Time is winding down for me here in bulgaria. Wednesday (4/15/09) marks the two year mark from when I arrived at the Sofia Airport with my group of PCVs. My school schedule has been a bit sporadic lately due to Peace Corps seminars and the Bulgarian school system's spring vacation (april 1st - april 12th). The PC seminar was the standard processing seminar that is held for all PCVs that are 3 months away from finishing their service. Our venue was at a hotel in a town right outside of Sofia for 3 days. It was very useful; filled with one final chance for experience exchange, relocation issues going back to the US, and job-searching advice. I definitely need the last one! I haven't been too successful in finding jobs I'm interested in during my search (albeit a bit haphazard). I'd like to be in a position where I can do legal research for a law firm/agency/NGO. Then I'll make the decision whether I'd like to go the law school route or not. I got some 1-on-1 advice from a retired HR expert who is currently serving in Bulgaria as well. Just before the meeting, I was a 'guest lecturer' at Beckie's school for a couple days. She teaches at a small elementary school in a village of about 1,000 people. Although her kids are generally sweet and fun, education is not central in most of their lives. Impulsive noisemaking, unpreparedness, and general apathy are unfortunately status quo in her school's classrooms. That certainly wouldn't fly in my school. So, her day-to-day teaching experience is much different than mine. When I came back from the seminar, I turned right around with a group of students from my school who qualified to participate in the National High School Public Speaking Competition organized by the Bulgarian English Society. The topic of discussion was REGENERATION & RENEWAL. The students were impressive with their eloquent english speaking and their depth of knowledge as 15-16 year olds. After I came back from the public speaking competition, I had a few days with my cast to fine-tune an 'excerpt' from my school's play which was performed at a variety show celebrating the Bulgarian School System's national English Competition. This year, the National Test was given at my high school so our school was responsible for organizing the show. Our performance was a success! Thanks to the hard work of the students and the creative genius of my colleague, the crowd was entertained by an assortment of Alan Jackson, country line dancing, and Texas accents! Not to mention the comic genius of yours truly. On April 5th, I traveled with Beckie, Kai, and Leonard (girlfriend, PC friend from Texas, PC friend from Norfolk, VA respectively) to Romania. For 5 days we traveled to Bucharest and 3 different towns in Transylvania. Transylvania was beautiful and we had a lot of fun. Last night, Beckie and I went to the Midnight Mass at the Catholic Church here in Rousse for Easter. Orthodox Churches (Bulgaria, Greek, Russian, etc.) don't celebrate Easter until next Sunday. Tomorrow is back to school again! Finally, we have our British Open '09 5-some set! Me, Dad, Mark, Beckie, and Beckie's Mom! peace and love
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
It seems I've neglected my blog a bit over the past few months, eh? So please excuse me for a brief moment while I apologize.
*Sorry, blog*
Ok, now a bit about my life in the here and now. Last week, I finalized my post-PC travel plans heading back to the states. Briefly, it is as follows.
*I officially become a 'Returned Peace Corps Volunteer' on July 1st, 2009. Following this, I will remain in Bulgaria until my flight from Sofia Airport to London on July 10th. I will be flying with Beckie and spending 4 days in London. Then we are taking the train up to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet Beckie's mom, Dad(jonny/JC), and Mark. In my book, as cool as it will be to see Edinburgh and the Highlands of Scotland, everything will be peripheral to July 19th. Any guesses why? HINT: The 19th is a Sunday. GIVEAWAY: My Dad's gonna be there. You guessed it. We have Sunday tickets to the 149th Open Championship at the Turnberry Resort in Ayrshire, Scotland! Among many other times recently, the other day in class I was teaching a lesson to my 9th grade students about Sports (vocabulary, idiomatic phrases, grammar differences, etc.) when I got to talking about golf. Golf is not popular in the least in Bulgaria so, none of my kids were interested in the least in my rant. But that didn't stop me. I realized the scope of my instruction had gone a bit too deep when I began to explain what a '3-putt' meant. oops.
On a related note, Golf is becoming a bit more popular here in Bulgaria. With BG's integration into the European Union, and the influx of investors in real estate over the past decade, a few respectable golf courses have popped up around the country. As far as I've heard, there is a resort on the Black Sea Coast called 'Thracian Cliffs' that has a Gary Player designed course. But I played on a course in the summer of 2007 in a town just south of the Balkan Mountain range that had greens manicured to the level of the 'greens' the Brauns, Alan, and I used to create by putting my lawnmower on its lowest setting and cutting a small area of one of our lawns. Honestly, yea, this course was that pathetic. wow, once again, my golf digression has gone on way too long.
ok, so, after Scotland, Beckie and I are going to spend 14 days in Germany. We're going to travel around Bavaria and then head up to Berlin. We will fly out of Berlin on the 4th of August and arrive in Cleveland on the evening of the 5th. Why Cleveland you ask? Well Beckie's sister and her Brother-in-Law live there. She graduates from nursing school on the 7th and we are going to be there for the graduation. I hope my parents can make the trip up. Possibly stopping in Canton and Athens (OU) on the way home? hmm?hmm?whaddya say?
Bottom line, I'll be back in the DC area by the middle of August. Holler at me.
Life in Bulgaria has been great. I honestly probably wouldn't have used the word 'great' if it wasn't March. I say that because a)the weather has finally warmed up over the past few days b)the tradition of 'Martinitsi' (red and white bracelets that everyone exchanges with friends and family on the first days of march signifying the welcoming of the spring season) and c)I just returned from a nearby town where some of the PCVs in the region conducted a basketball clinic for some of the young people. It was a lot of fun for everyone involved and I loved how everyone was so competitive, friendly, fair, and appreciative. For all these reasons, I am reminded how lucky and thankful I am to have this experience.
I promise I'll post some more about my recent activities...soon.
All the best to all of my loved ones back home! Happy March and God Bless!
*Sorry, blog*
Ok, now a bit about my life in the here and now. Last week, I finalized my post-PC travel plans heading back to the states. Briefly, it is as follows.
*I officially become a 'Returned Peace Corps Volunteer' on July 1st, 2009. Following this, I will remain in Bulgaria until my flight from Sofia Airport to London on July 10th. I will be flying with Beckie and spending 4 days in London. Then we are taking the train up to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet Beckie's mom, Dad(jonny/JC), and Mark. In my book, as cool as it will be to see Edinburgh and the Highlands of Scotland, everything will be peripheral to July 19th. Any guesses why? HINT: The 19th is a Sunday. GIVEAWAY: My Dad's gonna be there. You guessed it. We have Sunday tickets to the 149th Open Championship at the Turnberry Resort in Ayrshire, Scotland! Among many other times recently, the other day in class I was teaching a lesson to my 9th grade students about Sports (vocabulary, idiomatic phrases, grammar differences, etc.) when I got to talking about golf. Golf is not popular in the least in Bulgaria so, none of my kids were interested in the least in my rant. But that didn't stop me. I realized the scope of my instruction had gone a bit too deep when I began to explain what a '3-putt' meant. oops.
On a related note, Golf is becoming a bit more popular here in Bulgaria. With BG's integration into the European Union, and the influx of investors in real estate over the past decade, a few respectable golf courses have popped up around the country. As far as I've heard, there is a resort on the Black Sea Coast called 'Thracian Cliffs' that has a Gary Player designed course. But I played on a course in the summer of 2007 in a town just south of the Balkan Mountain range that had greens manicured to the level of the 'greens' the Brauns, Alan, and I used to create by putting my lawnmower on its lowest setting and cutting a small area of one of our lawns. Honestly, yea, this course was that pathetic. wow, once again, my golf digression has gone on way too long.
ok, so, after Scotland, Beckie and I are going to spend 14 days in Germany. We're going to travel around Bavaria and then head up to Berlin. We will fly out of Berlin on the 4th of August and arrive in Cleveland on the evening of the 5th. Why Cleveland you ask? Well Beckie's sister and her Brother-in-Law live there. She graduates from nursing school on the 7th and we are going to be there for the graduation. I hope my parents can make the trip up. Possibly stopping in Canton and Athens (OU) on the way home? hmm?hmm?whaddya say?
Bottom line, I'll be back in the DC area by the middle of August. Holler at me.
Life in Bulgaria has been great. I honestly probably wouldn't have used the word 'great' if it wasn't March. I say that because a)the weather has finally warmed up over the past few days b)the tradition of 'Martinitsi' (red and white bracelets that everyone exchanges with friends and family on the first days of march signifying the welcoming of the spring season) and c)I just returned from a nearby town where some of the PCVs in the region conducted a basketball clinic for some of the young people. It was a lot of fun for everyone involved and I loved how everyone was so competitive, friendly, fair, and appreciative. For all these reasons, I am reminded how lucky and thankful I am to have this experience.
I promise I'll post some more about my recent activities...soon.
All the best to all of my loved ones back home! Happy March and God Bless!
Monday, September 29, 2008
great weekend
This past weekend I went with Svetolube, a history and geography teacher at my school, to his village about an hour to the east of Ruse. **The village, Цар Самуил, is named after the last ruler of the 1st Bulgarian Kingdom (around the end of the tenth century).**
We went out to Svetolube's (Tsetso for short) village to take in all of the sights of the annual village festival. Pretty much every village and town in Bulgaria has one. Honestly, there wasn't much to see.
The village has certainly seen its better times with the festival serving as a microcosm of that trend. Currently, there is only one functioning school in the village. The primary school stands in the center of a huge field. The school is wedged in between the old schoolhouse one one side (destroyed by arsonists according to Tsetso) and what is left of the initial construction of an extension of the school on the other side. The add-on was started in the twilight of the communist years (late 80s) and has simply been left standing. These defunct, half-built structures serve as unofficial memorials to the brilliant state planners of the Communist era. In this field behind the school, a small bazaar was set up where one could buy anything from candy to rugs to tracksuits (kinda like the one you have Will). After making the trek through the path where all of these goods are hawked, you found yourself in a mini-carnival of sorts. It fell a few steps short of par with EuroDisney.
But for all that the village lacked in aesthetic beauty, the people were amazing. Everywhere we went and everyone Tsetso introduced me to was very kind. It was difficult to understand most of them but judging them by their facial expressions and the words and phrases I did understand, they were very happy to meet me and share time with me.
Saturday night, Tsetso's niece and nephew came to visit with a group of their friends. They are from a medium-sized city called Dobrich (Добрич) about an hour to the east of the village. They are about my age and the differences in conversation, interests, and expressions between them and the older Bulgarian population is astounding. We all had a great time Saturday night and enjoyed the delicious food and apricot brandy that Tsetso's mother prepared for us.
Being in a rural Bulgarian village highlights the huge divide between the younger generation and the one which came of age during the mid-twentieth century. Whereas an older Bulgarian (especially someone who grew up in rural Bulgaria) will gladly point out the finer points of the Communist Party and scoff at the corrupt nature of the current political and social scene; younger Bulgarians are [almost unanimously] interested and unbelievably informed with the attractions of 'the West.' (e.g. cars, NBA, higher education, pop music) *Last spring a guy I met while playing streetball told me he thought the Wizards would be a lot better if they played stronger defense. And nearly everyday a student asks me some crazy question about the engineering involved in a 1960s muscle car engine.*
When talking with people from villages, nostalgia directs almost every conversation. When talking with younger Bulgarians from the city, their level of interest in all things western (regardless if their opinions are formed soundly or not) is remarkable.
We went out to Svetolube's (Tsetso for short) village to take in all of the sights of the annual village festival. Pretty much every village and town in Bulgaria has one. Honestly, there wasn't much to see.
The village has certainly seen its better times with the festival serving as a microcosm of that trend. Currently, there is only one functioning school in the village. The primary school stands in the center of a huge field. The school is wedged in between the old schoolhouse one one side (destroyed by arsonists according to Tsetso) and what is left of the initial construction of an extension of the school on the other side. The add-on was started in the twilight of the communist years (late 80s) and has simply been left standing. These defunct, half-built structures serve as unofficial memorials to the brilliant state planners of the Communist era. In this field behind the school, a small bazaar was set up where one could buy anything from candy to rugs to tracksuits (kinda like the one you have Will). After making the trek through the path where all of these goods are hawked, you found yourself in a mini-carnival of sorts. It fell a few steps short of par with EuroDisney.
But for all that the village lacked in aesthetic beauty, the people were amazing. Everywhere we went and everyone Tsetso introduced me to was very kind. It was difficult to understand most of them but judging them by their facial expressions and the words and phrases I did understand, they were very happy to meet me and share time with me.
Saturday night, Tsetso's niece and nephew came to visit with a group of their friends. They are from a medium-sized city called Dobrich (Добрич) about an hour to the east of the village. They are about my age and the differences in conversation, interests, and expressions between them and the older Bulgarian population is astounding. We all had a great time Saturday night and enjoyed the delicious food and apricot brandy that Tsetso's mother prepared for us.
Being in a rural Bulgarian village highlights the huge divide between the younger generation and the one which came of age during the mid-twentieth century. Whereas an older Bulgarian (especially someone who grew up in rural Bulgaria) will gladly point out the finer points of the Communist Party and scoff at the corrupt nature of the current political and social scene; younger Bulgarians are [almost unanimously] interested and unbelievably informed with the attractions of 'the West.' (e.g. cars, NBA, higher education, pop music) *Last spring a guy I met while playing streetball told me he thought the Wizards would be a lot better if they played stronger defense. And nearly everyday a student asks me some crazy question about the engineering involved in a 1960s muscle car engine.*
When talking with people from villages, nostalgia directs almost every conversation. When talking with younger Bulgarians from the city, their level of interest in all things western (regardless if their opinions are formed soundly or not) is remarkable.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
food for thought...
* www.udothedishes.com <-peep the blog
I got a decent amount of reading done this summer. The following are some of my selections and a few adjoining footnotes from EJC...
HOMICIDE: A YEAR ON THE KILLING STREETS(1991) by David Simon.
In a word, Simon is thorough. He's the executive producer of Homicide; Life on the Streets and The Wire. As hard as it might be to grasp, this book tops them both. He followed a Baltimore Homicide Unit during 1988 in order to write this book. It reads like a crime novel with Tom Clancy-like depth but, in fact, it is non-fictional. Must read!
AMERICAN PSYCHO(1991) by Bret Easton Ellis
Ellis tries to convey to his audience just how vulgar a life devoted to chasing the proverbial 'Paper' and labels by personifying the mentality with Patrick Bateman. The only thing that can get Bateman's mind off of the Armani suit his colleague is rockin is his indiscriminate bloodlust. One minute he is begrudgingly listening to his girlfriend's tribulations about the right Mikasa crystal set to buy; the next he is picturing how he could feed the cadaver stashed away in his apartment to a rabid street rat. It's an interesting way to convey the absurdity of the fast-money/fast-track life of the stereotypical YUP; but both the violence (surreptitiously gutting a child in the Central Park Zoo) and the materialism (spending pages at a time simply describing the brands and fashions adorning the bourgeious strolling by Bateman outside of Saks 5th Avenue) are beyond overkill.
Read it if you really want to be disturbed; although some people find it humorous, i didn't. Synopsis courteous of the Talking Heads line preceding the first chapter..."And as things fell apart, no one payed much attention."
UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE (1871) by Thomas Hardy
After reading this novela, I was surprised to hear of the dark cynicism that drives his other books. As I read the story - driven by funny-sounding old English village vernacular - I kept thinking of the presience. More than 200 years later, the humanistic conflict in the book is so easy to relate to.
Team Greentree! how amazing is it that this random word/phrase pops up everywhere! i love you guys farealdo!
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS (2007) by Khaled Hosseini
The definition of a summertime page-turner. I for one, had to keep a supply of tissues nearby. Both this and THE KITE RUNNER are amazing books even if the movie is crap.
BALKAN GHOSTS (1999) by Robert Kaplan
A travel book put together from his journeys through the Balkans after the Bosnian War and before the latest conflict in Kosovo (i.e. systemic killing of ethnic Albanians). The contemporary aspect of it has grown a bit outdated; but its definitely worth a gander if you are traveling through this part of the world. But living in Bulgaria, the conclusions he draws of their culture from only being here a handful of days is nothing short of comical.
OK...if you care to hear/discuss further about these books or life or how the redskins are gonna give it to the Kurt Warner-guffaw-led Cardinals; simply hit me up!
I got a decent amount of reading done this summer. The following are some of my selections and a few adjoining footnotes from EJC...
HOMICIDE: A YEAR ON THE KILLING STREETS(1991) by David Simon.
In a word, Simon is thorough. He's the executive producer of Homicide; Life on the Streets and The Wire. As hard as it might be to grasp, this book tops them both. He followed a Baltimore Homicide Unit during 1988 in order to write this book. It reads like a crime novel with Tom Clancy-like depth but, in fact, it is non-fictional. Must read!
AMERICAN PSYCHO(1991) by Bret Easton Ellis
Ellis tries to convey to his audience just how vulgar a life devoted to chasing the proverbial 'Paper' and labels by personifying the mentality with Patrick Bateman. The only thing that can get Bateman's mind off of the Armani suit his colleague is rockin is his indiscriminate bloodlust. One minute he is begrudgingly listening to his girlfriend's tribulations about the right Mikasa crystal set to buy; the next he is picturing how he could feed the cadaver stashed away in his apartment to a rabid street rat. It's an interesting way to convey the absurdity of the fast-money/fast-track life of the stereotypical YUP; but both the violence (surreptitiously gutting a child in the Central Park Zoo) and the materialism (spending pages at a time simply describing the brands and fashions adorning the bourgeious strolling by Bateman outside of Saks 5th Avenue) are beyond overkill.
Read it if you really want to be disturbed; although some people find it humorous, i didn't. Synopsis courteous of the Talking Heads line preceding the first chapter..."And as things fell apart, no one payed much attention."
UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE (1871) by Thomas Hardy
After reading this novela, I was surprised to hear of the dark cynicism that drives his other books. As I read the story - driven by funny-sounding old English village vernacular - I kept thinking of the presience. More than 200 years later, the humanistic conflict in the book is so easy to relate to.
Team Greentree! how amazing is it that this random word/phrase pops up everywhere! i love you guys farealdo!
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS (2007) by Khaled Hosseini
The definition of a summertime page-turner. I for one, had to keep a supply of tissues nearby. Both this and THE KITE RUNNER are amazing books even if the movie is crap.
BALKAN GHOSTS (1999) by Robert Kaplan
A travel book put together from his journeys through the Balkans after the Bosnian War and before the latest conflict in Kosovo (i.e. systemic killing of ethnic Albanians). The contemporary aspect of it has grown a bit outdated; but its definitely worth a gander if you are traveling through this part of the world. But living in Bulgaria, the conclusions he draws of their culture from only being here a handful of days is nothing short of comical.
OK...if you care to hear/discuss further about these books or life or how the redskins are gonna give it to the Kurt Warner-guffaw-led Cardinals; simply hit me up!
Second go-around
Monday marked the first day of my second school year teaching at the English Language High School in Ruse. Unlike last year, the weather was really crappy and the brisk fall wind caused the opening ceremonies in the school yard to be rushed so people wouldn't get soaked from the approaching thunderstorm.
After the opening ceremonies, the older students feed dirty carrots and spicy peppers to the incoming 8th graders (this stems from everyone referring to 8th graders as 'bunnies'). It really gets out of hand and makes me want to do something about it. But with all the other teachers laughing about it, i only got involved with the most egregious 'feedings.'
I will be teaching 8th grade students and 9th grade students this year. I know the 10th graders from my classes with them last year; so I know about 60% of the students at the school from my classes and others who have taken it upon themselves to introduce themselves to me.
Also, I am starting a baseball team at my school. I got a hold of some gloves, balls, and a couple bats. Friday is our first practice. If the students show some interest we're gonna try to make a regular thing out of it.
That's about it for now. I really feel at-ease for this second year and I think my experience in the classroom last year will help me with controlling the environment in the classroom this year.
much love->
After the opening ceremonies, the older students feed dirty carrots and spicy peppers to the incoming 8th graders (this stems from everyone referring to 8th graders as 'bunnies'). It really gets out of hand and makes me want to do something about it. But with all the other teachers laughing about it, i only got involved with the most egregious 'feedings.'
I will be teaching 8th grade students and 9th grade students this year. I know the 10th graders from my classes with them last year; so I know about 60% of the students at the school from my classes and others who have taken it upon themselves to introduce themselves to me.
Also, I am starting a baseball team at my school. I got a hold of some gloves, balls, and a couple bats. Friday is our first practice. If the students show some interest we're gonna try to make a regular thing out of it.
That's about it for now. I really feel at-ease for this second year and I think my experience in the classroom last year will help me with controlling the environment in the classroom this year.
much love->
Monday, August 25, 2008
THE 2008 ruse redskins.
who says fantasy football isn't a craze here in Bulgaria? well actually it isn't. But amongst male PCVs at least, its all the rage. Yesterday was our much anticipated draft and here is how I fared...
QB: Jason Campbell//even according to the impious (i.e. non-skins fans) zorn is gonna be huge for him.
RB: Clinton Portis//hands down best blocking back in the league..wait, do pancake blocks count for fantasy?
RB:Reggie Bush//he's past the sophomore slump and ready to prove that the Texans really are as dumb as their most hated son.
WR: Braylon Edwards//that's when i knew i was pretty guuuuud
WR: Calvin Johnson//after seeing him single handedly destroy the hokies first hand in the fall of 2006, I value his 'beast' over Roy Williams' stupid first down dances.
WR: Laveranues Coles//my favorite non-skin in the league
TE: Mercedes Lewis//I underestimated Cooley's value and let him slip away. But with the questionable WR situation down in J'ville, Garrard is gonna dial Lewis' number often.
K:Sean Suisham//This way I can love him or hate him X2.
DEF:Washington//Wait, the Redskins had a pre-season game last saturday? They played the Panthers? They got 47 dropped all up on them? The answer to all three questions is obviously NO.
BEN: Thomas Jones//Solid back + Nasty new O-line + Tony Richardson as his lead blocker + Defenses keyed on Brett "no i would not like $20 mil for NOT working" Farve = steal of a pick in the 7th round.
BEN: Jonathan Stewart//IF the Redskins did play the Panthers last saturday, he would've seduced me like Scarlett Johansson at a Jazz Bar.
BEN: Ted Ginn, Jr.//Gotta love the possibility for return touchdowns and he's the only one ready to get his shine on down in the armpit that is the Miami organization. Plus he talks in that weird Michael Phelps-jaw-ain't-quite-aligned kinda way. I heard that's the new pink.
BEN: Chris Johnson//upside is unmatched. As long as LenDale continues to disappoint, this guy is gonna be better than AP by October.
BEN: Antwaan Randle El//little man...huge hand movements/hops after a catch
BEN: Jamarcus Russell//gotta give the #1 pick a shot
Keepin my eye on Brad Smith, Troy Smith, Eddie Royal, Kevin and Julius Jones, Desean Jackson(even though it would go against my policy of not drafting anyone from the NFC East)
happy ROTOing to all!
QB: Jason Campbell//even according to the impious (i.e. non-skins fans) zorn is gonna be huge for him.
RB: Clinton Portis//hands down best blocking back in the league..wait, do pancake blocks count for fantasy?
RB:Reggie Bush//he's past the sophomore slump and ready to prove that the Texans really are as dumb as their most hated son.
WR: Braylon Edwards//that's when i knew i was pretty guuuuud
WR: Calvin Johnson//after seeing him single handedly destroy the hokies first hand in the fall of 2006, I value his 'beast' over Roy Williams' stupid first down dances.
WR: Laveranues Coles//my favorite non-skin in the league
TE: Mercedes Lewis//I underestimated Cooley's value and let him slip away. But with the questionable WR situation down in J'ville, Garrard is gonna dial Lewis' number often.
K:Sean Suisham//This way I can love him or hate him X2.
DEF:Washington//Wait, the Redskins had a pre-season game last saturday? They played the Panthers? They got 47 dropped all up on them? The answer to all three questions is obviously NO.
BEN: Thomas Jones//Solid back + Nasty new O-line + Tony Richardson as his lead blocker + Defenses keyed on Brett "no i would not like $20 mil for NOT working" Farve = steal of a pick in the 7th round.
BEN: Jonathan Stewart//IF the Redskins did play the Panthers last saturday, he would've seduced me like Scarlett Johansson at a Jazz Bar.
BEN: Ted Ginn, Jr.//Gotta love the possibility for return touchdowns and he's the only one ready to get his shine on down in the armpit that is the Miami organization. Plus he talks in that weird Michael Phelps-jaw-ain't-quite-aligned kinda way. I heard that's the new pink.
BEN: Chris Johnson//upside is unmatched. As long as LenDale continues to disappoint, this guy is gonna be better than AP by October.
BEN: Antwaan Randle El//little man...huge hand movements/hops after a catch
BEN: Jamarcus Russell//gotta give the #1 pick a shot
Keepin my eye on Brad Smith, Troy Smith, Eddie Royal, Kevin and Julius Jones, Desean Jackson(even though it would go against my policy of not drafting anyone from the NFC East)
happy ROTOing to all!
Monday, August 18, 2008
2008 American Flag Football Camp!!!
So the first annual Ruse Flag Football Camp is officially behind us. Overall, I can honestly say it was a success. The only disappointment was the consistency and quantity of attendance. (that's Peace Corps lingo for not too many ankle biters decided to show) Also, not every camper thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread; but on the other hand, some kids really had a fun week and truly improved their throwing/catching/flag-pulling.
The Municipal government allowed us to use the practice field of the Danube Ruse Football Club. They provided us with t-shirts for the counselors/coaches to wear and printed certificates of participation for all of the campers. The first day of the camp (august 12th) coincided with the International Day of Youth so the local news station came out to do a story on our camp. This aspect of the week was interesting to say the least. Somehow, the municipality thanked us (Peace Corps Volunteers) for being their guests on this beautiful day to play a new, great game. Very interesting, ostentatious way of looking at it if you ask me.
We used the two-a-day format with sessions in the morning and evening. Although we had a slight problem the first evening with soccer hooligans running on our field, the municipality called in some police officers to secure the field the rest of the week. yikes!
next year, we will have the camp during sprink break in order to avoid the problem of having the students already committed to vacations at the Black Sea, International vacations, or the mentality that nothing structured or organized can possibly done during the month of August.
in closing, thanks to all of the PCVs, Mladen, Phillip Yordanov, Yulian, Phillip Pastovanov, Poly, Poly, and Mladen for all of their help. YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!
The Municipal government allowed us to use the practice field of the Danube Ruse Football Club. They provided us with t-shirts for the counselors/coaches to wear and printed certificates of participation for all of the campers. The first day of the camp (august 12th) coincided with the International Day of Youth so the local news station came out to do a story on our camp. This aspect of the week was interesting to say the least. Somehow, the municipality thanked us (Peace Corps Volunteers) for being their guests on this beautiful day to play a new, great game. Very interesting, ostentatious way of looking at it if you ask me.
We used the two-a-day format with sessions in the morning and evening. Although we had a slight problem the first evening with soccer hooligans running on our field, the municipality called in some police officers to secure the field the rest of the week. yikes!
next year, we will have the camp during sprink break in order to avoid the problem of having the students already committed to vacations at the Black Sea, International vacations, or the mentality that nothing structured or organized can possibly done during the month of August.
in closing, thanks to all of the PCVs, Mladen, Phillip Yordanov, Yulian, Phillip Pastovanov, Poly, Poly, and Mladen for all of their help. YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
summer lovin happened so fast...
I can honestly say the past three months have flown by. Back in the spring, I was so excited to host my family (minus dad), and already I'm missing them again...solitary teardrop.
Of all of the great experiences and fun things I have been able to do in the past month, one particular memory jumps out at me as being truly awesome.
One month after Kosovo had officially become an internationally-recognized country (and not just an autonomous state within Serbia), my brother, sister, and I got to travel through it on our way from Bulgaria to Dubrovnik, Croatia. From the time we crossed the Macedonia-Kosovo border in the back seat of the mini-bus we boarded in Skopje(capital of Macedonia), I had felt like we were truly seeing something unique. All along the roads, we saw signs of the United Nations' presence: trucks, soldiers, complexes, barbed-wire. My imagination ran wild thinking about the broken-lives that had been created here within the past decade. As we drove, I was reading BALKAN GHOSTS by Robert Kaplan. He had traveled through the same part of the world almost 20 years ago and I found it fascinating how what I was seeing was so different from the Kosovo that he had experienced.
The capital of Kosovo, Prishtina, was so alive. Everywhere I looked, I saw people walking, running, but mostly just standing in small groups. I noted how few women I saw. The ones that I did see were predominantly escorted by an older man and clothed from head to toe (tradition stubbornly failed to recognize the 90 degree temperatures). The inner Robinson Crusoe in me longed to get out of the mini-bus and get lost in it all. Yet, traveling through the outskirts, I was awed by the infrastructure. It was sub-standard in some places; non-existant in others. Prodigal hotels shot out of the ground next to cow pastures and auto-body shops working on any thing from donkey carts to 1970s communist-issue buggies to Mercedes G-wagons. What a fascinating microcosm!
Although I have loved and appreciated almost every other experience I have had recently, no sense of me was satisfied as thoroughly as my sense of raw adventure was that evening.
***
Pictures on snapfish.com can certainly paint a better picture of my summer up to this point, but now I will briefly try with words. I guess it all started with a wedding in southwestern bulgaria between an american peace corps volunteer and a bulgarian man. The wedding was in a itty-bitty village called Slashten (don't even try searching for it on the map). The size and rural aspect of Slashten did not prevent - in fact, surely caused - the explosion of love, fun, and kindness that was omnipresent throughout my time there. I did not know the peace corps volunteer (Andrea) or her husband (Mustafa) before the weekend. Beckie (my amazing girlfriend) invited me. Some of my other friends in the Corps were there and we had a great time; folk dancing/reception decorating/picture taking/soccer in the town square. It was great.
Then, I met my sister in the Sofia airport early Monday morning. She flew in from London to stay with me for 2 weeks before we again headed west to meet my brother at the Sofia airport. We went to school together, watched movies together, and drank beers together at Ruse's beer festival. But most importantly, she discovered the glory of Shopska Salata! Also she got to see the end of the year performance of my school's Drama Club. I was very proud of all of our young actors and I think Joanna (and Beckie and the other PCVs that were there) were very impressed by the actors and their English deliverance. The play was called 'Charley's Aunt.'
After stopping in the towns of Gabrovo (where we received some true PC hospitality//I heart you Foltzes and Amanda and Jerry//) and Veliko Turnovo, my sister and I met Mark at the airport. We made it back to the hostel and met some very cool people. After all, what is a European Hostel experience without jovial big-boy status brazilian man and a well-traveled friendly swede? Bernardo and Anders were two guys I will not soon forget.
After our mini-bus traversed the balkans, we arrived at 5am in Dubrovnik. Mom had already arrived the evening before and she was very excited to see us (but mostly me...right mom?)
The whole week was absolutely amazing. I can't think of one thing I didn't enjoy. We even got used to the 53 stair incline-21 stair decline-54 stair incline that it took to get from the street to the apartment where we were staying. Despite the fact that Dad wasn't there to remind us, UNIT keys remained in our secure possesion for the week's entirety. whewwwwwwww
After Mark and I said good-bye to mom and joanna (until July '09!) we caught our bus back to Bulgaria. Mark and I went to Beckie's village and rested for a night. The next morning we went on a hike to the Rila 7 Lakes in Rila National Park (SW Bulgaria). I was really happy Mark could see one of my favorite places in the country; as well as my favorite person.
After sending Mark off to the Sofia Airport, Beckie and I went away for the weekend to celebrate her birthday. We went to the Rhodope Mountains to see 'The Devil's Throat.' This is where the Thracian Oracle of Orpheus originated. Also, a beautiful place (look at the pictures).
***
Now, I'm back in Ruse. From the 12th to the 15th, I will be running a Flag Football camp in town. Other PCVs will be here to help and some of my Bulgarian friends will be the coaches of the teams. Hopefully I will have pictures and stories to tell about that....posle (later).
I'll say good-bye with a quote from Joseph Addison's CATO: "'Tis not in mortals to command success, but we'll do more,...we'll deserve it."
love, hugs, handpounds, daps, cheers to all,
ejSEEZY
Of all of the great experiences and fun things I have been able to do in the past month, one particular memory jumps out at me as being truly awesome.
One month after Kosovo had officially become an internationally-recognized country (and not just an autonomous state within Serbia), my brother, sister, and I got to travel through it on our way from Bulgaria to Dubrovnik, Croatia. From the time we crossed the Macedonia-Kosovo border in the back seat of the mini-bus we boarded in Skopje(capital of Macedonia), I had felt like we were truly seeing something unique. All along the roads, we saw signs of the United Nations' presence: trucks, soldiers, complexes, barbed-wire. My imagination ran wild thinking about the broken-lives that had been created here within the past decade. As we drove, I was reading BALKAN GHOSTS by Robert Kaplan. He had traveled through the same part of the world almost 20 years ago and I found it fascinating how what I was seeing was so different from the Kosovo that he had experienced.
The capital of Kosovo, Prishtina, was so alive. Everywhere I looked, I saw people walking, running, but mostly just standing in small groups. I noted how few women I saw. The ones that I did see were predominantly escorted by an older man and clothed from head to toe (tradition stubbornly failed to recognize the 90 degree temperatures). The inner Robinson Crusoe in me longed to get out of the mini-bus and get lost in it all. Yet, traveling through the outskirts, I was awed by the infrastructure. It was sub-standard in some places; non-existant in others. Prodigal hotels shot out of the ground next to cow pastures and auto-body shops working on any thing from donkey carts to 1970s communist-issue buggies to Mercedes G-wagons. What a fascinating microcosm!
Although I have loved and appreciated almost every other experience I have had recently, no sense of me was satisfied as thoroughly as my sense of raw adventure was that evening.
***
Pictures on snapfish.com can certainly paint a better picture of my summer up to this point, but now I will briefly try with words. I guess it all started with a wedding in southwestern bulgaria between an american peace corps volunteer and a bulgarian man. The wedding was in a itty-bitty village called Slashten (don't even try searching for it on the map). The size and rural aspect of Slashten did not prevent - in fact, surely caused - the explosion of love, fun, and kindness that was omnipresent throughout my time there. I did not know the peace corps volunteer (Andrea) or her husband (Mustafa) before the weekend. Beckie (my amazing girlfriend) invited me. Some of my other friends in the Corps were there and we had a great time; folk dancing/reception decorating/picture taking/soccer in the town square. It was great.
Then, I met my sister in the Sofia airport early Monday morning. She flew in from London to stay with me for 2 weeks before we again headed west to meet my brother at the Sofia airport. We went to school together, watched movies together, and drank beers together at Ruse's beer festival. But most importantly, she discovered the glory of Shopska Salata! Also she got to see the end of the year performance of my school's Drama Club. I was very proud of all of our young actors and I think Joanna (and Beckie and the other PCVs that were there) were very impressed by the actors and their English deliverance. The play was called 'Charley's Aunt.'
After stopping in the towns of Gabrovo (where we received some true PC hospitality//I heart you Foltzes and Amanda and Jerry//) and Veliko Turnovo, my sister and I met Mark at the airport. We made it back to the hostel and met some very cool people. After all, what is a European Hostel experience without jovial big-boy status brazilian man and a well-traveled friendly swede? Bernardo and Anders were two guys I will not soon forget.
After our mini-bus traversed the balkans, we arrived at 5am in Dubrovnik. Mom had already arrived the evening before and she was very excited to see us (but mostly me...right mom?)
The whole week was absolutely amazing. I can't think of one thing I didn't enjoy. We even got used to the 53 stair incline-21 stair decline-54 stair incline that it took to get from the street to the apartment where we were staying. Despite the fact that Dad wasn't there to remind us, UNIT keys remained in our secure possesion for the week's entirety. whewwwwwwww
After Mark and I said good-bye to mom and joanna (until July '09!) we caught our bus back to Bulgaria. Mark and I went to Beckie's village and rested for a night. The next morning we went on a hike to the Rila 7 Lakes in Rila National Park (SW Bulgaria). I was really happy Mark could see one of my favorite places in the country; as well as my favorite person.
After sending Mark off to the Sofia Airport, Beckie and I went away for the weekend to celebrate her birthday. We went to the Rhodope Mountains to see 'The Devil's Throat.' This is where the Thracian Oracle of Orpheus originated. Also, a beautiful place (look at the pictures).
***
Now, I'm back in Ruse. From the 12th to the 15th, I will be running a Flag Football camp in town. Other PCVs will be here to help and some of my Bulgarian friends will be the coaches of the teams. Hopefully I will have pictures and stories to tell about that....posle (later).
I'll say good-bye with a quote from Joseph Addison's CATO: "'Tis not in mortals to command success, but we'll do more,...we'll deserve it."
love, hugs, handpounds, daps, cheers to all,
ejSEEZY
Thursday, April 24, 2008
SPRING BREAK 08!!!
честит рожден ден марк! Big Bro turns 27 today! damn...we're gettin old!
For those of yall (like me until a couple of months ago) who didn't know, Easter is celebrated on different days of the year depending on if you consider yourself a member of a Western Christian Church or an Eastern Christian Church. The Western Church celebrates Easter on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon which was the 23rd of March this year(wikipedia says the paschal full moon is simply determined by a 'complex' formula). so if you want more information about this...be less lazy than me and figure it out yourself. The Eastern Church (of which Bulgarian Orthodoxy is included) determines the day they celebrate Easter using the Julian Calendar as opposed to the Gregorian Calendar used by the Western Churches. Bottom line...those of us living in countries with state religions existing under Eastern Orthodoxy get to celebrate Easter twice! This year, Bulgarian Easter is on the 27th of April.
I for one am taking full advantage. After tomorrow, I do not teach until the 7th of May. (yes this school system that is granting us a week and a half off of school for Easter/Labor Day/St. George's Day is the same school system that endured a 6 week strike by its teachers to start the school year) In the meantime, i'm gonna be doing some hardcore relaxing and some hard core hiking.
Saturday, I am going with one of my colleagues from my school to his village and we are going to celebrate Easter with his friends and family there. Then, after I come back to Ruse, I am going to go with a couple friends to the second tallest peak in Bulgaria. It is in the Balkan Mountain Range and everyone I tell says its an amazing place but a really difficult hike...can't wait. After that, I'm gonna see some other PCVs in Veliko Turnovo. Mindy, who was in Kyuestendil with me for the first 3 months, is gonna be there with her family from the states.
Not too long until I get to see mine! (excluding poppa dukes...don't worry dad, we'll say jeez-o-flip a few times in your honor)
hollllllllllller
For those of yall (like me until a couple of months ago) who didn't know, Easter is celebrated on different days of the year depending on if you consider yourself a member of a Western Christian Church or an Eastern Christian Church. The Western Church celebrates Easter on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon which was the 23rd of March this year(wikipedia says the paschal full moon is simply determined by a 'complex' formula). so if you want more information about this...be less lazy than me and figure it out yourself. The Eastern Church (of which Bulgarian Orthodoxy is included) determines the day they celebrate Easter using the Julian Calendar as opposed to the Gregorian Calendar used by the Western Churches. Bottom line...those of us living in countries with state religions existing under Eastern Orthodoxy get to celebrate Easter twice! This year, Bulgarian Easter is on the 27th of April.
I for one am taking full advantage. After tomorrow, I do not teach until the 7th of May. (yes this school system that is granting us a week and a half off of school for Easter/Labor Day/St. George's Day is the same school system that endured a 6 week strike by its teachers to start the school year) In the meantime, i'm gonna be doing some hardcore relaxing and some hard core hiking.
Saturday, I am going with one of my colleagues from my school to his village and we are going to celebrate Easter with his friends and family there. Then, after I come back to Ruse, I am going to go with a couple friends to the second tallest peak in Bulgaria. It is in the Balkan Mountain Range and everyone I tell says its an amazing place but a really difficult hike...can't wait. After that, I'm gonna see some other PCVs in Veliko Turnovo. Mindy, who was in Kyuestendil with me for the first 3 months, is gonna be there with her family from the states.
Not too long until I get to see mine! (excluding poppa dukes...don't worry dad, we'll say jeez-o-flip a few times in your honor)
hollllllllllller
Saturday, April 12, 2008
one year!?!
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 will mark the one year anniversary of when I landed at Sofia airport. Although it hasn't quite come yet, the past 362 days have been a pretty sweet ride.
Before I get into some thoughts and updates, i want to give some love to Champ (aka vyines) for all of the great years he spent with us. He passed away to doggie heaven a little more than a week ago. OK, so maybe he never had the keen intelligence of Rin-Tin Tin Canine Cop(lets be honest, he would only even 'SIT' when you had some sort of food in your hand) but he was most certainly an awesome part of my family. Let him rest in peace knowing he will always be loved and missed by my family and those who grew to love his endearingly futile doggie ways.
Now, about me. I just returned from Panichiste, the mountain lodge in the Rila Mountains where all of the newly arriving volunteers spend a week in meetings in order to get further informed of the finer parts of their peace corps service before they split up into their own training sites where they will live for about 3 months. Remember? I was in Kyuestendil for my training site. I was invited to greet the new volunteers because I am a 'Resource Volunteer.' There is one recourse volunteer for each of the 8 training sites. I will return back to Kyuestendil for a week in May in order to share my experiences with the 5 peace corps trainees that will be training there this spring.
It was definitely a refreshing experience to talk with some of the new volunteers and hear how motivated and excited they are for the next 27 months. I also got to see some of the other PCVs from my group and that is always a good time. The only bittersweet aspect of the trip was the reminder of how i spent the tragic morning of 4/16 a year ago seeing newsflashes of VA Tech on Bulgarian news and not understanding a word they were saying about the tragedy. That was and always will be a morning filled with confusion, loss, and unrelenting pain.
Life in Ruse has been pretty good. In March, Ruse hosts the 'MARCH MUSIC DAYS' where many different performances are held at the Drama Theater, Opera Theater, and smaller salons in the Municipality building. I went to a few different events with students, colleagues, and friends. My favorite was a production of "The Bald-headed Singer." It was performed in English although it was written by the Romanian playwright, Yunesco. After the performance, both me and one of the teachers at my school remarked how our faces hurt from laughing constantly for over an hour during the performance.
I spent Easter sunday with a fellow PCV at a Catholic church in town. After the service, we had a sunday lunch at the house of one of my colleagues who sent us home with some delicious pastries and 'easter bread.' Finally, in the afternoon, I played touch football with some of the students from my high school. What a great day!
Finally, I have started teaching an English Class at a local Social Services center where one of my friends works. The 'students' all work at the center and it is a relaxing way for me to teach english without worrying about discipline.
Also, my family and I have nearly finalized our plans to travel to Dubrovnik, Croatia for a week this summer. Mark set up the place where we are staying and it looks amazing judging by the pictures on the internet. Can't wait!
hope all is well east of the atlantic!
love,
eric
Before I get into some thoughts and updates, i want to give some love to Champ (aka vyines) for all of the great years he spent with us. He passed away to doggie heaven a little more than a week ago. OK, so maybe he never had the keen intelligence of Rin-Tin Tin Canine Cop(lets be honest, he would only even 'SIT' when you had some sort of food in your hand) but he was most certainly an awesome part of my family. Let him rest in peace knowing he will always be loved and missed by my family and those who grew to love his endearingly futile doggie ways.
Now, about me. I just returned from Panichiste, the mountain lodge in the Rila Mountains where all of the newly arriving volunteers spend a week in meetings in order to get further informed of the finer parts of their peace corps service before they split up into their own training sites where they will live for about 3 months. Remember? I was in Kyuestendil for my training site. I was invited to greet the new volunteers because I am a 'Resource Volunteer.' There is one recourse volunteer for each of the 8 training sites. I will return back to Kyuestendil for a week in May in order to share my experiences with the 5 peace corps trainees that will be training there this spring.
It was definitely a refreshing experience to talk with some of the new volunteers and hear how motivated and excited they are for the next 27 months. I also got to see some of the other PCVs from my group and that is always a good time. The only bittersweet aspect of the trip was the reminder of how i spent the tragic morning of 4/16 a year ago seeing newsflashes of VA Tech on Bulgarian news and not understanding a word they were saying about the tragedy. That was and always will be a morning filled with confusion, loss, and unrelenting pain.
Life in Ruse has been pretty good. In March, Ruse hosts the 'MARCH MUSIC DAYS' where many different performances are held at the Drama Theater, Opera Theater, and smaller salons in the Municipality building. I went to a few different events with students, colleagues, and friends. My favorite was a production of "The Bald-headed Singer." It was performed in English although it was written by the Romanian playwright, Yunesco. After the performance, both me and one of the teachers at my school remarked how our faces hurt from laughing constantly for over an hour during the performance.
I spent Easter sunday with a fellow PCV at a Catholic church in town. After the service, we had a sunday lunch at the house of one of my colleagues who sent us home with some delicious pastries and 'easter bread.' Finally, in the afternoon, I played touch football with some of the students from my high school. What a great day!
Finally, I have started teaching an English Class at a local Social Services center where one of my friends works. The 'students' all work at the center and it is a relaxing way for me to teach english without worrying about discipline.
Also, my family and I have nearly finalized our plans to travel to Dubrovnik, Croatia for a week this summer. Mark set up the place where we are staying and it looks amazing judging by the pictures on the internet. Can't wait!
hope all is well east of the atlantic!
love,
eric
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
and the Sun returns...
In hinesight, it has certainly been a long eventful winter. My first Holiday season away from home, a trip to Asia with Will (ok we were only in Istanbul but it was still wild), becoming a published playwright (except for the published part), increasing my language literacy, writing my first project grant, luxuriously traveling (not so much) all over Bulgaria via the Bulgarian train system, and surviving a snow fall of over 2 feet in an apartment alone. I'm not gonna lie, my life has been pretty awesome at times yet rather somber at others this winter. With that said...I'm so excited for the spring!
In Bulgaria, on the first of March people hand out 'Martinitsi.' They are symbolic yarn crafts that bring luck and health in the coming seasons to those who receive them from friends. I am certainly going to receive all that I get with a yearning for health and luck, but just as importantly, a yearning for some freakin' sun and heat!
Dark, cold, dreary weather is definitely something that I can't deal with. O wait, I've been dealing with it for the better part of 3 months! I've wholly internalized how it can weigh on the psyche...
So what do I have to look forward to?...well first of all, my teaching schedule was increased from 18 hours last semester to 23 hours this semester. After school I'm helping the Drama Club with our production of 'Charley's Aunt.' <
I'm definitely gonna be exhausted come fridays!
Also, I have been getting the ball rolling on a FLAG FOOTBALL CAMP for High Schoolers in Ruse during the summer. Hopefully I can get some help from my other PCV friends as well as other friends from Ruse. Also, Skyler, Ryan, and Blake might be over here to help out. If this camp all comes together and all of these people get involved, I will be so unbelievably pumped!
But before this, Joanna is coming to stay with me after she finishes her study program in London. After experiencing the life here in Ruse for a week or so, we're gonna meet Mom, Dad, and Mark in Croatia for a week. Joanna and I will travel from Ruse through Montenegro and along the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. yea i said it...jealous??
To those that have made it this far along in the blog...although I may not talk to some of you all that often, you are constantly (generally-speaking) randomly (specifically-speaking) in my thoughts and prayers! I love and miss you all!
cha cha cha bo-ieee,
ejay crowderrrrrr
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Thinking a bit lately...
"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn beween a desire to save and savor the world. And this makes it difficult to plan the day." --E.B. White
The Peace Corps seminar director back at my initial orientation meeting in Philadelphia offered this quote to the newly gathered group of Peace Corps volunteers. The idea has really resonated with me lately; and I have come to enjoy my role as a PCV even more with this sense of serenity.
As I have mentioned before, I have struggled in the first few months in Ruse accepting the idea that I would be working at a school with priviliged students (relatively speaking) in a huge city (relatively speaking) that could and most certainly would go on existing the same way without me in it. How was I supposed to satisfy my desire to 'save the world?'
But the more I harped on this fact, the more it got under my skin. Until a week or so ago when I was looking back through a journal of mine and saw this quote I had taken down back in Philly. It was unbelievable when I read it because it spoke to me so strongly now (much more than when I was back in Philly during April '07).
'Savoring my world' is something I have not been doing enough. Certainly I have had some amazing opportunities since I have been in Bulgaria, and I have done some great things with some great people. But I realized I have not done enough savoring.
In class the other day my class started getting loud. Before Christmas Break, I probably would have raised my voice, told them to quiet down, and I would have become agitated for at least the rest of the class if not the rest of the school day. But with the idea of 'savoring' at the forefront, I simply smiled. I mean lets be honest, all they were doing was joking around. No one was getting hurt and no one was being ugly to anyone else. They were simply being carefree, fun-loving students. I realized I should feel lucky to have the opportunity to teach such warm people. Feeling miserable because they don't always want to learn English with the focus of an adult is self-destructive and unneccesary.
I am learning Bulgarian, meeting amazing people, helping really fun students, all while truly growing as a person; what is there not to savor?
So, I've had this thought of the save/savor complex with me for the past few weeks of my life and it really has made things more rewarding...and most importantly, more fun!
The Peace Corps seminar director back at my initial orientation meeting in Philadelphia offered this quote to the newly gathered group of Peace Corps volunteers. The idea has really resonated with me lately; and I have come to enjoy my role as a PCV even more with this sense of serenity.
As I have mentioned before, I have struggled in the first few months in Ruse accepting the idea that I would be working at a school with priviliged students (relatively speaking) in a huge city (relatively speaking) that could and most certainly would go on existing the same way without me in it. How was I supposed to satisfy my desire to 'save the world?'
But the more I harped on this fact, the more it got under my skin. Until a week or so ago when I was looking back through a journal of mine and saw this quote I had taken down back in Philly. It was unbelievable when I read it because it spoke to me so strongly now (much more than when I was back in Philly during April '07).
'Savoring my world' is something I have not been doing enough. Certainly I have had some amazing opportunities since I have been in Bulgaria, and I have done some great things with some great people. But I realized I have not done enough savoring.
In class the other day my class started getting loud. Before Christmas Break, I probably would have raised my voice, told them to quiet down, and I would have become agitated for at least the rest of the class if not the rest of the school day. But with the idea of 'savoring' at the forefront, I simply smiled. I mean lets be honest, all they were doing was joking around. No one was getting hurt and no one was being ugly to anyone else. They were simply being carefree, fun-loving students. I realized I should feel lucky to have the opportunity to teach such warm people. Feeling miserable because they don't always want to learn English with the focus of an adult is self-destructive and unneccesary.
I am learning Bulgarian, meeting amazing people, helping really fun students, all while truly growing as a person; what is there not to savor?
So, I've had this thought of the save/savor complex with me for the past few weeks of my life and it really has made things more rewarding...and most importantly, more fun!
Monday, January 14, 2008
hit 'em straight in 2008
just thought i'd pass along a pretty
ridiculous experience i had earlier in the week...
so, after a great christmas vacation and a freshly restored level of will
I was ready to start the whole teaching thing again...
Tuesday morning I entered my first class with a meticulous lesson plan, a nice shirt and tie, and even a mini rah rah speech to start my students off with in the new year. 'CHALLENGE YOURSELF!' was going to be our new motto and I was going to write it on the board and simply point to it when the students got a little out of hand.
With the attendance book and text book in one hand, I turned the door handle with the other expecting to see 27 smiling faces atop 27 standing 8th graders with the same amount of fortitude that I promised myself I would maintain for at least the next 6 months.
Instead of this, what did I see? three boys and four girls in the back of the classroom 'supermanning that ho' and blaring this wonderful example of songwriting; while the other students were listening to the song on one boy's cell phone and bobbing their heads to the beat, studying this carefully coreographed dance routine.
...Generally speaking I take my role as a teacher over here serious, but at that
time I just had to laugh.
ridiculous experience i had earlier in the week...
so, after a great christmas vacation and a freshly restored level of will
I was ready to start the whole teaching thing again...
Tuesday morning I entered my first class with a meticulous lesson plan, a nice shirt and tie, and even a mini rah rah speech to start my students off with in the new year. 'CHALLENGE YOURSELF!' was going to be our new motto and I was going to write it on the board and simply point to it when the students got a little out of hand.
With the attendance book and text book in one hand, I turned the door handle with the other expecting to see 27 smiling faces atop 27 standing 8th graders with the same amount of fortitude that I promised myself I would maintain for at least the next 6 months.
Instead of this, what did I see? three boys and four girls in the back of the classroom 'supermanning that ho' and blaring this wonderful example of songwriting; while the other students were listening to the song on one boy's cell phone and bobbing their heads to the beat, studying this carefully coreographed dance routine.
...Generally speaking I take my role as a teacher over here serious, but at that
time I just had to laugh.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Its beginning to feel a lot like xmas
'i feel it in my fingers, i feel it in my toes, christmas is all around me, just like the saying goes!'
A few days ago I watched "Love Actually" for the first time and I haven't been able to get that 'one too many syllable' gingle out of my head. I definitely feel the christmas spirit is all around me...but, proverbially, maybe just one syllable off.
I've been pretty active over the past month not only during the week with the school year in full swing, but it seems like every weekend I have a full schedule. The Second weekend in November, I traveled with 4 other teachers and two of our classes from Geo Milev High School to a town in central Bulgaria: Gabrovo. Although it was raining litereally the whole time and the temperature was hovering right around freezing, we made the best of it. We went to the planetareum in Gabrovo where disappointingly the presentation failed to mention the recent renumeration of planets to exclude Pluto. I thought that was a rather blatant ommission of facts considering none of my students knew what I was talking about when I brought the subject to their attention. Also, Gabrovo is known throughout the country as the 'capital of humor.' Because of that, they have a Home of Humor with different famous Bulgarian Cartoonists and Satirists work on display as well as an exhibition of interesting Bulgarian sayings/adages. The one I liked the most was: "No matter what you produce, when you go to market you must sell yourself." Ambiguous maybe, but I liked it. On our excursion, we stayed in a Hotel with our students. Fortunately the night was rather uneventful (at least no one got hurt or drank too much according to my knowledge) but being so close to their age, I felt a little awkward for sure.
On our way back to Ruse, we stopped at an open air museum that was set up like an eighteenth century bulgarian village would be. This time in Bulgarian history is very popular/nostalgic for Bulgarians because this is the time immediately following their Rebirth from the Ottoman Empire. Once again, although it was miserable weather-wise, I enjoyed it as much as I could.
Next weekend was Thanksgiving weekend. I really began to feel homesick as the days began to end around 5pm and I yearned for the feeling of returning home from Blacksburg to experience the sights and sounds of The Bridge for a week. But I got over this the best way I knew how. I invited some of the teachers from my school over from my school for a thanksgiving dinner. I made a pumpkin pie, roasted a turkey, and made some delicious stuffing. Surprisingly the food was delicious! My friends loved it and we had a great night at my apartment. This was also the first weekend of the Ruse Teachers 3v3 Co-ed Basketball Tournament organized by the Municipality. Many factors led to Geo Milev absolutely dominating the tournament and winning first place. Among them being: I was about 10 years younger than the next youngest player, the other man on my team is about 6'5", and apparently not many of the teachers in Ruse have a thorough background in Basketball. We won a pretty nice-sized trophy that was awarded to us at an Awards Banquet/Holiday party.
That night was a lot of fun filled with folk dancing (horo), good food (a 3 course traditional bulgarian style dinner), and good drink (rakia).
One weekend, along with a couple of the men that work at the Youth Center in Ruse, I took some students to a nearby lake that is (or at least was) absolutely filthy. We spent the morning filling about 70 bags of trash and spent the afternoon playing football. One of the kids had a football that his mom brought him back from the states when she went on vacation this summer to Miami. It was a great time throwing the football. When I think about it, going a whole summer and fall without touching a football is a tragedy. But it was pretty fun tossing it around after all. It was also cool how everyone was seemingly dumbfounded how I could throw a spiral.
On Thursday, some of my students will perform a Christmas play that I wrote. Well, I didn't exactly write it. I adopted 'A Christmas Carole' by Charles Dickens into play form and shortened it while also making the English very easy. Either way, I'm definitely excited to see my students perform it on Thursday.
But my excitement for that doesn't come close to how excited I am for Ill nana to come. Will is coming to visit me for my Christmas break. I am going to meet him at the Sofia Airport on Xmas day and we are gonna travel from Sofia to Kyustendil to Plovdiv to Istanbul...in effect traveling across Bulgaria. I've heard nothing but great things about the sights in Istanbul so I can't wait to experience it with Will and some of the other PCVs who will be traveling with us.
I hope everyone is having a great holiday season...MERRY CHRISTMAS!
A few days ago I watched "Love Actually" for the first time and I haven't been able to get that 'one too many syllable' gingle out of my head. I definitely feel the christmas spirit is all around me...but, proverbially, maybe just one syllable off.
I've been pretty active over the past month not only during the week with the school year in full swing, but it seems like every weekend I have a full schedule. The Second weekend in November, I traveled with 4 other teachers and two of our classes from Geo Milev High School to a town in central Bulgaria: Gabrovo. Although it was raining litereally the whole time and the temperature was hovering right around freezing, we made the best of it. We went to the planetareum in Gabrovo where disappointingly the presentation failed to mention the recent renumeration of planets to exclude Pluto. I thought that was a rather blatant ommission of facts considering none of my students knew what I was talking about when I brought the subject to their attention. Also, Gabrovo is known throughout the country as the 'capital of humor.' Because of that, they have a Home of Humor with different famous Bulgarian Cartoonists and Satirists work on display as well as an exhibition of interesting Bulgarian sayings/adages. The one I liked the most was: "No matter what you produce, when you go to market you must sell yourself." Ambiguous maybe, but I liked it. On our excursion, we stayed in a Hotel with our students. Fortunately the night was rather uneventful (at least no one got hurt or drank too much according to my knowledge) but being so close to their age, I felt a little awkward for sure.
On our way back to Ruse, we stopped at an open air museum that was set up like an eighteenth century bulgarian village would be. This time in Bulgarian history is very popular/nostalgic for Bulgarians because this is the time immediately following their Rebirth from the Ottoman Empire. Once again, although it was miserable weather-wise, I enjoyed it as much as I could.
Next weekend was Thanksgiving weekend. I really began to feel homesick as the days began to end around 5pm and I yearned for the feeling of returning home from Blacksburg to experience the sights and sounds of The Bridge for a week. But I got over this the best way I knew how. I invited some of the teachers from my school over from my school for a thanksgiving dinner. I made a pumpkin pie, roasted a turkey, and made some delicious stuffing. Surprisingly the food was delicious! My friends loved it and we had a great night at my apartment. This was also the first weekend of the Ruse Teachers 3v3 Co-ed Basketball Tournament organized by the Municipality. Many factors led to Geo Milev absolutely dominating the tournament and winning first place. Among them being: I was about 10 years younger than the next youngest player, the other man on my team is about 6'5", and apparently not many of the teachers in Ruse have a thorough background in Basketball. We won a pretty nice-sized trophy that was awarded to us at an Awards Banquet/Holiday party.
That night was a lot of fun filled with folk dancing (horo), good food (a 3 course traditional bulgarian style dinner), and good drink (rakia).
One weekend, along with a couple of the men that work at the Youth Center in Ruse, I took some students to a nearby lake that is (or at least was) absolutely filthy. We spent the morning filling about 70 bags of trash and spent the afternoon playing football. One of the kids had a football that his mom brought him back from the states when she went on vacation this summer to Miami. It was a great time throwing the football. When I think about it, going a whole summer and fall without touching a football is a tragedy. But it was pretty fun tossing it around after all. It was also cool how everyone was seemingly dumbfounded how I could throw a spiral.
On Thursday, some of my students will perform a Christmas play that I wrote. Well, I didn't exactly write it. I adopted 'A Christmas Carole' by Charles Dickens into play form and shortened it while also making the English very easy. Either way, I'm definitely excited to see my students perform it on Thursday.
But my excitement for that doesn't come close to how excited I am for Ill nana to come. Will is coming to visit me for my Christmas break. I am going to meet him at the Sofia Airport on Xmas day and we are gonna travel from Sofia to Kyustendil to Plovdiv to Istanbul...in effect traveling across Bulgaria. I've heard nothing but great things about the sights in Istanbul so I can't wait to experience it with Will and some of the other PCVs who will be traveling with us.
I hope everyone is having a great holiday season...MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
what a month!
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.
*****************************
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!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
The school year is underway...
It is now the middle of my third week of teaching classes at Geo Milev 'High School' in Ruse, Bulgaria. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the classroom with my students, but the first few weeks of school have been anything but uneventful.
First of all, just like in America, the teachers of public schools are poorly underpaid. Although very few people (if any) are willing to justify this reality, it remains a fact of life; not only in the U.S. but in Bulgaria and - I would guess - the world over. Because of this, the teachers of Bulgaria have mobilized and have enacted a 'stachka' (bulgarian for STRIKE) to protest these unjustifiably low wages. But since I am paid by Peace Corps Bulgaria and as an organization we do not take any political stances, I continue to have classes (along with all of the other PCVs at their respective schools around the country).
There are a few teachers still holding classes along with me at school but for the most part, the teachers have told their students not to come to school because they will not be teaching anything. In protest, the striking teachers simply show up to school at 8am and 'sit in' until 4pm. This strike has now been underway for 12 days. That is 12 days worth of pay that the teachers will not receive. But most importantly, that is 12 days worth of school that the students have not received. Instead they will have to make up the lessons they have missed with extended days, on weekends, or worst of all, on holidays. So with all of this political turmoil...who wins? Well that remains to be seen if the Ministry of Education will increase the salaries of the teachers. But certainly, the losers are clearly the ones who have no control of the situation: the students.
So that is one thing that has made my fledgeling weeks very interesting. Other than that, I cannot say enough about how impressed I am with the level of my students' English. Although they have only been taking english lessons (in school) for a couple of years in primary school, I am able to explain things in simple English and they understand most of what I say. (Part of my instructions from my colleagues is to speak only in English during class. If the students really do not understand something when I explain it in English, they can ask me after class and I can try to explain it in Bulgarian)
As a whole the students are extremely enthusiastic about learning English in my class and are very curious about life in America? (i.e. Is everyone rich? Is high school like AMERICAN PIE? Do you like 50 cent?) by the way, Curtis Jackson did all of us teaching English a disservice by using that name. Students find it very confusing to say, The cookie costs 50 CENTS while also saying, I like to listen to 50 CENT. My mom and I are setting up a classroom exchange program where my 9th grade students in Bulgaria can communicate with her students at Woodbridge Middle. They are definitely excited about that. Although I hope they keep their curious minds somewhat censored when asking questions to her students.
For the most part, my life has been spent at school. After school, I go jogging (31 days until the Athens Marathon!!!) http://www.athensclassicmarathon.gr/default.1.asp And I try to cook different things using the amazingly delicious fruit and vegetables from the market that is just next to my apartment. I have cooked a couple of meals for friends and colleagues on the weekends and they seem to enjoy my cooking. For those of you all that are wondering...my cuisine has congealed into a somewhat more ordinary array of dishes. (I have yet to serve ramen/milk/mustard/chicken/chocolate sauce delight to anyone in Bulgaria like we used to do it at the PRC)
also....With the help of slingbox (and my brother despite the fact that he still hasn't bought an audio splitter or had the cable guy come fix his DVR), I have been able watch the beginning of the VT and redskin seasons. (I think I woke my neighbors up due to my yelp similar to that of an 8 year old child being spanked when Betts was stopped at the 1)
This weekend I am going to take the bus back to Kyuestendil to visit my host family and hopefully see my old language teacher Anni. (see my first blog entry; I heart Anni)
Thats about all for now...although I do not get to talk to you often, it really makes me feel great when you shoot me an email and tell me something funny/nice/new/cool/interesting about what you are up to or about life in general.
God Bless!
First of all, just like in America, the teachers of public schools are poorly underpaid. Although very few people (if any) are willing to justify this reality, it remains a fact of life; not only in the U.S. but in Bulgaria and - I would guess - the world over. Because of this, the teachers of Bulgaria have mobilized and have enacted a 'stachka' (bulgarian for STRIKE) to protest these unjustifiably low wages. But since I am paid by Peace Corps Bulgaria and as an organization we do not take any political stances, I continue to have classes (along with all of the other PCVs at their respective schools around the country).
There are a few teachers still holding classes along with me at school but for the most part, the teachers have told their students not to come to school because they will not be teaching anything. In protest, the striking teachers simply show up to school at 8am and 'sit in' until 4pm. This strike has now been underway for 12 days. That is 12 days worth of pay that the teachers will not receive. But most importantly, that is 12 days worth of school that the students have not received. Instead they will have to make up the lessons they have missed with extended days, on weekends, or worst of all, on holidays. So with all of this political turmoil...who wins? Well that remains to be seen if the Ministry of Education will increase the salaries of the teachers. But certainly, the losers are clearly the ones who have no control of the situation: the students.
So that is one thing that has made my fledgeling weeks very interesting. Other than that, I cannot say enough about how impressed I am with the level of my students' English. Although they have only been taking english lessons (in school) for a couple of years in primary school, I am able to explain things in simple English and they understand most of what I say. (Part of my instructions from my colleagues is to speak only in English during class. If the students really do not understand something when I explain it in English, they can ask me after class and I can try to explain it in Bulgarian)
As a whole the students are extremely enthusiastic about learning English in my class and are very curious about life in America? (i.e. Is everyone rich? Is high school like AMERICAN PIE? Do you like 50 cent?) by the way, Curtis Jackson did all of us teaching English a disservice by using that name. Students find it very confusing to say, The cookie costs 50 CENTS while also saying, I like to listen to 50 CENT. My mom and I are setting up a classroom exchange program where my 9th grade students in Bulgaria can communicate with her students at Woodbridge Middle. They are definitely excited about that. Although I hope they keep their curious minds somewhat censored when asking questions to her students.
For the most part, my life has been spent at school. After school, I go jogging (31 days until the Athens Marathon!!!) http://www.athensclassicmarathon.gr/default.1.asp And I try to cook different things using the amazingly delicious fruit and vegetables from the market that is just next to my apartment. I have cooked a couple of meals for friends and colleagues on the weekends and they seem to enjoy my cooking. For those of you all that are wondering...my cuisine has congealed into a somewhat more ordinary array of dishes. (I have yet to serve ramen/milk/mustard/chicken/chocolate sauce delight to anyone in Bulgaria like we used to do it at the PRC)
also....With the help of slingbox (and my brother despite the fact that he still hasn't bought an audio splitter or had the cable guy come fix his DVR), I have been able watch the beginning of the VT and redskin seasons. (I think I woke my neighbors up due to my yelp similar to that of an 8 year old child being spanked when Betts was stopped at the 1)
This weekend I am going to take the bus back to Kyuestendil to visit my host family and hopefully see my old language teacher Anni. (see my first blog entry; I heart Anni)
Thats about all for now...although I do not get to talk to you often, it really makes me feel great when you shoot me an email and tell me something funny/nice/new/cool/interesting about what you are up to or about life in general.
God Bless!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
What a Difference a Year Makes!
As far back as I can remember, the fall has felt like the REAL beginning of the year. Primarily because of the start of a new school year. Whether it be new school supplies, cool new shoes, or as is now the case, my new (Teachers Editions) English Language Textbooks for my 8th and 9th grade students; there is always something new and exciting to look forward to as the temperature starts to cool down and the days become just a bit shorter.
This year, I will be teaching 2 periods/week for each of the 5 different 8th grade classes and the 4 different 9th grade classes at Geo Milev English Language Lyceum. (A lyceum being a high school with grades 8-12 where students not only receive a traditional education but also focus on a specific skill: in Geo Milev's case, English). In addition, I will have an after-school class each day which will be a more relaxed environment for my students to practice their English and hopefully to help me practise my Bulgarian. I have been working on my lesson plans and meeting the teachers this past week as we all prepare for the start of the school year on September 15th. Yes, that is a Saturday. Every year, Bulgarian schools start on the 15th regardless what day it is. This first day of 'classes' is full of performances, ceremonies, music, and meet/greets to serve as the celebration of a new school year.
Last week I bought a 'SLINGBOX' off of a guy on eBay. Basically, a SLINGBOX is a new technology where you can hook up this patented device to a digital cable box on one end and an internet router on another end and you can broadcast local digital cable worldwide through the internet to a private network. Pretty insane, huh? So Mark set it up for me at his house in D.C. and I have been able to watch Washington area T.V. on my computer. Obviously, the reason why I got this thing was to watch the hokies and the skins this fall. I stayed up all night last night (the game started at 4:15am local time sunday morning) to watch tech/lsu. Although we got our asses handed to us on a stick, it was really exciting to be able to watch the game. <> Also, I will be able to watch the skins-dolphins game (8pm sunday local time)
I am so excited to have the capability to stay in touch with sports back home; but the whole situation is kinda odd for me.
First of all, watching the hokies play in the middle of the night while drinking Glenn Dorsey-knows-how-many cups of coffee does not begin to compare to watching it at the Delta Chi house with a keg, or in Lane Stadium with a bourbon and coke (wait, i mean, just plain coke ;) ) or at 503 with great people and great aristocrat.
Also, when I decided to serve in the Peace Corps, I did not picture this sort of set-up would be possible. I was willing and ready to go anywhere in the world where I could serve my 27 months without the ammenities of life at home in the states. So to have the capability to watch local television almost makes me feel like I'm cheating. As long as I just use the slingbox to watch my teams when they are on and not let it be a distraction from the purpose that I am here, I think it will be all good.
anyways...
Last Thursday was Unification Day in Bulgaria. On September 6, 1885 the recently liberated Bulgarian state acquired the region of eastern Rumelia from the Ottoman-Turks which still maintained control of this region as a principality to its fastly decreasing empire. Eastern Rumelia is the area of modern Bulgaria that stretches from southeast of Sofia all the way to the Black Sea to the east and Greece to the south. Because everyone had a day off of work, I went over to one of my colleague's houses and had lunch with her family. On Friday, I went to a celo (Bulgarian for a small village) with a couple of friends. Tabachka, the small village about 25 km south of Ruse is such a quaint little place like so many other small villages throughout Bulgaria. With only a small store to buy bread, beer, and select few other necessities, people grow all of their own fresh vegetables and get their fresh water from natural springs. After some hours of exploring the surrounding riverbeds and valleys, one of my friends grandmas prepared a delicious fresh lunch of fresh vegetables, home-grown walnuts, sausage, and home-made plum brandy. The brandy is known as Rakia in Bulgaria and it is somewhat of a write of passage for people from the villages to grow their own and argue about how it is far more superior (both in taste and alcohol proof) than any other rakia ever distilled before. That was a great, relaxing day that I will not soon forget!
So, I have been having some great experiences and meeting some great people lately. I am definitely ready for the start of my first school year in Bulgaria. Like every other fall, this year surely will bring new experiences, new knowledge, new challenges...and an early season loss for the hokies.
This year, I will be teaching 2 periods/week for each of the 5 different 8th grade classes and the 4 different 9th grade classes at Geo Milev English Language Lyceum. (A lyceum being a high school with grades 8-12 where students not only receive a traditional education but also focus on a specific skill: in Geo Milev's case, English). In addition, I will have an after-school class each day which will be a more relaxed environment for my students to practice their English and hopefully to help me practise my Bulgarian. I have been working on my lesson plans and meeting the teachers this past week as we all prepare for the start of the school year on September 15th. Yes, that is a Saturday. Every year, Bulgarian schools start on the 15th regardless what day it is. This first day of 'classes' is full of performances, ceremonies, music, and meet/greets to serve as the celebration of a new school year.
Last week I bought a 'SLINGBOX' off of a guy on eBay. Basically, a SLINGBOX is a new technology where you can hook up this patented device to a digital cable box on one end and an internet router on another end and you can broadcast local digital cable worldwide through the internet to a private network. Pretty insane, huh? So Mark set it up for me at his house in D.C. and I have been able to watch Washington area T.V. on my computer. Obviously, the reason why I got this thing was to watch the hokies and the skins this fall. I stayed up all night last night (the game started at 4:15am local time sunday morning) to watch tech/lsu. Although we got our asses handed to us on a stick, it was really exciting to be able to watch the game. <
I am so excited to have the capability to stay in touch with sports back home; but the whole situation is kinda odd for me.
First of all, watching the hokies play in the middle of the night while drinking Glenn Dorsey-knows-how-many cups of coffee does not begin to compare to watching it at the Delta Chi house with a keg, or in Lane Stadium with a bourbon and coke (wait, i mean, just plain coke ;) ) or at 503 with great people and great aristocrat.
Also, when I decided to serve in the Peace Corps, I did not picture this sort of set-up would be possible. I was willing and ready to go anywhere in the world where I could serve my 27 months without the ammenities of life at home in the states. So to have the capability to watch local television almost makes me feel like I'm cheating. As long as I just use the slingbox to watch my teams when they are on and not let it be a distraction from the purpose that I am here, I think it will be all good.
anyways...
Last Thursday was Unification Day in Bulgaria. On September 6, 1885 the recently liberated Bulgarian state acquired the region of eastern Rumelia from the Ottoman-Turks which still maintained control of this region as a principality to its fastly decreasing empire. Eastern Rumelia is the area of modern Bulgaria that stretches from southeast of Sofia all the way to the Black Sea to the east and Greece to the south. Because everyone had a day off of work, I went over to one of my colleague's houses and had lunch with her family. On Friday, I went to a celo (Bulgarian for a small village) with a couple of friends. Tabachka, the small village about 25 km south of Ruse is such a quaint little place like so many other small villages throughout Bulgaria. With only a small store to buy bread, beer, and select few other necessities, people grow all of their own fresh vegetables and get their fresh water from natural springs. After some hours of exploring the surrounding riverbeds and valleys, one of my friends grandmas prepared a delicious fresh lunch of fresh vegetables, home-grown walnuts, sausage, and home-made plum brandy. The brandy is known as Rakia in Bulgaria and it is somewhat of a write of passage for people from the villages to grow their own and argue about how it is far more superior (both in taste and alcohol proof) than any other rakia ever distilled before. That was a great, relaxing day that I will not soon forget!
So, I have been having some great experiences and meeting some great people lately. I am definitely ready for the start of my first school year in Bulgaria. Like every other fall, this year surely will bring new experiences, new knowledge, new challenges...and an early season loss for the hokies.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
A Weekend of Good Clean American Fun (in bulgaria)
Well, its 6:45ish here on Monday morning and my house guests have all taken their respective trains/buses back to their sites. On Friday, my friends Ali, Craig, Josh, and Mindy came to stay with me and celebrate Josh and Craig's 24th Birthdays. Craig let us all know that he and Josh have both officially lived 1/3 of their expected life span. How's that for perspective?
We had a great time together. Because my guests don't live in urban centers like Ruse, they were excited to come enjoy some of the ammenities the big city has to offer. Friday afternoon we went to one of the pools here in Ruse. Not only was the pool refreshing, the scenery was 'attention-grabbing' to say the least. Thong bathing suits for women and the Euro-speedo for men are somewhat the norm here. Its a classic example of taking the good with the bad. Friday night we enjoyed a great dinner at a local restaurant with some great Ruse Chardonnay from the local vineyard.
After dinner, I had some of my friends that I have met here in Ruse come over to my house and meet my American guests. Giorgi and Silvia (my friends from Ruse) left this Sunday for The American University in Blagoevgrad. They are really cool people and am excited for their return to Ruse for college breaks.
Saturday night Mindy cooked some absolutely amazing Chicken Curry. After we all ate way too much. After this we heeded the lifestyle of the greatest character in movie cinema history: we went bowling. [if you don't understand that reference, smack yourself and watch Big Lebowski at least 7 times] Yes, Ruse does have a bowling alley. A pretty nice one at that. Josh and Craig beat Ali, Mindy, and I. As punishment, we must lead a HORO dance at a discotec of their choosing the next time we all meet up. The HORO is a bulgarian folk dance that generally looks like a line dance with a lot of fancy footwork.
Sunday, the rains finally came to Ruse and cooled the temperatures down to the point where we could no longer boil water in a pot on my balcony. We cooked a beef stew that made my apartment smell pretty amazing. (It tasted unbelievably delicious also)
All in all it was a great weekend celebration.
Tomorrow I will be heading to the town of Shumen for a regional meeting with other PCVs. The purpose of the meeting is to share our summer experiences and most importantly, get some materials for the upcoming school year (textbooks, workbooks, language exercises, etc.) My school year starts September the 17th and I will have to go to school everday starting the beginning of September in order to prepare for the upcoming school year.
We had a great time together. Because my guests don't live in urban centers like Ruse, they were excited to come enjoy some of the ammenities the big city has to offer. Friday afternoon we went to one of the pools here in Ruse. Not only was the pool refreshing, the scenery was 'attention-grabbing' to say the least. Thong bathing suits for women and the Euro-speedo for men are somewhat the norm here. Its a classic example of taking the good with the bad. Friday night we enjoyed a great dinner at a local restaurant with some great Ruse Chardonnay from the local vineyard.
After dinner, I had some of my friends that I have met here in Ruse come over to my house and meet my American guests. Giorgi and Silvia (my friends from Ruse) left this Sunday for The American University in Blagoevgrad. They are really cool people and am excited for their return to Ruse for college breaks.
Saturday night Mindy cooked some absolutely amazing Chicken Curry. After we all ate way too much. After this we heeded the lifestyle of the greatest character in movie cinema history: we went bowling. [if you don't understand that reference, smack yourself and watch Big Lebowski at least 7 times] Yes, Ruse does have a bowling alley. A pretty nice one at that. Josh and Craig beat Ali, Mindy, and I. As punishment, we must lead a HORO dance at a discotec of their choosing the next time we all meet up. The HORO is a bulgarian folk dance that generally looks like a line dance with a lot of fancy footwork.
Sunday, the rains finally came to Ruse and cooled the temperatures down to the point where we could no longer boil water in a pot on my balcony. We cooked a beef stew that made my apartment smell pretty amazing. (It tasted unbelievably delicious also)
All in all it was a great weekend celebration.
Tomorrow I will be heading to the town of Shumen for a regional meeting with other PCVs. The purpose of the meeting is to share our summer experiences and most importantly, get some materials for the upcoming school year (textbooks, workbooks, language exercises, etc.) My school year starts September the 17th and I will have to go to school everday starting the beginning of September in order to prepare for the upcoming school year.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
My trip to the Rock Churches of Ivanovo
On Tuesday, I went on a day trip with some of my students from the summer English course that I have been teaching since I arrived in Ruse. Also, my new friend and hopefully someone who I will do a lot of work with over the next two years, Emo, came with us. He works at the Youth Center in Ruse and is an amazingly friendly and good man.
We took a train to the village of Ivanovo and hiked to the Rusenski Lom (Ruse Valley). It is a breath-taking plush river valley sandwiched between huge rock faces that have numerous caves carved into them that served as monasteries during Medeival times. The 'Rock Churches of Ivanovo' are one of the landmarks in Bulgaria protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=31064&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Besides the beautiful views and challenging hiking trails the trip provided, we also met a very interesting man who collected the admission fee to enter the Rock Church that is still open to tourists. When we first entered into the church, he told us it would be 50 stotinki (roughly cents) for the four students we were with and 1 lev (roughly dollar) for Emo and I. We began talking, and it was clear to him that I was American and soon enough, I provided that I was in Bulgaria to teach English and work with young people here in different sorts of capacities. His reaction was one of skepticism to say the least. He believed that this situation was backwards. Bulgarians should be traveling to America and other 'new countries' and teach Bulgarian language and culture to these countries. After all, Bulgaria is thousands of years old and this area of the world cradled some of the first pre-modern civilizations 1000s of years ago during the Neolithic Period. American Nationals with a country who's life can be measured in half the time that the Ottoman Empire spent occupying Bulgaria (to put things into perspective), according to this man, have very little to offer Bulgarians.
A very interesting perspective indeed. I could have responded simply by bashing this ethnocentric, idealistic paradigm so frankly expressed by this man. But instead, I thanked him for the chat. (Hey, at least he eventually let me enter the rock church for free) A wiser man than me once said something to the effect, "It is better to live humbly for a cause than to die nobly for one." If I argued with this very proud man with the limited Bulgarian that I have at my disposal, I couldn't guarantee that I would have the chance to live much longer (humbly or otherwise).
So instead, I let his thoughts marinate. I let this conversation serve as an example of the national pride that is ubiquitious in the Balkans. Sometimes this quality of culture can be evinced in such awesome ways (i.e. the folk festivals where countries show off their pasttimes to a excited and jovial crowd). Other times it can rear its ugly head in awful conflicts (i.e. the all too current debates over malleable borders and the Roma minority).
I guess for now, any sort of conclusion would be made in haste but that man surely served as an example of how ethnocentricity is very real to some people here in Bulgaria even during a time of political progession into the E.U. and cultural progression (not necessarily a good thing) into the globalized western world.
We took a train to the village of Ivanovo and hiked to the Rusenski Lom (Ruse Valley). It is a breath-taking plush river valley sandwiched between huge rock faces that have numerous caves carved into them that served as monasteries during Medeival times. The 'Rock Churches of Ivanovo' are one of the landmarks in Bulgaria protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=31064&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Besides the beautiful views and challenging hiking trails the trip provided, we also met a very interesting man who collected the admission fee to enter the Rock Church that is still open to tourists. When we first entered into the church, he told us it would be 50 stotinki (roughly cents) for the four students we were with and 1 lev (roughly dollar) for Emo and I. We began talking, and it was clear to him that I was American and soon enough, I provided that I was in Bulgaria to teach English and work with young people here in different sorts of capacities. His reaction was one of skepticism to say the least. He believed that this situation was backwards. Bulgarians should be traveling to America and other 'new countries' and teach Bulgarian language and culture to these countries. After all, Bulgaria is thousands of years old and this area of the world cradled some of the first pre-modern civilizations 1000s of years ago during the Neolithic Period. American Nationals with a country who's life can be measured in half the time that the Ottoman Empire spent occupying Bulgaria (to put things into perspective), according to this man, have very little to offer Bulgarians.
A very interesting perspective indeed. I could have responded simply by bashing this ethnocentric, idealistic paradigm so frankly expressed by this man. But instead, I thanked him for the chat. (Hey, at least he eventually let me enter the rock church for free) A wiser man than me once said something to the effect, "It is better to live humbly for a cause than to die nobly for one." If I argued with this very proud man with the limited Bulgarian that I have at my disposal, I couldn't guarantee that I would have the chance to live much longer (humbly or otherwise).
So instead, I let his thoughts marinate. I let this conversation serve as an example of the national pride that is ubiquitious in the Balkans. Sometimes this quality of culture can be evinced in such awesome ways (i.e. the folk festivals where countries show off their pasttimes to a excited and jovial crowd). Other times it can rear its ugly head in awful conflicts (i.e. the all too current debates over malleable borders and the Roma minority).
I guess for now, any sort of conclusion would be made in haste but that man surely served as an example of how ethnocentricity is very real to some people here in Bulgaria even during a time of political progession into the E.U. and cultural progression (not necessarily a good thing) into the globalized western world.
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