Fire Marshal Mark

I want to tell you a story. For the better part of my five months here, I have picked up a new hobby. Putting out fires. You see, I noticed that it is not uncommon for trash cans to be ablaze here in Bulgaria. It really was strange. You would be walking by a trash can (or dumpster for that matter) and, odds are, that is was on fire. My theory was that people just threw cigarettes in there to spark the flames. It makes sense, really. People smoke unreal amounts of the things here. So, I decided that I would take matters into my own hands. When I saw a fire, I bought bottled water and put it out. I was happy with my efforts. This was one of those little actions that could cause a change in my community. A quick and easy way to say, ‘Hey guys, come on, don’t throw your lit cigarette butts into the trash. Don’t you see what happens?’ So, on I went. I would estimate my daily fire fighting activities at one to two trash cans a day. I was on a roll. Never mind that people were staring at me. The point was for people to notice what I was doing and stop the fire madness.

Here is the catch. They hire people to light those fires. They just burn their trash. Every one does it. So, the garbage collectors just pick up the ashes. (I guess they were not happy when they found wet garbage) I am not sure if burning your garbage on purpose is any better than doing it by accident but, I am not ready to argue environmental concerns in Bulgarian. I just hope no one asks me about this later.

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Happy Holidays...

Hello All,

Well, I figured I would get you up to speed with some good news. Last week, I was able to talk with the mayor and get my situation straightened out. After talking a bit, we broke the week down so that I would be able to help different groups around Samokov. Now, I am sure some of this will change, but here is the break down as of now:

Monday: Work with the Technical Director of the Municipality. This is also where I will have a desk, computer, and web access. He and I will be working on web pages, server setup, et cetera…
Tuesday: Business Center. I will be working with a United Nations funded business center. Our first project is to put together a village tourism project. (think: bed and breakfast) The hope is that we can get this project funded by either the European Union or the UN and create some business opportunities in the small villages around Samokov.
Wednesday: EuroIntegration Department. I am supposed to be working with this department to implement the projects that the EU is requiring for Bulgaria to become a member. The tentative date for this is 2007; hopefully, we will be getting some fun projects there.
Thursday: Teaching at the High School. This is still being worked out (although I have taught a class already). I think my role will be to work with the more advanced classes and give them a chance to speak English to a native speaker. I am not totally sure how this will play out.
Friday: Community day. This day is set aside either for working on projects with the above organizations, or (even better) finding other groups that need help with smaller projects.

This was a giant step in my time here. I really feel like I will have the chance to do something with my time. With almost two months of idleness, I am just glad to spend time working with and helping interesting people. Also, since I am working with so many groups, I am hoping that I will be exposed to more and more projects and people. All in all, this may become a ‘careful what you wish for’ situation; but, it is better that way.

Well, just a few more days until I will be home. Pretty amazing. Enjoy the holidays!

~~Mark

PS: Ann and Tom had their third kid last week (a boy!). So, I will be meeting Jackson Thomas (and Emma) for the first time next week.

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My First Ex-Pat Thanksgiving.

Well, last Thursday kind of came and went. It just didn’t feel like Thanksgiving. There was no parades or anything like that. So, to be honest I didn’t really think about it. Thursday night, I went to eat Chinese with the other American in my town. Very patriotic, huh?

The big attempt at recreating Thanksgiving was over the weekend. A bunch of volunteers met up in Plovdiv. I was the first time a big group of us had meet up since we swore in. It was great. We were able to just relax, speak English, and generally get caught up with each other. The hero of the event was Casey (for those of you following this Soap Opera that is my life, he is the one I first went with to Sofia). Somehow, despite communist era equipment, he pulled off a fairly legitimate, traditional dinner. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, spinach salad, a potato pie quiche thing, stuffing, and I am not sure what else. It was a real treat. He also made pumpkin pie from scratch. To get all that together, in Bulgaria no less, was much more than I was expecting. During the day, we just ate and watched DVD’s on a laptop (no football here). All in all, good times had by everyone involved.

As for this past week, it has been interesting. Work wise, everything is even more up in the air. My first meeting with the mayor was great, and everything has gone down hill since. To be honest, I have no idea what will happen. And I am fairly sure that nothing will be resolved by Christmas. Ahhh, Bulgaria. That being said, this week has been pretty good. I was in Sofia for a night and was able to hang out with a couple friends. And I finally spent some time with the guy that lives downstairs (he studies in Sofia and comes home on the weekends). He speaks great English and we had a good time just listening to music in my apartment. And, drum roll please…I had my first crew practice. That’s right, Mark Jackson training with the Bulgarian national crew team. It was really fun. They have a whole setup about forty minutes from my town and I was invited back. We will see just how long they are willing to give free crew lessons. Well, I think that is pretty much it. Hope everyone is doing well.

~~Mark

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