Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Something wicked this way comes...

Today was my first day of school. Like all first days at a new school it was an awkward and psyche scarring event. It also showed me how bad my bulgarian is. I am pretty sure my colluges think I am borderline retarded. It also made me realize how difficult it must be when I speak english at a million miles an hour. It was a learning experience to say the least. Tomorrow I will have a bit of a reprieve since I have to go to Varna to pick up my new Bulgarian ID. Super excited to see how bad the picture turned out.
2 weeks ago I was at a confrence on the other side of the country with all the other TEFLs and the CODs for a few day. It took 26 hours to get there. To put it in perspective, I could drive from pennsylvannia to florida in 26 hours. On a plane I could fly from New York to Australia. The country, however, is about the size on Tennessee. You just have to laugh.
The conference was a blast. It was great to see everyone and I met a lot of really cool B25s. We taught a 10th grade class at a Language High School in B-grad. The kids were great and really patent with us since, for the most part, we didn't teach them anything new. B-grad was a pretty neat town. I saw two movies, Salt and Inception, with popcorn and drinks for less than the cost of a ticket in Lancaster. Got to love that exchange rate!
The most fun I think was the night we all hung out on the steps drinking. Myself and 2 other volunteers organized a beer run for the whole group. We bought close to 30 2 liters, 4 or 5 bottles of Black Ram Whiskey. It was hilarious to see the look on the cashier's face when we were checking out. After that one of the B25s, Nat, broke out his guitar and serenaded us.
Last week there wasn't a whole lot going on. I bought a bike so now I don't have to wait for the damn bus. The only problem is that Peace Corps requires me to wear a helmet when I ride. No complaints, it is stupid not to. The problem comes in trying to find a helmet that fits my enormous head. I bought one so that I could ride it back from Provadia without being keel hauled by the PC, but it is a bit snug and gives me a headache. That combined with the 20 km ride over a mountain makes it an unpleasant journey. Also it makes me realize that despite losing weight I am still not it great shape.