he's ba-aaaaaaaack! Hello everyone! As of Tuesday, November 5th, 2007 the public school year began all across Bulgaria. Nearly, 2 months after the originally scheduled first day of school (September 15th) I am teaching in a high school full of the teachers holding class everyday and students (some energetically, some begrudgingly) coming to class everyday. I am continuing to teach my 8th and 9th grade classes and next week I will begin hosting an after school group with older students who would like to get more practice with their English and who would like to get more realistic English exposure (discussions of real world issues, films, music, current events, etc.)
Although I am assured whenever I make the comment (mnogo e studeno neska...its really cold today) that this winter will get much colder, the weather has gotten pretty damn cold already here in Ruse. I have a space heater in my apartment that I keep on 24/7 because it has recently been brought to my attention that my apartment block has no working central heating this winter. Awesome! But really I can't complain. The cold winter will balance out the extremely hot temperatures we got here during the summer. There has yet to be any substancial snowstorms but it has flurried a couple times.
So what else have I been up to since the last time I entered Blogworld? Other than teaching, frankly, not a whole lot....
The first week in October, I took a weekend trip to see my host family from Kyuestendil (the town close to the Macedonian border where I lived for my first 3 months in Bulgaria during my training). It was a great weekend. I felt a bit proud of myself when I could communicate with all of them leaps and bounds above the level I communicated with them when I lived with them during the summer. My host brother and sister, Velisar and Velislava, live in Sofia because they attend University there. After I saw my host parents in Kyuestendil on Friday night and Saturday, I traveled to Sofia (about a 2hour bus ride) to hang out with Velisar and Velislava. We had a great time painting 'Student City' - the section of Sofia where all of the students live - red. We met up with a bunch of their friends and ate, drank, and danced the HORO all night. The HORO is a style of traditional Bulgarian folk dance where everyone dances in a line side-by-side and follows the line around the room in a random pattern (in this case, it was the entire restaurant where we were). Its really a good time. But after many trips around restaurant, the DJ started playing more modern music and taking requests. At this point I took it upon myself to request classic American folk music....Michael Bolton. haha I laugh, but it happened.
Back in Ruse, I sometimes feel like a bit of a needle in a haystack. When I decided to join the Peace Corps I really didn't picture myself living in a city with 120,000-plus people, but that is the reality of it. I suffer sometimes from feeling like I'm not doing enough, not because I lack the desire, but because I lack the power/connections/know-how. At first, and even sometimes still, this lack of efficaciousness weighs heavily. But it really has helped me gain a more humble sense of serenity. Which is a good thing when coupled with the opportunities I do have...
After all, I get to meet with over 100 kids everyday who clearly express that they think the world of me. With this respect (well-deserved or not) that I get from my students, I have the chance to teach them the skill of the world's most international language that can do nothing but help improve their lives in the near future and in the long run. Whether it be translating a claimer from a travel website, or helping revise Motivational Letters for students that aspire to attend Univerisities that use English as the the language of discourse; I have learned to focus on the task at hand so that even if I may be only a 'needle' in the proverbial haystack, I am a hard-working and thoroughly-giving needle.
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I turned 23 on the 28th of October! This is the first of two birthdays that I will celebrate over here in Bulgaria. It just so happened that my birthday coincided with the nationwide celebration of Halloween by many of the PCVs in the town of Veliko Turnovo. We all had a great time dressing up and acting blatantly and obnoxiously American for a weekend in a guest house that we rented for 2 nights. I was a ninja. Ladies, don't get too excited when I say this, but was wearing tights. See the pictures on snapfish.com or facebook.com....
The next weekend, I ran in my first marathon. I ran it in Athens, Greece where the first marathon was ran 2500 years ago. Or at least this is according to the legend that was first recorded 1900 years ago. Sunday, November 4th, 2007 was and most assuredly will be one of the coolest days of my life. Marathons are such great experiences. The energy and excitement is almost tangible in a city that is hosting a marathon of over 7,000 participants. 8 other PCVs ran in the marathon as well and we all ran at different paces but with similar outcomes...great memories, promises that the next time we'll train harder, and inexplicable pain shooting through muscles we didn't know we had. Additionally, in my case, I hurt my left ankle during the race and could hardly walk from my hostel to the bus to catch the airport the next morning. But with that said, I have and always will have great memories of november 4th.
I believe thats all for now...I hope all of my friends/family/loved ones don't regret the time they took out to read the preceding randomness that is my life nowadays, and I thank you for thinking of me. In one way or another, I have thought of you and used our friendship and memories to help me in times of homesickness over the past 7 months. :)
god bless you all!
