letter18

Dear Family and Friends,

Okay, okay, I know it's been awhile since I've written. But, to tell you the truth, I have been extremely busy! Can you believe I only have three weeks of training before I'm sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer?!!? My two year service is already flying by! But, on another note . . .

For those of you who don't know and even those of you who do, we officially received our site assignments on Monday. We all anxiously hovered around our Country Director as he pulled 50 names and sites, one by one, out of a small cardboard box. I watched eagerly as each of my friends received their carnation and the name of their new home, with puzzled looks on many of their faces. And then, I heard, "Chantel, you're going to Samokov!" My first thought was, "WHERE?!!?" as I hugged the trainee before me and took my carnation, preparing to read the next name and site. After all names were read, we were instructed to find our towns on a large chalk map of Bulgaria, that spanned the entire basketball court. And then, the celebrations began, as we all celebrated towns that we had never heard of or been to. I love how, in Bulgaria, each experience is so unique and better than the experience before. Speaking of which, my parents are planning a trip out here, possibly in December, if any of you want to hitch a ride! :-)

Anyway, back to Samokov. The description I got of my town before visiting it said that, "A river runs through it." The description said that the town is very artsy and prides themselves in painting and woodcrafts. Samakov is
also in a great location with easy travel, being an hour from Sofia (our capital) and having a ski resort in the beautiful Rila mountains just outside of it. The town has a population of about 30,000, one-third of which is Roma (gypsy), and my school focuses on attracting and keeping Roma children in the Bulgarian school. Right up my alley, right? My school is
the typical, run down communist-looking school with about 980 students and 67 teachers, having one teacher of English. Tentatively, I will be teaching 5th and 6th grades, which I requested because Model School actually taught
me that I prefer to teach English to older students here in Bulgaria! One of my PCT friends even said that I had the 7th graders "wrapped" during Model School! Surprise, Surprise!

So, knowing very little about our towns, we went to visit them on Wednesday. You know me, I was slightly nervous! The Peace Corps either bussed us to Sofia or Plovdiv to catch buses and/or trains to our scattered sites. Since
my site is so close to Sofia, I was one of the first PCT's to get off of the bus at the first drop off station in Sofia. As I was making my way off the bus, our Pre-Service Training Coordinator announced for everyone to wish me
luck and every single person on that bus began to clap, cheer, and wish me good luck as I walked off the bus. I love the commradery that the Peace Corps develops when different people are separated from their families and
experiencing the same experiences!

Anyway, I made it to Samokov in, altogether, about 3 hours. Yes, weekend sleepovers with Iva! :-) I was met by my counterpart (the 1 English teacher) and the director of my school, whom I stayed with for the few days. I was
shown around the town, I opened my bank account, I was introduced to the school and many of my new colleagues, and I experienced Borovets, the ski resort, with my counterpart, the director, and two other teachers. Samokov
is a nice town, yet I thought that there was much more poverty there than in Panagyurishte and it is not as well kept. However, it seems to be much bigger. There are many historical sites and even a convent. . . . I always knew I was destined to join one of those! There is also a huge historical fountain in the center of town and, as the legend goes, whoever drinks from the cool spring water of the fountain is destined to remain in Samokov forever. So, what was the first thing they had me do when I got off the bus?! Drink from the fountain, of course! Convent, here I come!!! :-)

Borovets, the ski resort, is 10 km. outside of Samokov, with vans going there every half hour year round. We went on Thursday and it was like stepping into another demension. I almost forgot that I was in Bulgaria at all! Everything is in English and there are endless restaurants, clubs, and shops of all kinds. There is even a Chinese restaurant! Yes! The resort is equipped with honest-to-God four star hotels, swimming pools, skiing in the winter, horseback riding, etc. We even toured one of the hunting palaces of King Ferdinand, which sits snuggly in the mountains of Borovets.
So, guess who's learning how to ski this winter?!!? I'm an Arizona girl and I have barely been exposed to snow IN MY LIFE, so my winters in Samokov should be quite interesting! Borovets has a few ski schools, so I think
I'll make the most of the cold weather! I couldn't have asked for a better location, being so close to Borovets and Sofia. There is also a B-10 in my town named Ryan (he's been here a year) and I met him yesterday. He seems to be a great guy and we'll probably hold English classes together for the teachers at my school.

So, things worked out well, I think. I have a few concerns, such as my apartment, which I haven't seen yet, and already hearing endless talk about the PCV I am replacing and all that she did, but it'll all work out. I guess that is to be expected at first. Ryan said that in a couple of months that will stop talking about the B-9, who incidentally also stayed with my
school director during training when they had it in Samokov two years ago and had a relationship with her son. But, I'll be fine. And, already, I see many needs in my town and school that I wanna see get met while I'm here, so I'm sure I'll be coming to all of you for ideas, support, and connections later on! So, BE PREPARED!!!
:-)

Well, I better leave you with that. I need to go get ready to go to the movies later this evening with my Peace Corps friends, in our small little movie theater that shows one movie a week, movies which have been out on video in America for months! Tonight, they're showing "Big Momma's House" (I know, I know, we'll watch ANYTHING just as long as it's in English these days!) and last week they showed, "Me, Myself, and Irene." Jennifer, can you believe they showed "The Cell" here a few weeks ago?! But, believe me, I definitely didn't waste my time seeing that one again! So, I will try to keep writing more now that things are slowing down if you promise to write soon! Oh, and, visit my website soon! My Mom finally got the pictures I sent, so my site should be equipped with pictures soon, including some of
the infamous Iva! Write soon!

Love, from Bulgaria,
Chantel