Today Tessa, Kerri and I met to do our lesson plans and study a bit at the cafe. After 2 hours or so we finish up and see our partner teacher, Marusia, come in with a few people. She points us out and one of the gentlemen walk over and tells us in perfect british english how lucky we Americans were in the world cup game. WHAT?!?! First of all, yeah, but second, you speak english?!?! We join them for a drink and this guy starts telling us that they just moved to Bulgaria to be near their daughter who moved here to start a horse farm. As we talk he tells us that he runs an internet radio station. So naturally we ask how he got into something kind of random like that. "oh" he says "I've been in radio since I was 17. It was me and a couple of friends that started pirate radio in Britian back in the day".
Umm... What?
Yeah, it was a blast. We used to sail up the coast and to take requests. We had people flash it out in Morris Code with their headlights. I was great till eventually they cut our anchor and towed us in to be tried.
Ok, my opinion of this guy just jumped tenfold!
So after that I started working at the BBC since they had no idea how run popular music. So I did that for the start of rock and roll. Yeah, I worked their for a bunch of years as a DJ and ran/ hosted their summer concert series at all the beaches in Britian.
AMAZING!!!!!!
So the highlights of his life after that:
1. He toured the world MC-ing and opening for a bunch of acts during the British Invasion
2. Moved to Australia and ran a radio station there
3. Moved to Spain and started a radio station there
4. Moved back to England in Canterbury and opened a hotel that was ranked #3 in all England
5. Moved back to Spain and started the internet radio station
So when his daughter decided to move to Bulgaria to train horses he decided to pack up and move there as well. He lives in a town about 20 kilometers from us.
He was absolutely an amazing guy and the stories that he and the rest of the group hinted at sound fascinating. I can't wait to hang out with them again.
Haha, so just one more thing to the list that Marusia has given us here!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
When in Rome
So the expression "When is Rome" is not a common expression. In fact, it is basiclly unheard of over here. So, if you have seen Anchorman, it was just like that sence. The cross-culture and language are creating some histeracal situations. Case and point, the other night I was being asked if I have ever heard of Sex in the City. Yes, I have heard of it. So topic moves on and I don't think anymore of it. Saturday rolls around and I get a phone call from my host brother that they got me a ticket for THE movie. Umm... what? That conversation had been about if I LIKED Sex in the City. I can honestly say I have never seen more than 10 min of it, but hey, this is supposed to be an adventure, right?
The last few weeks have been uber hectic, but over all I am having a blast. My Bulgarian is coming along slowly, but I am definitely understanding a lot more. I really don't think that there is a language that would be harder than English, but Bulgarian seems to be a close second. Every single grammar lesson is 5 min of going over the rule and then 2 hours of the exceptions to rule. F!
We started teaching at the local school, first in pairs then going solo. My first lesson was on my hometown to the 5th grade classes. Since it is damn near impossible to explain the Amish over here I've just been saying I'm from Philly. A whole lot easier! Otherwise I have been teaching everything from vocab to grammar to leading discussions. Everyday is something different!
I've started running with another volunteer, Tessa. It is great to have another person the run with so that I don't dog it and actually go the distance. There is also a gym in town that Neal, the PCV that is stationed here was able to get us into. It is great to be able to workout since I would be getting super fat off the food here.
I don't think there is a Bulgarian translation for cooking light. All the food is full fat and full flavor. The other morning I had french toast the was fried in lard and covered in strawberry jelly. Talk about a sitting like a rock in my stomach! And every meal is bigger than my normal dinner in the US. Lunch is a full 3 course meal! But over all there are only a few things that I don't care for so no real problems. I do miss regular salads, but I bought lettuce seeds so once I get to my permanent site (so freaking excited/nervous to find out) I hope to grow a bit.
Speaking of permanent sites we have the interviews this week for the PC to find out what are preferences are and what would be the best fit. I am really hoping for a medium size site like the size of the town I am in now, but honestly I am up for anything.
The last few weeks have been uber hectic, but over all I am having a blast. My Bulgarian is coming along slowly, but I am definitely understanding a lot more. I really don't think that there is a language that would be harder than English, but Bulgarian seems to be a close second. Every single grammar lesson is 5 min of going over the rule and then 2 hours of the exceptions to rule. F!
We started teaching at the local school, first in pairs then going solo. My first lesson was on my hometown to the 5th grade classes. Since it is damn near impossible to explain the Amish over here I've just been saying I'm from Philly. A whole lot easier! Otherwise I have been teaching everything from vocab to grammar to leading discussions. Everyday is something different!
I've started running with another volunteer, Tessa. It is great to have another person the run with so that I don't dog it and actually go the distance. There is also a gym in town that Neal, the PCV that is stationed here was able to get us into. It is great to be able to workout since I would be getting super fat off the food here.
I don't think there is a Bulgarian translation for cooking light. All the food is full fat and full flavor. The other morning I had french toast the was fried in lard and covered in strawberry jelly. Talk about a sitting like a rock in my stomach! And every meal is bigger than my normal dinner in the US. Lunch is a full 3 course meal! But over all there are only a few things that I don't care for so no real problems. I do miss regular salads, but I bought lettuce seeds so once I get to my permanent site (so freaking excited/nervous to find out) I hope to grow a bit.
Speaking of permanent sites we have the interviews this week for the PC to find out what are preferences are and what would be the best fit. I am really hoping for a medium size site like the size of the town I am in now, but honestly I am up for anything.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Graduation and Prom... What was that?!?!?!
So Friday, Marusia (aka the nicest person ever) the english teacher invited us to graduation on Friday. It was supposed to start at 9 or so, but didn't get rolling till like 10 in normal Bulgarian fashion. The beginning of the, for lack of a better word, ceremony was outside with most of the underclassmen in attendance. They did the normal awards and whatnot. Then as that was wrapping up the 11th grade went downstairs to the basement to prepare for the rest of the ceremony. Being the guests of honor we were the first down the stairs. The first thing that hit me was the bumping techno blasting up the stairs. We head downstairs of a soviet era high school to find a scene that would not be out of place in a Vegas nightclub. The 11th grade girls were dancing on tables along the wall with the cheerleaders on both sides. After that there were a bunch of skits, the highlights being a video of the kids pretending to be drunk and getting a prostitute, 2 guys doing a "Full Monty" routine, and a lot that I really didn't understand but were hilarious anyways. Oh, and like at all good graduations, a guy getting a tag team lap dance. Yeaaaah, it wasn't the Pomp and Circumstance I was used to.
That night I went to a graduation party for one of the girls, Mila. I sat at the kids table directly across and next to the students I will be teaching on Weds. Awkward much? That didn't stop them from slamming some beers. These things will happen. That whole night was like nothing I have ever expereienced. The savior of the night was an adorible little girl that spoke really great english and helped translate for me. Towards the end of the night I was introduced to the gold medal winner in deadlift from one of the 1980 games. He was just a massive human being, but a really sweet guy. He also drank most of a beer while holding me in a headlock. Hilarious.
So that brings us to Saturday. Prom. I was orginally supposed to actually go to prom with Mila, but thankfully that got changed around. (A note on the schools: They start 1st grade at 7-8 so they are 19-20 at graduation). I was having a beer with Neal when the other high school in the town had theirs so I was a little more prepared then the rest after seeing the white pleather and irradenscent suits of that group. The outfits on the guys were like if you mixed the guido jersey fashion with what you thought was awesome in the 7th grade. It was amazing. The girls were dressed like they were going clubbing. And for a class of about 40, almost all the girls were gorgous. I mean, 9s or higher. I kinda understand the whole 1 in 10 PCV come back married after that. So the prom only started at like 9 so we ordered our salads. That was the only thing we got to eat that night. The 4 hour dinners here are an understatement. We left at 1am and people still weren't done. I also found out I am not a fan of the bulgarian pop music. It doesn't have a normal beat so I always feel uncomfortable dancing. So after a few rounds of beer and dancing some of the PCVs were tired and I walked them home and then we went to the disco.
Niq, Drew's host sister, and her friends met Drew, Kerri and I there. Again, beautiful. So after another 2 hours of techno we called it a night. One of the most sureal weekends I have had.
P.S. If there are spelling and or grammer mistakes please forgive me. I am typing all these on my host family's computer and bulgarian spell check really doesn't help all that much.
That night I went to a graduation party for one of the girls, Mila. I sat at the kids table directly across and next to the students I will be teaching on Weds. Awkward much? That didn't stop them from slamming some beers. These things will happen. That whole night was like nothing I have ever expereienced. The savior of the night was an adorible little girl that spoke really great english and helped translate for me. Towards the end of the night I was introduced to the gold medal winner in deadlift from one of the 1980 games. He was just a massive human being, but a really sweet guy. He also drank most of a beer while holding me in a headlock. Hilarious.
So that brings us to Saturday. Prom. I was orginally supposed to actually go to prom with Mila, but thankfully that got changed around. (A note on the schools: They start 1st grade at 7-8 so they are 19-20 at graduation). I was having a beer with Neal when the other high school in the town had theirs so I was a little more prepared then the rest after seeing the white pleather and irradenscent suits of that group. The outfits on the guys were like if you mixed the guido jersey fashion with what you thought was awesome in the 7th grade. It was amazing. The girls were dressed like they were going clubbing. And for a class of about 40, almost all the girls were gorgous. I mean, 9s or higher. I kinda understand the whole 1 in 10 PCV come back married after that. So the prom only started at like 9 so we ordered our salads. That was the only thing we got to eat that night. The 4 hour dinners here are an understatement. We left at 1am and people still weren't done. I also found out I am not a fan of the bulgarian pop music. It doesn't have a normal beat so I always feel uncomfortable dancing. So after a few rounds of beer and dancing some of the PCVs were tired and I walked them home and then we went to the disco.
Niq, Drew's host sister, and her friends met Drew, Kerri and I there. Again, beautiful. So after another 2 hours of techno we called it a night. One of the most sureal weekends I have had.
P.S. If there are spelling and or grammer mistakes please forgive me. I am typing all these on my host family's computer and bulgarian spell check really doesn't help all that much.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Bulgaria So Far.
Wow. This place can be so unreal some times. To start off with, we have peacocks in the backyard. Yeah, how sweet is that? It was windy and cold the first few days, so with that giant tail acting as a sail they were constantly getting tossed around the cage. They would have been fine if they put down the tail (then they could fit in the sweet peacock coup) but the females were around so they didn't. It was hilarious.
Despite trying very hard not to make assumtions about Bulgraia I made a few without realizing it. The first of many was about the high school. Now I know it wasn't going to be Manhiem Township's Taj Mahal of learning or Linden Hall's beautiful grounds so there wasn't much of a suprise there. It was pretty much what I expected of a soviet era school, complete with creepy murals everywhere. They will haunt my dreams, no joke. It was the lack of safety that completely blew me away. We were held in a classroom for the first periods before the english classes started and to meet some teachers. Well, once word got out where we were at the kids wanted to see us. After the first dozen pop-ins the door was locked. So that left the windows. On the third floor. So the closest windows they opened and looked around the corner. The further windows they were hanging completely out the windows with (I am assuming again) someone holding their feet. WTF!?!?!
The next time graduation, grad parties, and prom.
Despite trying very hard not to make assumtions about Bulgraia I made a few without realizing it. The first of many was about the high school. Now I know it wasn't going to be Manhiem Township's Taj Mahal of learning or Linden Hall's beautiful grounds so there wasn't much of a suprise there. It was pretty much what I expected of a soviet era school, complete with creepy murals everywhere. They will haunt my dreams, no joke. It was the lack of safety that completely blew me away. We were held in a classroom for the first periods before the english classes started and to meet some teachers. Well, once word got out where we were at the kids wanted to see us. After the first dozen pop-ins the door was locked. So that left the windows. On the third floor. So the closest windows they opened and looked around the corner. The further windows they were hanging completely out the windows with (I am assuming again) someone holding their feet. WTF!?!?!
The next time graduation, grad parties, and prom.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Knezha!
Hey!
So one week ago I was getting dropped off in Philly. What a difference a week makes. We got to the hotel in the mountains which was pretty sweet. The problem was it was above 6,000 ft so I was kinda having some trouble with the altitude. Other than that it was a blast, but really intense. I had language classes, culture classes, safety classes and every possible other class. After that we took a 4 hour bus site to meet my host family, Tsvetana, Lambrin and Plamen. Thank god Plamen's GF was there b/c she speaks perfect english. However, once she left the fun began. I don't know if I fully appreciated the difficulty of the language barrier until I tried to explain the Amish to them. I don't know, but I thought it was kinda funny. I am 90% sure they have no idea what I was trying to say, but we will get there. The next day we registered with the police (I have my passports btw) and bought our cell phones, met the local PCV and hung out. Tomorrow I visit my first Bulgarian classroom. Next post will be some of the hilarious stories so far.
Later!
So one week ago I was getting dropped off in Philly. What a difference a week makes. We got to the hotel in the mountains which was pretty sweet. The problem was it was above 6,000 ft so I was kinda having some trouble with the altitude. Other than that it was a blast, but really intense. I had language classes, culture classes, safety classes and every possible other class. After that we took a 4 hour bus site to meet my host family, Tsvetana, Lambrin and Plamen. Thank god Plamen's GF was there b/c she speaks perfect english. However, once she left the fun began. I don't know if I fully appreciated the difficulty of the language barrier until I tried to explain the Amish to them. I don't know, but I thought it was kinda funny. I am 90% sure they have no idea what I was trying to say, but we will get there. The next day we registered with the police (I have my passports btw) and bought our cell phones, met the local PCV and hung out. Tomorrow I visit my first Bulgarian classroom. Next post will be some of the hilarious stories so far.
Later!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
FIRST POST!!!
Wow. So I made it. Bulgaria.
So many good things and, naturally, a few that really suck.
We all met on Monday in Philly (which was so nice since everyone in the US flew to my city). After 7 hours of meetings we went out in the city for mexican at el fez and then bars with Justin. The next morning I woke up at 5 am and was terrified of oversleeping, despite the wake up call and alarm, and way too excited to sleep. So, from there we had the disaster of loading everyone on to the buses to JFK. At JFK I was told that I would have to check my carry-on duffle and that it would be an extra 200. Well, crap. After argueing with the guy at the counter I got the fee waived. From JFK to Munich and then to Sofia I cannot say enough good things about Lufthansa. Good food, decent seats (I had the middle on the long leg), and absolutely gorgeous stewardesses. Seriously, they were all 9s or above.
Once in Sofia things hit their first snag. We overloaded the plane (see above) and about half of the bags did not arrive. So no big deal, they will be there tomorrow and someone from peace corps will collect it. So then we boarded another bus to take us to the mountain resort (I use that term loosely, but it is still decent). 2 hour drive south to we went from flat, to small hills, to some decent mtns, then to the huge monsters that we are on now. It was beautiful on the drive, but just off the road you could see the poverty of the region.
So the bad news, at some point after filing a claim on the missing luggage and the hotel my passport went missing. Super pissed to say the least. For now they are telling me to hang tight and wait while they check the bus and everywhere. :( I may get to have a fun trip to Sofia on Saturday.
Otherwise I am meeting a ton of really cool people and having a blast. Will update some more this week and keep everyone up to date. However, I am crashing after a day without sleep.
Leka nosht (Good Night)
So many good things and, naturally, a few that really suck.
We all met on Monday in Philly (which was so nice since everyone in the US flew to my city). After 7 hours of meetings we went out in the city for mexican at el fez and then bars with Justin. The next morning I woke up at 5 am and was terrified of oversleeping, despite the wake up call and alarm, and way too excited to sleep. So, from there we had the disaster of loading everyone on to the buses to JFK. At JFK I was told that I would have to check my carry-on duffle and that it would be an extra 200. Well, crap. After argueing with the guy at the counter I got the fee waived. From JFK to Munich and then to Sofia I cannot say enough good things about Lufthansa. Good food, decent seats (I had the middle on the long leg), and absolutely gorgeous stewardesses. Seriously, they were all 9s or above.
Once in Sofia things hit their first snag. We overloaded the plane (see above) and about half of the bags did not arrive. So no big deal, they will be there tomorrow and someone from peace corps will collect it. So then we boarded another bus to take us to the mountain resort (I use that term loosely, but it is still decent). 2 hour drive south to we went from flat, to small hills, to some decent mtns, then to the huge monsters that we are on now. It was beautiful on the drive, but just off the road you could see the poverty of the region.
So the bad news, at some point after filing a claim on the missing luggage and the hotel my passport went missing. Super pissed to say the least. For now they are telling me to hang tight and wait while they check the bus and everywhere. :( I may get to have a fun trip to Sofia on Saturday.
Otherwise I am meeting a ton of really cool people and having a blast. Will update some more this week and keep everyone up to date. However, I am crashing after a day without sleep.
Leka nosht (Good Night)
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