This weekend I traveled to Sofia via bus (it is four hours one way) to be with some of the other Peace Core volunteers. It was a great weekend and I had a great time getting to know some of the volunteers I haven’t been able to spend time with thus far. It’s hard to find time to get together sometimes so when the opportunity arose, I was glad to make the trip. Plus, I was able to have some amazing food. I had some sushi and get this, a veggie patty FOOTLONG from SUBWAY! Yes, there is Subway in Bulgaria and it is amazing!
The other Peace Corps volunteers here in Bulgaria, along with my host family, really are getting to be like true family. They are the people I am able to depend on when I’m frustrated, want to chat, or want to relax and have fun. I love being with the other volunteers as it is essentially a no stress environment compared to teaching every day with kids chatting all hour and the occasional fight. Yes, I broke up my first official fight last Friday between a 5th grade boy and a 5th grade girl. No blood, but they were both crying. Hanging out with other volunteers allows for actual conversation that is not about if I’m married, why I’m not, when I plan to have children, how many siblings I have, where I come from, and every other little thing about my life. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to make small talk with people here in Bulgaria but it is frustrating that I can’t go much deeper into the conversation due to a lack of language. Therefore, I’m happy to be around other Americans or fluent English speakers and talk about other things.
What’s been happening in school? We’ve just been working from the curriculum and I continue to do spelling quizzes with the kids. They are getting better, it’s simply happening very slowly. I start my English class with the teachers this week which should be a good time. We are starting out with greetings, numbers, and introductions as I’m not sure how much all of them know. However, a lot of them do know a few words in English and they all want to be there so that is a plus. I have also started meeting with two 7th graders on Mondays to work on their English, mainly spoken English. They are more advanced students for their grade and sought me out to spend time working with them. We found a time that works and are meeting on Mondays. It should be fun to meet with them as it is essentially tutoring for 45 minutes (that’s a class hour) once a week.
What else? Fall has been gorgeous here. The smell of freshly fallen leaves is strong and it has been fairly warm. We have had the occasional extremely windy or rainy day but overall it’s been good. It’s also made me miss Minnesota all the more. It’s so strange that I have been in Bulgaria for 6 months. Yes, it was 6 months on November 12th. Though the days or weeks may seem to drag at times, the months seem to fly by. I miss you all at home and think of you often! Have a great week.
Can you find the K?
The gorgeous train ride from last weekend to the city of Pazardzhik.
One last thing, I promise this is the last thing for today. I received a package from family with some great music in it and simply cannot stop listening to The Wailin’ Jennys. My favorite song so far, Beautiful Dawn.
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