HAPPY ONE YEAR OF SERVICE, B-24s!!!!

Even though I took a rather unanticipated 9month "sabbatical" and can't truly celebrate with you all yet, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

“Many times with Jesus, genuine love and hope came in the oddest of packages. It was friendship; He laughed with them. It was life; He ate with them. He healed them. He loved them. He hung out with them. He became their friend in their environment, their neighborhood, their home… their gutter. He provided Hope to people with common pain and illustrated that normal people with normal problems and normal pain are the cement that forms the foundations of the gutter.”

- The Gutter, by Craig Gross

Overwhelming week... awesome weekend. :)

This week was a little bit of a reality check. Nothing legitimately frustrating happened (and we all know I'm a magnet for those "incidents!"), I just felt a little frustrated and down.

But I had a super fun weekend! Went out on Friday night with some new friends and had a blast, then had a na gosti (dinner and visiting as a guest) with good company that resulted in the obligatory Bulgarian food coma (yummmmm), then spent Sunday with my friends in Sofia!

And then, to top it all off, I had a very self-gratifying and productive day in Sofia today. I spent the night last night because I had to head into the city today to restart the process for my permanent residency card (lichna karta). I had to apply all over again since I never actually received my card last fall and its now expired... but I was determined to try and complete step 1 by myself. My counterpart was on standy here in Samokov, but she had to work until after lunch, so I braved it alone, and was able to call her and tell her she didn't have to come!

The first step was FINDING the police station. I didn't know how to distinguish the one department from others when asking for directions (no one knew if it had a name or not), so i totally winged it and ended up finding it pretty quickly, then was even able to ask for directions for a photo place to get the pictures I needed taken. Then I went into the office and was able to handle the entire process! I was missing a form, but we worked it out that I can bring it for step 2. She asked me why I didn't have a colleague with me since usually foreigners have someone with them, but I said she was working and I was going to try and figure it out. She said I filled out the forms beautifully, and she was impressed at how well I did. Haha, in reality I was terrified, but when I walked out of there having completed the first step, it felt amazing. :) I rewarded myself with a McDonald's cheeseburger!

It's for real.

I've officially been back in the country for three weeks - back at site for two. But I spent four days of that time back with the 24th group of PC Volunteers in Bulgaria at our Mid-Service Conference. Well, THEIR mid-service conference, and my "Congratulations on returning and continuing your service" conference. It was so great to see everyone, despite the fact that I have missed out on so much of the last year. I've missed it, and them, and feel a little displaced from the group dynamic, even though everyone has been fantastic to me (even WHILE seizing every opportunity to throw a jab at the "bionic woman." But if it wasn't me, I'd be in on it too. Nicely done, guys).

But it still feels strange to be back. Some moments I feel like I never left, and other times it feels like I haven't been here for years. Or ever.

Most days with the kids are fantastic. They obviously feel comfortable with me still, and I've been at ease for the most part.

But then there are days like today, where everything is just... well.... "off."

I'm thinking maybe the reality hit me this afternoon. On one hand, I'm still getting settled back in, but on the other, I feel as though I should just have picked up where I left off and be sprinting forward. So that's what I tried to do today after game time with the kids (Which was crazy overwhelming - tons of kids showed up, and all of the sudden I lost my remaining scraps of Bulgarian, and I kind of panicked. Didn't go well....). I tried to recover my frustration from my time at the center and get to work. I went through some of the old projects my organization has done, and essentially lost it.

I feel like I have a lot of ideas, and a lot to offer in general, but I was looking over this project the last volunteer wrote with my colleagues, and found the detail (basically planned an entire two years of sessions, workshops, cultural excursions, etc) incredibly overwhelming. I have some project/grant ideas, but they all seem undeniably inadequate after looking over these goals and objectives.

Oy ve. I have so much work to do - but where to start?



Not to mention I woke up today and could tell that the weather is about to turn. I could feel it in my bones. Quite literally, actually.... Ouch.

Always keeping things interesting....

In addition to getting me back to Bulgaria before winter in the cold Rila mountains set in (there is already snow on the mountain!), the goal was also to get me back before my team's Mid-Service Conference!

Success - today I am leaving to meet up with all of the B24s to celebrate one year of service! Haha, kind of humorous, considering I have missed the last 9 months of our first year, but I am thrilled to reconnect with everyone.

I am very thankful I get to "stay" a member of the 24th group of PCVs in Bulgaria, even though I am more closely aligned with the new 25th group, but the staff here is essentially going to treat me like I am extending. I will go through Close Of Service Conference with everyone, and then watch as they all leave next October to travel the world before starting "real life" wherever that leads them.

As crazy surreal as it seems sometimes, I can't express how thankful I am for how this has all worked out.

REAL WORK starts next week!

I found out today that plans for a photography contest for my kids next month coincides with the National Geographic International KIDS photography contest!!

My kids will have the opportunity to submit photos not only to our little Svetlina contest, but if we submit photos to the NG office here in Sofia by October 31st, they will be judged and the best will be entered into the international contest. The winner wins a trip for four to DC! How incredible would it be to send one of my Samokov kids on a tour of the most powerful city in the world?

If I teach them anything in the next year and a half, I want them to know that they ARE worth it, and that someone does care, and they can be ANYTHING they want to be.

Each one will get an hour of my undivided attention and use of my Nikon DSLR, and I get to live in their world for awhile. After that, the possibilities are endless.

How sweet is this?

Abby - you're a God send. Can't wait to see you! Thanks for being such a blessing. And for GETTING IT.

This "Take 2" thing has been pretty exciting. Not that I would wish a broken leg or this last year on anyone, but it is crazy to think about everything that has happened since I left the first time in July of 2008, but here I am.

For the most part, I am settled back into my cozy little one bedroom [Soviet style] block apartment, and have jumped back into my work. I went into the office two days this week after having arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and feel grounded enough to hit the ground "running" (or as much so as possible in Bulgaria) after Bulgarian Independence day and a Peace Corps conference this week.

I have also settled back into the overactive mind disorder I seem to frequently struggle with. My weeks, for the most part, will resemble my previous schedule, but instead of returning to "Trust Me" (the day center for kids with disabilities), where they are well staffed and well-resourced, I will focus my time at my host organization - Svetlina. My main goal will be to help push projects and grants through, but I have my daily activities with the kiddos as well:

• Mondays: English sessions
• Tuesdays: Arts and Crafts (ideas, anyone?!??!)
• Wednesdays: Sports and relays
• Thursdays: Games and Lifeskills

For accountability sake, PLEASE constantly pester me about how the following things are going:

• Monthly art contests - starting with a photography contest. In theory, the kids will each get one on one time with me and my camera. They will be allotted about 45 minutes to an hour of a photo shoot session, where with my supervision, they will be encouraged to photo their homes, family, friends, etc. They will submit their top two photos for the contest. Not only will this serve as a creative outlet, but it will give me one on one time with each of them, as well as be my "in" into the Roma neighborhood where they will get to show me their lives. After October, we will have found-art, painting, drawing, sculpture, etc, contests.
• Basketball clinic and tournament - I started pushing this through last fall, but now I have a new sitemate who works at the sports arena for a Sports NGO! I want this to be an integration project with half Roma/half Bulgarian participants.
• (I'm constantly told that this ISN'T a priority, but...) - renovation of my school. Photos and explanation to follow...

And that's what life looks like right now! I am not going into the office on Fridays so I can focus on research and internet time in my apartment, as well as find other opportuntities to serve in Samokov, even if that involves designated time to throw around the football with some neighbor kids.

Аз съм Доброволка!!! Ами.... ПАК!!

The first time I got on the plane for Bulgaria, it was a climax of months and months of anticipation. This time, however, I couldn't help but feel this incrediblly conflicting surge of excitement, fear, (insanity?), peace, and unreadiness. I mean, for so long I was told to basically forget my dreams of being a Peace Corps Volunteer and settled for my three months as a Trainess and (barely... not really even...) three months as an actual volunteer.

I started job and apartment hunting when my surgeon told me that, "if we don't see any signs of healing 6 months after the injury, we'll start considering other options." I found myself indescribably addicted to PetFinder.com's puppy listings. I'd made my decision - I was going to stay.

Then I traveled to Bulgaria with my parents in April to say my last goodbyes to the country and people I had grown to love so very much.

And everything changed.

My heart. My optimism. My mindset.

And low and behold, my HEALING process.

It was a miracle, really. To go from not healing at all to MINIMAL signs of healing to about 90% healed in about 6 weeks? Nothing short of a miracle. God definitely had His hand in this whole thing.

Many administrative and bureacratic headaches later, I found myself on a plane strapped next to a guy who had a story for everything. At least he warned me about how loud and persistent his snoring was before he fell asleep for the last 6 hours of our trip.

I said goodbye to the family and friends I had grown to appreciate more than ever, but only to finish the journey I was blessed to have started over a year before.

Now I am sitting back in the same apartment struggling with a tad bit of deva ju, thankful for a incredibly painful broken leg (weeelllllll....) and everything God taught me in the last year about surrending who I want to be to be the person he created me to be.

And when the days are long and frustrating, lonely and cold, monotonous or crazily insane, I'll just remember the hugs and greetings from the Bulgarians and children here who's lives I get to be a part of everyday, and the family and friends I miss more than anything.

D-Day

Tomorrow is the big day, and wow. I haven't felt such a mixed rush of emotions since my painfully eventful medical evacuation back to the US this past December when I explored the marvel that is laughing and crying... simultaneously. Over the last week or so I have been saying goodbye to so many people who mean the world to me, and a place I was so desperate to walk away from a year ago. One of the things I craved like never before as I sat in my freezing block apartment this fall was community, and for the first time in my life I feel like I have begun to it. No, it's not exactly what I picture "home" to be someday when I truly stumble upon it, but the familiarity and the fellowship the last couple months has filled a space in my life I have been trying to fill for some time now. I've reconnected with people from the past, spent "bonus" time with family, and established myself in an environment that has, personally, been stagnantly unprogressive since my arrival in my "adult" years. 

But here I go, on a wing and a prayer, ready to humble myself, and let the Master Potter have control of His clay again. It's going to be a wild ride - I don't seem to know how to live my life any other way - but with His help, I think I'm ready. 

Good bye everyone, but know "Kushtata na Katie" will be open for anyone who finds themselves in the Balkans in the next year and a half or so. I have a spare bedroom... errr... kitchen. With a bed. Very first class. 

Just don't ask me to go skiing. Won't happen. 

I'm going back!

I leave to head back to Bulgaria next Wednesday, and I'll be moving back to Samokov the following Tuesday.

Peace Corps Bulgaria TAKE 2!!

I'll be there until April 2011.

And I promise - no skiing.

:)

When I left for Bulgaria a little more than a year ago, there was so much build up to my actual departure day. I had so many things I wanted to squeeze in before I left, people I wanted to see, things I needed to get done... but this time, well, since i may or may not leave in 2 and a half weeks (visa depending), it has been very hard to allow reality to set in. I still have people I want to see and things I want to do, but its very hard to squeeze them in when you don't know how much time you have. I'm not sure how long it will take them to know whether I can be on a plane on the 9th, but I could have any amount of time longer than that. All in all, this build up seems to be a bit on the anti-climactic side. But geez.... hardly more than two weeks and I could be gone again until summer 2011!

On a different note, but passport has worked itself out!! Even though I got accused of "failing to disclose" that I had lost two no-fee passports I never owned, and was threatened with "further investigation" or the answering of a "higher power" (all of which sounded a lot more scary on the phone, and only amounted to a headache in the passport office), turns out someone from the Peace Corps office retrieved my passport MONTHS ago (like, January 9) but never made a record of it and then misplaced it. But a woman who wasn't even a part of our conversation overheard what we were talking about as we looked for it in all these boxes and drawers, walked across the room, opened a random drawer, and there it was: with all of the PC staff passports. "Oh, you're not staff? That shouldn't have been in there!!"

No kidding!

Praise God it was found tho! Now onto the Visa....

"If you weren't making an impact on the kingdom, then things wouldn't be so hard."

Pretty sure that is beginning to be my mantra. Sometimes I wonder (ok, a lot) why things have to be so hard, all the time. Yes, I understand that I really don't have anything to complain about. Nothing earth shattering ever happens (at least in retrospect that is true), but its the things that continue to pile up that really get to you.

In Bulgaria it was one thing after another (let's see, file a police report after an entirely too close of a call with a creep, a week later go back to the police station for follow up and have passport stolen -either in police station or in market on the way home, and then....), to the point where I culminated sitting on an airplane unshowered and unmedicated with a shattered lower leg and clothes many days old, and alternating between fits of laughter and a downpour of tears (no wonder no one talked to me except to give me that over the top look of sympathy).

For the last 8 months I have struggled with seeing the meaning of all this, and at least after co-directing last weeks extremely successful Bible Camp at my church (a record breaking 147 kids, 9 proffesions of faith, $700+ raised, 5 service projects, and SO much fun) I feel like I have accomplished something, but I still go through periods where I wonder, "what am I fighting for?" Should this all really be THIS hard?

The latest development - I jumped for joy yesterday when I handed over my passport to be expedited at the state department. "Success!!!"

I should have known better.

About 30 minutes ago I get a call saying, "since you have reported TWO passports stolen in the last few months, you will not be leaving the country any time soon, and will most likely have to answer to a higher authority."

Dangit.

I mean really. What is a higher authority anyway? Since I know God is not personifying himself through the State Department passport office (wouldnt that be nice....).....

And for the record, I only had one passport stolen. The new one was in the works when I broke my leg and was halted until last week when they said that it hadn't gotten far enough in the process to continue it. So start again. And now they think I lost two. But now I basically keep all important documents duct taped to my person. I learned my lesson. Pick pocketing CAN happen to you. But hopefully only once. But now I have to go speak to a "higher power" tomorrow. ?!?!?!? Ugh.

So now i go back down town to continue to fight the machine, and wonder how I lost a passport I never even owned in the first place. Good thing I'm local.

Something those from the Bulg will appreciate... and the rest of you will find ridiculously adorable.

I've been babysitting for a family from my church, and last week I decided to "teach" the girls a little bit of Bulgarian. 

After wowing them (and boosting my ego) with a couple sentences, I showed them how to write out the alphabet and then their names.

I wrote out Lauren's, and then she copied it. Then she wanted to see if she could write it herself without looking at my model.

In case you were wondering, Lauren spelled in Bulgarian is "mountain, "O," "P," "E," H."

Cutest thing ever.

----------------------

On a slightly unrelated note, things are moving a bit slower with the Peace Corps than I had originally forecasted. I received the clearance from my surgeon a couple weeks ago, but its been one struggle after another rounding up (or rerounding... ugh) all my medical paperwork. I believe everything is in the right hands now, so I just continue playing the waiting game. 

The clincher is that until I get the official clearance from Peace Corps (the PC docs have to agree with my dental and physical results from civ docs), we can't move forward with the official passport or visa. Once we can submit those, it has to be processed here in DC before getting sent to Bulgaria to be processed there (which may just take forever), then it will find its way back here. 

My goal is to be back by the B24 midservice conference near the end of September (midservice?!?!? I will have missed 8 out of the 14 months my team has been over there.... oh well) in order to reconnect with the guys I trained with.

I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and getting back to work. My prayer at the moment is that things start to move a bit more smoothly and I can be on that plane sooner rather than later.

I have no hesitation that God is calling me to finish my service in bulgaria and continue to cultivate the friendships I was building over there, not to mention the time I can't wait to spend hanging out with my Svetlina kiddos. 

However, the longer I spend here at home, the more content I feel. Its taken me so long to feel adjusted to living back in the NOVA area, that its kind of unsettling that its time to leave again. 

But baby, if i ain't movin, i'm sure not standing still

Looks like I'm going BACK!!

My surgeon released me from his care on Thursday, and the paperwork to get me back to Bulgaria in the next month and a half or so has been started!

Soooo much to do to get ready, but I'm thrilled that things have finally started moving forward again. :)

It's been awhile since I've bothered to write anything on here. Maybe it's because I've officially been back in the United States for longer than I was actually a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Bulgaria, and I find that ridiculously frustrating. Crazy, huh?

Part of me feels like I'll be waking up in my cozy block apartment in Samokov tomorrow as if nothing ever happened, and the other part of me feels like those 6 months there never even happened. And that's a horrible way to feel when I gave up so much (and am continuing to do so) to be there. But I'm still convinced that's where I am supposed to be. I just need to figure out the best way to incorporate "6 months of HEALING" into my resume, so the first ever hiatus on my academic/job record doesn't look and feel so scary.

The month and a half or so since my 2 week trip to Greece and Bulgaria and my doctor's appointment have yielded a fair amount of unexcitement. I've been babysitting here and there, trying to catch up with friends, and being relatively unproductive. No big changes in my medical status (next appointment – the BIG ONE… aka the determining factor on my return to Bulgaria – is July 16^th), yet I haven't been authorized to really work yet. I am feeling pretty good for the most part, but my status with Peace Corps is in too much limbo to get a real job. Babysitting is picking up, and I have been able to reconnect with some old friends and make a few new ones, so even though it's the life I never thought I'd be living and prayerfully won't repeat, things have been ok.

The big news, is that I just got back from a week long vacation with my mom's dad and all his kids and grandkids (except Ryan and Becky – we missed you guys!). I am so not ashamed to say that the Disney Cruise was the best vacation I've ever had. Unlimited time with my little cuz crew, eating "out" at delicious onboard restaurants every night, drinks by the pool, amazing beaches, my first submarine ;), family time, and photo opps with Mickey, Goofy, and Chip & Dale. It was awesome.

And now, its home, to start working some more, helping to direct VBS this year, and distract myself enough from the eternal limbo I seem to have found myself in.

Great News!!

At my doctor's appointment yesterday (almost 5 months since the accident), my surgeon predicted that barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will probably clear me for service at my next visit in 8 weeks!!

Even to the untrained eye, my newest set of x-rays looked AMAZING. The huge gap that has existed since the surgery between a previously nonunion bone shard and my shin is almost entirely closed – huge progress since even the last appointment. He says at this point, I am probably close to 90% healed, and the other 10% will take some time since strengthening is such a huge part of the healing process. I impatiently waited for my doctor to leave the examining room so I could do a happy dance.

So, I've been in touch with the Peace Corps through email, and now I am waiting to hear if there is anything I can do now to start the reinstatement process back to my post, or if we need to wait until I get the official clearance in a couple months.

Regardless, my hope is to be back in Samokov by the end of September! And I'm thrilled. :)

My core group kids from NGO Svetlina!

Bulgaria!

The entire 7 days in Crete, not to mention a significant time before we even left the country, I spent in anxious anticipation about my brief return to Bulgaria. What if I couldn't remember any of the language? What if I realized that it wasn't where I was supposed to be for the next two years? What if it WAS where I want/am supposed to be, but the doctor deems my return impossible? I wasn't sure how people would react to our time there, being that I have officially been away from Samokov for longer than I served there.

When we landed at the airport in Sofia, I felt overwhelmed and nervous. More so than I thought I would...

But God worked in my heart incredibly quickly, and I have rarely felt as loved as I did throughout that week.

We spent the first couple of nights in Sofia hanging out with the American family that invited me over for holidays (yes, also the people who rescued me after my accident and let me camp out on their couch for a couple days!), and explored the capital a little bit. I got to catch up with some good friends, but the most encouraging part of the visit was stopping to grab some coffee with a few of my Peace Corps B-24 team members at Starbucks (yeah yeah, haha!) before my parents and I drove to Plovdiv for the night. Seeing as many volunteers as I did was a bit of a surprise, but it meant the world that so many were able to work out the timing and see me! Everyone tells you that your training groups will turn into your surrogate family for your time of service, and I can attest that it made my day to see them! They were so encouraging, and I loved hearing about their new projects and stories. Was definitely the beginning of a big heart change for me. At that point, I was still using the "IF I come back phrase" when I talked to them, but by the time we made it to my site in Samokov, things started to really come into focus.

We spent one night in the city of Plovdiv (very cool, very OLD city in south/central Bulgaria) where we ate some good food (and some not so good, ;P) and wandered around a bit to find the coliseaum and other arhaeological sites.

The next morning, we hopped in the car, got lost trying to find the road to Samokov - still don't know how we managed to miss it! - then finally headed over the mountain through Borovets and into my town. As soon as we parked the car in front of the basketball arena where I would go every other weekend or so to watch basketball games, I felt this huge relief. It felt SO GOOD and natural to take my parents to my apartment building, to point out my vegetable man (and my back up vegetable man) and various stores. We then drove through the town a bit and then got my parent's checked into their hotel.

Then we fell asleep.

All of the pent up anxiety hit me then! So we read and slept for awhile before meeting my two Bulgarian counterparts in the apartment for dinner. For the next few hours, we ate (sooo much food!), sipped on "domashna vino" (homemade wine), told stories, caught up, and LAUGHED. And wow, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! The conversation ran so smoothly and everything was so natural, and my parents were beaming as we interacted with my "Bulgarian moms."

The next day we went to the Samokov market, satisfied my craving for Banitsa (a Bulgarian pastry with cheese and phyllo dough), and stocked up on goodies to take back to the US before heading over to the school to meet up with my kids.

As SOON as I walked into the schoolyard, I got a welcoming I had never expected: most of my core kids were outside in the school yard, and proceeded to charge at me and yell "Kaaatttiiieeeee." I got huge hugs, and then smiled on so proudly when they all introduced themselves to my parents IN ENGLISH!!! We went inside to talk to everyone, since happy birthday to one of my girls, have a guessing game about my parents (mom's in her 30s apparentls... and dad is 100!), and dole out American candy before dancing the Bulgarian horo and them playing outside with new footballs, frisbees, and basketballs that we had brought them.

Seeing these kids - MY KIDS - was definitely the last piece of the puzzle that helped remind me why I signed up for the Peace Corps in the first place, and why my heart broke when I had to leave so suddenly. I experienced a couple of months of frustration before my accident as I struggled to find my role, but being there again solidifyed it in my heart that I want to do what it takes to go back. And now I have a specific desire so I can pray discerningly, and I ask you do the same. :)

My beautiful Rila mountains, still covered in snow at the end of April! There was a good few inches on the ground in Samokov the morning we got there, but it quickly melted away in the Spring sun.

The kids were excited to teach my parents the Bulgarian horo, and were amazed when they already knew the step! They did cheat... its the same step they learned on Crete the week before! Shhhh, don't tell.

On our way back from Samokov, we stopped to see my host parents for a little "na gosti" in my training village. It was so great to see them! We ate a delicious Bulgarian meal, met all the new animal babies (including three day old kittens!), and then took a quick walking tour of Kraynitsi before before returning for coffee and saying our goodbyes. I was so glad it worked out to see them, and even more relieved that although my Bulgarian hasn't improved in the last 4 and a half months, I was still able to communicate clearly and translate for my parents.

Svetla and Kiril!

Beautiful Crete!

We have been home from vacation for a week already! It's funny, normally we spend a week at the beach somewhere, and it is NEVER enough time! This trip to Greece and Bulgaria was such a whirlwind, but I was soooo relieved to be home by the end of our 2 week excursion.

Exhaustion aside, though, the whole thing was absolutely incredible.

After THREE connecting flights to get there, we spent the first week on the island of Crete, and I have decided that it is a perfect vacation spot. For a girl who is torn between the side of her that wants to be a city girl and the side that wants to move to the mountains and own a goat, it is an ideal location. You have developed cities along the coastline, but as you travel inland or up into the mountains, you pass through tiny, beautiful villages (goats, good food, and all!).

We spent one day by the pool, but aside from that, most of the week was spent exploring local villages, taking drives, getting fed by the locals (yummmmm) and enjoying the beautiful country side.

The weather while we were there was extremely mild. I spent most of it in jeans and short sleeve tshirts, but enjoyed the occasional crisp breeze. The sun was ALWAYS out, but it was fun to see the snow capped mountains as we drove through the windy back roads.

I loved that the music and dancing native to Crete and Greece was so familiar after my time in Bulgaria. We attended the Cretan Meal and Entertainment our first night at the hotel, but on our day by the pool I was able to snap some better pictures of the dancing.

Although I probably shouldn't have pushed myself :), we SLOWLY hiked up to the cave where Zeus was born (its true!!), and immediately got offered a "taxi ride." I'll admit! It was very tempting!

We spent one evening out on the coast line sipping on drinks as the lone customer at a little tiki bar, patiently waiting for the sun to set over the coastal ridgeline. GORGEOUS!

More to come about the second leg on our trip to Bulgaria!

For my Christmas present (a mere two days before my accident), my parents sent me a "gift certificate" for a week in Crete, Greece, followed by a few days as tour guide around my town in Samokov.

When everything changed after a few hours of skiing, it became apparent that I would no longer be in Bulgaria when this spring vacation arrived. Instead of canceling the trip altogether, we decided to hold out and see if I would be feeling well enough to still travel.

After a few months of frustration and waiting with bated breath, we leave for two weeks TODAY!

I never even got to go back to my apartment after the accident, so I sure didn't get to say goodbye to anyone. If I manage to heal 100% and return to my post within the next 9 months or so to finish my service with the Peace Corps, then my parents will have gotten to meet some of my friends, coworkers and children over there, and if God has other plans and ushers me in another direction, then at least they will have gotten to see a little bit of what I was blessed with for 5 and a half months.

No matter what, this is going to be a relaxing vacation complete with some more healing and family time, and a great chance to play tour guide with my parents in a country I miss desperately.

Hopefully, though, I will be able to remember enough Bulgarian to help my non-Bulgarian speaking parents and non-English speaking friends communicate on some level!

Довиждане за сега!