A tough reminder

Sometimes being a Peace Corps Volunteer rocks. Sometimes you experience some of the best things. These are some of my students, some of my kids. They are inspiring in their discipline and wisdom. Not all of them, and not all the time. Their ability to have fun and shake their lump-bumps is astounding. Their discipline in learning English is inversely proportionate to their discipline and devotion to class. They stand up to big challenges and are devoted to their community. They remind me why I'm a volunteer.

Sometimes being a Peace Corps Volunteer is a painful and bitter experience. Sometimes the good is vastly out weighed by the bad and the ugly (also the name of a game I recently played in some of my classes). Sometimes the things I know I'm missing are poignant ghosts of memories never to happen and are no where near as important as the moments I wish I could erase from each cell in my brain. Sometimes the good things up and walk away.


A lot of people are talking about the new policies Peace Corps Bulgaria are talking about inacting which would restrict our travel. I won't comment on those, especially considering I don't know exactly what they are yet. But I will say that if it were not for my travels and the travels of other PCVs to me, I would have really lost my mind a long time ago, probably sometime in those first lonely months when I had nothing to do no matter how hard I tried. But I'm still here. Thank God, I now have an active social life here in town. I do stuff with my kids, but social events with my friends come before my kids. And somewhere in there I fit in my PCV friends. Truth be told, my PCV friends... well I feel like I neglect them frequently. To me, friendship is such an essential element of life, particularly our Bulgarish lives. When your support fails you, life is tough. I hate feeling like I should be helping someone and I'm not. Right now, I feel as though I should visit several of my friends who've had horrible months. But I'm not. I'm going to celebrate Easter in the town I consider my Bulgarian birth place. I'm opting for the cultural route instead of "American time."

Thankfully, like some of my ultimate favorite experiences (PST, Dobarsko, the pig kill, and nights at Fenera) can include both American and Bulgarian culture. Isn't that what it's really all about anyway?