A move, new adventures and christmas parties

So what have I been doing for the past two and a half months???

It has actually been a crazy few months.

I moved into a new apartment about a month ago. I am so happy with the change. The apartment is much smaller - which is actually really good. It a studio with a small balcony and a really nice bathroom. It is in a much nicer area of Varna and now I am a 15 minute walk from school rather than a half hour bus ride.

- Across the street from my apartment is a MyMarket - there is a Billa down the block. I found a nice gym to join and a bakery - and obviously I have already made friends with the woman who works there.

What was really amazing was when I was moving I had so many people offer to help me move. In the end, Margo, her husband and my friend Konstantin all helped me. It was pretty absurd how much I had acquired in two months.

My place!!!! 

One of our long weekends I went to Macadonia with Sam, Jake, Victoria and Sam's friend Danny (who was awesome). We stayed at a really cool hostel and were treated so nicely. The guy who worked at the front liked us, so he bought us wine. We walked around skopie and then the best part - took a bus to Medka - this cape outside the city that leads to a gorgeous cave. It was wonderful!

Jake and me in front of one of the many statues/monument in Skopie 

The whole crew! 

Medka!

I have also been traveling around Bulgaria a bunch.

Tania, the teacher I mentioned previously, and her husband took me to Kavarna, Cape Kaliakra and Bolata.

Tanya's sweet husband - outside Kavarna

I went to Buzludzah, an old abandoned communist monument. You need to crawl through a small hole to get inside. It was really cool and different and something you could not see anywhere else. Getting there was a bitch though :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzludzha

For thanksgiving a bunch of fulbrighters gathered together in Plovdiv, the ancient capital of Bulgaria. It is a beautiful city, it is one of the oldest cities in Europe and has so much history. We walked around the old city and saw lots of beautiful buildings - true architecture - no communist blocks. We also all cooked food - Alex got a turkey (unfortunately not kosher - so still no meat for this guy) and it was really lovely though.

Thanksgiving with my Bulgarian family! 

Three weekends ago was the "fulbright 100 days in Bulgaria" gathering and christmas party. Everyone presented on their work and what they have been doing here. They also took us to the Rila monestary. The biggest and most famous monastery in Bulgaria. It was gorgeous!!!!

Me in front of Rila Monastery 

This week we had two teachers christmas parties. One was at a karaoke bar in Varna. The teachers really know how to party and it was really nice and fun. I also felt like it was a turning point for me and the other teachers. They were all happy that I was participating and dancing and they were particularly impressed when I did the hora - traditional bulgarian dance.

We also went away for a party - to this Russian owned complex outside Varna. We got a tour of the complex, went swimming in an indoor pool and had another crazy dancing party.

In regards to teaching - it has been a roller coaster. But some highlights. The club "coffee and conversation" I started has been really good. I have had students reach out to me more outside of class. And finally, I had my students evaluate my teaching and overall I can say it was very positive!!


a nice evaluation!

Me and some of my students 

Tomorrow I go to Bucharest to meet up with my parents and Michelle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!!!!!!

The Kindness of People

This post will be dedicated to sharing the small and big kindnesses people have shown while I have been here. Sometimes I think about my life and I am surprised by the adventure I am on. Not many people have their first real jobs post college and first apartments in Bulgaria. But mine are! What that means though - is all the ordinary first job, first apartment, first time truly on your own, problems are happening to me - in a foreign country - in a language I don't understand.

What I have learned is that people are really kind and if your surround yourself with the right kind of people - they will prove themselves to be amazing.

Some of the stories I will tell - may be repeats but I want to chronicle in one place all the kind wonderful things people have done for me.

Lets begins with Margo - my mentor teacher! She has been amazing!

First: when I moved into my apartment - she picked me up from the bus and helped move me in. Then when she realized that my apartment did not come with any dishes or things like that she came over with extra dishes she had in her house to give to me. She also set up my internet for me and when my landlord was not taking care of the leak in my apartment she sent her  wonderfully kind  husband over to fix it!

She also is my go between with the principle - since he doesn't speak english and spent an hour trying to register me with the police and is taking me again next week to try again!

Seriously, I lucked out - Margo is wonderful!

Then there is Roni - she is another english teacher at the school. She is so sweet to me - always checking in to see how I am doing and worried about things going smoothly for me. Roni also is setting me up with her friends son - not as a date - as a friend, because she is worried I am not meeting enough people my age.

Today, Tania, another english teacher took me to buy my monthly pass for the bus. It was freezing out and we had to make two trips since they were on lunch break when we first got there. Her husband, who is also really nice, drove us and then drove me home. It sounds small when I write it out - but they took almost an hour out of their day to help me! Also, she bought me tea - which was really nice since it was freezing!

Another really nice person I met is Dobi - I met her at the polygot cafe - she lives right near me and is just really nice and helpful. After the cafe we took the bus back together and she stayed on for two extra stops to make sure I got home okay. She also offered to give me a bus tour and to show me where the closest swimming pool is. I am having her over for dinner tonight and I am really excited!

I would feel remiss not mentioning Juliana - the girl who did fulbright in Varna last year. She left me really nice things - for my classroom and myself and made sure to set me up with her friends from last year and wrote me a whole list of awesome advice.

Finally, there are all the little things: people giving directions, people stopping to explain something or just people being patient while I work out a sentence incredibly slowly in Bulgarian.

Patience is important and you never know how your small kindness can change someone's day. When people are nice to me sometimes I just want to cry!

First two weeks as a teacher

First two weeks of teaching down...

What I have learned about my students and myself:

First, I teach 18 different classes a week. I have all of the students in 9th through 11th grade once a week for a conversation class. This is really nice in terms of structuring my lessons and keeping students interested. The hard part is learning students names and connecting.

About my students:

I am teaching at one of the best high schools in Bulgaria and definitely in Varna. This means that a lot of my students want to study abroad and are very motivated to learn english. This is really exciting and I am so happy that so many of them actually care.

But... they are still high school students and I have a bunch that are not interested and are really misbehaved. Also, high school students mumble - and between the accents, the ridiculously hard to pronounce names and the misuse of words I am finding myself saying "what" all the freaking time.

About me: 

I have learned that I have more energy than I thought, that I am kind of funny (I have made 16 of my classes laugh) and I can be strict.

I know that in order to earn their respect I need to come on strong and if I need to peddle back I can. This means that my two terrible classes have required me to practice patience, move students seats and give short speeches about respect and behavior - which I did not know I had in me.

But overall teaching has been really good the past two weeks and I think I am going to really enjoy it!

After school fun! 

Last week I had a lot of guest. Obviously, I thought that I would be living alone and was completely prepared for that but it was a really nice way to get adjusted having visitors.

Tuesday, after my first real day of teaching a friend I made while traveling in Romania came to visit. He wanted to see Varna so it was really nice - we did something fun every day after work.

Wednesday, we went to the sea garden and down to the sea and Thursday, we went to the rock monastery a little outside of Varna and then went to the sea for dinner and watched the sun set from the docks! It was gorgeous!

The rock monastery is super cool! The monks built a monastery into the mountains so its really interesting looking. (unfortunately didn't have my camera so no pictures :( )

Friday, my friend left and then seven other fulbright etas came to visit. It was Blaine's birthday and she wanted to celebrate in Varna obviously (best city in Bulgaria). I got her a cake, we went to the sea (finally went in the water) and went to a salsa club! It was really fun and so nice to spend time with other etas and see how their first weeks went.

friends celebrating birthdays! In my kitchen! 

Jake with the dead jelly fish - eek! 

jumping picks never work... 

Then this week - I didn't do as much and relaxed a lot more - because I was pooped! But I did meet a lot of new people living in Varna and that was really awesome!

Sunday, I met up with some people, Juliana - the eta from last year - was friends with and went to a nice bar.
Then later in the week, my friend Minka (who is doing a fulbright research grant) had me and one of the guys we met on Sunday over for dinner.
I also met up with the volunteer coordinator for the battered women's shelter so hopefully I will get started with volunteering there soon.
And I went to this event called Polygot cafe - where various foreigners get together once a month to speak in their native language and meet other foreigners living in Varna. That was amazing! I met this american women who owns an english bookstore here that has monthly events, and this really nice bulgarian girl who lives near me. This girl was incredibly nice - she insisted on taking the bus an extra stop to make sure I got home okay and offered to give me a tour of the city and show me around one day next week! I'm starting to really feel settled here and I am meeting amazing people!

Last week of vacation and then on to real life and first day as a teacher!

Quick update from the past few weeks and then detailed review of today. 

After Romania I spent all of a day and a half in Varna. I went to my school, met some teachers, sat through a painfully long meeting all in Bulgarian and went on my merry way. 

After I took an overnight bus to Sofia, spent the morning with one of my friends from FISI who is teacher in Sofia. We went to Alexander Nevski’s Cathedral, the big synagogue - which is gorgeous, and the women’s market - which is kind of like the shuk but only sells vegetables. I had such a nice time! 

Then I took a flight to Israel - got in at 4 am - went to sleep until 2 PM and then had Rosh Hashana with Rachel, Ari and the kids. It was a really short visit but really wonderful! Those kids are too cute and seeing family always makes everything better! 

After Israel, I flew back to Sofia and spent a few days with a different friends from FISI who is also an observant Jew. We explored the city together, met really cool people and celebrated Yom Kippur. 

One night we met with a former eta who is still living in Sofia. He introduced us to some cool people living in Sofia. We went to this really cool space that is set up for start ups. Its this open room with all these great signs around, a bar set up and cool climbing things. It reminded me of a cool advertising agency. 

For Yom Kippur another eta came for the weekend. The three of us made pre fast dinner together and prayed at the big synagogue. It was the most beautiful place I have ever prayed. The davening was hard to follow but the Rabbi was Israeli and everyone was very nice. I definitely want to go to Sofia for Shabbat a lot! 

After Yom Kippur I went back to Varna. I cleaned my whole apartment and prepared for my first day... 

Now on today! Today was the first day of classes. In Bulgaria this means an opening ceremony. Some students performed, students gave teachers flowers and there were some announcements. It was all very exciting and a very nice introduction. 

My mentor teacher with all her flowers 

After school at the beach

After the ceremony I went to the sea garden and down to the beach. However, I could not figure out how to walk down to the actual beach and in broken Bulgarian asked someone where the walkway was. This women was so nice and walked me to the stairs. We had this hillarious conversation about how I was a teacher from America. She was incredibly nice. Once I got down, I had lunch at a cafe on the water and walked in the sand. It was such a nice way to end the day and I felt truly relaxed for the first time in a while. 

I miss everyone!!!! Love you! 

911 in Bulgaria

Every year on 911 the hardest part for me is the silence. The way that the day seems to get ignored. I find myself getting angry at the people around me not mourning the loss - not focusing on the tragedy. But this year I was traveling back from Israel to Bulgaria on 911 and I found for the first time my own thoughts were on silent. I didn't forget and I knew what day it was but for the first time I found I could not focus on what that meant. Today was the first time since I was 11 years old that I did not cry on 911. I began to feel angry at me - how could I be one of those callous people not focusing on the day? But then I remembered my Mark and began thinking of happy times together instead. I  have decided that this year I would let it be a year I didn't cry but instead made today a celebration to the cousin I love so much. Mark was a smart, thoughtful, kind person and I try to channel him and think of him all the time. This year is the most terrifying and exciting adventure I have ever embarked on - and today I dedicate my adventures to Mark. I start teaching in about a weeks time and I hope that when I walk into that classroom I can channel Mark - the person who taught me to throw a baseball, gave me wet kisses on the nose and was patient and kind. I hope to make Mark proud and I do not cry for him today but remember him and channel him to be the best me I can be.

I love you Mark.

FISI ends but on to Romania

Recap of my adventures from this past week:

The last week of training was really fun. I got a lot closer to the other etas and I feel like I have this really great community of people who are sharing this same experience - who I can talk to and ask questions and advice.

Just a breathtaking view from the hotel 

The last week was classes, enjoying the outdoor pool and chilling in the spa. My Bulgarianis still pretty pitiful but I plan to take a class in Varna and hopefully it will improve - at least enough to communicate with street vendors and the like.

One night we all walked into Pravets for the outdoor concert that was part of the Mozart festival. It was beautiful!

To be consistent with my accident prone nature of the past month I took a bike ride with two friends to Pravets and five minutes from the hotel I fell off my bike... Pretty hard. I am fine and now it is funny but being on the ground with a random Dutch man standing over you is pretty overwhelming.

To end our training we all went to Sofia and met with the America for Bulgaria foundation at this beautiful little space
for lunch. The place was like a little fairy tale place. The food was delicious and cute! Mini Sandwiches and the like. And all the people we met were really nice. I am excited about where our funding comes from and I feel like if I needed something they would definitely be there to help. The America for Bulgaria Foundation is a second sponsor.

The beautiful Place where we had lunch! 

I stayed one night in Sofia and some of the other etas stayed too and that was really nice. We walked arond Sofia and then had breakfast together one last time which was nice.

Out in Sofia with some really cool gals! 

When we all said goodbye I cried - obviously! But that was my first cry since being here and it was short which I think is a good sign thus far. It was just scary - but exciting. We are now going our own separate ways.

I then took the 7 hour bus ride to Varna. My mentor teacher picked me up and brought to my apartment. The area where my apartment is very post communist looking but the apartment itself is nice and very big. I dont have a real stove or oven but what I have is very doable - lol... I wil post pictures of my place soon.

After I settled in a little my mentor teacher took me and the two friends I am traveling with currently - post FISI travels out to dinner with another teacher from the school. We went out to eat by the beach and the water is beautiful! The food was good and the company was great. My mentor teacher is hillarious and her friend was lovely! I am really excited to work with them.

ROMANIA: I traveled through Romania with two friends I made over training. Sam is this really cool guy who is super down to earth and up for anything and Victoria who is just made out of nice and could not say a bad word about anyone.  Our first stop was Bucharest for a day and a half-which was nice, but I am glad it was our first city. We went to the house of Parlioment - which is the second biggest building in the world and we searched for a few hours - to no avail - for the Jewish quarter. Sam and I raced to this castle shaped play ground and then got scolded by a cop for being too old to go on the equipment - who knew?

Start of our Romania adventures! Obviously I am not the one Navigating

Before being scolded! 

Parliament - or part of it... 

We then went to Sigasoria. Sigasoria is beautiful! The hills are stunning and the town is super cutesy. We did all the sights in Sigasoria - we climed the clock tower - we saw the old cemetary and went to a few musuems. It was super fun! We also met three really cool German guys and went out with them which was really fun. After Sigasoria we went to Brasov.

Breathtaking 

So beautiful it should be arrested - what it said in the guide book about Sighasoria 

In what is said to be the place Dracula was born... so ridiculous! 

Brasov was probably my favorite - its a very pretty city and there is a lot to do. We explored the old town together the first day and then went out with all these really cool people staying at the hostel. The next morning we did a tour of three castles near by. Among the three was Bran castle which is rumored to be Dracula's home... Our last day Victoria left us a little early and then Sam and I walked around the entire town and hiked up both towers and the citadel - it was super beautiful but exhausting.

Narrowest or close to the narrowest street in Europe 

Right by our Hostel - picture curtesy of the talented Sam 

Just one of the five weddings we saw while walking around 

At the top of the black tower

Now for my trip back to Varna - what a mess!! lol. Sam and I took an 11 o clock train to Ruse together and then he continued on to Sofia. When I got to Ruse the next train was at 6 three hours from when I got there. It was very creepy and dark in the train station. But then these two backpackers from Austria started talking to me and we decided to take a cab together. The cab was pretty cheap - although I already had my train ticket so that was annoying. But what a crazy ride - we were all exhausted and our driver was so strange and stopped three times to pee, get coffee and get gas.

Crossing the border back into Bulgaria - so tired! 

I am now in a cafe - I had the best cappuccino ever - better than Italy - it had carmel and chocolate drizzled on top - yum! Tomorrow I meet with my school and then off to Israel via Sofia. Will I ever sleep? Only time will tell...

First Week! FISI Part One

This first week here has been wonderful! I know that right now we are in training which is not a true preview of what is to come - but the people here are amazing and I feel so inspired to be a part of such a smart and kind group of people - and that will not change once we part and go to our respective places to teach.

What I have been doing this week: Let me tell you - it has been overwhelming, inspiring, informative and completely new.

We have Bulgarian class - which is kind of like an Ulpan - almost every day. The class is at a pretty slow pace but it is still pretty intensive. The alphabet is brand new to me and I am finding myself forgetting things very quickly. The instructor is very kind and patient and since we are all learning something new everyone helps each other out. We also have various classes on Bulgarian culture and different classes to help prepare us to teach in a couple of weeks.

I met my mentor teacher - who is another english teacher at the school I am teaching at in Varna and she is awesome! She is really nice and interesting and I felt immediately comfortable with her. Her english is beautiful and even though she professes to be a bad teacher I think she seems to really know her stuff and will be a really great asset.

Now for the fun stuff! The hotel has this amazing indoor pool that is so beautiful! The only catch is that you have to wear a bathing cap or shower cap when you swim. It is hilarious to see all the fulbrighters and all these fancy people staying at the hotel swimming in shower caps! Love it! There is also this gorgeous spa and the saunas are free - yes my friends saunas! There is a Finish style, Russian style, tea room, relaxation room, steam room and various other saunas. I feel so fancy and don't deserve this decadent life style.

Just by luck the hotel is hosting a mozart festival this week and we can go to any of the performances for free. The other day just casually watched AIDA performed on a beautiful outdoor stage overlooking the mountains! No big deal!

All dressed up for the opera!!!!


They also took us on an excursion to hike through these caves and to see this incredible monastery! I know I am Jewish but sometimes when I am in Christian holy sites I understand where they are coming from. The art work and the architecture and lighting are just so beautiful you can't help but look up and believe in God - any God.

caves!!!! :)

This is the view right before we entered the caves

Outside the Monastery!

Finally, to conclude the first week of FISI - because some of the other students and lecturers were leaving we went to dinner at this beautiful golf club and drank a lot and danced and it was so fun!!!!

where the dinner was held...


Thats all my updates for now- I am having a great time! But I miss everyone!

I wrote this when I first got here but never posted - eek!

I arrived in Bulgaria about two hours ago. It already feels strange and overwhelming but also very exciting. Just a little bit about my day. After saying goodbye to my siblings and my cousin Sara - which I feel I may not have done that well I went to the airport with my parents. At the airport I found out that there is a weight limit for carry on - probably should have known - but sometimes I am a goof. I had to repack my carry on into my other luggage - what a mess! By the time I got to the gate I was exhausted. The flight felt super long and the stewardess mainly only spoke in Polish - culture and language shock immediately! Once I got to Warsaw things got a bit better - at the gate for my final flight to Bulgaria I met an Israeli man who works in Sofia - the capital of Varna. He gave me his card which was really nice. He does tours for Eastern Europe so he is probably a good contact to have. When I got on the flight I fell asleep immediately but at landing I spoke to the guy sitting next to me a little and he was very nice - although he did not speak much english. The guy sitting behind heard us speaking and asked what I was doing in Bulgaria. He was American and visiting his father who does missionary work in Bulgaria. He also gave me his father's information - so now I have two contacts. Once I went through costumes and everything the driver from the hotel was waiting with a sign. It was a short ride to the resort and here I am now. The resort is gorgeous! When I got to my room the other fulbrighters were in the middle of a session so I went to my room and took a shower - it was lovely! I then found my roommate for the next two weeks - she is very nice. She went over the Cyrillic alphabet with me and we talked a bit. Now I am just relaxing until dinner - hopefully I will meet more people. I still feel like a zombie and totally out of place - its hard to come late. But I am excited I am here!


This is my room in the hotel!!!! Its gorgeous!!!! 

This is the view from my balcony - is this real life?