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

Leading up to Christmas

About a month ago I was feeling a little down because the Christmas season was fast approaching and I was knew this was going to be my first Christmas away from home. I never really need to look very deep for a reason to miss home, and I often do my best to keep myself away from thinking about home. The Christmas season on the other hand makes it hard to think of anything but home. At least that is how I saw it at the beginning of December but, even thought I do miss home and the people there I can safely say that I am so happy being here. The last few weeks in particular have just been so wonderful that I can hardly believe that I was lucky enough to be apart of them.

Biscochitos: Made in Bulgaria

Where to begin to explain..... last weekend I went to a Holiday party for the town's (as well as other near by town's) Horo dance group (Horo being the traditional Bulgarian style of dance). I always love going to these events, aside from the dancing factor they are always a lot of fun. For this time in particular though, I noticed how dramatic these dances and dancers are. I mean to say that watching a large group of people all dancing the same way with so much joy, so much life, and so much history behind every single step is something powerful to behold. Dancing inside this group is even more of a moving experience and is intoxicating for the soul, it makes me feel like I am a part of something much greater than me.

My walk home

Needless to say I was feeling great heading into a busy week of school but the last before the Winter break. I woke up Monday morning to snowy day and excited about the planned events for the week, which included several Christmas parties and to seeing the completion of some projects my students had been working on. The first project was my 8th grade class' performance of "A Christmas Carol" all in English for their parents. All 29 students had speaking parts and I can't even begin to explain how proud of them I was. But this isn't exclusive to the 8th, every single on of the students I have the pleasure of teaching NEVER fails to impress me in every which way. My 10th graders made two very impressive fake News Programs that they wrote, filmed, and produced all on their own. They are all so smart and such a pleasure to teach and did such a great job that even a week later my heart is still so full of excitement because of what they did with very little time and resources and most importantly how much fun they had even though it was school related.

My Christmas Tree

The next night was the largest of my projects. I decided to bring a little bit of my own culture here to Bulgaria in the form of Luminarias (many small paper bags with a candles inside of them). In New Mexico we use these to celebrate Christmas eve by arranging them and lighting them in mass quantities. I am lucky because when I brought up this idea to the people at my school and to the city hall they were excited and very willing to help me by aiding in locating the needed materials. I was also lucky because the snow from Monday had melted and even more amazing was over 20 students came to help me set them up and light them and clean them up afterward. I am very sure that the locals really enjoyed them. I was thanked by many people for being something beautiful, different, and interesting to their town. I've already received many requests for making more next year. It is such a nice feeling knowing that you created something that people really enjoyed and I am so happy that I had this opportunity to share something that is distinctly from New Mexico.

Part of the 400 Luminarias in the town center

The very next day it snowed A LOT, when I woke up there was a thick white blanket over Parvomai and when I got to school there was a lot of students outside playing in the snow, of course I had to join in. Once some of the kids noticed that Mr. B, Jake, or the American (they have many names for me) was playing with them I shortly found myself being the only target for all their snowballs, some of the older boys even tried to tackle me in the snow. All in all I had so much fun, I not only felt like a kid again but that the kids are comfortable enough with me that they are willing to throw snowballs at me or tackle me into snow.

Kids playing outside school (view from my classroom)

And now it is Christmas eve and even though I am dearly missing my home I am excited to celebrate Christmas here in the glow of an amazing past week, the curiosity in a new way of celebrating a familiar holiday, and most importantly in the humbleness that this experience is creating inside of me.

Here is some of my 10th graders and I with a message:

 
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to everybody

Winter Winds

Winter Fog in Parvomay

I would like to think that I have a full and complete understanding of where I am and what I signed up for when I came to Bulgaria, but sometimes I stop and look around me and see where I am and what I am doing, and it is during these moments that I am not only filled with a sense of purpose but also with an overwhelming feeling that I have left everything I knew and everybody who is dear to me, because I had a greater calling.
 If we are take what is around us as meanings more than their face value than I'll say this. Last night my town was covered in a dense fog and this evening the winds blew it away leaving a starkly clear sky. This evening I stood on my balcony in the freezing cold wind and watched the sun set over the mountains and thought, wow I am really here and this isn't some fantasy or dream that I am in, that the people below me going about their daily activities are real people, walking on a real street, speaking a real language, in a real town underneath an unbelievably real sky and mostly importantly that I am apart of it. Is it possible to be this lucky? To be experiencing this experience that is too good to be true because life is never this wonderful. Life never lets you see your purpose so easily, or the things you need to cherish over the things you don't. Or perhaps this is simply my reflection in the clarity of a foreign sky in a foreign place. Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't end anytime soon

Thanksgiving

I was worried how Thanksgiving would be living in a country that doesn't celebrate it, but it turned out to be one of the best weeks of my life. Not only did I have three Thanksgiving dinners, but each was with a wonderful group of people in a beautiful locations. My first Thanksgiving meal was the Sunday before actually day and it was in Plovdiv with 15 other amazing people from my group of volunteers. My second was in a tiny Muslim village high in the mountains in Southern Bulgaria, and the 3rd was with a group of volunteers who extended their service for a 3rd year. I am so lucky to be friends with all of these wonderful people who have become my family while I am away from my real family.

Thanksgiving Dinner #1

Autumn

My School

The Church in Town

But in tradition of the Thanksgiving Holiday I want to Thank everybody who is in my life. Thank you for all your support and love. It makes being away from home much easier than it is. 

Novemeber Photos

I know that I have had trouble keeping up with my blog but I had the idea of maybe posting more photos here so months at a time don't pass before I add something new. Here are a few pictures I have taken in the last month or so 

Cold November night on the Streets of Parvomay

 

Train station in Parvomay

 

Aleksandar Nevski Church in Sofia

 

October Afternoon in Veliko Tarnovo

The Village of Koprivshtitsa

The Last Two Months

I feel bad that I have not paid much attention to my blog the last two months, to be honest I have been very busy, but also it is because I have been so content with my life here in Bulgaria that I have not found the need to vent about how miserable I am or how hard my life is here.
The truth is, my life here is not at all miserable nor is it difficult. I love being here and working in the school I do. My student are great and not once have I dreaded walking to school to teach a lesson or any group of students, instead I feel the opposite, I look forward to seeing my students and teaching my lessons. So I know I made the right decision coming here. It is hard missing my the most important day in my best friend's life and it will be hard missing Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family but it was a trade off I have, and will have to make for being here and doing what I do but I don't regret and won't regret these choices.