Last and final

Vessi and Viki after completing our Where Peace Lives Project


Some colleagues and kids I worked with



My handprint on a project we did during training

My wonderful host family

Mark and I in Plovdiv

Well, during the course of 2 years, 13 postings isnt too bad right?! Ok ok, I know that I have done a horrible job at keeping up to date with my blog, although I knew I wouldnt do too well, I guess some is better then nothing. Well as the title indicates, this will be my last and final blog. I am actually spending my last full day in my site, in my apartment and it is beginning to sink in!

The last couple months here in Bulgaria have flown by very fast. Mark and I went back to the United States in April, which was great to be home and see family and friends again...not to mention eat the food! It was also great once we got back to Bulgaria as it split the rest of our time up with only 6 months left. In July we were able to use the last of our vacation days to go to Israel. That was an incredible trip. We spent about 6 days in Jerusalem in the old town. There is so much to see there and it was just a completley different type of trip that we had ever taken before. I didnt care too much for the heat, especially in the arid climate, but the trip was great. We went to the Dead Sea as well and spent a day going over to Jordan to see Petra, which is one of the Wonders of the World. When we got back from our Israel trip time really picked up. With meetings we had to go to for Peace Corps, or spending a few last weekends with our Peace Corps friends on the beach (I know we led a rough life here)!!

Mark and I feel incredibly blessed to have met the people we did while here in Peace Corps. Our friends decided to throw both Mark and I bachelor and bachelorette parties (seperatly of course!) here in Bulgaria! It was pretty great as they are the people who have been a part of our relationship from the beginning! With all of these fun things that we had going on the last couple months, time has flown by and I find myself at the last day in my site.

As Im packing up my apartment, moving stuff next door to the new volunteer who will replace me, and trying to decide what to pack, I have been thinking a lot about my time here. Although I have had many ups and downs not only with my work, but also my apartment, I will miss it in some ways as this is the longest I have lived in one place besides my parents house! Mark and I have a great trip after our service that we will be taking going to Scotland, England, Italy, Poland and France so we are looking forward to that. I would like to say that I could sit down right now and write about how much the Peace Corps meant to me and how it will effect my life in the future, but honestly, I am still working through all of this. I wouldnt have changed this experience for anything, not just because I met Mark, but because I learned so much and I grew up. So in a couple months if you are still curious about my time here, ask me then what this time meant to me, cause I know I will be able to process it more then!!

I want to thank everyone who stuck with reading this blog...I know I was pretty disappointing! Also thank you for your support through my service. This experience pushed me in ways I didnt know that I could handle, and I wouldnt have been able to making it through this time if I didnt have the support of all of you. So thank you! I would like to say that I will continue this at home to keep everyone updated on my life when I return, but I dont want to make any promises!! So thats it for now! And I will see you all again in the States!!

p.s. The blog about Mark and I adopting here in Bulgaria was written by my bored sister and brother in law!! For those who are still confused about it, we are not adopting, and for that matter, Bob is not really a popular name for kids here in Bulgaria! Also, that is a picture of the boy from Deliverance, not a real person!! I enjoyed the joke though, hope you all did too!!

NEWS

Well, with much deliberation Mark and I have some news. We are ADOPTING!!!!! There is a local boy in my village who has touched our hearts in ways that we never thought possible and since we are going to be coming home soon we decided that we'd bring him with us. While we finish up our time in Bulgaria he will split his time between Seattle and Coeur d' Alene. We hope that you all will give him as much love and support that I know you are capable of. His name is Bob.

Another week down....

My niece Madison


Madison Noel McGee

Only a few more to go before I travel back to the states for a couple weeks! If I didn't have that trip to look forward to, I may go nuts! I feel like I'm sort of in Survivor the TV show, because all I think about and talk about sometimes is the food that I will eat when I'm back home. A few weeks ago in fact, Mark and I were at his place and spent the weekend watching the show Top Chef. On top of that, all we talked about was the food we will have when we are home! We made a deal that this was our time to indulge and we wouldn't worry about calories! Even though I'm going to have to worry about it later and fitting into a wedding dress, but its all worth it!!

Things here are going pretty well I have gotten into a sort of routine that if I knew there wasn't an end to, I would worry, but for now it works where I'm at. It helps to have the wedding to plan, trips to look forward to, and that I only have about 8 months left. My work continues to be the same. I go to the local kindergarten twice a week and teach English, the rest of the time I am at the center working with the kids I've been working with the past year. We have started a project I found from the states called Where Peace Lives. It works with the kids on topics like conflict resolution, problem solving and bullying. At the end we will do a mural and send it to another country, and they will send us theirs.

As with most things I've tried to do here, they don't always go as expected. If I sit and think about it sometimes I get frustrated, but I have learned to accept that I've done what I can, and that I can only do so much. If something doesn't work, I can't put it on me. Maybe in another situation or time I would feel like I've done more, but at least I know I've tried.

Not much else to report. I'm so anxious to get home. I will be glad to finally do some hands on stuff for the wedding, although we have packed our 2 weeks full of meeting people, going all over Seattle and Coeur d' Alene, eating all sorts of food and stuff for the wedding, I'm so excited. Most of all to meet Madison. Although I get to see her on Skype often, its not the same as meeting her and seeing her in person!

Well, not much else to say. I will write again when I get back. Hoping the weather will be better, and Mark and I will hopefully have one last trip to plan while still here in the Peace Corps. Thank you all who still check this regularly! Specially you Aunt Monie! I appriciate the support!!

The countdown officially begins!!!

Well, in an effort to try and write a little more often, here is another entry. As of right now, I am about 8 1/2 months away from being done!.....YAY!!! Although I started counting down once the year mark passed, there is something more exciting about counting down during the same year that I will finish here!!!

The holidays passed, and it was kinda bittersweet. I spent Christmas with my host family again. Christmas Eve is the main celebration day, and with lots of great food. Christmas day was just nice to be able to relax in a warm home with family around. For New Years, we went to Plovdiv again, like last yer. The group was smaller and its become a nice support that we have gotten here. Just like last year, we brought the New Years in eating great Arabic food and dancing the traditional Bulgarian horo up on stage. If you stare at the feet you can tell who the Americans are because our feet are going all over the place, and the people next to us are tripping and giving us looks to stop messing them up! It was a nice break for the holidays. Mark and I spent a few days in a smaller town called Bansko that is known for their skiing. It was nice to be somewhere new and different. So with the holidays past and winter still here I'm just trying to stay distracted and busy.

My organization wil be starting a project in February called Where Peace Lives. We will be working with the kids on acticities aimed at conflict resolution and working to enlarge the kids views on the world around them. At the end, they paint a giant mural that will be exchanged with another country. I'm excited about starting this because its something new and completley differnt then what weve been doing. Other than that, I am still working with kids and English, and just trying to stay busy.

Mark and I will be coming home in April for 2 week now. I will be in CD'A for about a week and the rest in Seattle. I am so excited to go home! I will meet my niece for the first time and to see my sister after more than a year! I am very excited! A lot of what we will do is stuff for the wedding. We have set the date for February 6, 2010, and with getting home around December, we dont have much time to do things. Its nice to have this to focus on though as the months can drag on here. After w get back to Bulgaria in April, we will only hae about 6 months left. Heading into summer will make that a lot easier too. So, thats about it for right now!

Im sorry things arent as entertaining as things were last year, with birds and things breaking, but its been pretty nice with less stress. Anyways, I hope everyone is well, and I will update again when something changes!!