6 Months!!!

I have now been in Bulgaria for 6 months! Lots of things have happened, birthdays celebrated, holidays celebrated, and I have changed as well....but I still have 21 more months in Bulgaria, so bring it on!

Ways in which I have Changed:

• Literally, I am WAY older (I had my birthday in October-it was wonderfully celebrated but I didn't get married...black sheep of the family for only girl who didn't getting married at 23...)

• I speak Bulgarian fluently (oh wait, that's still not true...dag.)

• I make everything from scratch

• I find large cups of coffee from Starbucks daunting and can not drink it all before it gets cold (this was never an issue before)

• I am attracted to any guy that speaks English (seriously, my standards have lowered significantly and am terrified of what will happen when I return to an English speaking country)

• I feel the need to purchase the following:
• Leather Jacket
• Knee-High Boots
• Another Track Suit
• Skinny Jeans (just super tight clothes in general)
• Cheese (сирене at least once a week)
• More Dresses
• Coffee out of a Coffee Vending machine at least once a day

• Things that I feel I must do:
• eat bread with every meal
• run home to do laundry when it's sunny
• put corn and/or pickles on my pizza
• remove my shoes and put on my slippers immediately upon returning home

• Beliefs I have acquired:
• There are only 2 types of beer in the world: light for summer and dark for winter
• Yelling makes people understand you better
• Cappuccinos are made from sugary powders out of packages
• Huge chain stores are amazing! (especially, if they are German. Now hang on all you hipsters! I remember when I used to root for the little man but honestly-If I want thai food there is no other option!-plus big ones carry EVERYTHING! Incredible!)
• Chocolate Croissants are Bomb!
• There needs to be an hour everyday dedicated to Wafers (вафла-o'clock)

• Things that no longer surprise me:
• Bulgarian Bands playing right outside my door in the hallway of my apartment building-yeah, whatev. (found out it was just for a wedding-no biggie)
• A classroom will never be entirely quiet
• People will randomly show-up at my house without prior warning
• Yelling is acceptable in every situation
• The fact that every student in my class fell under the fashion category of "clubber"- as in someone dressed ready to "hit the clubs" (no goths, no skaters, no grungers, etc. -I'm pretty sure most people in Bulgaria would fall under this category also)
• There's no such thing as "stopping by"-if someone comes to my house or I go to someone else's, it is expected that the guest will get coffee, juice, wafers, chocolates, and cakes And stay for about 3 hours.

Well that's all I think of right now. Here are some highlights of the last month or so:

• My Birthday
• The Bulgarian Band playing literally right outside my door
• Halloween at my school-weeklong festivities. kids got really into it-sneak a peak at my halloween photo album
• VAC Meeting-lots accomplished. exciting things for PC Bulgaria
• Halloween Party in V.T.-I photo-bombed the night away
• My appliances now all work!!
• So far, November has been SUNNY AND WARM!

I'm doing fairly well, my work here is really hard and draining but I think that things will get easier and better with time. Luckily, I love teaching and still love my kids at the end of the day. Keep me in your thoughts and your prayers!

YAY!!! So Many Good Things So Far In September!

Well, it looks like I will be writing a blog about once a month. Sorry.

Anyways here’s a wrap-up of September so far (up until the 26^th at least)

· September 1^st- First Day of Work for teachers at the school. I made Banana Bread.

o Was informed by my counterpart the night before that I should show up the following week and we weren’t really going to start until the 7^th.

o So, instead I ate all the banana bread myself, studied Bulgarian like crazy, watched movies, and explored more of Svishtov for another week…while it seemed like every other education volunteer started work….interesting. Well you can’t argue with another week of summer.

· September 5^th-MY NEPHEW RHYS WAS BORN!!!!!

o He is beautiful and named after me (we share middle names-Culver…which can only mean he is named after me.)

o Born 5/9/2010. 7:26am (5:26pm in Bulgaria)

· September 7^th-ACTUAL First Day of Work for the teachers. I made chocolate chip cookies.

o I introduced myself to the staff, which I had prepared for but then the Director of the school introduced me prior to my introduction and stole all of my carefully planned lines, so ended up saying only my name again, where I was from and hello.

o Met all the other teachers, who are all very nice and wonderful, showed them pictures of my Nephew, Rhys. (which by the way I may have said on many occasions “This is my monument, Rhys” instead of “This is my nephew, Rhys.”—the words for “monument” (паметник) and “nephew” (племеник) are really close)

· September 7-14—Work. Work. Work. (before the kids started)

o I really didn’t work that much. They wouldn’t let me.

o Found out I have 3 separate English teachers I’m working with (That’s why my range of classes is large)

o I did however, find out my classes, and here they are:

§ 1^st Grade-2 classes 1X week

§ 3^rd Grade-2 Classes 2X week

§ 6^th Grade-2 Classes 2X week

§ 7^th Grade-2 Classes 2X week

§ 12^th Grade (actually still don’t know this real schedule)

§ Teacher’s Class-( I don’t know when this will be either)

§ Culture Club-Let’s plan and celebrate both Bulgarian and American Holidays!

· September 15-FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

o This was absolutely wonderful! Celebration followed by entering the school, quick distribution of papers and the day was over by 11am.

o Huge Celebration! All parents and families showed up and all the students assembled by class outside the school. Everyone dressed in their best (really I went out the night before and bought a new dress for the occasion-plus I wore heals and extra make-up. Seriously.)

o There were dances by our school’s (and internationally acclaimed) dance group, another less impressive but more modern dance group, speeches by the director, the mayor’s office, the municipality, me (yeah-I gave a speech. It went well, but it also meant that I was onstage the whole time and therefore felt really awkward taking pictures…so I didn’t get many), and even a speech from a first-graders Mom, and two first graders (one of which had attended my summer camp thing and was overjoyed to walk onstage and say hi to me). The first graders’ speeches were probably the best. They were adorable.

o My Favorite Part (besides the 1^st graders’ speeches) was the blessing by the local Orthodox Priest. First, it was great that it was allowed and also, it was really wonderful to get to be a part of lighting candles for some students who died some years ago when their school bus ran off a bridge. On a lighter note, it was also great when the priest went out and blessed everyone by spraying water on them (and being onstage-I got fully blasted) and all the kids squealed and thought it was hilarious.

o Teacher’s Lunch/Party-We went to this beautiful restaurant that had a great view and celebrated the beginning of the year by having a lunch together (which lasted about 5 hours). We drank Rakia, gave toasts, ate some lunch, danced some hora, did some Greek dances, cried altogether (one of the other teacher’s wives just had a baby and everyone was overjoyed for him-it was precious), drank champagne, sang, danced more, drank more, and had a great time! Plus, I was told I was a good dancer!! HA! To all of you who think that my lack of rhythm deeply impairs my ability to dance-you are mistaken! HA!

This is like the one picture I took.

· September 16-24 SCHOOL. CLASSES. AND SUCH

o Classes are fun. I’m not sure where I fit in quite yet but I’m slowly working my way in. For the teacher’s I’m working with, they have also never worked with another teacher in their lessons and I think it will take awhile, which is fine.

o I love the students and feel like a celebrity now both in and out of school. The kids are all very excited about me and I have met a lot of mothers now.

o The school system is very different and the kids are not used to working in groups or pairs, or doing anything but silently writing notes in the notebooks. I’m glad I get to change things up and show them different and effective ways of learning.Here is a link that explains more about the schools in Bulgaria right now. http://www.forexyard.com/en/news/ANALYSIS-Poor-education-undermines-Bulgaria-prospects-2010-09-20T120614Z

· September 24-26 Svishtov Town Celebration!

o This was great! Think street vendors, good food, BBQ, tons of sweets, concerts, exhibits, bounce houses, and carnival rides. It was sweet. Here are some pictures:

They made the hugest cotton candies here. The size of small children.

all the rides were decorated in a similar manner. awesome.

Yeah, those are all alcohol bottles. Guess what you can win here!

I thought this Goofy and Mickey were a little creepy but fun slide!

You could win knives at this shooting game. Oh Bulgaria.

We went to a rock concert featuring this really famous british guy from Urias Heap. (actually I had no idea who he was but he was great and spoke English...ok real quick he asked all the guys to chant, then all the girls, and then said if you are neither guy or a girl chant....everyone chanted for all of them...this is why my job here teaching English is so important!)

I live in Bulgaria. How crazy is that?

I live in Bulgaria. How crazy is that?

First 5 weeks. Done. Rocked it.

Things Accomplished:

· 3 Weeks of Summer School/Camp completed.

o Did this mainly by myself with a translator on standby

o 3 kids first day but then more showed up and got up to 30 kids

o (full story below)

· VAC Meeting. Sofia. (Volunteer Advisory Committee.-I’m on it with 8 others)

o I am the secretary. Therefore I plan on dressing accordingly and bringing coffee and snacks to these meetings from here on out.

o Pretty excited to be a part of the committee and help out. Plus, it will mean that I get to see the others on the committee every 3 months, which I’m stoked about because they are great!

· Washing Machine Finally Works

o Didn't work at all. 2 weeks waiting for land lord to fix it.

o Temporary Washer-way old school. seriously.

o Washer Returned by 3 stooges. Fixed. But then it spilled water all over my kitchen

o Fixed again. Water in my bathroom, but this tolerable. Clean clothes=awesome.

· Shower Under Control

o No longer shoots out uncontrollably and makes me known as crazy naked American

· Food-Yeah, I can make it. all sorts.

o Already made curry, stir-fry, sweet & sour chicken, chicken nuggets, pasta, and stuffed peppers (actually made tons of these and had to eat them for days...they were delicious but sweet sassy molassy it will be awhile before I make them again)

· Established group of Bulgarian parents/guardians/body guards

o Landlord and lady way protective and helpful

o Tutor has my back

o Counterpart also looking out for me at all times

o The school secretary and assorted others who work at the school are super nice and continually ask if I need anything and keep me super caffeinated

· Private numbers of Police stored in phone

o Police showed up at the middle of one of my lessons (made the kids think I had done something bad and was getting arrested) to give me their private lines and tell me that if anything were to happen or if anyone is bothering me I should call them right away. It was thoughtful but seriously thought I was in big trouble.

· People from Block and everyone on way to center knows me

o I now know pretty much everyone in my block (not by name because Bulgarian names are hard to learn) and they all say hi and most seem to know my name. I find this precious.

· Baba brigade established

o I say "Hi" to all the Babas that I pass on my way downtown and now they initiate the greeting and smile and wave, even though most were a little stand-offish at first. I have a feeling my best friends are all going to be Babas, which I'm ok with.

· Banana Bread & Chocolate Chip Cookies Success.

o Yep. That's right.

· Tutor Established

o I have a tutor. I WILL learn this language!

· Internet connected.

o I have wireless in my apartment. rockstar. welcome to the posh corps.

· TEFL Academy in Blagoevgrad Rocked.

o Model School. 6^th grade. I taught one lesson a day to 6^th grade and discovered that if I only have around 10 students and they are all wonderful and speak really amazing English, then 6^th grade may be my favorite. Actually it was a great learning experience. We had people observing and giving feedback and it was really helpful. I’m not terrified of starting the school year in about 2 weeks now! Yay!

o Technical Lessons. I have so many great ideas for teaching. My kids are going to do so many songs, games, dances, and role plays.

o Hanging out with Peace Corps family. BIG BOOTY! Big booty big booty big booty. I have no rhythm but I love this game. YeeHaw! Hoe down. BIG HOUSE! We played lots of games and I decided that I love them all. It may have been worth it to join the peace corps just to meet the people I have met so far. Seriously. I’ll be excited when I can finally travel and visit.

o SIDE NOTE: There was a hotel in Blagoevgrad called SANTA CRUZ VILA. Awesome. Wish I took pictures. In general.

Every once in awhile I find myself thinking about the fact that I live in Bulgaria, which is so random and completely unexpected but when you come right down to it, living here is not so different from living back in the states. Actually at times it seems down right mundane and boring. Really, I do about the same things as I did when I lived in the states expect for the fact that I can't always understand people, it is as hot as the sun, people look like they are stuck in the eighties on the jersey shore, I eat mainly Bulgarian food, my apartment has more plastic things than I could find at a nice goodwill, and I can easily see another country. Besides those things it's exactly the same! kinda.

Here’s the story of my summer camp….

Welcome to the Peace Corps. Things fall through. Yay for Flexibility and Creativity. Let me tell you how my summer camp went. Way back when I visited Svishtov for the first time, my counterpart and I decided on a summer camp and chose the days and times, but when I arrived she informed me that she was actually going to be gone on vacation until the middle of august, so she wouldn't be helping me run it at all. This also meant that she hadn't told anyone about the summer camp and had not put up any posters or anything. So, the thursday before the camp was due to start, we made up 1 printer size piece of paper that said the days and the times, and roughly what it was going to be like and stuck it on the front door of the school. And I thought to myself, "Who really is going to see this piece of paper and show up?" This was fine with me since I was now running this camp by myself with a sort of helper/translator. So, day one, 3 girls showed up and I thought, "PERFECT!" It really was the perfect amount of students and I thought easy peasy lemon squeezey. But then more and more kids came and I ended up having somewhere between 20-30 students each day, all different ages. I made up all my own curriculum and activities and somehow it worked. The camp was really fun and I got to teach them some english, some songs, duck duck goose, some dances, and I think it went spectacularly. It was a great way to get to know some kids and their parents, so now actually know people. Yeah, that's right I have like 30ish friends now, so what if most of them are between the ages 6-14?! At least I have friends.

Lots of Pictures & The time I nearly flooded my apartment!

This is the sign we made for our community project...and by "made" I mean we provided the funding in order for my host dad and helper to make this sign for the town.

Then we had an unveiling ceremony. Here the mayor (my mom) is giving a speech. We said a poem in Bulgarian, a speech in Bulgarian, some kids said a poem in English, and we even had a singing group! It was very special.

My satellite Group with our language trainer Veronica after swearing-in.

(Me, Mary, Veronica, Adrienne, Thomas)

My Host family and I. I love them.

(Dad, Mom, Inni-green, Didi-blue)

The morning I left after the cry fest.

(Me, Didi, Baba, Inni, Daido)

My New House, Kitchen looking toward living room.

Tiny Kitchen and front door.

Living Room. Side 1. Pink walls.

Living Room. Side 2. Dining area.

Living Room, side 3. New Nice Cabinets.

Hallway to bathroom and Bedroom.

Bedroom sitting area? yes, the chairs are covered in blue velvet and those are fake flowers.

Bed. You may notice the velvet thing above the bed...most likely used for a T.V. You may also notice the plastic bull, and the tiny ship in a bottle.

I thought you would be interested to see a closer look at the bull that is on my bed.

DINO Schnitzel! (aka Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets!) I was STOKED.

I decided to label everything in my house so that I would learn the Bulgarian words.

This was says, "Тиган" which translates to "frying pan." I forgot that I put it on the bottom, and proceeded to cook. whoops. I have since removed some of the labels.

Well...My first week went by great! It was nice to get some much needed rest and relaxation. I find that now that I have privacy and I can, I no longer wear pants at home (it's rather hot here)

I am loving cooking and so far have made (among other things): Chicken Curry, Fajitas (including tortillas), Banana bread (2 actually-one burnt, and the other turned out lovely!)

Here's a great story from week one:

The Time I Nearly Flooded my Apartment

By Katelyn

I was taking my wednesday morning душ (shower), bez Adrienne, and decided to shave my legs. So with conditioner in my hair and razor in my hand, I decided that to save water I would turn off the water for the time being, but as I turned the knob the water pressure rose (and it gets high here! seriously tons of water). I thought, whoops! I shall turn it the other way, but the water kept gushing out all the same and I realized that the water was continuing to pour out at full pressure no matter what I attempted! Before I knew it, water covered my bathroom floor and there was nothing to stop it from leaking into the hallway! So, I grabbed my huge washing tubs (3 big tubs for washing my clothes) and put them under the tap. I realized I had to find tools at once in my apartment to stop the water BUT I didn't own any tools!!! Oi Vey! Then I remembered that my landlords had left things in random drawers and places around the house. So, my very naked and wet self ran around frantically searching for tools, all the while the tubs filled completely and the water was drowning my bathroom and leaking into my hallway. I kept thinking to myself, "This is NOT a good way to meet your neighbors!! I must find tools!" Finally, and luckily, I found a set of pliers and a screwdriver! Praise Jesus. So, naked me ran back, and I was able to unscrew the covering, jam the nob back into place and miraculously got the water to turn off. I have since had no problems with this knob (is it nob or knob?). I used the water in the tubs (now the only hot water left in my house) to get the conditioner out of my hair. It wasn't until after I soaked up all the water in my bathroom and hallway (luckily both tiled floors), and got myself back together that I realized that all the blinds in my living room were wide open and all the people in the block apartments across from me could have easily seen this whole debacle. And that is how I came to be known as the crazy naked american living in Svishtov.

Awkward, sad, tacky, Bulgarian, plastic, Dinosaur chicken nuggets

All by Myself....don't wanna be....All by myself....by myself...by myself...

I have been listening to Celine Dion a lot recently...which I actually didn't do at home too often because it is rather embarrassing and I can not help but sing along to every song. However, since moving in my new apartment, I have been going all out and assuming no one else can hear me....which is probably a bad assumption since I can hear everyone else...

Anyways, here are some words to sum up the whole of this past week: awkward, sad, tacky, Bulgarian, plastic, and dinosaur chicken nuggets.

Awkward, took my Bulgarian language test and discovered that if people do not say or have the exact conversations that we studied then I'm not sure what to say at all. I was given a conversational topic where I was supposed to ask questions and the topic was "You're in the kitchen with your mother while she prepares dinner, ask her questions to pass the time." All the questions I had learned had to do with meeting people for the first time, none of which you would be likely to ask your mom. I couldn't think of anything so I asked things like, "What are you doing?" and at some point asked "How old are you?" I failed that part miserably and was told that I should find a tutor when I move. However, since I did very well at the other parts, I PASSED!!!! Score. Still plan on finding a tutor.

Sad, I left my tiny little village, my family, my satellite group, the rest of the volunteers, and pretty much the Bulgaria I know. This goodbye was so devastating for me. I loved the community and the village and liked the fact that everyone knew me and I could say hi to everyone, but I guess I will have to put in a lot of effort to get the same result in svishtov. I balled when I left my host family. My mom had cried at the dinner table earlier that week when we were talking about me leaving on saturday, and my baba cried at dinner the night before I left, so i expected that they were going to cry, but when I saw my daido (grandpa) start crying I couldn't help but cry. Everyone cried. We were one big crying sloppy mess. I very much love them and will miss them. Good thing there is a bus that goes straight from Tiny Little Village to Svishtov. Leaving all the other volunteers, including my satellite group, was rushed and I don't feel like I got a proper good bye with any of them. Maybe it's good it was rushed because I would have cried when saying goodbye to them as well, especially since my satellite group definitely feels like family now.

Tacky, Bulgarian, Plastic, and Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets- These pretty much sum up my time in Svishtov so far. My apartment was already furnished and decorated for me upon my arrival! Score. Kinda. My apartment is painted 3 different pastel colors-pink (living room), green (kitchen and hall), and blue (bedroom). It is decorated with plastic flowers (tons...seriously), doilies, plastic bull on my head board (which is kinda awesome), plastic fruit, plastic smiley fruit magnets, velvet covering on furniture (not as good as the shag carpeting that covered everything at my host family's house, but close), fake birds and butterflies, a ship in a bottle, and fancy elephant statue. I find my apartment exquisite and would not have decorated it any differently. It is actually pretty nice, delightfully tacky, and wonderfully Bulgarian. Lastly, first dinner in apartment- Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets!!!!! Who would have thought that they were internationally popular?! I was super stoked to find them, even it means that I can't fit anything else in my freezer. Pictures up soon.

Ok, besides the above mentioned. I am doing well and am excited to discover Svishtov and start making friends, it will be very helpful having another volunteer in town (Ben). I am officially a volunteer now, but will not be starting work until september, so I have time time to explore and meet people. God is good all the time and He is taking remarkably good care of me.

If you could be any sort of Robot what type would you be?

Opa...I didn't forget to write this blog for two weeks, I just couldn't find the time to write this blog for two weeks...actually it may have been longer than that. Anyways, this is everything we have been doing with short notes:

Model School: June 25-July 8 Tiny Little Village

Sweet Sassy Molassy! My Group can pull things off AMAZINGLY! We had lots of additional things to do during this time but somehow our school was super fun and creative and I think the kids loved it (going off of my sister (Didi) reaction). Each one of us had a different group of kids (Lions, Tigers, Pumas, and Dragons-My team was the Dragons because they could take down Lions, Tigers, and Pumas easily-plus they fly and shoot fire-clearly my group was the best!) Then kids rotated to 4 different classes where they did different activities according o the day's theme. I did different improv games with the kids according to the theme and every kid got into it and participated. It was pretty incredible. We taught them kickball, which they were pretty horrible at, but seemed to love playing anyway. We had them prepare our cultural presentation with us (provided us cute pictures of what they wanted to be when they grew up). We taught them about America and had them make our 4th of July Invitations and Posters. We had a "We Love Our Tiny Little Village Day" and had them do part of our community project, where they competed in a fun-filled day of picking up trash around the center of town and the school. They got really into it and picked up a ton of trash. Our Model school was really successful and awesome, regardless of the lack of planning and using the kids to complete other things we had on our agenda. I awarded us 500 bajillion awesome points.

Community Meeting: July 1 Tiny Little Village

Yay! We came up with tons of fantastically wonderful ideas for our community project and the whole town thought they were incredible and had difficulty deciding which one to do as a community and the whole town gave us a standing ovation and blew us kisses and proclaimed their love for us. Or it may have been that we came up with some great ideas and the cultural board shot us down and told what they were going to do. We are making a sign for our town, which is actually kinda great. We decided that the way we can get the whole community involved was to throw a unveiling celebration, and we got the kids involved by having them pick up trash around the center prior to the unveiling. The unveiling ceremony will be tomorrow, July 16, and the sign is ready and gorgeous!

HUB 3 & Cultural Presentation: July 2 Vratsa

Our Topic was "Local Kids and their Dreams." Therefore, we had the kids make pictures of what they wanted to be when they grew up at our Model school and I dressed up as a kid named "Tsveti" (not after anyone in particular but just because we know so many Tsveti's-really I'm going to start taking a count). We didn't really plan much but the presentation went FANTASTICALLY! For some reason acting like a small child comes pretty naturally to me.

4th of July Celebration: July 4 (this looks obvious but some groups did their celebration on different days-which is not only confusing but lame)

Once again we didn't have a lot of time to plan and used the children from our Model School for our benefit in spreading word and getting the community there. Lots of people showed up, we had all things necessary for a Fourth of July celebration including: watermelon, some sort of messy food eating contest, baseball, lawn games, water balloons, and of course, fireworks. It was great! We had lots of fun and the fireworks had pictures of Sadam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and some other guy (terrorist probably) and they said "GAME OVER." So, we blew up terrorists in the form of fireworks, how incredibly American of us! Success.

HUB 4 & Project Proposal: July 9 Vratsa

Peace Corps Bulgaria has a little thing called, "Volunteer Advisory Committee" or simply VAC. This is where 5 people from each training group get together every once in awhile and talk about issues volunteers face. I mentioned that I was interested in being on this committee, so obviously my group and I took the necessary steps. Adrienne suggested we make T-shirts and I campaign (let me mention that this isn't something you really run for). So, we made teachers and wore them to the HUB. Let me now mention how incredibly amazing and wonderful I think my group is: they are incredibly amazing. The shirts were hilarious. There will be pictures soon.

Affinity Groups: July 10 Vratsa

The volunteers in Bulgaria love each other and need support. Let's talk about RELIGION. I thought being a Christian here was going to be really easy since it is a predominantly Orthodox Christian country, but not many really have a faith or practice their faith. Instead they are associated with christianity out of tradition. It has been really hard to find anytime to practice my faith. I have no fellowship, no church building I can really visit, and no time to study on my own. I know I should make more time.... Anyways, we have a small group for us religious folks and it will be great! I am realizing that I need community in faith so very badly. I miss my community group....and my church.

Final Program Interviews & Sofia: July 14 Sofia

7 million people live in Bulgaria. 2 million live in Sofia. It's kinda a big deal. We had a day in Sofia and by day, I mean a few hours (left 6 am, arrived in Sofia 930 am, got to PC office at 10:30am, had interviews, left PC offices 12:45 pm, got to starbucks 1:15pm, saw some major buildings, had lunch at Chinese food until 2:45, left on only bus back at 3:15 pm, arrived home 6:45 pm). PLUS side, interview was easy, STARBUCKS made me so happy!!!! and Chinese food for lunch and then breakfast next morning! So good! It wasn't enough time in Sofia and I wish I could have gotten tortillas and Indian food. I will plan another trip after 3 months. it good to know I can find comforts from home in Sofia if I need to.

Anyways, I am still stressed but I only have one more week of PST and then I go to my permanent site!!! I am realizing that as excited I am to have privacy soon, my own apartment (hopefully-still don't know), not have to eat enormous amounts of food, and a less stressful schedule, I am really going to miss my host family. I really really love them and am going to miss them like crazy. They have been wonderful and I am so lucky to have such a great family here in Bulgaria. When I left for Sofia at 5:45 am, my host parents got up and drove me to the center (5 min walk) and saw me off. They are so cute and thoughtful. I have a final language proficiency test next Tuesday, a HUB on thursday, and then I swear in as a volunteer and commit my life for the next two years. Crazy. Next Post will be so good.

I Love Banana. This Banana.

I have no reason to title this blog post "I Love Banana. This Banana." since it has no revelance to this past week, but it did remind me of a funny story.

The first week of living with my host family, the only things we knew in Bulgarian were how to say what we loved and different foods. Therefore when Tom came over he proudly told my host mom, "I love banana." We have found this funny ever since, and we try to use this phrase (or a similar phrase- like "I love this banana" since we learned how to say "this" recently) as much as possible. As I'm writing this I am realizing that this may not be as funny to you as it is to us. I have found this quite funny just writing this, but then again I haven't gotten much sleep recently and my be losing my mind....WHICH BRINGS ME TO THIS PAST WEEK!!!!!

This Past Week:

Permanent Site Visit/Let's go see where I will be Living and Working for the Next Two years!

Ok, I think I am allowed to say that I will be in Svishtov (it's a pretty big place).

The Good: Svishtov is an amazingly beautiful city with great parks, lots of statues, beautiful buildings, and an outdoor Roman theatre (built on actual Roman ruins). I have already discovered my happy place there, in the theatre, where I can easily see the Danube and Romania (which I can't get over that I can just see Romania from my town), and it is quiet, beautiful and on the top of a hill away from noisy cafes and people. I have already discovered a good, cheap place to get excellent Bulgarian food, a good pizza place, and a place with Melba (ice cream sundae but better-I have become obsessed-it sounds like an old lady and looks and tastes like heaven!). I'm excited to explore more and figure out the best route to get across to Romania.

The Bad: My counterpart, who I really like, is ridiculously overbearing. I was really looking forward to being on my own for a few days and being a 23 year old again after being treated like a 10 year old for the past month but found myself in the same situation. She didn't let me speak Bulgarian at all. I didn't once introduce myself or order a meal or walk by myself once. I spent every last minute with her the whole time I was in Svishtov. It was a little much but I guess this means I need to be assertive and let her know I need my space. I am a wee bit worried as she said told me several times that "we were going to BEST FRIENDS!" (it's nice I know but still a little much-plus I have no intention in replacing my current best friends, just fyi besties!)

The Ugly: The school. The school I will be working at is in horrible condition. I couldn't believe how bad it was. Now I know why I will be working there. It needs serious help. At least half the windows are broken, the walls have huge cracks, the desks and chairs are falling apart, there are no overheard screens, there are no pictures or posters on any walls, the signs are missing most letters, the halls are bare except for a few scattered pictures, most of the students didn't have textbooks or basic school supplies. In Svishtov there is one ridiculously nice high school, one technical school, and then our school which is 1-12. The school does have nice painted walls for the 1-4 grades but the part of the school for 5-12 grades (who I will primarily work with) are in serious disrepair. There is a serious need for some good old TLC.

Besides visiting Svishtov,

This week we have a ridiculous amount of work to do.

1. Model School. This is like a summer camp that we are putting on in our Tiny Little Village for the kids. We are expected to Team-Teach with our partner teacher as well as create our own curriculum and keep kids 2-8 grade happy and knowledgeable in the area of English language education. It has actually been quite fun and we have the perfect number of kids. However, it takes up a lot of time.

2. Cultural Presentation. This Friday we are supposed to come up with some topic about Bulgarian culture and present it in a creative way to the rest of our Peace Corps family in a creative and interactive way. I will tell you more about this next week. It will be good, but I don't want to give too much away.

3. Community Meeting. We are expected to hold a meeting for our Community in which we will come up with a project that we can do with our town. This is the real stressor. We are expected to send out invitations, hold a meeting with all the most important people in town, the community, and write up a schedule of how and what we will discuss.

4. INTENSIVE Bulgarian Language Lessons. On top of everything else, we are having our usual 3 hours of language lessons a day. My brain is about to explode.

***PLEASE also note that we had been traveling for the last week prior and were loaded with a ridiculous amount of information. My brain hurts.

Anyways, I'm stressed to say the least, but it will be ok. I just downloaded like all of Celine Dion (which I happen to know the words to most of the songs due to my days of worshipping her in 5-7 grade) and the Spice Girls, so I have found my happy place and am coping fine. If you could however, please pray that my group and I, as well as the other volunteers, find peace in this stressful time and get through it. Unfortunately one volunteer has already left due to stress, so pray that others will be able to push through and continue to find relaxation, sleep, and beauty during this time. Also, in the near future I am sure that I will need lots of supplies for my students and perhaps financial help, so pray about it and let me know if you are interested in helping to get things for the students and the school. Anyways, God is still taking incredible care of me and I am doing fine. I have had no health issues (which I think is due to the Rakia I drink every night-it's like a glass of rubbing alcohol a night to clean away any sort of bacteria!) Keep me and my other volunteers in your prayers.