We arrived in Osiko (Cameron, my friend in the Peace Corps' rural village) on Friday and it has been pretty interesting to see his world over here. Osikovo has a population of 350 people and everyone is friendly and very proud of their village. They are particularly proud of the new paved road that went in a few months back, allowing people to travel easily between the city and the village. The pace of the village is very slow compared to the hustle and bustle in LA. For example, we went to the official lunch with the mayor yesterday and it took nearly 3 hours. It also seems that although people sit down for meals that food is really more like an accessory to conversation rather than the focus of lunchtime --conversing over chewing. People here are also very generous. For example, you will be walking down the street and someone will graciously offer you yogurt or milk even if you didn't ask for it.
Cameron is working alongside the mayor to develop the village and has become a bit of a celebrity here. We trail behind him like a lost pose, not understanding the language or the culture but it's okay because everyone is so kind and eager to share their village with us. The mayor even said, "We love Cameron so we love America."
We head out of Osikovo tomorrow evening toward the Black Sea to the city of Varna. I have never been to the Black Sea but I hear it is beautiful and that the water is warm. Afterwards, we head back to Turkey to Cappadoccia which is known for its chimneylike rock formations. It is said they even have an underground city you can explore.
I have made a couple realizations while traveling here. First is that although this may be what people consider "2nd world" and most of our locations are rural, it's amazing how modern everything is. People have cell phones, computers and internet and even yesterday at the village's annual festival, they had a complete sound system. It is definitely not what I imagined the typical "Peace Corps" experience to be like but it has been fascinating seeing the modern and rural world mix. The second is that traveling in the "ancient world" makes makes me very aware of the distinction between mythology and history. Stories that I had once thought were merely myths are based on places I am now visiting. Myths were heightened stories of reality and it reminds me how we are recording our history today. Will people look back and watch our movies and assume that is how we lived? Or are our movies like their myths?
Happy musing,
Lauren
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