I went to my bosses's house for a coworkers get together. We all had a blast! 
The top picture is my counterpart (the person responsible for me in PC) the bottom picture is of my boss. We all pitched in for the chair as a house warming gift.
The pictures below are from the preparations. 
Me below helping to start the fire...
Below are my two good friends from work....
Guy from work sleeping. It was a sleep over party.
All week has been the International Festival in Veliko Turnovo. I am happy to say I have gone four times and expect to go the rest of this week.
Tonight I decided to go to the fest alone after my workout because I did not want to be home with all the festivities going on. At the fest I did my usually routine and watched the show from the sidelines trying to enjoy the utopia of diversity. I danced when the Venezuelans danced moving my hips to the sound of the music. When the Americans got up to do their version of Irish dance I did my little two-step with them and sang along. When the Russians came on I actually stood in amazement watching the Bulgarians (both old and young) cheer the Russians on as if it was their country up there dancing. Since they cheered I cheered but it was kind of weird knowing how Russia occupied Bulgaria. History is all a matter of perspective so whatever. My only hope was that I would see an African group do their thing but I missed them again. All week I haven’t seen Africans dance so you know I was disappointed. This time I could see the Africans sitting along the side of the stage but I did not have the nerve to go up to them. I know what it is to be of African descent in Bulgaria so I was pretty sure they had their share of harassment from strangers.
I took a chance though when five or six of the guys walked by me. I smiled into the eyes of one and sweetly asked where he was from. When he said South Africa we both smiled at each other and went our separate ways. I continued to listen to whatever group that was up there dancing thinking about how I really wanted to see the Africans dance. My little friend Tony (the kid whose hair I always braid) tapped me on my shoulder and waved for me to follow him. My thoughts where still on Africa and wanting to talk to the Africans so I simply obeyed without a second thought. He took me up to the stage where the Africans where sitting and asked me to ask them to take a picture with us. Tony can’t speak English very well so I needed to be his voice. I asked the girls and of course they said "yes". Actually they were happy to meet us because Tony and I where the first non-South African blacks that they had met in Bulgaria. I have my hair braided so the girls where really excited about it. They gave me the international “you know you a black girl look” and complimented my hair because I did it all by myself. They also asked me if I felt safe in Bulgaria being a person of African descent. They went on to tell me how people touched them and always wanted to take pictures of them on the streets. They found it just as weird as I did when I go here. Can you imagine coming from a culture where you are the majority and discovering that you are strange or weird to people when everything about you is normal in your society? The girls and I talked for about an hour backstage of the festival about life in South Africa, life in Bulgaria, and life in the United States. They girls kept giving me hugs telling me how happy they were to see me. I felt so happy just to be myself with people like me for an hour. I did not have to explain my hair or my skin color. That was wonderful. Tomorrow I am going to the festival to watch them perform. They made me promise and of course I was happy to have a def time for their performance. Finally I get to see Africans dance! They make me want to visit South Africa.
Pictures will def be coming soon....
Driving of the wonderful land of dark people,
Crystal
Ohhh I had so much fun at Camp with the GLOW girls. We danced, sang, learned about leadership, listened to lecturers, and learned about what being a woman means in the Bulgarian context. I loved spending so much time with the girls and hearing their life stories. The girls at this camp are some of the smartest and talented girls in Bulgaria and I will say in the world. WOW was I impressed by them. They restored my faith in Bulgarian people and the future of Bulgaria.
I am so happy that the Bulgarian nurses were realised from Libyia. In truth releasing the nurses demonstrates that things are possible even when everything seems impossible. One point for BG!!! If you want more information about the realise of the BG nurses check up on this article. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/24/news/nurses.php
I have pictures from Camp so click on the pcitures link.
I also have pictures from Italy.
I just got back from Italy so I havent really had time to post messages. The trip was a huge success!!! Pictures will be coming soon. Well as soon as my friends send them to me because I do not have a camera.
I will give you a very quick update of what we did in Italy:
Roma- All the tourist sites
Milan- Strictly for shopping and hanging with friends I met in Estonia!
Ventimiglia (sp?)- hung out with my PCV friend's Italian fam. I love Italians.
Genova- Stranded waiting for a train home
Well this gives you a little idea about the trip. I can not write more until Camp GLOW is over. Unless I find a few minutes to write here and there.
wearing my new clothes from Milan and missing Italian food,
Crystal
Here is the famous picture of me with short hair!!! The picture was taken at the Camp GLOW fundraiser in Sofia. These are my two good friends from the Peace Corps.
Thanks Tracy for the pic!!!
I braided my friend’s hair today. Its kinda cool because it was my first time braiding a Bulgarian woman’s hair. Her hair turned out extremely well!!! Unfortunately I do not have pictures but as soon as I find someone with a camera I will make them take pictures of her. If you are wandering I braided her hair in cornrows going straight back. Braiding her hair made me want to rebraid my own hair. I am thinking at the end of this month before I go to Italy I will do it. It sucks not having a camera!!! I have been wearing my hair in a curly afro thingy that is just gorgeous!!! You must see it but yea the camera situation. I can not afford to buy a new camera at the moment because of the Italy trip and my plans to go home August/September.
I plan to go home to visit soon! My twin sis is moving to a new apartment (I can help her move and we can spend time together), my brother Chris will be in Chicago for a short visit, and my friend is getting married. I think it’s a wonderful time to go home. Actually I just got really excited! Can you guess why? When I go home I am going to the beauty salon to have a cut and trim for the wedding. Hair hair hair. I love wearing my hair in different styles.
Work Stuff….
Tomorrow I have to teach the children a song in English. These are the kids I teach during the summer because they attend the Center’s summer camp. I love teaching them most of the time but it can be a little overwhelming because I am not a trained teacher. Actually I think I am getting better and better everyday because the children are starting to remember things I taught them from a previous lesson. Wahooo!!! I thank God for giving me wisdom and the ability to adapt to different situations in Bulgaria. Sometimes I am called to do various things that are out of my scope. However, I am able to complete the task successfully and learn something about myself in the process. This is the Peace Corps experience right?
Wow this is going to get longer than I thought. I just thought about a situation that occurred this past Friday. I was sitting at a table in a local pub with people I met last weekend. They were all pretty strange people (to say the least). Actually I think they were a part of some cult group or another. One of the guys to my left was someone new so he started to ask me the typical questions people ask when I meet them for the first time “Where are you from?”, “Do you like Bulgaria?”, “What are you doing in Bulgaria?”. I can pretty much communicate all of these answers in Bulgarian without blinking an eye because so many people have asked me these questions. So I gave the guy my normal speech. Afterwards he listened politely than he asked “What is your purpose here?”. My response was to repeat what I had said previously but in a different way. He then looked me in the eye and really started to freak me out. He said “No seriously what is your purpose in Bulgaria?” “People don’t travel this far across the world without a purpose”. My response was to turn to my friend (the girl whose hair I braided) and ask her to translate the conversation so that I would have a better understanding of what he was asking. I wanted to be sure he did not think I was a part of some government hidden group or something. Also the reason I did this is because I sensed evil from this person and needed a break from talking to him. It was as if he was tainting me because I believe that God has sent me to Bulgaria for a specific purpose. In fact the guy even mentioned my purpose in being here (which was not a part of my speech) before I turned away. He actually laughed at me as if my purpose was nothing. I have never felt so much evil and craziness in Bulgaria. When we left the pub my friend told me everything that the people were saying in Bulgarian and I realized that...well lets just say those people are def not people to hang out with.
waiting for the long flight home and liking Bulgaria at the same time,
Crystal
Ohh P.S. This is the lesson I am teaching tomorrow. Zoo animals! The song is really cool. http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-songs-zoo.htm
I love all types of music really but there is something about hiphop and RnB music that moves me!!! I was just listening to that song "Buy you a Drank" and could not help dancing and singing to it in my room. This of course prompted me to think about Chicago and driving around town with my twin sister blasting music. Ahhhh I miss driving and singing really loud to music! Yup I was that person that cruised the streets with loud annoying music. What?! I can not get down with the techno music that everyone seems to play here. I guess overall I miss home. Well particularly my twin sister. During the summer we usually go to the "Taste of Chicago" (its like a huge food festival). Also the 4th is coming up and I spend this holiday with fam. Some of you might not know but the 4th of July is the day America got its independence. Dont get me wrong I am enjoying Bulgaria more now but I still miss the fam and African American cultural things.
Imma get gon and walk it out. I can do it all by myself. Ohh Ohh Ohh Ohh Ohh. Its Friday tomorrow!!! Wahoo.
Ok watch the video before I start typing the words...
