Justin Bieber

I've been sick with a bad cold which made me miss a few days of school this week although I was back on Friday and it was a great day. Since I had been gone I hadn't seen the kids Valentines. Last week I gave each of them a candy conversation heart to read and then eat. Their task was to then decorate a heart with that exact saying on it for this week. I only had the fifth graders so with each class we voted on which heart the kids liked best and that student received a few gum balls and a fake 100 dollar bill for a prize. Afterwards, everyone received a few more candy hearts for their participation. After the contest we went through their homework and did some work in their workbooks. Finally we had a few minutes left so I just asked random kids questions to get them speaking and we got on the topic of Justin Bieber. The kids all were calling him Justin "Bobber" and I didn't know why so I asked and they said he wasn't a beaver so they said bobber. I then drew on the board the difference between a bobber and beaver and one boy immediately came up and drew his own beaver with the caption below. Turns out the way Bieber is pronounced means beaver in Bulgaria. It made for a fun end of class.

I was also able to watch the fourth graders perform a few songs in honor of Vasil Levski. It was the day he died and each year at our school the fourth graders put on a little concert in his honor. Below is their music teacher accompanying them on the accordion. Accordions are an important part of a lot of traditional Bulgarian music. Want to know who Vasil Levski is? Visit this site: Vasil Levski

Otherwise this weekend has been nice as I am finally feeling better. Plus, it was raining pretty steady this morning which made for great sleeping weather and I got to skype with a great friend back home today. Tomorrow I get to skype with another friend! Being in Bulgaria has made me appreciate my family and friends back home even more.

I'll leave you with an example of the fun flowers I learned to knit and how I like to wear them:  

And a self portrait:

Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity.