Orientation

Today is our last full day of orientation activities up in the Rila Mountains. We have learned a great deal of information and began quite a bit of Bulgarian. I'm working on it but it has some difficult sounds so I'll be glad when we have class every and I have lots of practice. I was impressed with some of the volunteers' Bulgarian who visited last night (who have only been here a year). Therefore, I'm hoping for the best! We have our "official" dinner tonight which will most likely include some dancing. We learned 2 dances and they are quite fun.

We get to meet our host family tomorrow! And most likely be fed a great deal of food. I will be living in a small town for our PST (Pre-service Training). It is a village of about 2,100 people and we'll see what it's like. I won't know when the next time I will blog will be. Have a great week!

Photos

I just came up to my room after our official dinner and dancing. It was great dancing some traditional Bulgarian dances and hanging out with the other trainees. A long but fun night!

The photo is of me in front of the hotel we were at for our orientation. Very nice! I promise to upload more photos later on! The connection simply isn't great to upload at the moment, took me forever just to get this one. I also have video of the traditional dancing we were able to watch tonight after dinner. It was wonderful.

Made It!

I'm finally settled in Bulgaria! We are at a hotel in the mountains which is quite beautiful. I'm hoping to get a bit of time during the day tomorrow to go out and get some photos of the beautiful scenery. I am staying with another girl in a double room until Sunday when we take another bus ride to Vratsa. There are about 85 of us, quite a large group! Peace Corps Volunteers here will be Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Youth Development, and Community Development. I will be teaching English to Primary students.

It's 8 hours ahead of Minnesota here in Bulgaria; therefore, it is currently almost 10:00 pm. (And, I'm ready to go to bed.) My Tuesday and Wednesday converged into one and I'm lacking sleep quite a bit. I didn't sleep much on the planes or the bus ride here. It is going to be a busy week of learning new things and getting ready to move in with my host family on Sunday! Hello to everyone back home and I'll try to update this as much seems reasonable.

Leaving

I can hardly believe I leave tomorrow morning. It has gone by so fast. My Bulgarian isn't great but it's coming along and I'm excited to finally get to Sofia! I've been checking out other people's blogs and looking at photos and it looks like a beautiful place to spend a few years.

I am very thankful to all of the people who came to the going away party yesterday (and those who called or send cards). It was wonderful to see all of you and spend some time together. I will miss you, leaving is bittersweet. My bags are packed, we'll see if they're under 50 lbs once I get to the airport. According to our scale they are right at (I may have to even take some thing out. However after packing, repacking, and packing some more I don't know what else to leave behind. We are leaving Fairmont at 3 am in order to get to the airport in time for my 7 am flight. It will be a long day but hopefully I can take a quick nap on the plane. Philadelphia, here I come!

Packing...

I finally received a new cord for my laptop from Fed-ex so I can get a few things done that I need to. But oh the packing, what to bring, what not to bring? I want to bring some great children's literature but books are heavy (we'll see how many I can get away with). Bringing everything for two years is a task but I have the next few days to figure it all out before I'm busy over the weekend. I've been visiting people, clearing up things, organizing, reading, and trying to squeeze in some Bulgarian. Monday will come so soon, it's already creeping up on me.

The time keeps ticking away

I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away until I leave for staging and then Bulgaria! I'm very excited to get started yet nervous to start something completely new. I've been going through my things to decide what I need and what I want to bring with. It's hard to fit everything into a few bags. I've been busy visiting people, organizing things, and packing things (preliminary). I have to go through everything again to make sure I have everything I need at staging. I was a bit upset I had to get an H1N1 shot but that's done now. Now I just need to fill out some forms and make sure things are in place for when I'm not in MN. Oh, and my computer cord broke so I'm waiting on that for consistent internet use (for the time being I have to use the parents computer). These last days are going to be crazy.

Interested in Bulgarian?

I'm working to master the Bulgarian alphabet. It's a tricky one as it is 30 letters and has more difference than similarity to the English alphabet. I've added a picture for you to see what it looks like. I'm hoping to know all the letters and sounds within the week since I'll be doing some traveling and have more time available. Heading to Pittsburgh this weekend to see Sonya and Karthik! Then Naples, Florida to see Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa, can't wait to drive back to MN with you and stop by Memphis for the Civil Rights Museum! Obviously, I'm very excited to get moving yet can't believe I'm leaving in a little over one month. woo hoo!

One correction

While I do leave for Bulgaria on May 12th, I will leave Minnesota on May 10th for staging in Washington DC, Los Angeles, or another major city before leaving with the rest of my group for Bulgaria. I will be reading through my lengthy packet of information and accepting my placement in the next few days. Lots of history, culture, and new information.

Received my placement!

I finally received my placement to:

Bulgaria for Primary English Teaching

I will leave on May 12, 2010.

I have to read through a great deal of materials but right now those are the major details I know. I'm very excited and ready to start preparing for a new country and great deal of learning.

Medical Check

My medical check is now complete which means I'm just waiting on my placement! I have no idea when I will get my letter in the mail but hopefully within the month.