Saturday in the Park

Yesterday Liz and were walking in the park in Botevgrad, talking about our lives in Bulgaria, our lives back at home, working situations, general feelings of uselessness, you know the usual. But when we turned to the topic of our students I came to a hard realization.

The students Liz had last year in Jackson need so much more help than the ones in Botevgrad. And for that matter, my home city needs so much more help than here. When I walk around Botevgrad I don't see an eviction notice every five house, I don't see bums outside liquor stores, I don't see furniture lining the street, (ok, I do see boarded up windows but most of those are former communist buildings that no one wants anymore.)

Liz's students last year had issues like parents in prison, not enough food on the weekends, no beds to sleep on, and being raised more by pit-bulls than their dads. Our students now have ridiculously expensive cell phones, go shopping in the capital on the weekends, and mostly just act like a bunch of spoiled brats.

It's just hard to justify acting like some great humanitarian when I know that I left somewhere that needs more help. And I have tried just looking at this as "working and living overseas" rather than the expectations I had for Peace Corps, but I didn't come here for that.

But then again, at home I was working in a call center. I guess at least this is something.