Byala, Bulgaria, August 2020
It was one of the “idle days” when I thought that I should spend some of my free time on doing good deeds instead of lazing around.
Googling volunteer opportunities came up with a new site workaway.info that I hadn’t seen before. Apparently, it is possible to volunteer almost anywhere in the world working for your hosts for food and accommodation. With no immediate plans to go to exotic places like the island Niue, I chose Bulgaria in the dropdown menu. Actually, I’d love to go to Niue if there was no travel ban due to COVID-19. So, tropical islands have to wait until the end of the pandemic.
Workaway listed a good number of hosts in Bulgaria. Many sounded tempting; they were in different corners of the country that I did not have a chance to explore. Generally, volunteers are required to stay at their host for at least 2 weeks and to work 4 to 5 hours, 5 days a week. I did not want to be separated from the beautiful Byala for that long and at the same time, I was itching for something new.
One posting was from a host in Varna region, in relative proximity to Byala. An ostrich farm needed urgent help. I thought that perhaps rather than staying at the farm I could go to it in the morning and return to my apartment in the evening. That way, volunteering would not interfere with my paid work. I wrote to the farm owners and got an invitation to try my own version of workaway volunteering.
I promised to come within the next 2 days depending on my workload. When on the following morning, no work requests were sitting in my Inbox I quickly packed and walked to the bus stop. Shortly after, a taxi stopped and the driver offered me a ride at the price of the bus fare. That’s how the pandemic affected the Bulgarian economy.
Just before the Lake Varna, the taxi took a side road which I never used before and there they were – the ladies of the night although it was broad daylight. Young girls were placed along the road keeping social distance, some sat on chairs while others walked. I read online about this practice in Bulgaria but it was the first time when I actually witnessed it.
Gail, the farm owner, was glad to see me and showed what to do right away. She and her husband moved to Bulgaria from London 10 years ago. Both being biologists, they started an ostrich farm and zoo. There are other animals there too – huge rabbits, ducks, geese, peacocks, guinea pigs and chickens. The farm is currently closed to public because of the pandemic; the farm products are available for purchase.
Most of my first day at the farm was spent washing ostrich egg shells. Someone placed a large order for them. Gail was busy bringing and sorting empty egg shells and I was to clean them.
The egg shells are actually pretty thick. I dropped a couple and they did not break. A small hole in each egg is for removing its content.
I washed dozens of eggs that day. Gail offered me to sleep in one of the RVs that they keep for volunteers and to help her on the following day too. There were no other volunteers at that time. Gail and her husband got plenty of requests to come to the farm; none of them materialized for different reasons. I could not stay but promised to come again when I get a chance.
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