Busy Busy

I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend as things have been so busy lately. I'll start with last week. I traveled to Vratsa on Wednesday to have my 4th teaching workshop which was held Thursday, May 10th. Along with the teachers who attended, there were 3 Peace Corps Volunteers, 1 Fulbright, and one person from the TEFL Program Staff. The workshop went very well and I received lots of great feedback. To get you all up to date on numbers thus far, here are the statistics:

There are 32 Bulgarian TEFLs (Teachers of English as a Foreign Language), 1 Fulbright Scholar, 1 Peace Corps TEFL Program Staff, and 9 PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) who have attended the workshops. These teachers are responsible for teaching over 3,5000 students. These numbers along with all the positive feedback has proved these workshops to be well worth their time and effort. Plus, there's one left!

Vratsa Attendees

Friday, May 11th I had my exit interview with one of the staff in the office which was mainly just about how I feel my service has gone, things I will take away from Peace Corps, and memories. It went well and then I spent the day with other volunteers.

Saturday, May 12th was the Bulgarian National English Spelling Bee which I had a student competing in. He ended up getting 5th place, congratulations Danny! There were over 4,000 spellers competing to get to the national competition so that was quite the accomplishment. Plus, he's only in 6th grade so he's got another year to compete and I hope he continues to do well. After the bee I had lunch with a group of volunteers at a fabulous Chinese restaurant and then later in the evening most of us attended a fundraiser at a restaurant for a girls' summer camp called GLOW.

Sunday there wasn't anything I had to do so I mainly just hung out at the hostel since Monday I had my eye exam, physical, and dental appointment. All went well and then I came back to sliven on an evening bus.

The reason I had all my appointments on one day and headed back late instead of staying another day was because all of the 3rd graders at my school went on an excursion yesterday that I was able to attend as well. We traveled to Kalofer which is the birthplace of Hristo Botev who was a poet and revolutionary. Then to Kalofer which is the birthplace of Vasil Levski who was a revolutionary and continues to be a national hero. Then we stopped in Sopot which is the birthplace of Ivan Vasov who was a poet, novelist, and playwright. Finally, we went to Kazanluk to see the Tomb of Seuthus III which was uncovered in just 2004 and also at the museum which contains the authentic items found inside the tomb (there are only replicas inside the actual location). It was a long day as we left the school at 8:30 and didn't get back to Sliven until about 7:30 but it was fun and good to see lots of historical places. You'll find all my photos by clicking on the link below:

Excursion

Today is back to a regular school day and since I only have two more weeks with the 3rd graders I'm going to try and appreciate every minute of them. The last day for elementary students is the end of this month. I hope you're all having a wonderful day!

Peace, Love, Literacy, and Reckless Curiosity.