Varna

We arrived in varna on Friday morning very tired. Did not sleep very well on the train, so we slept soundly for a few hours in a nice big bed in the house next to karin Dom. Later, we took a walk over to the school to take some videos to send to Jonny. He has quite a bad head injury so Nicholas thought that a few videos of his home might spark some memory. Nicholas said it was "a huge success!"  So we made another video last night of us singing you and I. I'm so glad I have an instrument with me. Adelaide has been strummimg the uke as well. We got a bit bored being   stuck in the house for a few days, avoiding the cold rain. Today was beautiful though and I made use of it by going for a lovely run on the beach. I had been feeling cooped up and strange, and I didn't realize it until I was running free along the beach with the sea breeze blowing and the waves crashing along the rocks. I climbed up these barier sculptures and looked out at the black sea. You can start feeling pretty lonely in a place where no one speaks the same language as you. Its scary not being able to communicate with people, so I'm glad I have my lovely cousin here with me. Luckily we met some young Bulgarians at a bar we stumbled upon that were very eager to speak English with us. They said that bar was the only good one in varna. They invited us to watch their artist friend spray paint a wall nearby and so we went along. We watched him paint Fall leaves that spelled the word FARC- some sort of political movement. Bulgarians are not shy about making fun of their government. They drove us home and we invited them into the house to hang out for a bit. They were very pleasantly surprised when they saw the bust of Mr. Stancioff and made the connection. They said it was like being in a celebrity's house! It may have boosted our Bulgarian egos a bit... We cooked and played some music and they eventually left. They invited us to a sixty's swing dance party the next night that wasn't quite as exciting as it sounded, but was alright. It was fun having a nice group of people to laugh and be weird with. Unfortunately they had to go to school in england today, so they are gone. Adelaide goes back to Sofia tomorrow and I go to voditsa on Wednesday. I hope to explore more tomorrow. Let us pray for the sunnnn..

sofia

Somehow made it to Sofia on Wednesday at around noon. The wonderful Adelaide greeted me at the gate and we were off on our adventcha. We linked arms and she showed me the marvelous city.she made sure I stayed up till about 4 am at an Irish pub not far from her little apartment. Tonight we head to varna on a night train. I'm incredibly tired.

Hard Times by Gillan Welch

Well I seem to be leaving for Bulgaria tomorrow, and unfortunately I have to leave my new banjo behind. I decided to record one last song with it before I depart.. This song is relevant as well because it reminds me of Brian and how he lives his life on the farm, but I think everyone can connect with it on some level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1j_dImGfp4&feature=youtu.be

Goodbye Bittersweet

Well I have left Bittersweet Farm and now I venture off into the unknown. But first, a pleasant stop in Chesterville, ME before I depart for Bulgaria. The last few days on the farm were nice, and I was sad to say goodbye. Two weeks is the perfect amount of time to get comfortable somewhere, so it makes it hard to leave.
To commemorate the last few weeks I've spent at Bittersweet and other places I've visited, here is a list of snapshots of all my favorite parts.

-Buying a banjo at "Dick's country store and Music Oasis" - Guns, Gas, Guitars and food!
-Playing a song I wrote a few days before I got to Bittersweet for Julia the first night we moved into the cabin. She was the first one to ever hear it and she loved it. Didn't stop singing it the entire time at the farm.
-Doing all of the chores by myself so that Brian could take a nap. It was sunny and beautiful and I took as much time as I wanted. Hung out with Prince Phillip, sang songs to the other pigs, played with chickens, grazed and brushed Pearl (the horse), talked to the cows - it was all peaceful and calming, and it helped me realize why Brian needs the farm to be happy, even though it often makes him unhappy.
-Hanging around the table with Ann, Love and Julia after everything was done for the day. (Love is the man that lived with me and Julia in our cabin)
-Love talking Julia and I to sleep every night.
-The crazy jam we had in Henry and Miles's room with the OC Party Band. Dillon, Willy P., Will Madison, Nick Edwards, Abby Giles and anyone else who wanted to join. Lots of people watching, singing along and happy before Java.
-Sylvan Esso concert in Burlington. We brought a big group and went to the center. Danced and sang the whole time. Ahh she is amazing.
-Riding Pearl through tall grass, and not actually having any control over where she brought me.
-Finishing a door for the pig house. Frustrating while it was happening, but satisfying in the end.
-People telling me and Julia that we are very weird.
-Being around Julia in general. She is lovely.
-Brian letting me do things on my own and not getting mad when I messed them up, which was a lot of the time... He is a great teacher.
-Teaching Julia to drive a standard.
-Ann crying and saying she would be sad for me to go because she thinks I just get it. Supposedly because I am from Maine and she is too... So maybe we are just both a bit crazy.
-Doug's Tavern on the last night and then music in the cabin with Nick and Will.
-My drive home. I had a lot of good, productive thoughts the whole time. Also, the weather kept getting nicer and nicer the closer I got to Maine.

Goodbye!!!!!!!!


                                                          Market this past Tuesday

R.I.P. Abigail Von Braveheart

Abigail Von Braveheart died unexpectedly yesterday evening after Sassafrass refused to keep on feeding her. I begged the huge pig to role over onto her side, but it was too late. I caught myself off guard when I started to cry alone in the pig pen over the spasming body of the little piglet, and continued to long after I was out of there and Brian had put her down. I was overwhelmed by how much emotion I felt over this tiny little being that I didn't think I had any sort of connection to. Brian told me that it happened to him every single time he experienced an animal dying, to the point where he can't even cry about it anymore.
Today Julia and I did the farmer's market in Ogdensburg and made $72. Ann and Brian were very excited. They said that was good for a rainy day. Tonight we are on Pig Duty. We must keep watch over Bella in case she goes into labor. She is due any day/hour now...

Bittersweet Farm

Well I've started my semester off on a small farm called Bittersweet in upstate New York, about 20 miles from St.Lawrence University. There are a few ties to the University, but for the most part they are an independent, small organic farm in the middle of nowhere. There are more Amish buggies that go by our house than any other vehicle. Ann and Brian Bennett are great and so kind to let us stay with them and teach us the ways of a fahma. I'm with my lovely little friend, Julia, and we stay in a solar powered cabin that is a five minute walk from the farm. The other night we had a few friends over and played music and drank beer and slept well. It's quite a homey little place!

There is a variety of work on the farm - from making sweet pickles to shoveling poop, it's all quite exciting. At times I get frustrated and I feel tears of exhaustion here and there, but at the end of the day, on my walk back to our humble abode, I get an incredibly satisfied, gratifying feeling. It's small, but important work that is done out here. 

On Wednesday morning, one of the sows gave birth to nine piglets. Julia and I just happened to be at a Sylvan Esso concert in Burlington when she decided to go. The sow, Sassafrass, was having trouble with her milk situation for a while after the piglets were born, so we were sure the six that survived weren't going to make it much longer. But she slowly began feeding them. We tried to keep watch over them, but last night, while no one was looking, Sassafrass sat on all of them. Only one survived.. It is quite unfortunate and everyone is sad at the farm now. It's stressful during pigging time, and this is only the beginning. Sitting in the cold pig pen last night till 4 am attempting to keep the breathing piglets alive was one of the more frustrating and depressing things I've done. Brian made it clear (before he finally went to bed) that he didn't think any of them would survive. Luckily one did and is quite healthy seeming at the moment. Julia is holding her tight and helping her nurse. We've named her Abigail Von Braveheart! She's quite the fighter. But my god, these farmers can be negative people. It is for good reason though. It is a ridiculous amount of work for barely any product. Brian is cynical, sarcastic and negative, but he can usually find humor in every bad situation. It's a tough life these North Country farmers live, and I think they question why they live the way the do at least once a day. But although Brian is usually frustrated, aggravated and totally overwhelmed with the farm, he couldn't live without it. Like I said, at the end of the day, once you have used all of your energy, cried a few times, been exasperated to your maximum, and can barely crawl into the back of a cold subaru to catch a few hours of sleep, you know you did something important. I'm glad I'm getting this "bitter-sweet" opportunity.