September 12, 2001

September 9, 2001

School is about to begin for the year and new ideas and hopes are high. We have heard that a volunteer really is able to conquer a lot more in their second year and we shall see. I have many ideas, if only I can cheerlead and smile my way through them. Even though this is my second year I still marvel at the differences in planning and activities during the first few teacher weeks. I know that elementary teachers back home go crazy getting their rooms ready, preparing bulletin boards, receiving lists of classes, rearranging rooms and making lesson plans. And here I sit a week before school starts not even knowing what I will be teaching this year. Although most teachers know what they are teaching this year, preparations for the classrooms are not as in depth. Teachers may get a list of names and prepare some paper work, but for most teachers they do not have a permanent room in the school so no preparing is done. Lots of sitting around, smoking and drinking coffee is done and since I don’t partake in smoking or drinking coffee there seems to be a lack of something to do. But I will wait and see and be surprised as our next year unwinds.

We had such a full month of August and it was great! Our trip was everything we hoped it would be fun, exciting romantic, beautiful and adventurous. I would have to say that Vienna, Austria was my favorite place we visited because it seemed like such an oasis. It was untouched by communism, which for me was a wonderful change, immaculate, had wonderful modes of transport and the scenery never stopped. I was surprised by Krakow the most. What a wonderful center square. After traveling to such gigantic cities it just felt so manageable and quaint. One day while we were visiting Krakow we traveled to Auschwitz and Birkenau, a trip that every human being should make. I was a little uneasy about going. I thought it was insane to want to go as a tourist to such a horrific place. But, after a full day there I knew it was important not to hide such a part of our history. Everyone has something to learn from this tragic period. We enjoyed Berlin however we never seemed to get out of the construction. Building and tearing down was going on everywhere. The buildings that were noteworthy were the more modern ones such as the Sony Center, which is basically a shopping center with restaurants and offices. At night this place came alive with beautiful lighting and fountains. In Budapest I was most impressed with the Buda side and the buildings along the Danube River. We live along the Danube and it sure doesn’t look like Budapest. It seems like every important building is somewhere lined up on the river and within view. We learned the most about this city by taking a walking tour where we pooped out around 3 and ½ hours. The tour guide recommended this restaurant that we tried out. I couldn’t believe the similarity of the chicken and turkey between The Blue Rose and the Barberton Chicken House in Barberton, Ohio. It was quite tasty! In Prague we were basically tired and overrun with other tourists, it was a mad house. We think we would like to go back in a different season to scope the place out one more time.

September 12, 2001

Yesterday we received a phone call from my counterpart asking if we had heard from America. I was of course afraid expecting that my family was in trouble and Peace Corps was trying to get a hold of us. She urged me to turn on BTV the Bulgarian television station and told me that something horrible had happened. I thanked her and turned on the T.V. For the next 4 hours Josh and I were glued to the T.V. becoming frustrated by the translator who was translating over the English that we so wanted to hear. Bulgarian News broadcasted CNN live for up to 4 hours. During this time we watched in disbelief at what was happening to our country. I just kept watching thinking “My country is under Attack?” The whole world seemed to be involved in this in some way, offering prayers, kind words and help, we even received three phone calls from Bulgarians offering condolences. When something like this is happening it seems difficult to know what to do, especially when we are so far away. We will sit and wait along with our country trying to keep as close as contact as possible.

Kate