Alaskan Bulgarian

This Isn't Really Going as Planned

So the internet is still a bit touch and go around here. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but when it works it really zooms. I can't wait until I have all the kinks worked out and unlimited traffic, which should be available in the next week or two.

But in some other categories of life things are running very smoothly. The grocery store downstairs has been remodeled, in about a week's time, into a store where you pick things up off shelves and put them into baskets before buying them. Now, this might seem unimportant, but to me it's one of the bigger miracles of the last two years here.

The store in question used to be one of the worst in town. It was dark and the people behind the counter were surly and unhelpful when I had trouble describing exactly what I wanted them to find for me. Now, though, I can do all the work myself, and the store is well lit because customers have to be able to see food if they're going to choose it on their own. It's a triumph really. Now I do't have to walk halfway across town to have decent grocery store service and selection.

Also, my school has pounded out a project proposal in about two weeks. We want to install a PA system in the school that will also include a radio studio. The thing is, most schools in America take their PA systems for granted. There announcements at the beginning and end of the day and everyone knows what's going on in the school. But I'venever seen such a system here in Bulgaria, and I'm pretty excited to be a part of something unique like that. I'm working on the funding and we'll know if we have it sometime next month. I'll keep everyone posted.

Well, That Didn't Last Long

Back at the internet club. This time in my long and tragic saga of trying to get internet at my apartment, it's (kind of) my fault. I didn't realize they'd given me a 100 MB traffic limit until the end of the month. And if you've ever not had internet of your own for 2 years and then gotten it, you have no idea how easy it is to burn through 100 MB. Anti-virus software, Pop-up blockers, a movie trailer or two, it all adds up. It took me 5 hours to polish it off, then the server booted me and it took me another 1/2 hour to figure out why. Sigh. I'll go to the internet place tomorrow to see if I can "buy" another 100 MB or so and be more careful with it this time.

One thing in all this is certain: The internet people don't feel like they have to sell their product. If they wanted to impress, they'd probably give me a no-limit account until the end of the month, just to show me what a no-limit account can do. I find this a bit odd. They already have competition which, as we speak, is much more popular on the basis that it hasn't lost the game of EU chicken and shut down its FTP server in the face of new laws. The company I've gone with, which used to have an FTP server of its own, can no longer let its subscribers have instant access to illegal movies, music, games, and software, but it is cheaper and faster. But fast or not, you'd think they'd see a need to impress customers.

I can't imagine how quickly customer service this bad would get run out of any major market. It takes me a week to get it installed, and when the blind man finally gets sight, they take it away from him as soon as he gets it. it makes no sense.

Oh well, I had it for a little bit. And at least I know it all works when it's supposed too. That's something. Doesn't change the fact that it's all frustrating though.

WHOOO HOOO!

Well, guess where the problem was with the internet connection. Go ahead, guess! Yup, it was at the ISP. And, with the help of good friend Vesko, I managed to talk them into believing it. They managed to fix the problem by--are you ready for this?--registering me on their system. Absolute genious.

But now I have internet at home. On my own laptop. And it feels great. I'm happy. The cat's happy. Everybody's happy.

In the coming weeks you'll see some changes around here. Nothing to worry about quite yet. But it'll be beautiful.

HAPPY ACCESSION TREATY SIGNING DAY, MR. YOUNG!

First off, let me say that I am not glad to be back at the internet club. I have no idea why I was so confident before I got into all the hubris of last week's one and only post, but something told me that getting internet installed in Bulgaria woud be easy. Seeing as how it's almost never easy to get it installed in America, I should have known that bragging about getting internet at any given time would be asking for Fate to step in and slap me around.

So, Wednesday, after staying in my apartment for four hours while expecting the guys who were bringing the wire from the building next door to my place to finish their job, I sat and watched another guy capably fill in all the necessary IP address, Subnet Gateway, and DNS server blanks to create a Virtual Private Network connection for my computer. Capable though he was, he couldn't get over an error that kept appearing whenever he tried to connect to the VPN. The LAN connection was working fine, but a VPN connection couldn't be established because my computer thought that there was another computer on the same network with the IP address the guy had capably assigned me. It was six o'clock then. I was late for basketball and they were all in a hurry to leave and go home. The guy told me he'd be back the next day to finish.

So, I went out and played some terrible basketball while being preoccupied with the internet and a small romantic Hope I had been nursing.

The next day I taught, then sat at home for four hours waiting for the guy to show. He never did.

Friday, I went into the cable internet people's office before school and asked what the hell the deal was. They said that somebody would come out that afternoon. Hopefully. So I taught and went home. Waiting for me there was a guy (a different one this time) who said he could fix my computer. He did something or other for an hour, never checking the IP address, then said that the problem was with my computer and its ethernet card.

Although he, I, and the entire computer-using world know that his answer was b.s. for "I don't know where the problem on our end is so I'll blame your end," my computer seemed to substantiate his claim when it died with a blue screen that told me about an "unmountable boot error" an hour after the guy left. Fortunately, that problem was solved the next morning with a good ol' fashioned CHKDSK from DOS. Later Friday night though, the aforementioned small Hope took a good knockdown for reasons I really don't want to get into here.

Saturday morning saw me fix the computer problem, revive the romantic Hope with a little bit of nice-guy-edness, and relax at home. This happiness segued into a beautiful afternoon pf poker playing and more relaxing. Then, as evening set in and turned into night, Fate stepped out of nowhere and whapped the poor, small Hope with a lead pipe and stomped on it a couple of times to make sure it stayed on the ground a while.

Sunday, I woke up early and wandered around the apartment in my underwear, cleaning things, until I had coffee with friends in the center and went off to play basketball after that. Then there was more laying around in my underwear while watching some playoff basketball and working on a project proposal.

So you see? There's a reason I didn't come to the internet club for every day of the week last week. Today was productive. We had a great meeting about the project I'm working on (more on that in the days/weeks to come), I made it to the internet club, and I'll be going to the internet people's office after this. If they're open.

You see, Bulgaria and Romania are signing their accession treaties for the European Union today. In two short years they could both be a part of the Big Show. The schools are taking the day off and it seems like a weekend outside. The cable people might have decided to close their doors too.

Oh, in other news, Michael was kind enough to point out that Silistra made the news with its big story last week. Remember when I said the Danube was high? Well, it got so high last weekend that wild boars on an island in the river were forced to swim into town. While the story credits the boars with breaking windows and smashing cars, I would be more inclined to credit the guys who took it upon themselves to carry their guns around town and fire at any boar they (think they) saw. I never saw any of the boars myself. I don't think they made it to my part of town.

Similar thing happened a few years back, I'm told, when the Danube froze and Romanian wolves stormed into Silistra. Apparently several people were actually shot during that frenzy. Ahh, Silistra. I love this town.

Live From the Internet Club. For the Last Time

Well, probably not the last time, but I won't be coming here regularly. Why, you ask? Well, okay, lets back up. For those that may not know, I do all of my work here on the site from a place called an internet club. Most would call it an internet cafe, but Bulgaria takes it literally and since there aren't waiters and waitresses, it's an internet club. I format pictures at home, bring them in on a floppy, and usually type out these entries here, with my account's timer ticking.

But that's all about to change for one big reason. Since I'm going to be here in Silistra another year (more on that later) I decided to try once again to have a cable internet connection installed in my apartment. I've gone to the service's office twice before, and both times they'd said they couldn't connect to my building because there weren't any other customers in the area. Understandable since my building doesn't really have anyone else under the age of 70 living in it.

So this time, I went back, I asked if I could have the cable hooked up, and they said they could. So from Wednesday (when they'll install it) forward, all the updating will be done from my apartment.

Now, where were we...Oh yeah, I'll be staying here for another year. Your standard Peace Corps service is two years, which I've all but completed. But, after realizing that, aside from hard days at school like today, I love it here just as much as any place I've ever lived, and that there's still more that could be done at the school and with this site, I decided to give Peace Corps an application to extend for another year. That application was approved last Friday and, well, I'm here for another year. For better, or for kids who refuse to grow up and let the people who actually want to learn do it.

Sigh. Today wasn't actually a record-setter. In fact, most of my classes went well. But there's one student in the last class of the day who absolutely and stubbornly refuses to learn and in the process of not learning bothers everyone else. He knows no English, and looks like a 4 year-old that grew up a little bit too fast. I dislike this person. And I want him out of my class and preferably out of the school. But, well, that can't really happen here in Bulgaria.

And even with him, the whole "being at work" thing was only torture after a great weekend spent celebrating my birthday with the best of local and American friends. The 3 days were a microcosm of the entire social scene in Silistra, and basically reminded me about every reason for my staying. Each day made me happier.

Okay, the internet club is starting to annoy me, and the food I bought on the way here is starting to get unfresh. So I have to me going. I'll update from the apartment sometime tomorrow night. And if you don't get daily updates from now on, it'll only mean I'm being absurdly lazy, I'm in a hospital somewhere, or I've gone Amish.

Too Much Stuff For Tonight

Here we have a lovely shot of the pelicans at Sreburna Lake. How do I know they're pelicans, you ask? Well, because that's what all the books and maps say they are if they're nesting in that spot. This photo was taken with a camera with 10x optical zoom from a very high point called "The Point." The pelicans all nest in the center of the lake. Kind of impressive, but not terribly, I know.

Other news, let's see...My Birthday's tomorrow, I'll be staying another year in Bulgaria, other stuff. Nothing really worth talking about. I'll explain everything later. I have to run off for now though. A friend of mine has the nerve to have his birthday the day before mine and his party's in 10 minutes.

Let's say there will be a big update on Sunday.

Back to School

After two full weeks away, it's back to the semi-grind. The biggest problem, as always, being the getting up at 6. The key is, it seems to me, to hop out of bed, go to the living room, watch CNN until my mind clicks on (about 2-3 minutes), then remind myself over and over again about how, when I think about it, my job is actually very easy and often fun. I carry on this chant off and on through the shower, breakfast and 25 minute walk that's still a bit chilly at 7 in the morning. When I get to the school and start teaching, I'm usually in pretty mellow spirits. It's all very tidy.

And surprisingly enough, today went pretty well. Most of the students were listening well for their second day off of spring vacation. I actually read aloud for vast stretches of time and they paid attention. I'm going to go ahead and call that an accomplishment.

The weather's cheery, there's basketball promised occasionally, and outdoor cafes are everywhere. Can't really complain. Some are talking thunderstorms to come. But I don't see it, Wunderground doesn't see it, so I'm going to worry as little as possible about it.

I love Spring. That's the strange thing about these 4 seasons places. You wind up loving somewhere between 4 and 6 months and hating everything else. In Alaska, you get used to the chilliness and praise the good days as the miracles that they are. It's a matter of taste, I suppose, but there's no way I could live my life in a place where everybody is absolutely miserable almost half of the time. It just seems odd.

A Day at a Very High Lake

The Danube has been high lately. Very high actually, and it has some around here worried. In today's first photo you can just barely see the top of a bench sticking out above the surface at Danube park. That means the river is about 20 feet higher than it is during summer and winter. There must be a lot of snow melting somewhere. That flooding has left a lot of garbage on the river's surface, and it's also flooded all of the lakes along the river.

Which made going to the Sreburna Reserve this past Thursday interesting. The lake that makes up most of the reserve was about twice as big as it normally is, and most of the smaller side trails along the lake were drowned in water. But that didn't seem to bother the birds that make Sreburna their home. It's spring time, and all of the birds are fresh off of their trips down to Africa and ready to nest.

The pelicans are Sreburna's main attraction. Mostly because you can't see them in too many other places. It turns out that you can't really see them too well in Sreburna either. They nest in an immense group among some reeds in the very center of the lake. Even with binoculars (provided by Sharad, who, as a bird watcher, so wanted to see Sreburna that he came all the way up to Silistra from Botevgrad) you couldn't really see them. Much more interesting were the swans and herons who stalked the shores.

I'd never seen swans in Bulgaria before, but I suppose I'd always kind of assumed that they were around somewhere. I certainly got to see a few this week. There were 6 or 7 of them that we saw and they all seemed to be nesting.

We didn't get to see all of the lake, even though we spent 6 hours exploring the western side. Someday, I may get to the eastern side, but we'll have to see about that, I suppose. Anyway, to finish off the day, here's a picture of me at the edge of the flooded lake. Enjoy.

Well, I'm all healthy and back in Silistra. To sum up, last week I was in Bankya, a small town near Sofia, to talk about all the things a person needs to do to leave Peace Corps and Bulgaria properly at the end of two successful years. A severely reduced group of the people who came here with me two years ago got together, listened to some enlightening seminars, played scrabble, bowled, etc. I came down with something viral, or food food poisoning. The debate rages on, even among people who weren't there!

But I'm back in Silistra now, in the midst of spring break. The weather's peachy, with clear skies and the promise of warmer days to come. There are blossoms on the trees, birds in the sky. Everything's good and Spring-y.

Doesn't leave me much to write about though. Which kind of explains the lack of anything on the site over the weekend. I'm in a bit of a life limbo right now and will only get out at the end of next week, which will, coincidentally, go right along with my birthday. Expect entries over the next few days, but don't expect me to be gunning for a Pulitzer.