letter23

Dear Friends and Family,

Adolescent girls are emotional wrecks, hormones waiting to happen, spastic
bundles of nerves and energy everywhere you go. No, the country doesn't
matter, the town doesn't matter, the CENTURY doesn't matter . . . that's
just the way it is and the way it always has been and I guess we just need
to accept it. I guess I was there once too . . . a hormonal mess ready to
EXPLODE at the drop of a hat. Heck, I'm a GIRL . . . I'm still like that
sometimes and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it.

My Thursday was quite interesting to say the least. My first two lessons
were great as I used every ounce of vibrant energy to make the differences
between the words, "This" and "These" exciting and enthralling to chattery
6th graders. When all of a sudden . . . two teachers burst in right in the
middle of my lesson, as I was holding up a pair of my socks and saying,
"These are socks", and they ranted something in Bulgarian to my students,
obviously very distressed. Now, I am already used to classes being
interupted in Bulgaria, for a variety of silly reasons. It's the norm, but
I asked the students what was going on. The class I was teaching was my
slower class, so they did their best to explain to me in mixed English,
Bulgarian, and body movements that a Roma (Gypsy) boy had gotten into a
fight with and shot a Bulgarian boy, right here in our peaceful little
Samokov.

Now, things like this are rare in small Bulgarian towns, even though the
Roma people continue to be a problem. The worst threat is probably
pickpocketing and theft. So, it turned into cause for national alarm. The
teachers shook up the students by running into the classrooms with the news
and rumors started to fly and the school was in absolute chaos. The
teachers argued with each other and the director in the teacher's lounge
about what "action" to take, as frantic children pounded on the door and
were yelled at for interupting; the phone outside of the lounge was home to
a long line of worried, crying children who were calling their parents to
create greater worry; students ran through the halls, peered out the
windows, and created chaos and delirium in their fright; several parents
flooded the school to pick up their children and transport them to "safety";
school was called off early because so many children were leaving and it was
impossible to function. Now, here's where the adolescent girls come into
the picture . . . I think every girl in that building (minus the teachers)
was crying pathetically. We were safe, we weren't totally close to the
incident, yet for some reason, it was cause for alarm. Especially since
police were "patroling" in every direction, especially around the schools!
The girls cried, the boys taunted them, and the teachers just made matters
worse. I sat back and watched the crazy scene, amazed, and several students
ran to me to tell me, in frantic Bulgarian and bits of English, various
versions of what had happened. WHAT, a student shot and cut off the arms of
one of his teachers?!!?

So, there you have it. And, to add icing to the cake, I had to be walked
home this evening. And I was the most calm, sane person there! But, man,
is it hard to figure out what's going on when no one really explains to you
what's going on! What a day! But, I didn't cry like all of those hormonal
girls . . . not even once. :-)

Love, your sane friend and/or relative,
Chantel