PeaceCorps

Simplicity

Sometimes helping is so easy. I taught a class tonight at OneWorld British-Bulgarian Educational Center. They’re a small organization struggling to provide resources, study guides and English certification courses to Bulgarians of all ages. Nadya Berova, the executive director, is a kind, hard-working, intelligent and ambitious woman. But my class wasn’t about English.

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FLOTUS

I was ready. It had been a crazy six hours, but I had drug myself out of jetlag, showered, found my most respectable outfit (Lucy said it was at the cleaners) taken two Benadryls and cabbed to Traditzia. I had met with three of the 600 individuals flown in two weeks prior to this event. [...]

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Selfish Endeavors

Altruism is trendy in the United States these days. Volunteering is at an all-time societal high, sitting on a non-profit board is a resume builder, and fundraising committee participation is practically required for parents. Charity, now considered somewhat of a band-aid has stepped aside for philanthropy, which attacks society’s underlying problems. God bless Sally Struthers [...]

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On how Bulgaria has changed in the last 20 months. . .

Trip to the Police Station On Foot: 16 minutes Figuring out the Right Window: 4 minutes Waiting in What Can Only Be Described as a Mob While Strange Chinese Guy Breaths on Your Hair: 25 minutes Waiting at Window While Pink-Sweatered Bulgarian Women Disappears: 11 minutes Retrieving Your Lichna Karta: 5 minutes Knowing You’ll Never [...]

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America the Courteous

A few weeks ago, we went out with a Peace Corps couple who recently served in China. You know, China! Don’t tell me you’re not picturing majestic little temples, high-necked silk tunics, rice paddies, tea and fire drills. We were psyched to talk to them and at their request, chose a traditional Bulgaria restaurant.. But [...]

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My Unpredictable Lesson Plan

You never know what I might be teaching my colleagues these days. . . Vocabulary: Recently, we’ve covered: kitschy, bronco, tacky, PMS, gazebo, warden, plaque, bell-bottoms, canker sore, “ticked off”, “fill me in” “white elephant” “almost had it licked!” “arm and a leg” and “bundle of joy”. Also words like “actually” and “basically”, which are [...]

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Heard it from a Bulgarian: Volume Two

It was hard to believe. When I first heard that our Habitat families, the ones my organization and hundreds of volunteers had built an eight-family house for over the past few years, were complaining, a lot, I was simply startled. Talk about a demotivator. I certainly didn’t want to believe it. Habitat helps poor people [...]

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No Two Are the Same

Recently, I ran into some Peace Corps volunteers traveling through Sofia and we took them to dinner that night. Ben and Melissa had served in Jordan, the lone Middle Eastern country still hosting volunteers. They were happy, outgoing, good listeners. From one extreme to another, Melissa’s blonde hair, blue eyes and ready smile must have [...]

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This Was the Summer We Went to Bulgaria

Sometimes I’m so overwhelmed by this county and I feel like I must blog about everything, about the strange death memorials they have stuck to every blank surface on the street—white A4 sheets of paper with a black frame and a vintage shot of the deceased, always looking like a yearbook photo from 1952, their [...]

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A Different Kind of SPA

I am working on a Small Project Assistance (SPA) grant for Traditzia. SPA grants are worth $5,000 and they are funded by Peace Corps, which receives its money from United States Agency for International Development (USAID). For many reasons, SPA serves as a terrific training ground for learning to write grant proposals. 1) There is [...]

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