This photo was taken in Bugaria on the day of my American Football Camp with the village. The village is mostly Roma, and is located about 20 miles outside of Burgas. I had brought face paint and ribbons so all the girls could have their team...
During the summertime in Bulgaria people work very hard to grow and gather food in their fields and from the forest in order to can and consume throughout the winter. One such example is blueberries. Wild blueberries are abundant in the forests...
Grandmothers (babi) play a huge role in a family household. Often, the grandmother is the main family member that takes care of the children, cooks and takes care of the overall household chores. It is very common for many generations to live under...
This photo was taken on Christmas Day 2009, in celo Banitsa at the home of my host parents, Baba Tsetsa and Metodi. I spent Christmas with Tsetsa and Metodi's son, Ivo, and his wife and two daughters in Vratsa. This was the first time that I had...
I took this photo in a predominantly Muslim village in the heart of the Rhodope Mountains. The babas (grandmothers) in the picture were walking their horses to an unknown location in their usual attire; loud socks, blue overcoats, and headscarves. ...
This picture was taken in Svoboda, Bulgaria during a prevention and awareness fund raising project in 2011. The kids were baking AIDS awareness ribbon cookies by hand, and loving every second of it. The village of Svoboda is small, and consists of...
Bananas are not just good for you. They can also be used to demonstrate proper condom use as demonstrated by these Bulgarian volunteers along with their Bulgarian counterparts as part of a life skills workshop in 2011.
During our first visit to our permanent site of Tutrakan, site mate Michael (L) and I found ourselves invited to a birthday celebration for the deputy mayor and mayor.
Cedar boils the modified leghold traps in herbs, along with our clothing and shoes, at the farmhouse in the village of Sadovic in western Bulgaria. With members of Balkani Wildlife Society, the next day we set the trapline and checked it twice a...
In the town square of our training site, Panagyurishte, there is an enormous moument of Buglaria's version of Paul Bunyan. His name is Bori Mechkata (Bear Fighter). On beautiful days, we would gather here for language training class. After climbing...
This is a picture of my husband (a Bulgarian National) and my wedding which took place in an 800-year old monastery in a village in central Bulgaria. My counterpart and his wife (the couple holding the crowns over our heads) were the Best Man and...
This photo shows a Bulgarian Red Cross Youth volunteer passing out inflated condoms containing health tips for avoiding HIV/AIDS & STI's. The campaign was conducted on World AIDS Day 2011 in the city center of Lovech, Bulgaria.
Enjoying my first winter with my host family in Panagyurishte, Bulgaria. This photo was taken outside their flat by my host brother in the winter of 2003.
Bulgarians don't really celebrate Halloween, but I introduced the holiday to my students. My kindergarteners especially loved celebrating it and got dressed up for the occasion. There was a pirate, Spiderman, a ghost, a dinosaur, and a witch among...
I took this photo on April 22, 2001 to share Earth Day with my 5th grade students in Samokov, Bulgaria. I wanted to show the students how to be good stewards to the earth and how to replenish resources that are often destroyed in their mountain...
I took this photo of my 8th grade class after we made a banner celebrating Peace Corps Day in March of 2000. This photo was taken at Hristo Botev High School in Vratsa, Bulgaria.
Host community friends; Food and meals; Celebrations
This photograph was taken in November of 2009, in my first village, a small Bulgarian Muslim community in northeastern Bulgaria. Kurban Bairam is one of the greatest holidays of the year in the Muslim community, and as I was learning about their...
This photo was taken on 6 Sept. 2010 at a Monastery in Bulgaria. The 6th of September is a major holiday for the town. Everyone hikes to the monastery ruins, for blessings from the priest and a picnic. The picture shows me and people from the...
For the Winter Wonderlands Collection.
This is the Christmas tree (2008) placed near the center of Samaranovo, Bulgaria, where I trained and lived with my host family.
This photograph was taken during our Initial Orientation, in May 2009, immediately after we arrived in country. One of my best friends, Kay, is holding the stick frame and featuring the other volunteers as we all prepared for a hike up the...