| Second (and last) Term G. Vasquez visit 8, Feb. 2003 |
| This past week has been eventful and fun and hard, all wrapped up into one big burrito, minus the cheddar. Last week was my birthday, and Jake came to Shumen early to help me celebrate. It was also fun at school, getting dragged into my kids' classrooms to be sung to and given gifts. It was a little embarrassing, but very nice. Last weekend was spent down in the Rhodopi mountains, skiing my butt off while it snowed the whole time. I swear, I'm actually getting better at skiing, but I sure was sore after only 2 days skiing. I guess I'm more than a little out of shape by now. I definately don't walk as much during the winter. Anyway, it was a great time, and since there were so many birthdays around that time, about 25 volunteers were gathered to celebrate. We stayed in little A-frame cabins right off the side of one of the slopes, unfortunately, when we first got there we had all our bags and no clue where eaxactly we were staying. So, Jake, Big Dave, Tyler and I rented our skiis and proceeded to ski down the mountain with our huge backpacks! Needless to say, I feel on my butt immediately, and was beetle-like for 5 minutes until Jake could help me back up - I was so top-heavy with the darn bag! I was much better after that, however we didn't realize that the cabins were halfway down the hill, so we skiied the whole way down, and then had to walk half-way back up with the skiis and bags! Thank goodness we finally found them! This past week has been spent trying to finalize grades; which isn't an easy task. I have students who work their butts off, and others who I haven't seen in months. All of a sudden, everyone is trying to turn in homework that I collected 3 months ago, or to try and do extra credit. No one here is satisfied with their grade, and I am not going to change it just to make them happy, so I'm the bad guy. I don't really mind it, I guess that's part of my job. I have Monday off of school, since the new term starts on Tuesday. I'm not really happy with my schedule - I'm now teaching an additional 6 hours of 8th grade preps in the morning, and I will also start teaching at the Shumen University 3 hours a week. Although I'm excited about the opportunity to teach at the university, I'm told they are pretty irresponsible and unprofessional so I'm reserving the right to "quit" at any time. Today was the VAC meeting, it was pushed up a little bit because of the official visit of Gaddi Vasquez. The meeting went really well, and he was very open and receptive to all of our ideas and concerns. I was extremely impressed with Director Vasquez today and also last night when I attended a reception at Ambassador Pardew's residence. I was able to find out more about his history, and why he is where he is today. Last year, right after his nomination, volunteers and RPCV's were upset to know that he was never a PC Volunteer, but today I got a little more insight into why and I definately respect him more now. The reception at Ambassador Pardew's was amazing. It was very formal, and included the Ambassador and his wife, Dir. Vasquez, Deputy Dir. Van Rest, Amanda Host, all the Heads of the Ministry, top Peace Corps staff, certain staff from the embassy and other important ex-pats, along with us PCV's. It was gerat to be included in the reception, and we were able to get to know them in a more relaxed atmosphere. I was in awe of the Ambassador's residence - it was absolutely beautiful! It was also really nice to get to know Carl and his wife a little bit better. After the reception we all went to Flannigans (PCV's and Carl/Kathy) and they filled up their car with as many volunteers as could fit. Thankfully, I was a lucky one who got a seat in the car, instead of walking out in the freezing snow. Right now Jake is finishing up his SPA grant, so we aren't sure if we are going to head back tonight or tomorrow, and I guess I'll just hang out and wait. I hope you are all well, S |