with a bunch of youth from Byala Slatina, as well as youth from Romania and Serbia. We gladly accepted the invitation and made plans to meet back in front of the municipality (obshtina) later that evening. Wehn we came back to the obshtina, we found people dressed in traditional Bulgarian clothing and knew that it was going to be quite the part (koopn [yes, it's pronounced like "coupon", we had a lot of fun with this]). We followed the Vice Mayor into the reception hall and watched as everyone in the room turned to look at all the Americans. We stood in front of everyone for what felt like forever, but was probably really only about 15 minutes. The Vice Mayor was talking to all the guests and all we could do was wait until we were told what to do. We ended up getting front row seats for the show with the Vice Mayor. There was a salad that we pretended to eat and a fantastic show of dancing and singing from the three countries represented there. The dinner didn't even start until after 8pm, so none of us could stay for the actual entree. We gave our regards to the Vice Mayor and made our way back to our homes.

The actual community festival ended up being a success as well. We had about five different stations of activities. We had food and drinks, crafts, bobbing for apples, card games, and American football. We started it later in the day because it was so hot; we wanted to make sure people would actually show up. We also had music playing (that was my job) so that it would get people's attention. We had planned to end the festival with soem games with water balloons because it was so hot. We started out doing a water balloon toss to see what team could stand the furthest apart and toss their balloon without breaking it. As soon as the first balloon broke, though, it was war. Those kids went crazy and started throwing balloons at everyone. It was great. Once all of the balloons were busted, that didn't stop them and they started filling up cups and wash bins full of water and throwing the water onto people. It was the best thing ever. Everyone had a good time and there wasn't a single person who walked away from that fiasco dry. Even Tanya got a little wet. All of the Trainees had water guns that we had bought at a little store. Those were fun and I plan on using mine in the classroom for management purposes.

That weekend we had a "na gosti" at Vinny's house. A na gosti is when you go over to someone's house to hang out. Bulgarians go all out, though. There's almost always food and drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and you always stay for at least three hours. We all wanted to hang out with Vinny's host dad and see this man in action. His host mother had been preparing all weekend for our dinner and it was amazing. We had rakia, homemade wine, beer, shopska salada (the national salad), lutinitza (peppers and tomatoes mashed up and put on bread), bread, bbq ribs, chicken, banitza (national pastry), and cake. It was all delicious. We all talked and laughed and watched the final World Cup game. It was great and Vinny's host dad definitely lived up to our expectations. He ddn't bother with wearing a shirt and I don't think I ever saw him without a cigarette in his mouth or a glass of beer in his hand. He and Vinny have a special relationship where they don't really talk to each other, but throw insults at each other. It was hilarious and you can tell how much they actually adore each other through their insults. Vinny's host family is truly amazing.

The next week, we took a group trip to Sofia to see the Peace Corps Office Headquarters. It was pretty legit. The offices were nice and you have to have and ID to get in. It was funny because the first thing you see when you walk in was the American flag and Kevin (a.k.a. Captain America goes "Man, I haven't seen one of those in a while." It was funny, but true. I thought it was pretty refreshing. the offices had everything you could ever need. We met all of the people who work there and everyone is so nice and supportive. We really couldn't ask for a better staff. There was also a library both for resources and for pleasure. We were with the group from Popitza, so we all decided to have lunch together. One of the women in the office told us about and Indian food place that was in Sofia. Everyone went crazy and decided that we would be eating there. I'm not too big on Indian food and all I really wanted was to go to Starbucks and have a frappuccino. We went to the Indian restaurant and I got some sort of chicken and spinach thing that was pretty good. Afterwards our group went one way and Popitza went another. I got my Starbucks and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It tasted just like back home! We were walking back to the bust station and getting ready to get on the trolley when Mary said "Evan, look over there!" I turned my head and saw two black guys standing by the trolley stop as well. My day was made right then and there. As much as I like Bulgaria, it isn't very diverse and I miss that in my life. I couldn't have asked for anything more from my trip to the capital than Starbucks and diversity.

This last week we had to take our LPI (Language Proficiency Interview). It's to make sure that we'll be able to survive in our permanant site. I'm glad to say that I passed with little to no problem. We just got into the room with the interviewer and talk. We talk about ourselves, our families, our homes (both here and in America), and our daily routines. They just let us talk until we can't talk anymore. Sometimes they ask you questions to help you along. Then you have a role play where you have to talk through a scenario that may or may not be something that you will actually have to deal with at your permanant site. These role plays can be anything from "invite your friend to a party saying when, where and what to bring" to "someone broke into your apartment and took all your stuff, now you have to call the police". I had to ask about an apartment that I was thinking of buying. I asked about the size, if I had internet connection, what floor it was on, if it had a balcony, and how much it costs. I was pretty satisfied with my performance. I mean, I know there's still a lot to learn, but I feel like I'll be fine until I can find a tutor.

We also had our very last HUB on Thursday. It was pretty much just a wrap up of everything we had gone over for the past two months. I think they also used it as one last time to actually get to see some people. It wasn't bad, except that it was so hot! I don't think there was a single breeze at all that day and every single window in the room was open. All 85 of us were just sitting there sweating and there was nothing anyone could do about it. After the HUB, we all headed to the restaurant one last time for drinks. James and Rob joined us for a farewell. It was a nice way to end PST.

The next day was our Swear-In Ceremony. Mary's host mother drove Mary, Jackie and myself to Vratsa for the ceremony. We took a group picture, got pins, swore in, listened to speeches and said our good-byes. The American Ambassador was there and he gave a speech as well. We nominated two volunteers to give a speech and it was very well done. They were the two volunteers who scored the highest on the LPU so they wrote it in English and Bulgarian. Then one of the volunteers sung a song in Bulgarian that had all of the Bulgarians in the audience in tears. It was a nice ceremony. Afterwards there was food but not everyone could stay and hang out because some of them had a whole day of travel ahead of them. We all said our good-byes and went our separate ways. Mary and I went back to Byala Slatina for one more night because neither one of us were going very far the next day. That night, my host family fixed me an amazing going away dinner. We had rakia, wine, juice, shopska salada, chicken, potatoes, and creme caramel. It was beautiful and so delicious. They also got me a beautiful scarf for a going away present. Nadka also wrote down how to make the creme caramel (and some of my other Bulgarian favorites) so that I'll be able to make it when I have people over for a na gosti. The only problem is that it's in Bulgarian...so I may be needing some help with that.

The next day Nadka and Hristo drove me to Koynare to begin my two years as a volunteer. We met Rory and his girlfriend and they all helped me get settled in. My apartment is nice. It's in the same block as Rory and it's right in the center of town. It's very close to the school and the chitalishte. I have a kitchen, a bathroom (with a toilet and a shower), a balcony and a living room/bedroom. When I get everything completely organized and unpacked I will give a virtual tour of my new crib. My couch doubles as a bed and I'm especially excited because I can actually flush my toilet paper. That's a luxury that I never thought I'd be so excited about. Nadka went with me to buy cleaning supplies and stuff like that. I still need to get a refrigerator and a washing maching, though. She and Hristo also gave me some tomatoes and cucmbers so that I wouldn't go hungry over the weekend. We said our good-byes and I thanked them for everything and promised and I would call and come back to visit. I honestly could not have asked for a better host family. I spent the rest of the day getting as settled in as I could. I still don't have clothes hangers so I can't actually unpack yet. I went out for dinner and drinks with Rory and his girlfriend and I feel like these next two years will be good. This is only the beginning of a great adventure!