Statistics

Since it was interesting to me I figured some of you reading may also be interested in the stats of my blog one year into my Peace Corps service (hint hint Keegan Korthauer). This week marked over 7,000 pageviews for my blog. I never would have thought I'd be there already so a huge THANK YOU to everyone who is reading. The two main reasons I began this blog were to share my experience here in Bulgaria and work toward Goal # 3 of Peace Corps volunteers:

Help Americans understand the peoples and cultures of other countries. 

The life of my blog thus far:

• March 2011 had the most page views.
• My all-time audience is coming from, in order from highest to lowest (only countries with > 20 page views are listed):
• United States of America
• Bulgaria
• Russia
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• Canada
• South Korea
• Poland
• Chile
• Netherlands
• This month (May 2011) I've had viewers from (in order from highest to lowest) Bulgaria
• Bulgaria
• United States of America
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• Iran
• Turkey
• Canada
• Slovenia
• India
• Switzerland
• Windows users outnumber Macs by a landslide.
• The top three browsers to view my blog are Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox.
• I've enjoyed creating every post.

Thanks for reading!

Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity.

Good News

After getting back from Istanbul and enjoy a few days with my friends from back home I received some bad news. One of my best friends from MN was in a bicycle accident last week in Portland, Oregon and had to be rushed to the hospital.  She has been in the ICU (intensive care unit) since the accident but she is out of it now and in a regular hospital room! She still has a lot of recovery but she is amazing the doctors everyday! If you'd like to follow her progress, a caringbridge account has been set up and it can be found here:

Krista Ryan

I love you Krista and hope your recovery keeps up the rate it's at now. I'm so happy your family is able to be there with you and I look forward to seeing you in July. You're amazing!

I also wanted to Congratulate my friend Amanda on her wedding and 25th birthday which happened this weekend! I love you babe!

Other than these events which have been occupying my brain for the past few days, I was able to go hiking with some of my students yesterday for our school's Sports Day. We had to make up a school day we had missed so we had Saturday school which turned out to be a great day! 

More photos can be found in the Links section by clicking on "Hiking on Karandila".

I hope everyone reading this is healthy and happy wherever you are!

Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity.

Get ready, I think this may be my longest post...

I guess the best place to start is with last Tuesday, May 17th. I left Sliven on the morning train to head to Sofia (the capital). I arrived around lunchtime and headed straight to the Peace Corps Office to have my yearly physical. Everything went well and after chatting with a few volunteers I saw at the office I picked up a new book to read from our fabulous Peace Corps Volunteer lending library of sort. I then went on a walk and headed to the hostel I would be staying at that night. If any of you reading this happen to travel to Bulgaria at any point, I highly recommend Hostel Mostel in Sofia. They have a wonderful staff of English speakers, provide free breakfast and dinner, and offer a great place to stay. Click HERE for more information. 

Then, the best part of the day, Keegan and Matt (friends from the USA) arrived at the Hostel! I was so happy to see them and welcome them to Bulgaria. After they dropped off their things at Hostel Mostel we went on a walk to a nearby restaurant to have some drinks and snacks. Though they were tired from all of their traveling to get here, we had a great time. After that we went back to the hostel and hung out. We ate dinner there and then it was showers and early to bed for all of us as we were all tired. 

Wednesday, May 18th we all got up and had breakfast at the hostel. We were able to sit next to an interesting woman who was traveling through Bulgaria which made for great conversation. Then we headed to the bus station to buy our tickets to Istanbul. We bought our tickets from Sofia to Istanbul without any major problems and even got a discount since all of us were 26 years of age or under. Then we decided to take a walk around Sofia to see some of the major sites. It was a nice walk and we ended up having a delicious lunch afterward at a Bulgarian restaurant. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals which was great. After lunch we spent some time in one of the city's parks enjoying the sunshine and just talking with each other. Later on we headed back to the hostel to pick up our bags before we headed back to the bus station. Our bus left at 8:30 pm. The bus ride was nice, we were given water, coffee or tea, and a snack for the ride. Though I didn't sleep as much as I should of I did get in a few hours. We bought our visas ($20) and crossed the border into Turkey just before 2 am. This was my first time being out of Bulgaria since I've been arrived and we ended up arriving in Istanbul just before 5 am Thursday morning! It worked out well for us as our bus company offered a free shuttle to the area of the city we would be staying in so we only paid for a short taxi ride to the actual building. We didn't quite want to search for it in the early morning hours. We dropped our bags off at the hostel and then headed out into the city in search of some food and coffee. After walking for some time we ended up settling on a cafe that was near to the Grand Bazaar where we had bread and Turkish coffee. My first impressions of the city were just that it was HUGE! Definitely the biggest city I've ever been to, it's population is bigger than all of Bulgaria. 

After some breakfast we walked through the city until we came to a large park near the Topkapi Palace. It was a beautiful park and we were even able to see quite a few green parrots. I had no idea they lived in Istanbul. Once the Palace was open for visitors we headed there to check it out. Here's the History of Topkapi Palace in case you are interested. It was in a great location and was interesting to see but it became crowded extremely quickly with visitors. (Check out the "Friends Visiting and Istanbul" album under links to see photos.)

After the Palace we headed to the Grand Bazaar. This is one HUGE market filled with all kinds of things to buy. If I had tons of money I would have easily been able to spend it. Everyone was marketing their goods to the best of their ability. I ended up buying a few items. Then we headed back to our hostel to get into our room and have a little time to rest. We took showers and had naps, we went out for a walk and then decided to go out for dinner. We ended up at a restaurant near our hostel where the waiter talked us into choosing a meal which included an appetizer, main course, dessert, and tea (all Turkish food of course). The meal was delicious and was well worth the price. After dinner we went back to the hostel and were in bed pretty early from a fun, exhausting day.  

Friday, May 20th we had breakfast from vendors on the street and then headed straight to the Blue Mosque. There was already a line when we got there but it went quick and it was a fun place to see. Again, check out the photos in the album as there are too many to post into this blog. After that I decided to go to the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum while Matt and Keegan headed to St. Sophia. I was happy to be somewhere quiet and calm as the Blue Mosque had so many people touring it and the streets were so busy. Istanbul was easily the most overwhelming (in a good way) place I've ever been. We all met up for lunch and tea. After lunch we decided to the Basilica Cistern. I was skeptical of it as I knew nothing about it but was very glad I went as it was extremely interesting to see. This is the place that stored water for the palace and other places. After the Cistern we headed back to the Grand Bazaar since there was still much of it we hadn't been to. I bought a few more things and then we all decided to head to the Spice Market where I could have spent LOADS of money but restrained myself. Even though it was very busy I really enjoyed being there. All the spices, turkish delights, carpets, ceramics, and other goods were fun to see. 

As if we hadn't already done enough we decided to then walk to see what is left of the Aqueducts up close. The walk there was fun as we went through a not so crowed part of town and saw some great sculptures and mosaics along the way. There was also a park we stopped at where the play equipment was based of gym equipment. It was definitely the kind of park for all ages and a great deal of fun. We then had dinner at a little local restaurant which was about 1/5 the cost of the restaurants near the tourist sites and just as delicious if not more. Finally we walked back to the side of the city we were staying on. We watched the ferries, stopped by a fish market and ended up at a cafe where we had coffee and tea to watch the sunset. It was nice to "get off the beaten path" and just sit for a while. Then we went back to the hostel to get ready for our final day in Istanbul.

After another great night's rest, it was Saturday, May 21st. We packed up our things in the morning and left our bags at the hostel as we headed out to see more of Istanbul. We began by buying bread at a street vendor.Then we headed to Galata Tower where Matt went up the tower while Keegan and I had coffee and cappuccino at a cafe below. It was a great start to the day. After the tower we headed out to see an old wall which used to protect part of the city. There were some interesting graveyards along the way and it made for quite the walk. Plus, we were able to use the city bus, subway, and tram lines to get places when it was too far to walk (in a reasonable amount of time). After the wall we had lunch and headed to see another mosque before going to the Spice Market one more time. Finally, it was time to pick up our bags and head back to Bulgaria.

Overall, Istanbul was a great trip filled with tons of walking, people, and so many sights to see. If you don't know much about Istanbul, here are a few links:

Istanbul

And more Istanbul

We were back in Bulgaria in the very early morning hours of Sunday, May 22nd and we ended up at another volunteer's apartment to spend what was rest of the night and see the Black Sea from the coast of Burgas the next day. We had lunch next to the Sea and took advantage of the beautiful weather. Then we took the train back to Sliven where we had dinner at my apartment and hung out for the rest of the night. 

Monday, May 23rd began with buying bus tickets for Matt and Keegan's travel to Athens It was then followed by a trip to the market and a few stores which was followed by lunch at a great pizza restaurant in the city. We made dinner at my apartment and just spent time together. 

Then came Tuesday. Along with Tuesday being the national holiday in celebration of the Cyrillic Alphabet this marked the beginning of the international dance festival here in Sliven. We started out at my school in the morning for a program and then headed to the city garden where there was a parade to the center square. It was an extremely hot day which was tough for a lot of the kids as many of their outfits were quite heavy. I loved watching all the dancing and it was fun seeing my students. Especially listening to the few who tried to talk to Matt and Keegan. I told all my students I would give them a good mark if they could ask my friends a good question in English. You can see photos of Tuesday under "Sliven's Youth International Dance Festival" in the links section. 

Finally comes one of the best parts of Matt and Keegan's visit. We decided to go hiking on Karandila (which is mountain in a National Park on the north side of Sliven). I thought the chairlift was 6 leva one-way but it turns out that is the group rate and it is actually 10 leva to take the lift (15 for roundtrip). Therefore, we paid to go up the mountain and decided we would just hike down. There was plenty of daylight hours left and we knew we were capable so we figured why not? Well, once we got to the top and walked around a bit we found the trail maps to be much harder to read than normal. Plus some of the marked trails just became an unmarked mess. So we headed back to where we got off the lift in search of a new route down the mountain as we knew there was a path that just followed the lift most of the way. Since it was already 5:00 pm we knew the lift was done working (it stops at 4:30 pm), therefore I asked the man who was running the lift if this was a good way down the mountain. He told me it was definitely a trail and while it was "a little steep in some parts", people used it. He also told us when we would need to turn right on another trail in order to get back into the city. Well, it turns out the trail was quite steep and I definitely should have had pants on and not shorts as there were plenty of itchy and thorny bushes along the way. The major plus of the trail was that much of it was obviously not walked as much and was full of beautiful places, plants, insects, and views. Also, I now know a way off the mountain and now know where to start if I want to hike up. A short thunderstorm even went through on our way down which was actually really fun to hear since we were so high up. We made it down without anything more then some small cuts and had a great time finding our way down together. I was happy to have done it because once we were down the mountain it was hard to believe we had actually hiked the whole way. We then ate dinner at my apartment and talked for a while. We all slept for a few hours before we had to go to the bus station so Matt and Keegan could catch their 4:30 am bus headed for Athens.  It was awesome having them here and nice to have a little break from my everyday life. Again, congratulations Matt on becoming an official Veterinarian. And, thank you Keegan and Matt for deciding to make your way to Bulgaria. I love you both! 

One more time, check out all the photos under the Links section of the blog. 

Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity. 

Bulgarian National English Spelling Bee

This past weekend I traveled to Sofia to attend the 1st ever national level of BNES (Bulgarian National English Spelling Bee). Though none of them were my students, three of the top twenty-one students were from Sliven! There was an appreciation dinner the night before and the Bee on Saturday went very well. The winner was not only recognized by the ambassador but he received a trophy and a kindle. The winner came from the Sofia region of the country and there was even a news crew there to interview him when the competition was finished. Us volunteers even had a little fun during the break in the middle of the competition by competing in our own Bulgarian spelling bee which was both fun and nerve-racking. I got 2nd place! All of my photos can be found by clicking on "BNES" in the Links section of my blog. Here are a few of my favorites:

These were a team effort:

The venue was beautiful:

The contestants:

The contestants with the Ambassador:

Not only did I attend the spelling bee but I was able to get to know some of the other volunteers here in country a bit better. There are so many of us here in Bulgaria that I have definitely not talked to everyone nor know all the volunteers here. It was a beautiful weekend!

A summary of the last few days in photos, starting with my train ride to Sofia:

Then my Friday afternoon meal at Veda House (amazing vegetarian food and tea house):

The cats behind the hotel we stayed at:

The creepy Ghostbuster-ish painting in our hotel room:

No Bible? We must not be in the USA anymore:

Popitsa having some fun today:

Have a great week!

Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity. 

One Year Anniversary

First of all, a few words from some of my favorite characters:

"I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think, I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle." Alice of Alice in Wonderland

"'Yes, it's very wicked to lie,' said Pippi even more sadly. 'But I forget it now and then. And how can you expect a little child whose mother is an angel and whose father is king of a cannibal island and who herself has sailed on the ocean all her life - how can you expect her to tell the truth always? And for that matter,' she continued, her whole freckled face lighting up, 'let me tell you that in the Congo there is not a single person who tells the truth. They lie all day long. Begin at seven in the morning and keep on until sundown. So if I should happen to lie now and then, you must try to excuse me and to remember that it is only because I stayed in the Congo a little too long. We can be friends anyway, can't we?'" Pippi of Pippi Longstocking

As of today, I've officially been in Bulgaria for one year! Happy Anniversary B26s!

Though some days it feels like:

And other days even:

For the most part it's usually:

Or an overall feeling of:

Though I miss all my friends and family back in the US of A, I am happy to say that I'm glad I came to Bulgaria. 

Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity. 

Farewells and St. George's Day

I was going to blog last night but it just got late so now I get to add today's events into the mix of things. Today was the 12th graders' farewell concert at my school. This is the first year in some time that all of the seniors are graduating so there was a lot to celebrate. Basically, the concert hall was decorated and at about a quarter to 2:00 some of the older students and teachers came into the hall and things got started a little after two. There were speeches, awards for teachers, skits, and several dances. The 11th graders all gave the 12th graders balloons with a message on them. It was a nice concert and it even ended in the 12th graders opening a few bottles of champagne. No worries, they actually are old enough to drink as the age here is 18 but it still kind of funny to be watching as they are students and everything, at least for a few more days. I have an entire album of the day linked on the side as "May 9th, 2011" however here are a few of my favorite photos of the day:

It is tradition for the 12th graders to cheer by counting from 1 to 12 over and over again:

Other than today having a bit more happening than usual, last Friday was St. George's Day which is a national holiday here in Bulgaria. This meant no school and since we had a three day weekend I decided to go visit my host family. Along with a great time, there were quite a few firsts for me.

1. I ate lamb. Most Bulgarians eat lamb or goat on St. George's Day and my family had plenty of lamb. While it was tolerable it definitely wasn't my favorite thing to eat. Since my baba (grandma) had cooked an entire lamb for essentially her, the new trainee who is living with her, and me....we ate it all weekend. I also ended up eating some at another trainee's house when we went and visited which then made me realize seasoning made it quite a bit better. All in all, it's not something I would ever order or choose to eat but I now know it's edible.

2. I saw turkeys hatching. Last time I visited my host family they were giving on of the hens turkey eggs instead of chicken eggs to hatch and this time I visited they were actually coming out of their shells. To me they looked pretty much the same a chicks from a chicken however they seem to have slightly bigger feet and a beak. They were quite adorable and I enjoyed seeing them.

3. I drank homemade quince juice. A quince is a fruit that tastes like a hybrid between an apple and a pear, to me. The juice as well as the fruit in the juice was very good, all thanks to a new trainee's host family.

4. I went to the Popitsa graveyard. Two of the trainees and I walked over to the village's graveyard and along the way we not only saw some type of animal bone but there was also a dismembered doll along the way. I loved it.

5. I saw rapeseed. I don't believe I've ever seen this plant up close but the fields are a beautiful shade of yellow this time of year. The two trainees I was with along with myself also had a little photo shoot there. Here's a link in case you've never heard of it: rapeseed

6. The train car I sat in for the 1st of the three legs was me, a university student I know from my training site, and a volleyball team. This was a new and exciting experience because the Bulgarian who was with me was able to translate in case I didn't understand (which frequently happens) the amazing jokes and humor of our car. The volleyball team who was on the train was a group of 6th-8th grade boys. For all of you who maybe aren't around this age group very often, they can be quite hilarious and their humor was just funny. They were from Pernik and were traveling to Isperih for a competition. It made those 2 hours of my trip back to Sliven very interesting, plus some of them were trying out their English. All in all, it was a good time.

7. I helped plant Bulgarian tomatoes. I mean I have helped with gardening in the past however last year when I arrived everything was already in the soil (to my knowledge) so this year I helped my baba a bit on Saturday afternoon. The way she grows the tomatoes from seeds are putting them in soil in yogurt containers indoors until they're ready to be outside. The genius part of it is that she cuts a few holes in the bottom of the inner yogurt container and leaves the outer yogurt container alone so the plant won't dry out or attempt to grow in soil that is too wet. It was a good time and I was glad to help on a beautiful, sunny day. Plus, I ate tons of those tomatoes fresh last summer and canned this winter.

Here are a few of my favorite photos however again, there is an album of the photos on the side of the blog under links titled "St. George's Day Weekend". 

Tomorrow marks one year of me being out of Minnesota. That's so strange. 

Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity. 

Student Teaching Day

Today was an exciting day at school as the students got to replace not only the teachers but the administrative staff as well. From 4^th to 12^th grade students volunteered or were chosen to teach their classes by the teachers (this is if teachers wanted to participate). The 10^th-12^th graders were able to try and become part of the administrative staff if they so wished. I know this is not something that is done across Bulgaria but it was an interesting change of events for not only our students but the staff as well. It’s something I would love to do with students in the states as I think it’s a great learning experience for all people involved (as long as there’s a lesson plan that is).

During my 6^th grade class, two of the girls taught the class. There were not a lot of volunteers so we didn’t have to go through an interview process at all. Though they could have been much more confident and loud, they did a decent job. They had the task of revising how to use “will” in a sentence. As in, "I'll go to the movie with you tomorrow." Or, "He will cook dinner if he has time." Here are a few photos to prove they did it:

 

During the 5^th grade class, a girl and boy taught. There were a lot of students who wanted to teach; therefore, last week I took them all out into the hallway and asked them questions (in English of course) to determine who would be able to speak and communicate the best in front of the class. It was close between four of the students but as I could only choose 2 students, the students below were the lucky ones. They were able to teach their classmates about “relationships”. Essentially the lesson was focused on four short readings by 2 boys and 2 girls. There was quite a bit of new vocab and phrases for them to go over. For example, “ask her out”, “got all red” (from embarrassment), “give him my number”, and “I’m interested in her”. It was a fun lesson and would have been even better had the class behaved for them. 

After school, I gave a presentation to the staff and some of the 5 - 11 grade students on “The U.S. Education System” (I presented in English, my counterpart translated into Bulgarian). This presentation was originally going to be a different week however that didn’t happen so I gave the presentation today. I stuck to facts and basics of school in the U.S. as this is a huge topic and unable to be covered in one short session. Some of the teachers were very interested in how things are done in the U.S. compared to here in Bulgaria. They were tough questions for me to answer for a variety of reasons however I gave them the best answer I could have. Some of the problems that arise when it comes to me comparing schools there and here include:

First of all, the U.S. is much bigger than Bulgaria not only in geographic size but in population and many other factors. In my opinion, this is one of the reasons we have different types of education (charter, magnet, Montessori, etc.) in the United States. Though there is some choice available here in Bulgaria it is mainly when it comes to high schools as most high schools have some type of focus here. For example, here in Sliven the high schools include Maths, Language, Arts, Business & Economics, Humanitarian, Sports, Tourism & Culinary, and a few others. There are also private and public schools here in Bulgaria.

Secondly, here in Bulgaria textbooks are approved by the Ministry of Education and schools decide which of these textbooks they will use. From these books, teachers create a yearly plan before school starts in September which includes which topic will be taught during which class for the entire year. The teachers then teach these topics throughout the year, writing down the topics each day in the “Materials Book” which is located in the teacher’s lounge. The topic in the book must match the topic in the yearly plan or problems may arise with why a teacher is deterring from his/her plan. All of this was and still is a learning process for me. Most of my experience in schools has been centered around literature or topics rather than a specific textbook which just leads to a very different learning environment (all in my opinion of course). While we (in the U.S.) have national and state standards, it is up to the district and/or administration to decide what teachers need to be accomplishing with their students on a day-to-day basis and I feel teachers have a bit more freedom in what they are teaching back in the states (again, all my opinion and my experiences in schools). I know there are schools which use textbooks for every subject and are very traditional in practice. I am simply led to those schools which are more liberal and have trust in their teachers to accomplish the job at hand.

Third, I am here to teach English and that is about the only subject area I am a part of; therefore, I’m not sure what goes on in other subjects and how the teaching is done. Being here has strengthened my belief in integrated learning even further. Our English textbooks are full of other subjects and it is hard for me to teach just the “English” part of it, especially when I love social studies so much. Since I only see my students for so much time each week it is essential for me to attempt to weed out the essentials and focus on those. This unfortunately can lead to lessons which are not as exciting and it gets tough to “spice up” a textbook sometimes. Basically, teaching English as a foreign language is teaching me a lot about not only the curriculum and my students but about separated vs. integrated learning.

Essentially, the U.S. and Bulgarian systems of education are very different and therefore very hard to compare. All in all the presentation went well and good questions were asked. I was continually saying “in my experience” or “in Minnesota” or other phrases in order to try not to make overwhelming remarks about “the U.S.” I was also trying to to pain the U.S. in an extremely good or bad picture but just present the information I know. Here is the PowerPoint I created for the presentation:

U.S. Public Education System

Tomorrow is my day to have coffee with a few of the high school students who want to improve their English and I get to pick up a package! This weekend I will be traveling to visit my host family as Friday is a national holiday and I’ve wanted to get back to their place sometime before June. I probably won’t blog again until after Sunday so….

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, grandma, aunts, cousins, friends, and all the other amazing moms out there!

Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity. 

Day in Dragodonovo

First of all, for all of you who follow my blog i'm sorry for all the font changes recently. Some of my students couldn't read the cursive so I changed it, then I didn't like the font, then it changed again, and now it's hopefully staying like this for a while. On to more exciting things...

This weekend I was able to spend some time in Dragodonovo which is a village near Sliven where another volunteers works for an NGO and the Boarding School there. It is a co-ed boarding school for students 11-18 who for one reason or another can no longer be in a "regular" Bulgarian school. Many of them have been in trouble with the police in the past. I give the volunteer there a ton of credit as it is a hard position to fulfill and really makes me appreciate my placement. 

As this the 20th year of the Peace Corps in Bulgaria and the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps worldwide volunteers across Bulgaria are celebrating through events during the year. This Saturday was one of these events and to celebrate there were about 12 currently serving Peace Corps volunteers who went to hang out with the kids. In the morning there we played sports, made bracelets, and I ended up drawing a lot of "tattoos" on the arms of the kids. Then we went and ate lunch while the kids had theirs. In the afternoon we presented on our states, played games and did a scavenger hunt and then the day was over. Other than hanging out with the kids it was also nice to see some of the other volunteers in-country that I rarely get to see. In order to show you a bit of the weekend here are some photos of what went on:

One of the most beautiful roosters I've ever seen:

The volunteer in Dragodonovo has a guinea pig named "Dudley" for a pet:

One of the girls from the boarding school greeting us when we arrived:

Two of the girls from the boarding school with a currently serving volunteer:

Three girls at the boarding school with the same volunteer:

It's very common for girls to walk arm in arm here in Bulgaria:

The jump ropes I brought were a big hit (thanks Dad and free stuff from Insurance companies):

They love posing for photos (and it's very common to paint the bottoms of trees here white):

Two of the kids at the boarding school:

A currently serving volunteer and one of the girls from the boarding school:

Being models:

Showing off their skills:

Showing off his tattoo:

There was an activity on brushing your teeth outside:

 More posing:

The first place group from the scavenger hunt:

The kids loved using my camera as well:

So that's about all for this blog post.

Happy May Day!

Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity.