It's been so long since I've posted and actually told about what's been going on here in good ole Montana, Bulgaria, that I don't know where to start. It would just be too much to tell everything that's happened in the last couple of months (plus I can't even remember what all has happened) so I'll just fill ya'll in on the latest goings on.
First of all, school is almost over. Hallelujah and praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will finish teaching on June 15th. Just one more week! (I feel sorry for all my fellow volunteers that must continue teaching until the 30th) The Bulgarian school schedule is a bit crazy to follow...even for Bulgarians. It goes like this: School started on September 15th. The 12th graders finished school on May 22nd. The 1st graders finished on May 24th. The 2nd though 4th graders finished on May 31st. The 5th through 8th graders will finish on June 15th. And the 9th through 11th graders will finish on June 30th. Confusing isn't it?
So as the school year comes to a close my students are less and less inclined to study or to even come to class. They are just ready to be done...as am I. So these last two weeks of school are game time! This week we've been playing a lot of Bingo, Pictionary, Hokie Pokie, Simon Says, and even Duck Duck Goose...and next week will be the same. I've finished testing my students and have their grades completed so now it's time for a little fun. Bingo has been the biggest success. First I taught my kids "Bingo" the song... you know..."there was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-oh!" And then we played the game Bingo. But rather than playing regular Bingo with numbers I made the kids make Bingo cards with their vocabulary words - various words that they've learned throughout the year. Really, it's been a lot of fun.
Hmmm, next. Well...last weekend I went to visit Mickie in Karlovo for the Rose Festival. Though, we didn't actually see or take part in any of the festivities. We just hung out and went to Plovdiv for a day to get some good ole McDonald's food and to watch "X-Men 3." Yep, it was a great time at the Rose Festival. We were going to go to Ivalovgrad and visit Liz for the surprize party that Melody threw for her but...well...we just didn't want to travel that far. We were all set to go. We had our bags packed. We took an early bus to Plovdiv in order to catch a bus to Stara Zagora in order to catch the last bus to Ivalovgrad. But once we got to Plovdiv we'd already had enough bus travel and decided to bum around Plovdiv. (Sorry Liz)
Uhh...the weekend before last Eric, Melody, Melody's friend Steve, and I all went to the Rila Monastery. That was fantastic! Though the bus ride there was less than ideal. What should have only been a 4 1/2 to 5 hour trip turned into 10 hours! It wasn't anyone's fault. Well, actually I'm going to blame it on the Bulgarian transportation system and lack of posted information. It was just mass confusion. But hey, after having left my apartment at 6:30 in the morning and changing buses 4 times I did make it to the largest monastery in Bulgaria and had a great time hiking in the woods and just spending time with my friends.
After leaving the Rila Monastery that Sunday Eric, Melody and I went to visit the new group of teacher volunteers in their training sites for four days. The three of us were chosen to be Resource Volunteers which meant we each went to a training site, observed the new volunteers at school, and just answered any questions that they had about school and life in general in Bulgaria. It may sound cheesy but I felt honored and special to have been chosen to be a resource volunteer. I went to Boboshevo to visit Steve, Brad, Abby, Amy, and Kyla. They're all great folks and I had a good time observing their classes, sitting in on their Bulgarian lessons, and just hanging out with them. While I was in Boboshevo (small village of about 800) I stayed with the Bulgarian language trainer for the group, Yulia. We had a good time too just hanging out. Though, in the house that she's staying in I was a bit puzzled when we she showed me where the bathroom is - on the balcony. Strange. I get the impression that the bathroom used to be out side, maybe an out-house in the backyard. Probably the family that owns the house decided later on that they didn't want to have to go the backyard to go potty, and since they didn't have room in the house, they just put the toilet on the balcony. (It is in its own enclosed room and it is a flush toilet - but it's still strange.)
Oh yeah, before taking our long treck to Rila and then to the training villages Eric and I went to Belogradchik - a town about 60 klms. north of Montana. There was only was bus to Belogradchik...at 7:30 in the morning. And only one bus back to Montana at 4:00 in the afternoon. Again, the transport system at its best. So Eric and I spent almost the whole day checking out the rock fortress and just goofing around the city. Probably the most exciting thing that day, besides the natural rock fortress, were the cool ARMY sachle bags that E and I found for only 1 lev!!!!!!!!
Well...I guess that covers the most recent events. I may post again next week (or I may not) once school is out and tell all about the things I've learned during my first year of teaching...yadia yadia yadia and so on. We'll see what happens.
Yay!!! John is here visiting me! He came for my birthday and will be staying 10 days total. I just can't express how happy I am to have him here. He was the best birthday present ever. I'm going to take him on a whirl-wind trip of Bulgaria and even throw in a little bit of Greece.
