A Place to Call Home

After five months I have my own little space. Since October of last year I have been hearing from my local Municipality that they are working on my apartment and will have it ready "soon." Soon has a new meaning for me, so does "wait a little."
After a while I was under the impression I would be living with the other volunteer in my town for the rest of my service. Every month or so the Peace Corps and my Municipality agreed on new deadlines for my apartment to be completed and every month the date would pass with no change. When I was finally told it was ready I came to see for myself what it looked like...........it was great! I had freshly painted walls, wood floors and a complelty new bathroom, but........it was empty, no furniture or kitchen!
I went back to the municipality to ask when this would be completly finished, they replied that this is as far as they can go because they ran out of money. Uhhh What? I was told they only had 500 lv left for me to spend on all the necessary items Peace Corps requires in each apartment. This would have covered maybe 2 or 3 items on a list of 15. After several phone calls and the Municipality handing over the responsability of my apartment to the Deputy Mayor it was completyly furnished in 2 weeks.

Many people didnt understand why I needed my own apartment. Almost every person in Bulgaria lives with a realitive or girl/boyfriend. Living is too expensive to live alone, so for me to have my own space seemed unuseuall and maybe even unnecessary. Its required by the Peace Corps for each volunteer to have their own living space, even if it is with a host family........there must be certain space dedicated for the volunteer's use.

I have a modest little pad. My one room apartment is within the tallest buildings in my town. I live on the first floor and have a great view of the Balkan Mountains. Slowly but shurely with the help of several workers from the municipality and sometimes their family, I was able to get my place in order. It reminds me a bit of a dorm room.......small with pleanty of storage.
The apartment was previously lived in by an old Roma woman who I believe died in it........lets just say it adds to the character. The apartment building (bloc) is located far from the town center and closer to the mahala just next to the stadium. This means that I have a reason to have long walks when the weather is nice and I'll never miss a town football match. Its so nice to have a place to hang your hat and call

your own, it was worth the wait :)