Excitement abounds.... once this sh*tty weather is over.

I know it is only February. I know that most likely I have almost another full month till shorts, sleeping with the windows open, and daylight past 6 pm. However, I just can't wait for spring. The tease of those few nice days was just too much. I'm already planning the summer. Where am I going, what am I doing and how soon can I leave. I fall asleep to thoughts of boarding a plane, of days at the beach, even of the possibility of scout camp! So as it stands now here is an goal sheet for the summer. I'm putting it down now so I can check to see how much I actually accomplish.
1.) Run a half marathon/ Run the Athens marathon. Ok, the first one is a summer plan, while the Athens's thing is in like November, but still. Also, many people say it is one of the hardest in the world with all the hills, so I might only do the 10k, but still. Summer plans include lots of running and getting in shape. This time I won't have Tessa kicking my but and making me run so it is going to be a lot of that self discipline I keep hearing people go on about. The half marathon might tie in with another one of the trips, it might just be run to Huelo's town one day. We'll see on that one
2.) Italy. I turn 25 this year. 25! A quarter of a century. Odds are, almost a third of my life. I mean, I have to do something amazing to mark this momentous of occasions. Justin and his friends rented out a bar. That would be doable, but saddly many of my friends wouldn't be able to make it (I'm looking your way Jake). So what to do? How about go somewhere? And not just some somewhere... Italy! Yay! I have been wanting to go forever. I love the food, the cars (Not Alphas, ask Charles about my stance on those) the language, the first 2 godfather movies, pretty much everything about Italy. I have been practicing my speaking and vocab at home so I will be ready. I want to see as much of the country as I can. This goes completely in the face of number one's goal of being healthy since I will be stuffing my face to uncomfortable levels at least 2 meals a day. Oh well, you're only young once and if my heart has survived the deep fried orgy that was PST, it can handle what ever Italy can throw at it. On the plus side, after all the weight I lost during PST, I've got room to expand in all my pants.
3.) Justin's visit. This one should be an event. We fought constantly as kids and only really started getting along once he left for college. This should be a great adventure. He is flying in to Sofia, I am going to take him across the south of BG and then go to Istanbul for a few days. It should be pretty amazing. Plus it will be nice to show him what my life is like and what the country of BG is really like.
So those are the BIG three. There are some other stuff, like building a playground, getting this gym up and running, trying to get the student council to do work, and maybe some summer english classes. That last one is a big maybe, but time will tell. Anyway, as I look out on the cold rain and flooded alley I can't help but picture blue skies, warm breezes and the fantastic season which is summer.

Just a thought

Though I doubt I will keep this rather impressive string of blog posts I figure I might as well throw a few out there before I get distracted by something shiny or bits of sting or whatever might hold my attention for hours at a time. This one happens to be on the weather. I know, talking about the weather. I used to find it one of the most mundane of topics. A filler, if you will, for when you’re not sure what to say but feel that the conversation hasn’t reached the breaking off point. However, having almost outgrown the childhood weather classification of two categories (A. It’s nice to play outside, and B. It isn’t,) now care to talk to people about the weather. So is new found well of untapped maturity the reason for this random tangent, you ask? Nope. It is because of the huge difference right now between the weather in Bulgaria and America.

My parents sent me pictures from an ice storm that happened the same week that I wore shorts running and sat and read in the park. It is just amazing the difference. People were shoveling snow and I was working on my tan (slow and steady, you know. Best to start now.) I was worried about winter here. As you may have gathered, it is my least favorite season and the winter in Bulgaria had me pretty apprehensive. Particularly the story from my friend Neil, a b24, about how despite having a heater going full blast around the clock he had ice almost an inch thick on the inside walls of his kitchen. Umm… What? Then getting to site I hear about the meter of snow on the side walk last year. I am 1.75 meters. Waist high you say? Buses and Trains didn’t run for a week? I’m going to have to pass.

And you know what? It worked. This winter has been pretty great. A little cold early off and a few snow storms I could have done without, but honestly, pretty all right. The culmination of this winter weather? 67 and sunny on February 8^th. I spent a good deal of the afternoon sitting in the sun doing lesson plans and a whole lot of nothing. It was glorious. The next 4 days the highs are all above 60. For the beginning of February that is fantastic. If you could show me conclusive proof that this is due to global warming I would be building a bonfire of tires and gas and using cfc aerosols to start it.

So before the Frost giants descend upon this Valhalla of nice weather (I’m reading a book about mythology, sue me) I make this plea: Don’t let this be the precursor to that meter of snow!

For those of you that question the logic behind volcanos= pretty.

Flucation = Way better than Snow Days

Oh Flucation, the sweetest of all the school holidays. Growing up, I was regarded snow days as the highlight of winter. Day off? For sure! Who cares that you have to make it up in June. 2 hour delay? Count me in. My AP classes were always the ones I missed. These are nothing compared with the glorious joys of FLUCATION! Comparing a snow day to a day off on flucation is like comparing apples and a steak dinner at the Palm. The reason? The weather. Snow days mean snow. Cold, unpleasant snow. I hate snow. Yes, snow is very pretty. I also think volcanoes erupting are pretty. That doesn’t mean I want to be anywhere near either of them. Flucation isn’t fettered by dismal weather. It is a beautiful sunny day off today. Not a cloud in the sky. Thank you Flucation

So what caused this miraculous of events? Cosmic rays? A boon from the lords of Olympus? Nope, just as you guessed, the common flu. Apparently flu shots are not the de rigueur in Bulgaria so every year there is a massive outbreak. Like, really massive. Over 30% of my school was ill. It shut down everything in town. So that left me with loads of free time. Wrote some grants, planned some awesome lessons, studied BG a bit, and most importantly, watched a lot of movies. Umm… so maybe not most importantly. But regardless, it was an amazing vacation.

The best part? These days don’t have to be made up. School is out, no matter what!

I can only wait till next year. In the mean time, I’m taking the soap out of my classroom. Might as well help the odds, right?