Holidays in Bulgaria/Romania

Hi All!

I say this every time I write, but seriously so much has been going on that I can hardly keep up in writing :) I've got a routine down at the school now, and things are going a little more smoothly. By teaching literature, I spend a lot of time re-reading the classics, which sometimes is a pain and other times a great pleasure (I just listened to The Scarlet Letter by streaming it from a website called LibriVox.org- by doing so, I was able to crochet a scarf and hat at the same time).

The month of October really blew by quickly. Some memorable moments were my participation in an exchange project with my school. On Halloween I went to Romania to meet with other teachers from Spain, Portugal, Poland, Romania, and Turkey. It was a good opportunity to bond with my fellow teachers and to help improve the other teachers' English skills. Romania seemed a lot like Bulgaria, but slightly warmer, and listening to others was a real trip. Romanians and Bulgarians share a common Communist history, and thus a lot of Soviet architecture and city planning, but linguistically, there are great differences. Romanians maintain more of the Roman language, Latin, and so it sounded closer to Italian or Spanish only with an Eastern European twist and some shared vocabulary with its neighbors. I met another Peace Corps volunteer working in the town and helped to teach a class with her, and the students' behavior didn't seem too different from my Bulgarian students. I guess teenagers will be teenagers the world over. While in Romania we went to an old salt mine that was open for visitors and tourists. Inside the salt mine is a beautiful little church (for the miners since they would spend so much time down there) and playground equiptment, chessboards, souveneirs, and other games (for the tourists that come to spend time in the salty air for many an afternoon). The next day we went to Bran Castle, the former home of Count Vlad the Impaler, or the inspiration for Dracula. The exhibition was beautiful, and we toured the entire castle, but it wasn't very scary as most Romanians look at Count Vlad as a hero, not a bloodthirsty ruler. We also went to a beautiful town in Transylvania called Brasov, and it had all the characterists of Romanian achitecture on the Hungarian side, with high turrets and large churches and state buildings. It was quite beautiful.

Before leaving on this trip however, we had a mini Halloween celebration at my school. I made spiced applesauce and pumpkin pie for the teachers (which they loved and made me give them the recipe), and in my 8th grade class we played Halloween games and had a costume contest. I was really impressed with some of the costumes, including Spring, a skeleton, fairies, and a China doll. I myself dressed up as a Bulgarian grandmother, or baba. I definitely got some strange looks walking around school that day! A few days before, I carved a pumpkin, and prepared Haunted Boxes with different food items to simulate brains, a dead man's thumb, eyeballs, etc. The kids all gave away what they were but the look on some of the other students' faces were pretty priceless when they reached into the boxes. The students also bobbed for apples and had a contest in teams to make the best mummy by wrapping each other in toilet paper. It was hilarious and although we didn't always speak English, it was one of my most festive Halloweens in quite some time.

The next holiday, Thanksgiving, was a little more low-key. I made cornbread, apple cobbler, and stuffing for the teachers, but somehow I got hungry and accidentally ate all the stuffing before it made it to school :( I went hiking with some new Bulgarian friends from the English class that I teach and hit the gym after all the holiday food. It's starting to get cold here and there was already snow on the mountains. I still occasionally go to my dance class on the weekends although I'm not really a morning person on Saturdays. On the weekend after Thanksgiving I met with a group of volunteers from a nearby town and we celebrated by eating too much and playing board games. It was really comfortable and we were able to swap stories and advice for teaching and working in our communities.

Just yesterday was another holiday that marked a big milestone for me. On World AIDS Day, I went with some of my students to the Riokos, or health services center in my town and made a presentation for the students from the school for the deaf children in our region. In my classes we had made HIV/AIDS awareness posters and some of my students from the language school where I work came and presented theirs. A teacher from the deaf school translated and some of my colleagues came to watch as we showed a film with subtitles and a dramatic discussion group called "8+" came and did a scene showing risky behavior. "8+" was made up of Bulgarian students and it was a good opportunity for them to integrate with some of the students from the school for deaf children. I was relieved that everything went well and that my first real project to address a need in the community worked without a lot of hiccups. The students had a little discussion afterwards (using translators) and it was a good opportunity to remind them of the importance of protecting themselves because most of the students had only learned about HIV/AIDS from reading cartoons.

Besides the issue of HIV/AIDS, now is a serious time for most Bulgarians with the effects of the international financial crisis, stemming from the U.S.'s recession. Bulgaria as a developing nation is extremely dependent on foreign aid and funds from the European Union (since 2007 when Bulgaria was admitted). Hundreds of millions of Euros have been suspended by the EU because of Bulgaria's lack of transparency and failure to act against organized crime. Bulgaria also has a tiny stock market that has been subject to financial vulnerability, with the stock index falling 80% this year. Bulgaria shares the same level of financial risk as other small, vulnerable economies (such as Iceland that actually went bankrupt due to the international financial crisis) and is rapidly losing foreign investment. This manifests itself in everyday lives as I speak with my friends that work in upper management and project up to a 30% decrease in production next year and the loss of many jobs in American and other international factories in Bulgaria. This will be a difficult year. I don't know when things will change, but for now in some Bulgarian cities it is not too uncommon to see a Mercedes share the road with pedestrians and a donkey cart. More anti-corruption action needs to happen to encourage investor confidence to ride out the recession.

I missed everyone during the holidays (and have never been more grateful for Skype!). I hope you're all staying warm and taking care of yourselves. What has everyone been up to? Write me back!

To life and health,
Emily

Baseball, Hizha, and a Wedding

I have lots to share this time around.

First of all, two weeks ago was the regional baseball championship. My team was short of a couple of players, so we joined with a team from a village nearby. Luckily that village had an amazing pitcher, so we won the first two games with a good lead. The second team has a lot of sportsmanship issues, so after the game some of my boys had to climb the fence and search for our equipment that their opponents threw over. The last game our team was pretty tired and we played against one of the best teams in the country. We lost miserably, but overall it was a good day for boosting our players' confidence in themselves. I later got to watch the vice presidential debate (Thank you Youtube!) and sent off my absentee ballot.

During the week I've been teaching literature and beginning English to the 8th graders at my school. I feel like I'm falling into my routine finally. The only hiccup along the way has been the amount of cheating in some of my classes. Apparently cheating is looked at more as helping by some students and teachers. I will be working to change that as much as I can.

The next weekend was action-packed. I went to a mountain lodge on a lake with some of David's collegues. The homemade rakia (grape brandy) flowed liberally all night, and I got to practice a lot of my horo dancing. Again people were a little confused about what do with me as a vegetarian, but overall we had a great time. Early the next morning I barely caught a ride down the mountain to catch my bus back to Turgovishte for a wedding. I was late for the legal ceremony, but made it in time for the church ceremony of my friend and student, Joro. I got to meet his beautiful wife and the daughter of my collegue at the school.

Bulgarian weddings seem a lot like American weddings, but there were some differences. The bride and groom make their entrance in the reception by walking over a white cloth that has been arranged with Zdravets leaves (for health), coins (wealth), seeds (fertility), and candy (I don't remember). Guests at the wedding pick up each of the articles after they pass so that they can have health, wealth, etc. A young woman who keeps the white cloth is the next to be married. The bride and groom also pass under 3 ribbons, white for youth/innocence, blue for their children to be, and red for love. The best man makes a toast, and thebride and groom begin the night with a lively horo joined by the best man and maid of honor. There is even a similar tradition to make the bride (Bulka) and groom (Mladozhenets) kiss; instead of clinking their glasses with spoons however, people yell out GOR-CHI-VO!, which means bitter. Later there is something similar to a dollar dance, but instead the people donate money into a basket that the bride holds and join hands with her in a horo and people keep adding to the chain. Later in the night, the bride and groom open a champagne bottle. If the champagne explodes forcefully, they will have a son, if only a little, a daughter, and if not at all, twins. Fortunately (or unfortunatly) Joro and Nadia will be having twins (according to the champagne)! Like American weddings, the bouquet and the garter belt are tossed and the cake is cut, and dancing continues late into the night. Ooh, one thing I forgot to mention, though, they drink wine and then throw the glasses on the ground, and the more broken shards there are, the more love between them :)

I've attached some pictures of the baseball game, the mountain lodge, and the wedding. Enjoy! Also, please write me and let me know what is new and exciting with you!

Thanks,
Emily

More Misadventures!

Wow, it's been a while since I've written the mass e-mail/blog. I've been busy attempting to coach my baseball team, teaching adult English to a couple of my friends in town and trying to get to know the movers and shakers in my community before school starts. I also wallpapered my kitchen with the help of my collegue, Svetla. She is basically superwoman. Later I survived my first Bulgarian haircut with great results. :)

I spent almost a week in a beautiful city on the other side of the mountain from my town for an HIV-AIDS Training Seminar. I invited one of the teachers from the School for Deaf Children in my town since there currently isn't any HIV-AIDS training there. While tiring at times, the seminar left me with lots of ideas for working with students and gave my partner teacher and I a good basis for starting our project together.

It snuck up on me quickly. I was just about to think that summer would never end when the weather turned dramatically much colder and my next door neighbor knocked on my door. She gave me flowers and threw a bucket of water on the ground before me to wish me good luck for the first day of school.

School's going to be a challenge for me because I have to catch up on a lot of the literature that I'll be teaching for my lit classes, and for my other classes I won't have a textbook to work out of, so I will have to be creative with lesson planning. I also must learn to say no. When it comes to volunteering, I usually jump on any opportunity that comes up.

Case in point: A weekend or so ago, I started going to a horo dance class. It's very fun and a pleasant release of my tension. Later, one gentleman from the class contacted the director of my school to see if I could attend the Bulgarian Independence Day Festival in the former capital of Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo. I accepted and went along with his group. It ended up being interesting but way over my language abilities. Bulgarians at the festival all held post-graduate degrees and discussed the theory of independence and historical inaccuracies. I was way over my head. Later that day, the gentleman that invited me told me about his plan to start a project with all the schools in my region. I thought that it sounded like a good idea to have a better parent, teacher, student connection and told him so. Later during the meeting, he announced that I would be a partner on the project. Suprise! I will have to make sure to keep my head above water with this one, so wish me luck!

The pictures attached are as follows: My lunch (in the summer), Svetla the superwoman wallpaperer, me modeling a new haircut and chocolate ice cream and raspberries as Matt, another volunteer looks jealous, a giant chess set in the park in Stara Zagora, the first day of school presentation, teachers with way too many flowers, Veliko Tarnovo independence day festival.

Hi Everyone!

It's been again about a month since my last e-mail, and I have had another lifetime of experiences since then. After working at a summer camp in town for 2nd graders, my Bulgarian skills have improved because of the necessity to know commands like "repeat!" "sit down" "be quiet" and other ways to keep their attention. At the same time, I helped coach my first Bulgarian baseball game in excruciating noon heat, so I think my team will be eager to play again (but at a more reasonable time of day).

A few weeks after that I helped out at an international English camp in a city on the Black Sea, which was an exhausting great time. The students were very enthusiastic, and I gained experience teaching the oldest students. I got to know my collegues better and I know that I can count on them for Bulgarian questions and intercultural support.

I've seen a lot of Bulgaria in the past few days because from the Black Sea I went to the capital city where I had to have my yearly check-up. I miss the rolling hills and the mountains in the center and west, and there's still so much of this country that I want to get to know.

I'm establishing a good relationship with my next-door neighbor, whose husband is sick. She's always going back and forth to the hospital to visit him. It makes all of the little challenges that we go through seem much less serious when keeping health in perspective. I hope everyone back home is doing well and I think about you often.

The pictures above are from the camp that I worked at, and the activities are as follows:
Me with the director after the talent show, my students presenting about the greenhouse effect at the eco night, the Mr. and Miss Camp competition talent section where contestants had to dance on a piece of paper and fold it in half and dance again and again-a hilarious Romanian game, the make-up contest, and the sunrise on the Black Sea.

Write me back!
Thanks,
Emily

E Taka...

Hi all!
Sorry I haven't written again in oh, say over a month, but I just went
through the transition from training to site, so now I live on the
other side of Bulgaria in a medium town just waiting to get to know
people. My apartment is roomy (plenty of room for me, my landlady who
occasionally stays there, the mold in the kitchen and the couple of
cockroaches that live with us) in a great location-just across the
street from the police station! Other highlights are the picture of
Abba in my closet and the beautiful view of town (if you look just to
the left and right of the apartment next door).

Seriously though, I know that I will like it here. I've made friends
with the teachers at my school and I inherited some of the
contacts/friends of the previous volunteer. I will have to get his
baseball team up and running again, but so far so good. Many people
know me already because I was interviewed on the day of our swearing
in ceremony (speaking in Bulgarian-eek!) and it made the Bulgarian
national news. Everyone in my town perked up when they heard that I
was coming here.

Luckily before I left, I had the chance to visit a few more amazing
mountains on that side of the state and see the Rila Monastery, which
is the largest, most beautiful monastery in the country. I also
visited the waterfall in a nearby village where some volunteers were
staying and had time to learn to cook some important Bulgarian dishes
before leaving. When I tried to cook since coming here I've only
kinda burned things a little and managed to make some of the things my
baba made with much more experience and skill. I have begun tutoring
and I realized (although I tested above the required level) that my
Bulgarian could still use quite a bit of work. I will keep you posted
as more exciting things happen, but I wanted to let you know that I'm
alive and loving it.

Also, these are pictures of me with my host mom in the mountains and the Kukeri Festival, which is a pagan holiday that ancient
Bulgarians celebrated by wearing scary masks to bring good luck and
ward off the evil spirits that made people sick when the weather
changes. Then there's the very elaborate festival that the
kindergarten in my training site presented. It was so cute, and very
impressive. Finally, there's a picture from our horo dance group
(traditional Bulgarian dancing).

Please write me back!
Emily
These views do not reflect the views of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

Wooden Spoons, Why Not?

This blog does not reflect the views of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

Zdrasti! I feel like a lifetime has passed since coming to Bulgaria because of how much has been going on. I found out my permanent site after training and had a visit last week. I will be an English literature teacher ( I have a lot of reading to do) at a language school in a medium sized town in Bulgaria. I will miss the beautiful mountains of my training site and of course my host family, but it seems there will be no shortage of things to do in my future site. I will soon have an address for you to send mail to, and since my birthday is coming up in July (cough: hint: cough) you will be able to send packages at that point.

I alluded to my site being busy earlier, and I think this deserves some clarification. I will inherit a baseball team. No joke. The current volunteer taught the 8th grade students how to play baseball and they've been a traveling team under his coaching for the past two years. I have no special talent for baseball and I don't even know how baseball stats work, but I guess that's what Peace Corps is about-stretching yourself to try new things. P.S. Eric, Ryan, Craig, anybody who can give me advice, that would be great. I also have received a lot of interest from the girls in my classes to help them start a dance camp. It was cute and actually hilarious when one girl came up and asked me to teach her hip hop. I think I would have to learn first.

So we were gone for about a week traveling to the permanent sites and returned to our host families just in time for May 24 and high school graduation. May 24 is Bulgarian language and culture day, otherwise known as Cyril and Methodius Day, the creators of the Cyrillic/Bulgarian alphabet and language. Students had a parade and there were a lot of events for the graduates, such as a procession and a prom-like dance. It's also a tradition that the graduates drive through town counting 1,2,3, up to twelve and cheering. They've been doing that pretty much all week long. Tomorrow we will have a lesson in a nearby town, so I have to get ready for it.

Oh I almost forgot to tell you about my strangest day hiking in the countryside yet. Everything was great on the way up, but you know me, afraid of heights and all, so on the way down it was more tricky, there were a lot of dead leaves on the ground and we didn't really have a path, so I fell four times at the end where all the 50+ Bulgarians were waiting, laughing hysterically. Don't worry I didn't bruise more than my pride, but I did manage to rip a giant hole in the crotch of my jeans. After that we went to a village looking for cold water when a woman invited us into her home. She basically had a museum of a traditional Bulgarian home-complete with scary mannequin. I was feeling better and she was incredibly friendly when we left, especially when she gave me a set of wooden spoons because I said I was moving further away. We then got a ride to the bus stop in a horse-drawn cart. I love Bulgaria.

There, I've written a lot, complete with pictures of the Roman ruins behind my house (for Joni!) and I expect a snippet back. That's all I ask.

I wish you health, happiness, and luck
желая ви здраве щастие и късмет
Емили
Emily