In case you haven't heard, the whole world is ducking under cover from the swine flu. Schools everywhere are closing, and people all over are, in general, losing their minds. In Bulgaria, as always, things are the same but different. Schools everywhere are closing, people are freaking out, but instead of complaining about the lack of vaccines (or whether vaccines should be administered, don't even get me started), people here deal with it in a bit of a different way. Almost everyone I know has holed themselves up in their house or little cement block room, refusing to come out until the threat has passed. The usual way the flu (or "grip" in Bulgarian... awesome) is dealt with is a good dose of isolation and by hurling jokes at it. In fact one tv station just called it "pianski grip" (drunken flu). That'll get 'em!
Meanwhile, the sheer numbers of people coming down with flu is staggering. The ministry of health has declared several regions within the amount needed to declare an epidemic. The others are under a "wide circulation of the virus" (and God knows what that means). As a result, many schools (including the ones in Preslav) have been shut down, including the preschool I work at, under the amazing title of "swine flu vacation." These closures are due to a rule that states schools have to close if 30% of the students don't show up. In addition, hospitals are turning away cases because they can't handle them all. At the orphanage, special rules have been put in place: can't have large gatherings of kids in one space, children should be confined to their rooms, staff is recommended to wear paper masks. This has put a little bit of a dent in the range of activities that I can do there, but we're still hanging in there. Tomorrow we'll be rebooting the life skills classes for the older kids, and since the kids can't do much else, we should actually have a good turnout (gotta look on the bright side).
Speaking of the bright side (and getting away from the grip), Halloween this year was a huuuge success... well at least in comparison to last year's, which involved bobbing for apples and costume wearing, neither of which quite went as planned. This year, the kids learned to say the phrase trick or treat in exchange for candy, and instead of costumes we did scary faces and masks. What came after was the true success though I think. After coming in possession of quite a few toothbrushes and toothpaste, I thought a bit of an educational activity could be thrown in there. The kids learned the proper way to brush their teeth, when and how, and they were actually into it! This was fantastic since the hygeine situation at the dom is for the most part appalling. It was one of those moments that made me feel really happy about what I'm doing right now. The kids are even saving the brushes!
Another high spot was the annual Halloween party in Veliko Turnovo. I went as Flo Rida, the much celebrated rapper from my much celebrated home state. I even had my own bling made from cardboard and tinfoil, which didn't quite come across, but still... Other highlights included the entire Ghostbusters squad, David the Gnome, and the cast of Mad Men. Needless to say it was a memorable time, and, to make things better, allowed many of us to avoid the grip explosion in our towns (not a big deal in Turnovo).
For now, I'll be doing what many others are doing - hiding out when I can, and trying to avoid coming down with this ridiculous virus. On the plus side, in my recollection I have never had the flu before, and I'm not planning on getting it now...
Until next time...
Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Arch Camp!
Last week, another volunteer and I coordinated a camp involving kids from each of our orphanages. The plan was to have 10 kids from her orphanage in Dren, and 10 from mine here in Preslav staying together in the Preslav orphanage and doing archaeologically themed activities at the ruins and museum in town. With the help of about 7 other awesome volunteers, we spent the week going to the museum, playing lots of games, and exploring the area. It was about a half a year in the making and underwent countless last minute revisions due to schedule conflicts and general confusion, but we finally pulled it together.
The days leading up to the camp involved a lot of running around and coordinating different organizations to help out with the activities we had planned. At the same time, the camp was being changed from 5 days to 7 days to 4 days, back to 7 days, and then to 5 days again, before we finally settled on 4 days of activities and then a sort of free day. This system worked out pretty well, not only because the kids from Dren would be able to get back easier, but because it would allow us to plan fuller days of activities.
Day 1: Museum Day and the Scavenger Hunt – We got all the kids together for the first time outside of the orphanage and played some games like the human knot and duck-duck-goose. We then walked up to the museum where we got a talk from one of the archeologists in residence there, as well as a tour of all the exhibits (including one housed in a vault behind a foot thick metal door). After looking around a bit, we started the day’s main activity, the museum scavenger hunt, in which the kids were to look through the exhibits for certain things and the team with the highest amount of points wins. The kids got really into it, and we actually went over our planned allotted time. The museum actually asked to have copies of the scavenger hunt for future visitors, so I would say it was an all around success. While we were sitting around counting points at the end, everyone was kind of bummed that nobody found one of the clues on the list – a pony. Just as everyone was almost done counting, guess what pulls up… that’s right a pony and mother horse pulling a cart together. Everyone went crazy, and it was the perfect cap to a hugely successful activity. After that, the kids had a picnic in the park and we spent the rest of the day playing sports and doing arts and crafts and things with the other kids.
Day 2: Ruins and the dig site – We walked to the ruins of the citadel of Preslav just outside of town where there was a huge team of archaeologists digging for artifacts. The archaeology major in our group (the volunteer who coordinated the camp with me) was freaking out because of the haphazard digging methods at the site. One of the methods was to throw a whole bunch of dirt from the site into a pile and run a metal detector over it. Another involved chipping away fragile wall-looking areas with a pick axe. Good job, guys… Anyway, the kids were able to ask the archaeologists questions, and we even got the head professor to come out and talk to the kids about what was going on at the site. From there we walked up to another section of ruins where they actually let people climb up into a reconstructed area of the old fortress. The kids really got a kick out of that and played around for a bit. We then reached the last part of the ruins, the golden church of Tsar Simeon, where we rested for a bit and played some good old American football.
Day 3: The hike to Patleyna…. Sort of – We had planned to have everyone in the camp come hiking with us up to Patleyna (which I wrote about in a previous entry). However, several of the older children and the 2 supervisors refused to come with us because they thought it was too long. So we left without them. Apparently the activity the orphanage people thought up for them was to clean the building, so the people who went on the hike were pretty happy. The kids seemed to really enjoy the old 10th century monastery up there, and we even got to poke around at the newer monastery, where we found a bit of old Communist propaganda (“The party of Lenin is our vanguard!”). The kids that came with us also had a great time at the miniature zoo they have up there which featured doves and peacocks. I think some of the kids were actually kind of scared of the peacock since they hadn’t really seen anything like it before. Tired after a couple of hours walking round-trip, we finished out the day with some group games, baseball and volleyball. Baseball was especially interesting, as the kids were really getting into the home-run derby setup we started. After a couple hours of playing, the man who runs the stadium comes in shouting at us and telling us we have to leave. Confused, since we were being very good, and the kids were having a great time, we asked him why we had to leave. His answer was that we were making holes in the ground with the bats. Bewildered, we decided not to argue and left…
Day 4: Capture the flag and Time Capsule – We started off the day by going up to the stadium to play some relay games. We played a game featuring spoons and ping pong balls (which they weren’t that into) and did the dizzy-bat relay (which they were into, but we ended a bit prematurely as a lot of kids were falling all over the place). We then went to the park and introduced capture the flag, a game that the kids had never heard of before. They really enjoyed it, and the kids were actually filling their roles on the team quite well (i.e. prison guards acting like actual prison guards). It seemed that the game had reached a standstill, when one of the teams tried for a huge push and ended up getting a lot of their team captured, allowing the other to go in and take the flag pretty easily after about 10 minutes. I think this game was one of the most successful things we did and definitely one of the highlights. The kids from my orphanage are already asking when we’re going to play it again. During the afternoon, we made a time capsule, in which the kids wrote down their favorite memories from the camp and what they envision for themselves 20 years in the future. We then took pictures in front of the monument in the center of town, effectively putting a cap on the main portion of the camp.
Most of the volunteers left on Friday morning, but the supervisors took all the kids out to the fortress in Shumen to continue the archaeology theme. I saw the kids from the other place as they were leaving and may had made new friends and didn’t want to leave. So all in all, after all the hard work and stress, the camp was pretty successful, and we’re planning on doing something similar again next year. The supervisor from Dren actually invited our kids out there for next year, so we’ll see what we can get together. I know I learned a lot about how to run a successful camp, what works, and what fails miserably. I think that next time we’ll skew for a bit of a younger group as well. All in all, it was a great time, and while I’m glad it’s over, I’m also glad we were able to put together a successful camp (without many resources) that created new friendships for the kids and gave them some great experiences.
Until next time…
PS... Andrea took these pictures. My camera is once again out of commission... Thanks~
The days leading up to the camp involved a lot of running around and coordinating different organizations to help out with the activities we had planned. At the same time, the camp was being changed from 5 days to 7 days to 4 days, back to 7 days, and then to 5 days again, before we finally settled on 4 days of activities and then a sort of free day. This system worked out pretty well, not only because the kids from Dren would be able to get back easier, but because it would allow us to plan fuller days of activities.
Day 1: Museum Day and the Scavenger Hunt – We got all the kids together for the first time outside of the orphanage and played some games like the human knot and duck-duck-goose. We then walked up to the museum where we got a talk from one of the archeologists in residence there, as well as a tour of all the exhibits (including one housed in a vault behind a foot thick metal door). After looking around a bit, we started the day’s main activity, the museum scavenger hunt, in which the kids were to look through the exhibits for certain things and the team with the highest amount of points wins. The kids got really into it, and we actually went over our planned allotted time. The museum actually asked to have copies of the scavenger hunt for future visitors, so I would say it was an all around success. While we were sitting around counting points at the end, everyone was kind of bummed that nobody found one of the clues on the list – a pony. Just as everyone was almost done counting, guess what pulls up… that’s right a pony and mother horse pulling a cart together. Everyone went crazy, and it was the perfect cap to a hugely successful activity. After that, the kids had a picnic in the park and we spent the rest of the day playing sports and doing arts and crafts and things with the other kids.
Day 2: Ruins and the dig site – We walked to the ruins of the citadel of Preslav just outside of town where there was a huge team of archaeologists digging for artifacts. The archaeology major in our group (the volunteer who coordinated the camp with me) was freaking out because of the haphazard digging methods at the site. One of the methods was to throw a whole bunch of dirt from the site into a pile and run a metal detector over it. Another involved chipping away fragile wall-looking areas with a pick axe. Good job, guys… Anyway, the kids were able to ask the archaeologists questions, and we even got the head professor to come out and talk to the kids about what was going on at the site. From there we walked up to another section of ruins where they actually let people climb up into a reconstructed area of the old fortress. The kids really got a kick out of that and played around for a bit. We then reached the last part of the ruins, the golden church of Tsar Simeon, where we rested for a bit and played some good old American football.
Day 3: The hike to Patleyna…. Sort of – We had planned to have everyone in the camp come hiking with us up to Patleyna (which I wrote about in a previous entry). However, several of the older children and the 2 supervisors refused to come with us because they thought it was too long. So we left without them. Apparently the activity the orphanage people thought up for them was to clean the building, so the people who went on the hike were pretty happy. The kids seemed to really enjoy the old 10th century monastery up there, and we even got to poke around at the newer monastery, where we found a bit of old Communist propaganda (“The party of Lenin is our vanguard!”). The kids that came with us also had a great time at the miniature zoo they have up there which featured doves and peacocks. I think some of the kids were actually kind of scared of the peacock since they hadn’t really seen anything like it before. Tired after a couple of hours walking round-trip, we finished out the day with some group games, baseball and volleyball. Baseball was especially interesting, as the kids were really getting into the home-run derby setup we started. After a couple hours of playing, the man who runs the stadium comes in shouting at us and telling us we have to leave. Confused, since we were being very good, and the kids were having a great time, we asked him why we had to leave. His answer was that we were making holes in the ground with the bats. Bewildered, we decided not to argue and left…
Day 4: Capture the flag and Time Capsule – We started off the day by going up to the stadium to play some relay games. We played a game featuring spoons and ping pong balls (which they weren’t that into) and did the dizzy-bat relay (which they were into, but we ended a bit prematurely as a lot of kids were falling all over the place). We then went to the park and introduced capture the flag, a game that the kids had never heard of before. They really enjoyed it, and the kids were actually filling their roles on the team quite well (i.e. prison guards acting like actual prison guards). It seemed that the game had reached a standstill, when one of the teams tried for a huge push and ended up getting a lot of their team captured, allowing the other to go in and take the flag pretty easily after about 10 minutes. I think this game was one of the most successful things we did and definitely one of the highlights. The kids from my orphanage are already asking when we’re going to play it again. During the afternoon, we made a time capsule, in which the kids wrote down their favorite memories from the camp and what they envision for themselves 20 years in the future. We then took pictures in front of the monument in the center of town, effectively putting a cap on the main portion of the camp.
Most of the volunteers left on Friday morning, but the supervisors took all the kids out to the fortress in Shumen to continue the archaeology theme. I saw the kids from the other place as they were leaving and may had made new friends and didn’t want to leave. So all in all, after all the hard work and stress, the camp was pretty successful, and we’re planning on doing something similar again next year. The supervisor from Dren actually invited our kids out there for next year, so we’ll see what we can get together. I know I learned a lot about how to run a successful camp, what works, and what fails miserably. I think that next time we’ll skew for a bit of a younger group as well. All in all, it was a great time, and while I’m glad it’s over, I’m also glad we were able to put together a successful camp (without many resources) that created new friendships for the kids and gave them some great experiences.
Until next time…
PS... Andrea took these pictures. My camera is once again out of commission... Thanks~
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Volleyball Death Match
This weekend I went out to Turgovishte, a town pretty close to me, to go help a volunteer from another group with a fundraising project she has going. The idea was to have a Volunteer vs. Bulgarians volleyball match. Sounded fun, and in the end it actually was a lot of fun. However (just as many seemingly normal things here in BG turn out) the whole deal was an adventure.
I got into town at about 2pm and met the other players from the volunteer team. We were going to get together to play a bit and practice before the match. After buying possibly the greatest prize of all time (a plastic sword) to give to the winners of the match, we eventually made our way to the school where the game was going to go down.
As we waited for the doors to become unlocked, we watched a boys vs. girls dodgeball game going on outside the school. The girls were vicious, and the boys resorted to cheating (i.e. not leaving when they got hit, bringing in 2 people when they caught the balls). I have to say, between that game, and the little boy climbing nearby buildings, the time before the game was pretty entertaining.
Finally we get inside and start hitting the ball around, and get a quick practice game together. Only one person on the team had ever played on a volleyball team before, and the rest of us hadn’t played in a while, if at all. However, for not having any experience, we came together to field some sort of semi-respectable, rag tag team as the opposing team of Bulgarians walked into the gym.
After giving our strongest “USA!” cheer in a huddle we yielded the court so that they could get some practice in. This is when it became apparent that we were going to die. Previously unbeknownst to us, the team has recently won the regional championship. As we sat there watching as the other team practiced serving some of the hardest, most Olympic worthy serves I had ever seen, I got visions of the most mismatched events in sports history It was like the 1992 Basketball Dream Team against the scrubs of the rest of the world. The 0-14 1976 Buccaneers vs. the Steel Curtain…
A good crowd showed up, and the game got underway. We got our butts handed to us, unsurprisingly, but we actually got some good volleys in, and didn’t go scoreless which was nice. I sparked up a conversation with one of the Bulgarian players in between games, and he said, "So, I thought Americans were really good at volleyball,” referring to the dominating performance of the US team at this year’s Olympics. As I laughed to myself, I told him it depended on the region, and that beach volleyball is usually the version played (in Florida at least). Volleyball is serious business here in Bulgaria, and is very much a “man’s game.” Whereas in schools in America, girls usually play volleyball while the boys play basketball, it is interestingly exactly the opposite here.
Until next time…
I got into town at about 2pm and met the other players from the volunteer team. We were going to get together to play a bit and practice before the match. After buying possibly the greatest prize of all time (a plastic sword) to give to the winners of the match, we eventually made our way to the school where the game was going to go down.
As we waited for the doors to become unlocked, we watched a boys vs. girls dodgeball game going on outside the school. The girls were vicious, and the boys resorted to cheating (i.e. not leaving when they got hit, bringing in 2 people when they caught the balls). I have to say, between that game, and the little boy climbing nearby buildings, the time before the game was pretty entertaining.
Finally we get inside and start hitting the ball around, and get a quick practice game together. Only one person on the team had ever played on a volleyball team before, and the rest of us hadn’t played in a while, if at all. However, for not having any experience, we came together to field some sort of semi-respectable, rag tag team as the opposing team of Bulgarians walked into the gym.
After giving our strongest “USA!” cheer in a huddle we yielded the court so that they could get some practice in. This is when it became apparent that we were going to die. Previously unbeknownst to us, the team has recently won the regional championship. As we sat there watching as the other team practiced serving some of the hardest, most Olympic worthy serves I had ever seen, I got visions of the most mismatched events in sports history It was like the 1992 Basketball Dream Team against the scrubs of the rest of the world. The 0-14 1976 Buccaneers vs. the Steel Curtain…
A good crowd showed up, and the game got underway. We got our butts handed to us, unsurprisingly, but we actually got some good volleys in, and didn’t go scoreless which was nice. I sparked up a conversation with one of the Bulgarian players in between games, and he said, "So, I thought Americans were really good at volleyball,” referring to the dominating performance of the US team at this year’s Olympics. As I laughed to myself, I told him it depended on the region, and that beach volleyball is usually the version played (in Florida at least). Volleyball is serious business here in Bulgaria, and is very much a “man’s game.” Whereas in schools in America, girls usually play volleyball while the boys play basketball, it is interestingly exactly the opposite here.
Anyway, after a couple of games in which we Americans lost by huge lopsided margins, we mixed up the teams and played some mixed games, which yielded the most fun times of the tournament, and made up in part for the loss of confidence I had in my athletic skills. All in all it was an awesome time, and a huge success. The event brought in more money than was expected, and everyone had fun, despite the stinging red marks on our forearms…
Until next time…
Monday, March 23, 2009
So Energy
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. The camera’s still in the shop, and even though I don’t have any new pictures to share, there’s been some interesting developments around.
Since returning from the Kukeri festival at the beginning of the month, I’ve been hard at work. I’ve been trying to keep my groups together at the orphanage. I’ve been dealing with this language, dealing with failures personally and professionally. I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly I’ve been doing for the past 8 months (!). It seemed like I hadn’t made any progress with any of the kids in my math and Bulgarian group, my English groups were falling apart, and I was having a hard time reaching some kids with whom I had previously made some good progress. I was called a liar and spit on by a kid after explaining that I can’t work with every child in the orphanage all the time. Eventually I found myself buried under the seemingly sudden avalanche of all these factors. I was sapped of my desire to do much of anything, and contemplated leaving for the first time since being here.
This past week I headed to a seminar in Stara Zagora (a town in southern-central Bulgaria) focused on HIV/AIDS education, human trafficking, and life skills. We spent the better part of our days in a hotel conference room trying to absorb a big amount of information in a small time, aided only by a constant stream of free coffee and cookies. The nights however were a lot of fun, and I’m glad I got to know the town a bit more. I met some b23’s (the group before us, English teachers), who turned out to be great people. Coincidentally we met an American conductor who teaches at UMass who was in town to guest-conduct a performance of Beethoven’s 9th, which we attended and enjoyed greatly (at least I did).
I don’t know when it happened, but at some point during the week I forgot all about all the things that had been plaguing me for a while. For a brief time, at least, I just let it all go and enjoyed myself. I was finally back in the moment. I also made progress on starting some life skills activities I had wanted to do since I got here, and also moved forward with a summer camp idea that I and another volunteer are working on.
Towards the end of the seminar we read some notes that were anonymously sent to each other between the Americans and Bulgarians. For the most part, this was an extremely cheesy exercise. One of the notes, however, really affected me, and I think it will stand as one of the high points of this part of my service.
The note read, “You are so energy!”
I smiled not only at the apparent grammatical mistake, but because it was the first time in a while I had actually felt genuinely good. I felt proud and confident, and for the first time in a while truly and honestly energized and ready to jump back into site. I have ideas again. I have motivation to do them, or at least to try. I am back in the moment, and my perspective has shifted back from one of looking back on my failures so far, to looking forward at the potential in people and things around town.
Being here and in this line of work, it’s easy to focus on the negatives. It gets in your head sometimes… Makes you think twice about reaching out to that kid just one more time, about keeping the groups going or about trying a new activity. It prevents you from venturing out and meeting people, and from developing the relationships with the people you do know. Makes you question if it’s even worth it to stick around. I think it’s why so often you find people here without the desire to start projects, or the energy to try new strategies or activities with kids. Things are not like this all the time, but it’s a pretty noticeable thing most of the time.
I have always considered myself somewhat of an optimist. I’ve often tried to gravitate towards the positives in the face of failure. It was this quality that I’ve relied on so many times in my life to get through the rough patches. Similarly I’ve also tried to help others in stressful times doing the same thing. I’ve always found that this ability has been a constant source of energy. When I first got here, I tried to act as an energizing factor in my town, the Yasli, and at the orphanage by being there for people and pointing out the positives. Somewhere along the line here I lost that.
Sometimes it just takes a simple, tiny note written by a stranger to put you back on the right track.
Until next time...
Since returning from the Kukeri festival at the beginning of the month, I’ve been hard at work. I’ve been trying to keep my groups together at the orphanage. I’ve been dealing with this language, dealing with failures personally and professionally. I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly I’ve been doing for the past 8 months (!). It seemed like I hadn’t made any progress with any of the kids in my math and Bulgarian group, my English groups were falling apart, and I was having a hard time reaching some kids with whom I had previously made some good progress. I was called a liar and spit on by a kid after explaining that I can’t work with every child in the orphanage all the time. Eventually I found myself buried under the seemingly sudden avalanche of all these factors. I was sapped of my desire to do much of anything, and contemplated leaving for the first time since being here.
This past week I headed to a seminar in Stara Zagora (a town in southern-central Bulgaria) focused on HIV/AIDS education, human trafficking, and life skills. We spent the better part of our days in a hotel conference room trying to absorb a big amount of information in a small time, aided only by a constant stream of free coffee and cookies. The nights however were a lot of fun, and I’m glad I got to know the town a bit more. I met some b23’s (the group before us, English teachers), who turned out to be great people. Coincidentally we met an American conductor who teaches at UMass who was in town to guest-conduct a performance of Beethoven’s 9th, which we attended and enjoyed greatly (at least I did).
I don’t know when it happened, but at some point during the week I forgot all about all the things that had been plaguing me for a while. For a brief time, at least, I just let it all go and enjoyed myself. I was finally back in the moment. I also made progress on starting some life skills activities I had wanted to do since I got here, and also moved forward with a summer camp idea that I and another volunteer are working on.
Towards the end of the seminar we read some notes that were anonymously sent to each other between the Americans and Bulgarians. For the most part, this was an extremely cheesy exercise. One of the notes, however, really affected me, and I think it will stand as one of the high points of this part of my service.
The note read, “You are so energy!”
I smiled not only at the apparent grammatical mistake, but because it was the first time in a while I had actually felt genuinely good. I felt proud and confident, and for the first time in a while truly and honestly energized and ready to jump back into site. I have ideas again. I have motivation to do them, or at least to try. I am back in the moment, and my perspective has shifted back from one of looking back on my failures so far, to looking forward at the potential in people and things around town.
Being here and in this line of work, it’s easy to focus on the negatives. It gets in your head sometimes… Makes you think twice about reaching out to that kid just one more time, about keeping the groups going or about trying a new activity. It prevents you from venturing out and meeting people, and from developing the relationships with the people you do know. Makes you question if it’s even worth it to stick around. I think it’s why so often you find people here without the desire to start projects, or the energy to try new strategies or activities with kids. Things are not like this all the time, but it’s a pretty noticeable thing most of the time.
I have always considered myself somewhat of an optimist. I’ve often tried to gravitate towards the positives in the face of failure. It was this quality that I’ve relied on so many times in my life to get through the rough patches. Similarly I’ve also tried to help others in stressful times doing the same thing. I’ve always found that this ability has been a constant source of energy. When I first got here, I tried to act as an energizing factor in my town, the Yasli, and at the orphanage by being there for people and pointing out the positives. Somewhere along the line here I lost that.
Sometimes it just takes a simple, tiny note written by a stranger to put you back on the right track.
Until next time...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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...
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...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Elate da Izrisuvame!
“Come and paint with us!”
Peace Corps Bulgaria wanted something sustainable, and we gave it to them… What could be more sustainable than a giant picture on a once-blank wall that shows how patriotic your town is? About 20-ish kids showed up, as well as 10 adults, to clean up their town and create a lasting expression of peace. At least that’s what I like to think of it as… Really, we had a fun day in the town center, did some painting, and gave away a soccer ball for picking up trash around the town center. It all just seemed to work together well.
Before:
During:
After Day 1:
By the way, I was also on Bulgarian television for the first time, since the regional news came out to cover our project for whatever reason. I did an interview… in Bulgarian. The constant onslaught of language lessons every day is paying off I guess!
The mural reads “Welcome to Kraynitsi” (Dobre Doshli b Kraynitisi) and is written against an outline of Bulgaria filled in with the colors of the Bulgarian flag – white, green, and red. On the side is one of the symbols of Bulgaria, pink roses, and at the bottom is displayed the emblem of the European Union, of which Bulgaria is now a part. Just under the lettering, and contained within the borders of Bulgaria (and in its correct region, I must add) is displayed the coat of arms of Kraynitsi, in which is a traditionally dressed figure holding an apple and a flower. I'll add the picture of the emblem later.
Other volunteers from our area came out and gave their help and support as well. Thanks guys!
Now begins the final stages of our training for service here in Bulgaria. Swearing-in is just under 3 weeks away. Somewhere in between now and then we’ll make another trip to Sofia to check out some of the sites, as well as the Peace Corps office and US Embassy. After that, we only have another week until we are officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. Then it’s on to Preslav… and into the bitter Bulgarian winter, which seems to have already begun, coming out of nowhere. Seriously, I think the average temperature in my bedroom during this past week has been somewhere in the 40s… Great!
Until next time…
Peace Corps Bulgaria wanted something sustainable, and we gave it to them… What could be more sustainable than a giant picture on a once-blank wall that shows how patriotic your town is? About 20-ish kids showed up, as well as 10 adults, to clean up their town and create a lasting expression of peace. At least that’s what I like to think of it as… Really, we had a fun day in the town center, did some painting, and gave away a soccer ball for picking up trash around the town center. It all just seemed to work together well.
Before:
During:
After Day 1:
We had a bit of scare while we were touching up a few parts of the mural the day after. It started to rain overnight, and when we got to Bulgarian class everyone had the same look on their faces – a look that obviously said, “Are we sure the paint is waterproof?” Luckily the mural made it through the night, but we’re going to cover it with waterproof sealant just in case.
By the way, I was also on Bulgarian television for the first time, since the regional news came out to cover our project for whatever reason. I did an interview… in Bulgarian. The constant onslaught of language lessons every day is paying off I guess!
The mural reads “Welcome to Kraynitsi” (Dobre Doshli b Kraynitisi) and is written against an outline of Bulgaria filled in with the colors of the Bulgarian flag – white, green, and red. On the side is one of the symbols of Bulgaria, pink roses, and at the bottom is displayed the emblem of the European Union, of which Bulgaria is now a part. Just under the lettering, and contained within the borders of Bulgaria (and in its correct region, I must add) is displayed the coat of arms of Kraynitsi, in which is a traditionally dressed figure holding an apple and a flower. I'll add the picture of the emblem later.
Other volunteers from our area came out and gave their help and support as well. Thanks guys!
Now begins the final stages of our training for service here in Bulgaria. Swearing-in is just under 3 weeks away. Somewhere in between now and then we’ll make another trip to Sofia to check out some of the sites, as well as the Peace Corps office and US Embassy. After that, we only have another week until we are officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. Then it’s on to Preslav… and into the bitter Bulgarian winter, which seems to have already begun, coming out of nowhere. Seriously, I think the average temperature in my bedroom during this past week has been somewhere in the 40s… Great!
Until next time…
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