Back to "Normal"

In Service Training is over and done with, and I’m back in Preslav getting back into the swing of things. I was greeted back into my little blok with a package from home containing a much needed sleeping bag (perfect for those sleep-on-the-floor PC get together moments), 2 bottles of my favorite hot sauce, and some other convenient comforts of home that I will be enjoying for a while.

I started and ended my week in Plovdiv (of which I'll post some pictures), and it was incredible getting to just walk around and explore the city for a while. I was also able to watch the Super Bowl and its amazing finish huddled with some good friends around a laggy internet stream of the game, but we indeed saw it all. Tampa looked good ;) . My birthday came and went in the midst of IST sessions, but it was alright because I was with friends, and I got to blow out a giant awkwardly placed candle in the middle of a piece of cake. Sweet!

As for IST itself – I got some really good ideas from the other volunteers, and at times the sessions were pretty informative and interesting. Above everything, however, it was awesome getting to spend the week with some of my favorite people here. Outside of the sessions we played some classic American games and bowling to pass the time and keep our minds off of work. The best part was probably the warm mineral pool at the hotel, where we hung out almost every day (not to mention the slide, hot tub, and sauna… fantastic).

I found out exactly how much I have progressed in the language by taking another LPI, and I got “Intermediate-High” which is a step above what I got last time I took it. I really can’t imagine what it's going to take to get to advanced level, since even though I am feeling more confident with the language, there are a lot of things that I still have problems with... There's a lot of things that I'm unable to say. I guess it just goes to show that I still have a long way to go. Even so, I picked up a Turkish language book to start studying later, since a lot of the kids at the orphanage speak it (and use it as a sort of "secret language" to hide things from the staff).

My counterpart and I have decided to work on a project involving a resource center for life skills materials at the orphanage, with which we will coordinate a life skills class for the kids there. This is something that I wanted to do going into site, but this has made things a bit more concrete on that front, and we now have something to work for, and we’ve banged out some ideas. Another volunteer and I are also going to coordinate a camp here for some of the kids, pending the approval of the directors of both orphanages. It would be a lot of fun and great for the kids to have this kind of learning experience and exchange, especially since our two orphanages are so different. The theme will be centered on the archaeological digs at the ruins of the old capital here, and hopefully we'll be partnering with the museum in Preslav as well. This is still kind of hypothetical right now, but I’m getting pretty excited about the idea of it.

For now, however, it’s back to life as usual in Preslav, with preschool in the morning and the orphanage in the afternoon. The change will be that I have some new ideas for groups, projects, and activities, and I’m really looking forward to trying some of these out. I think I’ll also try posting more about life here in Bulgaria in general, with more posts about food, culture, etc…
In the meantime, enjoy these pics of Plovdiv:

Until next time...