Skip to main content

A penultimate camp update, a ridiculous map, and an FYI on the week to come.

I can't believe my two months at American Village is almost over. I think when the time comes I'll be ready to leave, but that won't stop me from enjoying my last few days here. It's been quite an experience.

For most of this week I've been feeling under the weather- I think I caught a bug. It culminated in me staying in my bed practically all day yesterday, a quite challenging feat considering it was 90 degrees (remember, I live in a tent). I managed to sleep off and on, and feel much better today. Logistically, I have this morning off, and I was feeling well enough to trek 20 minutes to a couple of peach trees on an inhabited farm property. The fruit was mostly ripe, so I packed my Decat bag halfway full and trekked back.

This session has been a warm one, with practically no rain. The kids are smart, energetic, and talkative. A great group if the counselors were all fresh-faced, however we're wearing down. For many of us it's our third, fourth, or seventh (!!) session. So we're doing our best to survive- today is Survival Day, by the way. The best part of the day is the evening program, Zombie Apocalypse. Kids must find counselor "survivors" to complete challenges and collect supplies for points-without getting caught by counselor zombies. Campers constantly rank this as one of their favorite activities, as it's pretty scary! The screams of children echo across the lake. It's a lot of fun. I wanted to be a zombie this time around, but because of my illness I've been relegated to survivor-which I suppose fits.

I've been spending a lot less of my free time reading, and more planning for my Eastern Europe adventure. I finally started putting everything on a map, so I can have a better visual idea of my travels:



I know it looks a little complicated right now, so bear with me (you can enlarge the map by clicking on the brackets in the upper right hand corner):
Red is any potential city I might visit
A gold star is a city I plan to stay more than two nights in
Orange is the beginning/end of a scenic train route
Purple is a connecting city to another place- not planning to spend the night
Blue is a workaway host
Green is a confirmed workaway host
The green lines are my potential route

I have two confirmed workaway hosts for October:

There is an English couple who needs some help painting and gardening, so I plan to stay with them for a few days. They live north of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.

I plan to stay with a Frenchman who also lives outside of Veliko Tarnovo. He farms and sells his produce. He told me he'll need help with the chili harvest in October. He is vegan and provides all ingredients to his volunteers. I'm looking forward to that challenge!

I still have some feelers out for other places to stay in between travels. I'm sure my itinerary will change constantly.

My general route seems to be: Italy, Slovenia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey (I think I'll end up there mid December)

Looks like I might be spending my birthday in Kosovo! Hoping to spend some time visiting my friend Simon, who is a part of the Peace Corps in Peja.

Anyway, not much left to say. The kids leave Sunday morning. Monday I'm using blablacar, a carpooling organization, to get a ride back to Paris. I'll be in Paris for a little more than a day, and then on to Milan, then Bologna. I'm couchsurfing in Bologna with a guy who apparently is a great cook-looking forward to some ragu! And then it's on to the farm on September 3 or 4.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My farmstay in Hotnitsa, Bulgaria: A chance to be vegan, getting back on a bike, plus a recipe from yours truly!

“Here,” he said, handing me a pair of latex gloves. “You might need these.” It’s my first night on the organic farm in Hotnitsa, Bulgaria , and my host Rodo is warning me of the spiciness of the chili peppers he gave me. “Seriously, don’t touch your eyes or nose after you handle them. They’re dangerous.” Part of the farm on a foggy morning Earlier that day, Rodo gave me a tour of the farm, stopping ever so often to pile more veggies into my arms. Green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, cabbage, onions, and the aforementioned chilies , Rodo’s specialty. Rodo, originally from France, has been in Hotnitsa since about 2008. A former investment banker, he gave up consulting and bought a homestead in a small village outside of Veliko Tarnovo. He grows strictly organic, sells his produce in markets, and does his best to give back to the land. Average day on the farm I met Rodo online through Workaway , an organization that connections volunteers with hosts worldwide. In exchan...
5 comments
Read more

Cluj-Napoca: Proof that friends can be found anywhere, and that I still love polenta.

Last Monday, October 5 View on the way to Cluj My alarm goes off at at 5:45am, and I ready myself for my longest train ride in Eastern Europe to date. Six hours barreling through western Romania into Northern Transylvania, arriving at Cluj-Napoca in the early afternoon. What could be bad about that? It turns out, nothing, save for the moment I allow myself to leave the carriage to go to the bathroom, and find myself in a developing country, smells and sights included. I resolve to limit my water-drinking on travel days from now on. For those of you who know I have a constant sidekick in my water bottle, this is easier said than done. However, I arrive in Cluj on time and relatively unscathed. Lucia, my CS host, patiently guides me  over the phone from station to bus to bus stop to apartment, and before I know it I’m in her living room, drinking coffee (my first of the day! how did I survive this long?) and chatting about couchsurfing, international politics, and fr...
1 comment
Read more

Musings/complaints about traveling alone, the frustration of missed connections, and the constant draw of that Northern Star

In an unexpected and impulsive fashion, I booked a round trip flight from Zagreb to Minneapolis three weeks ago. (I'm inserting nature-y pictures of my recent time in Slovenia and Croatia to break up monotony of the text.) Two hours prior, I was having dinner with my mom in a pizzeria in Rome on our second to last night together. When our eggplant, olive, and mozzarella pie arrived, I could only look at it. Anxiety was brewing in the pit of my stomach, and I had lost my appetite. Travel anxiety has always been a part of my life. Stressed out LRT rides to the airport, waking up multiple times in the night after forgetting to pack something, finally exhaling when getting on the plane were all part of my experience living away from my parent's house. Arboretum in Slovenia Now, it's gotten a little better- I don't have to buy a lot of bus/train tickets ahead of time, and just show up a little before the departure time. Packing my backpack has become a mech...
2 comments
Read more