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.

Home Sweet Bulgaria

The past few weeks have been a series of adventures. I was sworn in as an official Peace Corp Volunteer and moved to my new home almost 3 weeks ago. My little town is about 30 km from the coast and 60 km from Varna (the biggest town in the region). It takes about an hour to get there by train. The funny thing is it costs about 4 leva to get to Varna, by bus or by train, or 3 leva to get to the next town over, a 5 min bus ride. Not quite sure how that works, but it is what it is. There are a ton of volunteers around the region and Varna is the main hang out hub. Plus, there is a Thai Restaurant there. And I LOVE thai. Not Charles though.

My apartment is not much to look at. It is small. I mean really small. My entire apartment is slightly larger than my bedroom in college. If anyone remembers my bathroom on Wilbur st, it would be described as ‘spacious’ compared to my current one. On the plus side it will be really easy to heat in the winter. Just baking heats the whole place up. The place is right off the center of town so I don’t have a far walk to get anywhere. In fact, there is a small bazaar right outside the entrance that sells fresh fruit and vegetables.

Other than that I have been super busy with getting settled in and starting work. I have been working with the student council trying to make a school webpage. Trying to do something creative by committee is not easiest and I have my natural Wolfgang patience. However, we are making some decent progress so I am trying not to be cynical. Other than that I am teaching some English in the afternoons and I am starting to write some grants to try and build the school a decent gym/ workout room. It is slightly self serving since I would love a place to workout, but students have all said that it is something that they really want. The real fun is on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I get to do my normal summer routine, aka, playing kickball. I have taught about 15 kids the game. I consider this one of my more impressive feats considering my poor language skills (though I did pass the minimum requirements for Peace Corps) and the fact that the kids have no knowledge of the rules of baseball, or for that matter, a game of baseball. Explaining everything from what a base is on up has been a real challenge. I get to use the computer in my counterparts office a few times a week, so I spend a fair portion of that on Google translate.

I should have internet at home sometime soon (hopefully whenever I post this is an indication). The internet company has been promising to turn it on for a few days now. I would describe business moving on ‘island time’. Nothing is really rushed. Case and point is getting my Bulgarian ID card. It is called the Linchna Carta. The process to issue the card takes the better part of 6-8 weeks. Everything goes through a tiny office in Varna so there is always a sizeable line. Last Friday, after waiting 1 week for 2 signatures, I went to get my photo taken and fingerprinted. Unfortunately it was too hot that day so the boss wasn’t in. So, I had to go back on Monday. Monday, however, I was taking a group of students to the beach. So after a day on the beach and no shower I went and got my photo taken for my official Bulgarian Identity card. My brother, Justin, has a passport photo that makes him look like he just got off a 3 day bender. This picture makes me look like I went on a Keith Richards style 3 day bender.

I’m still losing weight like crazy, which I love. I have scaled back the running. It is way too hot and I don’t have Tessa here to make me go. That and there is no good area to run. The track in Knezha was really nice and the hill we would run up was a lot of fun. Here the track is super over grown and I am not supposed to run outside of town due to wild dog attacks. This leaves running through town and up and down the hill that the town is built on. I have a good circuit to run, but the stares and pointing are a bit uncomfortable.

This past sunday I went to a near by town for lunch and to hang out with the other volunteers around. There are 3 volunteers in the next town over, but no easy way to get there till I buy a bike. The town is only about 7-8 km away, but on the other side of a mountain, so to get there is about 20 km so I have to take a bus. Sadly, there are only 2 buses a day, a morning one and an afternoon one. There are no set times for the bus. The morning one comes between 7:30 and 8, so I try and get that one, but the afternoon comes pretty sporadically. After I get there we run up to see this ancient fort above the town, both grab showers and meet the other volunteers for coffee. Then grocery store!! I am really missing big grocery stores. Wegmans, Whole Foods, Stauffer's. I would even settle for a Weis. The one we went to was like an Aldi's but compaired to the stores in my town it was epic. I will def have to make a monthly trip there to stock up. So after a really excellent lunch we check the bus times. There is one at 6pm. Perfect! So around 5:45 I get to bus stop only to find the bus came and went about 20 min ago. The bus came a full half hour early! So I had to take a taxi (rather pricey) back home. All and all it was still a pretty great little adventure!

That’s all for now!

So It has been awhile

Sorry to everyone! I haven't updated in a long time. It has been absolutely crazy. So, biggest news first. I got my site placement!
I will be spending the next 2 years of my life in a very small town about an hour away from Varna (Bulgaria's big beach resort). Peace Corps asks that we don't put our exact locations, but skype or e-mail me if you would like. My school is pretty cool. It has a ton of old USSR emblems and stuff around from when it was first built. The flag stand that has the EU flag has a little sycle and hammer on the top which I found really amusing. My apartment is small, about 15X20 but I have a balcony and a washing machine so I am pretty happy about that! Plus there are a lot of really cool people near by to visit. A lot of my really good friends are spread out around the country so I will be seeing a lot of the country over the next few years!
So other than eagerly awaiting swearing in on July 23 there has been a ton going on. The school year finished and our summer school program began. Tessa and I are teaching improv and acting. I am also helping with Drew's class on American Football. So we have Bulgarian Language lessons in the morning and then teach all afternoon. About 5 I start homework and study. Running with Tessa about 7. Dinner around 9pm and then bed around 10:30-11.
The PCV in town, Neil, left yesterday for the summer. He is teaching at an all English Summer camp for the next month and we will have left for site by the time he gets back. I am really going to miss having him around. He has been great to sit and have a beer with and hear what Peace Corps are really like. Neil has been so great for helping with any questions and just to hang out with.
We hung out with the British folks again to watch the England v Germany World Cup game. I have found myself already slipping into calling it football. It was a disappointing game, but I have Germany v Brazil for the final game so I was secretly happy! It really is amazing that I never really gave a damn about watching sports before, but now I jump at the chance to get together to watch them. Plus a bunch of PCVs rent out an English Pub in Varna and get together to watch the Super Bowl every year.
On the home front I think my family is coming over to my neck of the woods for Christmas. The tentative plan right now is to meet in Istanbul (which is only like a 3 hour train ride for me). Justin might come over early and maybe see a little of Greece if I can get the time off from school. Otherwise I think I will be traveling a bunch next summer. A flight from Varna to Rome is only $120 round trip and to Germany is about $150. In comparison, the train would only be about $75, but it would take close to 9 hours (The trains through eastern europe are not what one would call quick). So plenty of time to plan and think about it, but if you are in Europe next summer, drop me a line!

One of those amazing stories

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!

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.

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.

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.