Peace Corps in Bulgaria
Hmmm... Life from the Peace Corps perspective here is an interesting one for 2 main reasons. First, PC Bulgaria is called the Posh Corps because most of us have cell phones, many people have cable and a select few live in very nice modern apartments in big cities. We can order cappucinos, go for pizza, catch some rays on the beach and snow board in the winter at world class resorts. On a scale of one to five, one being typical Peace Corps and five being totally posh, I live on about a 2 to 3. I do have a cell phone (very handy for locating buddies when meeting up in big cities) and I have a television but refuse to pay for cable.

I live in a poor mountain town of 7 thousand which has 30% unemployment, 1/3 Bulgarian, 1/3 Turksh and 1/3 Roma. I was working for an environmental NGO but switched organizations because I felt they were very dishonest with the way they spent donor's money so now I work with the Municipal government and museums to try to boost tourism and job programs for the unemployed. I also do alot of Anthropology and Archaeology work.

We do not have a wide range of entertainment or cuisine in my town so when I really need to get away because I am tired of being stared at, or everyone knowing what I had for dinner (I guess typical small town talk) I hop a bus and can go to the Black Sea in about 2-3 hours. To go to Sophia is a six hour bus ride. That is where I have to go to pick up packages or by western style running shoes, eat chinese or catch a movie.

The second significant thing about life in PC Bulgaria is that when it comes to culture, nothing is as it seems. My director who served in Africa has said this is most significant. In Africa, what you see is exactly what you get, but here although things look more or less western, culture is very strange. Balkan people can be extremly warm and generous on one hand and horribly brutal on another and they tell you what they think you want to hear which is usually nothing close to the truth if much at all. It can take weeks to get the smallest things done such as setting appointments, having meetings or even getting a piece of paperwork cleared through the local government. The police need no reason to pull you over, check your i.d. or question you. Though you may often be the poorest person in your building, you are assumed to be filthy rich and if you are a female from the west it is assumed you will sleep with anyone and corrupt children of all ages.

Of course all this is slightly less in larger cities where there is more tourism and expats. Bulgaria is a beautiful place but the Bulgarians are both very proud and totally ashamed at once. They are constantly looking for assurance that you like it here and that it is a big country with impressive sights. ( I no longer mention that my homestate of Colorado is twice the size).

There is alot to see and do but there are big problems too. Illegal garbage dumps are everywhere, and you can not get aroud unless you understand cyrillic except in the big cities. Organised crime taints many people. However, if you learn a little Bulgarian and can read cyrillic you can go to some of the most beutiful caves in Europe, see one of the most biologically diverse wild areas in the world and hang out in awsome villages that are part of UNESCO or deemed museums in and of themselves.

Bulgarian food is interesting. In my area, people love their parts - hearts , brains, tongues and livers. What we consider 'meat' they often consider tasteless. There are two types of cheese available (except again in large cities) cirene which is exactly like feta, and kashkaval which is like hard yellow stuff. The most prevelent vegetables are cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and peppers in the summer which are combined in a shopska salata, or potatoes, carrots and onions in the winter which you try to use in creative ways as the months wear on.

Rakiya is a homemade liquor that I think tastes alot like grappa and they love beer and cheap or homemade wine here too. There are a few lables of very good wine that get exported to France and Italy of all places. Everyone dances the 'horo' (a line dance not unlike the Greek one) and wear bright costumes during celebrations that look similar to Greek and Turkish costumes.

Politically, Bulgaria is similar though not quite so bloody as the other Balkan countries. They were under the Turks for 500 years, had independence for a few years then were under the Soviets for 50. Many older people look back to communism with favor but everyone despises the 'Turkish Yoke'. Most people blame either the communists or the Turks for their lack of work effort. I do not go a week without hearing "when the communists were here, we got vacations all the time and they paid for them and everyone got money whether they worked or not!" This part of Peace Corps work is the toughest because they don't want to be like us and we can't be like them!

By: Jennifer Nikolaeff
June 2004