"Snow" in the HOT summer

Lately I have been reading a great book called "Snow," in it the main character is a poet and often finds himself in the middle of something when he has the sudden surge of universal energy in the form of poems and has to write down the things in his as soon as possible or risk losing them. I often find that this is the case with me. The only difference is I am not as disciplined in transferring this message from the cosmos onto a paper (or white a computer screen). I do, however, remember that each of these urges had the same theme, and that is the theme of total and absolute contentment. Everyday I wake up feeling like I am living the kind of life I always wanted to. In the past three months I have accomplished so many things in the way of personal fulfillment. Whether it was dancing in the local town dance group in a traditional dance front of the town, being surprised by my 10th grade class on my birthday because they showed up to my dinner before I got there and jumped out with streamers and balloons to sing "Happy Birthday", or just walking into one of my classes and being surrounded by students who want to talk to me about anything and everything, my life could not get much better. I have so many wonderful things happening in my world right now that almost feel guilty because when I signed up for Peace Corps I imagined life being so much harder than it is. My life lacks those hardships everybody warned me about, maybe it is because I don't need much to be content but I think it is because I live in such a wonderful place and surrounded by such amazing people that any 'hardship' is filled with the happiness that is brought to me by being at dinner with my great friends or the satisfaction that feel when I teach one of my classes. Now if I could I remember these urges word for word and not just their general themes.

Spring Photos

Here are some random photos from the last two months.

 Parvomay Horo Dance Group and me

Me, before taking part in a Horo dance presentation

Parvomay, Bulgaria

Workers in the fields near Parvomay

Parvomay

Wheat fields outside Parvomay

Bulgarian landscape from the train

My students in an Alphabet Day presentation

Varna, Bulgaria

Varna, Bulgaria

Varna, Bulgaria

Varna, Bulgaria

Europe Day/ Food Festival

Today was the 9th of May known as Europe Day or a day to celebrate Peace and Unity in Europe. I thought today would be the perfect day for a Food Festival at my school because it is a perfect chance for my students to learn more about the other countries in the union Bulgaria is a part of, and what better way to learn about a different culture than to take a look at their food. I (along with the 11th grade English teacher) started planning for this Food Festival back in February after I told her about my idea for this project that based on a very similar project I did when I was in high school. We broke the project up into different parts hoping to make the workload more bearable, with each part being due on a weekly basis. The first step was to create an information presentation about their countries (in English), topics like general facts, history, economy, etc. The next step was to create a travel brochure,  followed by bringing in some-sort of souvenir, and then to make a flag. The final step, of course, was the actually Food Fair. Their job was to make three parts of a meal, appetizer, main course, and dessert, as well as a beverage. We gathered some four people willing to judge the groups on several different things, such as a short presentation about their food (in English and Bulgarian), decoration, taste, and so on. The mayor of Parvomay, the school director, and education minister for the Parvomay municipality, and a staff member from the Peace Corps.

After all was said and done I was so impressed and blown away by all the hard work they had done and they made me extremely proud to be their teacher. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed seeing them present something they worked hard on as well as how much I enjoyed their tasty food. I hope they learned something new about these places in the process because the more they know about the world around them the more they will feel like a part of it. I am planning on doing this Food Fair again next year and maybe this will be something that will continue on after I my service ends. 

First Place

Second Place (he worked alone)

Third Place

 

A year ago

One year ago today I left my home in New Mexico and started my Peace Corps service, this is what I wrote in my journal on March 27th, 2011

I am finally going back to Europe, but this time I am going back to live there! This is it, I have taken my first step towards a major life change. I am joining the Peace Corps and I will be heading to Bulgaria in a matter of hours (2 days really). I applied almost a year ago so I have had more than enough time to really mull over this but it wasn't until I left Albuquerque that I came to the realization that this is real. This morning I got on a plane and flew away from New Mexico not knowing when the next time I will see it again. I honestly always wondered how that would feel and I have to say it was more emotional than I ever thought it would be. The flight out was beautiful and added to the somber mood I was in. The sun was rising just as we took off, there were more clouds than normal and they reflected the light of the new day in a spectacular display that could only be produced in the New Mexican sky, and as we flew through the clouds Albuquerque disappeared through the blue and orange fog. It felt like the world was covering my home with a warm colored blanket protecting it and all that I love until I return.

Spring is here!

After enduring such a cold and snowy winter a warm spring day like today was more than welcome here in this part of Bulgaria. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get outdoors and take a long walk. I set my internal compass on a near by group of ponds that I have seen many times on the train coming and going from Parvomay but have never actually been to. It took about an hour to reach this place but the whole journey I was kept company by birds dancing overhead displaying their agility and a newly green landscape that was much more pleasant to look at then the bright white coating it displayed merely a month ago or the dull brown hew it was flaunting what seemed like only yesterday.  

Once I reached the bodies of water, I found a nice grassy spot near the water where I laid down and closed my eyes. I listened the birds sing their song to the frogs who responded with their own tune. Now, I don't really understand the language of birds nor frogs but I can safely say that they were both singing about the joys of the new season. During this delightful chorus I let the sun warm my skin while the wind danced through this whole scene, adding it's part to the song between animals in the form of moving leaves and taking turns with the sun cooling my skin where the bright rays had warmed it and would begin to warm again during a lull in it's cycle. 

I'm so happy Spring is finally here, thank you Bulgaria for helping me appreciate it

Seeing France from Bulgaria

My students walking through the Louver

When I was in the 5th grade I remember having a project where I had to pick a country and present it to my class. The country I selected was France, and from that day on I dreamed of traveling to the land of baguettes and the Eiffel Tower. Almost four years ago I was luck enough to go there and I enjoyed ever millisecond of it, it was such a profound trip and really shaped my outlook on the world. It really inspired me to travel more, to see more of the world, and you could even say that it was driving force in my joining the Peace Corps. So when I found out that my school here in Bulgaria was organizing a trip to France sponsored by a European Union exchange program I was really excited and made sure that I would be able to tag along. The trip, like all trips to France, was really magical for me but by far the most amazing thing for me was seeing how my Bulgarian students', and the four teachers that also came, reactions to this captivating country. To me, France was always alluring but it was never outside of my means, or most Americans. If I really wanted to go there I could just buckle down and save money to go there, but for many Bulgarians it well outside of their ability. So for them this trip to France was truly a once in a life-time trip for them. Knowing this and being able to see their reaction to this place was beyond great because I got to see humility and amazement in it's truest and purest form. I am so lucky to be able to see this because very often it is over looked and written of as something simple tourism but for my students and a few of my fellow teachers this was real magic from which I know will inspire them beyond measure.

My students meeting some French and Portuguese students in the park in Vitre, France

Bulgarians in France

Vitre's City Hall

Some students at the school in Vitre we visited

La Mont Saint Michel

The Group

Reason to celebrate

One of my favorite things about Bulgaria is how Bulgarians are always finding reasons to celebrate. On the first of March was a really nice Bulgarian holiday called Baba Marta. It is the offical end of winter and it is marked by Bulgarians exchanging red and white bracelets called "martenitsi." They are suppose to wear these bracelets until they see a stork, a sign that winter is over because they birds have returned from their winter migration. When they see one of these birds they remove a bracelet and tie it to a tree branch. This as easily become one of my favorite Bulgarian holidays not only because it means that winter is over but also because giving and getting these bracelets was very enjoyable. Teachers usually get one from their students and in turn usually have both wrists covered in red and white strings. Since I'm a teacher I was no exception. Walking down the halls at school some children who I don't even teach were tying these martenitsi to my wrist telling me to make a wish. When the day finally ended it took the better part of the afternoon tried to remove most of them. I'm already looking forward to this holiday next year and continuing this tradition in the states when I return home.

      Also, last week was International Women's Day, a day that I didn't even know existed until I came to Bulgaria. I know that this holiday isn't limited to Bulgarian because I saw some of my friends from different countries commenting on the day for women. At school some of the children were giving their female teachers flowers and on the streets most people would tell women who passed by "Happy Holiday." That night my crew and I went to a restaurant to celebrate and it was full of people also celebrating. Some more flowers were handed out, followed by a nice meal, and some dancing. After this rough winter I can see why there have been so many holidays both during winter as well as right after, it is so easy to staying in your warm home turning cold days but these days really get you out to be social and it really nice because it makes the days more enjoyable because you are spending some forced but very pleasant time with friends

Наздраве/Şerefe/Cheers

Only too often do I find myself dwelling on the differences between Bulgarians and Americans. Sometimes this seems to be the only topic I discuss with other volunteer, but I've slowly come to realize that people aren't really so different, sure we have all have different backgrounds, values, and attitudes but underneath all of that we are all the same and just want to do the things that make us happy, and since human beings are sociable creatures by nature what brings us more joy then being surrounded by friends or family. A perfect example of this was this weekend, I was in Istanbul and I had the pleasure of going to a house party with some Turks and some Iranians. They all gathered together on a Saturday night to have a nice meal, drink some beers, listen to music, and most importantly, enjoy each others company. Since most of their conversations were in Turkish I spent a lot of time just sitting their and observing their interactions. At one point one of the girls turned to me and said, "this must be so strange for you being the only American and not being use to how we hang out," and I told her that it was in fact so very similar to what my friends and I do on the weekends or anytime we could all get together and that it was actually really comforting. The same can also be said about Bulgaria, very often do I get together with my Bulgarian friends and enjoy an evening of story telling, laughing, and enjoying spending time together. Since my world travels are fairly limited it is not possible for me to say that this is the case world wide but I would not be surprised if you found groups of friends gathering around food, music, or both and more enjoying each others company in all corners of the world.

Winter 2012

Before coming here I was never under the impression that the winters in Bulgaria would be the same as winters in New Mexico, even though snow and cold temperatures are not uncommon in New Mexico the winter weather here in Bulgaria has been, to say the least, ridiculous. The last two weeks my school was close for four out of ten days. In my town we got at least two feet of snow and it got down to -16 F.... I am really looking forward to the Spring

Very Bulgarian Christmas and an Istanbul New Year

Istanbul

My Christmas turned out to be really great. It was everything Christmas is supposed to be, lots of food, friends, and more food! I pretty much ate great food non-stop for 3 days, and not that I am complaining one bit, I enjoyed every minute of it. My Bulgarian friends surprised me with a wonderful gift in the form of a Bulgarian track suit.



For New Years a close friend of mine and I took a trip down to the wonderful city of Istanbul. I remember being a kid in school and seeing pictures of Istanbul and thinking 'I want to go there,' not only because of it's great history but because of how magical and beautiful it looked in all the pictures. From the Blue Mosque to the Grand Bazaar, from Wednesday to Tuesday, and from 2011 to 2012 Istanbul was every bit as magical and wonderful as I ever imagined, it was as romantic as Paris while being as vibrant as New York. In short everybody needs to visit this place at least once in their life to really understand what it is like standing between Asia and Europe with your head in the clouds. Maybe it is because I just got back from there but I am in love with this place and can't wait to go back.

The Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

The Spice Bazaar, Istanbul

The New Mosque, Istanbul

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul

The Blue Mosque

Basilica Sistern

 

  My friend Raf and I in Ottoman Empire garb