Summer is here!!!

Wow! I have been in Bulgaria for three years already. Time has just flown by. I am leaving Bulgaria in the fall to return to America. I am really happy that I spent so much time here, but it is time for me to go home. I want color back in my life!

I want to write more about what it is like being African American in a Post-communist country but at the moment I can't. There is just too much for me to process and too many emotions involved. That is one reason why I haven't written on this blog in a long time. I will try to write more about this when I understand better my own feelings.

I can't wait to get back to America to see my family and friends- if my friend still remember me.

Overall life is good.

Here are pictures below to show what I am looking like these days.

My locks are growing!!!! They are 9 months old now.





Hanging out with friends:


My running buddy and friend:





Little gypsy girl at the market:


Giving a presentation at work about my hometown:



My students after the presentation:



My co-workers:

Cleaning a park in Stranzja (a park reserve in Bulgaria) with friends:



Morning cleaning:


Have a great summer and in the mean time I will be moving and shaking around BG,

Crystal

I'm back!!!

Hello all,

I hope you have had a wonderful holiday season meaning Christmas, New Years,and Valentines day. I am still moving and shaking in Bulgaria. Wow, can't believe it is my third year here. Time is moving so quickly.

I have been very busy teaching and traveling this past few months. My latest trip was to the wonderful country of Serbia. I was only in Belgrade but it was a wonderful experience indeed.

Here is a picture of my friends that traveled with me...

Here is me and some friends at a cafe called biblioteca...





I am in front of some church in Belgrade...



I went home for Christmas to America which was fun, interesting, and a little confusing. I really enjoyed seeing my family and friends but I felt like a shell of myself. I did not feel like I was a part of America culture. It was the weirdest feeling in the world for everyone around me to be speaking my native language but I could not understand everything they were saying. It felt like I was living inside a bubble. Anyhow, here are pics of me with family...

Voted!!!

I voted Friday. I was totally afraid that my vote would not count while I was in Bulgaria but thank God for absentee votes!!! I can’t wait to see if my candidate will win the votes. Only God knows who will be in office come November. Of course I am a democrat so you can only guess who I voted for… Obama, Obama, Obama. I think it is about time America has had some diversity in the White House. Also, Obama seems capable of handling the ropes of the White House.

Wahoo only a couple more days before we know for sure!!!!


Here are a couple pictures of the last few weeks.

Me dancing. I am with some friends at international dinner night.






The Turkish people cooked dinner that night.





A Greek and a Turk together in a picture smiling. Who would have thought it possible.... There is hope for the rest of the world.





People at the dinner.






My friends from the University. Bulgarian, Austrian, and French... in that order.






Ohhhh I almost forgot!!! I am going home for a month in December! Wahoo. Can’t wait to see my friend and family.

Crystal

My service would have ended today

If you look at my clock ticker you would see that my PC service would have officially ended today. BUT NOPE I am staying here for another year.

I found my profession... teaching young people at the University is proving to be rewarding. My students love me and I love them. This third year in Bulgaria is turning out to be very good and I am happy.

I was supposed to travel to Serbia last month but I didn’t get a chance to go anywhere. I had to move into my new apartment the weekend I was supposed to be in Serbia. Now I am afraid to go to Serbia because the weather is changing and I do not like traveling in cold weather. Maybe during the spring I will do Belgrade, Vienna, Budapest, and Madrid.

Speaking of Spain my Bulgarian friend that lives in Spain came to Bulgaria to visit his family for a little. It was a lot of fun hanging out with him and his family. He also brought a Spanish friend with him. It was interesting listening to them speak Spanish because I could recognize words that I had studied 10 years ago in high school.

Other news:
-I just got a new guitar well it isn’t “new” but it is new to me. I am hoping to find someone that will teach me to play.

-I finally went hiking with my best PC friend Brendan. He is leaving Bulgaria soon so I will def miss him.

-All of the PCVs that came to Bulgaria with me have finished their service and gone home. I will miss you all.

-I am going home to visit in December. Wahoo I am putting together my shopping list now.

-My dreadlocks are coming along really well. I still have this unnerving desire to put breads in my hair but I promised myself I would not do anything until after two months.

Ok that is all for now. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

The Spanish Friend


The Spanish and Bulgarian guys


A bridge in VT


The Spanish guy "picking up" a rock


My Bulgarian friend posing for the Camera


Walking around VT



My BG friend posing again

The Summer is pretty much over

Well Summer has ended in Bulgaria. Today the sky is dark and gloomy with the threat of rain. It has been like this since yesterday but I love this weather because I get to stay inside with warm tea and a nice book....

Ok so I have finished deadlocking my hair. Actually all I did was get another PCV to put tiny breads in my hair that will eventually turn into dreadlocks. She put them in Monday and Tuesday last week and this is the final result.


The back view...This is the first day that she actually braided my hair. It looks really funny and weird but I like it in a strange way. They say that the spaces will fill up once the hair actually starts to lock.




This is the front view. This pictures aren't doing my hair justice. It really does look better than what is portrayed here.



Before I had my locks put in I took a couple pictures with some of the children I work with at the Center. This is my last day working with them as I will be teaching at the University and they are starting school today. Wow that's right the children do start school today.



The picture is a little blurry because my battery was running low. These are the boys that always came bright and early at 8am to summer camp/daycare.





This little boy is truly an artist. He could draw almost anything and he is only 7 years old!!!


More of the children. We loved to do arts and crafts together.





Some of them were really camera shy.












This is the playground I wrote a project to get. The kids love the playground. Also that is me with my natural hair in a ponytail. I look so tired because week I had to get up at 6:30am to do the daycare. For a PC volunteer that is very early. Hehehe.

I know this post is getting long but here are pictures of me saying goodbye to my PCV friends that have completed their two years of service and went home or are going home in about a month. BYE FRIENDS!!!

This is dinner at a Moroccan restaurant in Sofia. A lot of Bulgarians do not like Sofia because it is dirty and all that but I love Sofia. It reminds me of the city lifestyle I had in Chicago before coming here.


I will call Kevin my "source of diversity". Sometimes living in a predominately white country can be overwhelming. I love seeing and being with diversity especially when I am not the only source of diversity. It will be sad to see Kevin leave Bulgaria. Who am I supposed to have staring contests with now? Kevin and I would always have contests to see who could get the most amount of stares in one day. Of course I always won... when Kevin put his sunglasses on. Hehehehe.


These are some other PC friends that I will def miss. Rock on peeps!!!


Drinking tea to the sound of thunder,

Crystal

Update

It has been a while since I wrote but I want you to know all is well in the land of Bulgaria. I have officially decided to extend my service with the Peace Corps for another year. I will not be working with the same organization but the move is for the best. It def is not easy being of African descent in Eastern Europe but I can’t let that stop me from reaching my dreams and being who I am. I feel that this is where I am supposed to be for this moment in time. Eastern Europe has a special place in my heart that I can’t seem to shake.


Yup I can’t get enough of this place and I feel like my work here isn’t done. Also, I have decided to dreadlock my hair!!!! I plan to do the actual work the Sept 7th with another volunteer. I will def post pictures of me with the new stages of my hair growth.

Here is a quick update in pictures of what I have been doing for the summer...

Getting to know my language tutor Stela.


Visiting long lost friends and meeting new friends. My PCV friend Alision and her friend from the village.


Teaching English


Saying Goodbye to PCV friends that are leaving between in about one month.






Helping out with Camp GLOW -Girls leadership Camp in BG







Working with little kids from the Center




Happy Gospel Music month to all the peeps that love Gospel Music!

loving it,

Crystal

Wow it is only 3 months to my official COS date however considering I am extending my service another year the timeline above doesn’t apply to me. I will miss my friends from the B20 group when they leave but I am looking forward to my extra time in Bulgaria.

Anyhow, this past Monday I went to meet a friend’s sister for her track meet in Sofia. She won the 400 m dash.. yea! Also, I had the best time ever because I finally got to see black people. I know it sounds funny but I haven’t seen such a large percentage of black people since I went home in December. They are all professional athletes with great bodies. Don’t get me wrong I appreciate being in Bulgaria but there is something special about seeing people with your skin color, hair and features.

The coolest part about seeing these people were that they were from all over the world. Literally we had blacks from Portugal (didn’t know there were black Portuguese until now), Guyana, Sierra Leone, England, America (me of course), Jamaica, South Africa, Barbados, and Turkey. Even though we came from so many different places our blackness brought us together to discuss some of the social issues we have in our prespective countries. Interesting enough most of the people so Barack Obama not only as a leader in America but a leader for blacks all over the world. I don't want to get into so many details but wow was it great…. The pictures tell the rest.

Crystal

The Track Star (My Friend's sister)





Us together



Warming up



Me in the Stadium


Before the run... getting ready to run



After the run... she was tired.




The group on the bus...



At the hotel