Halloween 2007

The PC Halloween party was fun this past weekend but I had more fun on my b-day. Maybe I didnt have as much fun because I was trying to make sure everything went smoothly for attendees. Or, maybe it was because I am used to being with Bulgarians all the time so it was strange being with so many Americans in one place.

Anyhow, I don’t have pictures of me during Halloween because I refuse to share them :-). Its funny but I hated my costume. I was a Chalga star i.e. Bulgarian Pop singer, which entailed me dressed in sleazy clothes. The entire night I felt uncomfortable and I eventually changed into my jeans. People told me I looked “hot” in my costume but it only made me feel more uncomfortable. I am just not a girl that likes short skirts and low cut tops. I like nice clothes that fit well and accent the body but don’t over accentuate certain body parts. Ya, I am definitely not a Chalga Star! Anyhow, you can find pictures below of our Halloween celebration without me.









If you are wondering what a Chalga star is here is a clip from youtube of a typical video. Actually I like this music because its sounds Middle Eastern and they usually take beats from American or Caribbean music.

The Best B-Day EVER!!!

I can honestly say that this was the best Birthday EVER. I have never had so many people come to celebrate by Birthday just because they like me as a person. The entire day was a celebration. I am still overwhelmed with the amount of love I received from my friends. Literally one friend took me shopping at 9pm with his car after traveling 3 hours from Sofia (the capitol city) just so I did not have to carry anything heavy from the store. He also spent the entire night with me baking brownies for my coworkers for the next day and no he does not have any intentions towards me. Its just the culture here. My best friend Maria was stressed out the entire day trying to make sure I was happy. She ran around trying to find me the "perfect gift". Everything she got me was what I wanted. One of my coworkers came to the party early and helped me prepare the food and everything. People kept giving me more and more. Like I said it was the best B-Day. Although,I have problems here and there in Bulgaria when times are good they are really good.

The day started with a party with my colleagues. They presented me with a lot of gifts and love.






They presented me with the necklace, earrings, and bracelet I am wearing in the photo.






In this picture I am working hard while thinking about the plans for the evening of my B-day.




After all that planning the party finally started to happen. These are some of the peeps that decided to show up....








After about two hours of fun the neighbor decided to show up. This particular person is extremely nice but is a little village (in the States we say Ghetto) nonetheless again he is an extremely nice person. The peeps at the party decided to have some fun. They arranged a courtship between these two people in the picture were they had to present all the things they would offer me for my hand in marriage. It was freaking hilarious! Let just say it was a lot of screaming for me to choose between "Love" or "Money". Love = the crazy neighbor and Money = the guy in the white t-shirt. Everybody thought it was hilarious that I chose love, which was the neighbor. Fun time fun times. The pictures tell all.













The Neighbor won and woke up his parents at 1 am to tell them the news. The Dad was working close by so we stopped at his work to take a picture. The mom was sleeping so we went to his house to wake her up. Like I said this was a hilarious situation.





After all the excitement things started to settle down and we began to enjoy ourselves....






Yes we did dance to Chalga...







All in All It was a great Birthday. Who can complain with all these gifts!!!!



Thanking God for my blessings,
Crystal

Its my Birthday!!!

Ok today is my Birthday! I am turing the BIG 26!!!! Cant believe I am this old but I have been waiting to turn 30 since I was like 16. Yesterday I spent my time preparing for my B-day tonight. One of my good friends came to pick me up to purchase most of the things for the party. We met at like 9pm and shopped until the store closed. Its a HUGE stress preparing for a Birthday party but I am sure we will all have a good time. Pictures will def come soon because I have a camera now. AHHH I gotta get dressed for work. One MUST look cute all day for their birthday.

Ohhh I forgot My twin sister has a B-day today as well. Happy B-day Christine!!!


Thanks for the B-day wishes!!!!

Combing my hair,
Crystal

October Its getting Cold

This blog is comprised of different blogs that I started and didnt finish over the past week. They are pretty interesting...

Someone asked me why I am counting down the days of my Peace Corps service. I am counting down the days to put my life in perspective. I am in Peace Corps but I still need to plan for my future and my life after my service. It has nothing to do with my life being terrible as a PCV. If I was having a terrible time in PC I would go home and wouldn’t think twice about it. To the contrary, I am having a good time despite the fact that I am living in a culture totally different from my own and have problems here and there. I don’t think an outsider (i.e. someone who has no experience as a PCV) will understand anything until they volunteer. Also, this particular person said something about tax payer’s dollars. Believe it or not I am a tax payer as a PCV and I paid taxes before joining the Peace Corps, so, if anything I feel like I am funding myself while I am here. Your money was probably spent on medical care for the older folks in the states or the war.

Ok now that that is out of the way... this is the post I wrote a couple days ago with a little extra at the bottom. ENJOY!

My close friend and I was just about to end our evening after a nice dinner of tradtional Bulgarian food when I remembered the armwrestling championship. We passed the hotel I knew they were staying at and I asked the receptionist if there were anymore matches. She informed me that everything was finished but that a party/ceremony was going on at a certain hotel near my apartment. We decided since it was only a 5 minute walk away that we would give it a chance. I also wanted to say goodbye to some of the women I met on the Brazillian team.

So we basically crashed the party! I think we got in unnoticed because everyone thought I was Brazillian and an armwrestler. I don’t think I have muscles nearly the size of the women or men that where their but I think they had a category for people with little to no muscles like me. The entire night people kept commenting on the strength of my "teammate", the brazillian women I met on Monday before I left for my Mid-service training. Her arm muscles were about the size of my head. Well actually she was like a giant muscle. I dont think she had any body fat. Being there made me really happy because I love International settings. I was reminded of H.S. when we had kids from all over the world working together for a common goal. People at this party were from Japan, Brazil, America, Canada, Russia, Jordan, Azerbijan, and Bulgaria of course. I had A LOT of fun hanging with the arm-wrestlers but unfortunately I did not have my camera with me to take pictures.

I wrote this today...
My B-day is this weekend and I will have a small gathering with a couple friends from VT. Ohh the politics of putting together a party in BG is driving me insane. I invited one friend and forgot/ didn’t want to invite another. This particular person heard about the gathering and texted me yesterday saying “Goodmorning, I hope you have a bright and sunny day. Happy Birthday. Thanks for the invitation...friend”. Urggh. This is the reason this person was not invited.

Last weekend I ran 21 miles. Wahoo!!! The Marathon is on Nov 4th. 2007 Athens, Greece.

Counting down the days to the Athens Marathon...

Crystal

Marathon Training 18 MILES!!!!!

Yesterday, I ran 18 miles! Yup 18. I am training for the Athens Marathon which is on November 4, 2007. I have a total of 8.3 miles to left to complete the actual marathon. With a month left of training I am doing good timing. This is not my first marathon in fact I ran the Chicago marathon in 2003. Running this marathon is proving to be difficult but I am enjoying every stride.

Running running running,

Crystal