| Thursday, September 12, 2002 A Year to Reflect On |
| After being in Bulgaria for over a year, I figure it's time for me to reflect on my time here. I now live in my new town, Shumen, and am finally settled into my apartment. I'm still trying to unpack and get everything into place. I do like it here. It's a fairly big apartment in a nice block near the center of town. The location is great; I have a 2 minute walk to school, the bus station or the center. I also live very close to Billa, which is a supermarket that is god's gift to PCV's in Bulgaria. My apartment isn't without it's funny quirks though; such as the refridgerater in the hallway next to my bedroom. But I do like the 2 balconies, and the washing machine is such a lifesaver! I also have a great cable station here that offers CNN and other great english channels. I'm never searching for English news, movies or music. My school is another story. It's extrememly frustrating there, because no one really seems to know what is going on. School officially starts on Monday, and the schedule still isn't ready. I would at least like to know what grades I will be teaching so I can start to lesson plan and prepare. My counterpart, Momchil, won't be at the school this year, and I still don't know who my new counterpart will be. This is only a problem because right now, with all the ambiguity, I don't know what's going on, and ther eisn't one specific person I can go to for the answers. I do know that I won't be teaching the Preps again this year. I don't think I want the opportunity to get so close to another group. No class can compare to my kids last year, and I don't want to be disappointed. I miss Karnobat a lot. I keep meaning to go back there for a visit, but the time has never been right. I will go back soon though, my students and friends email me on a daily basis it seems, just to find out when I'll be there. I know that they miss me as much as I miss them. I do like that Dimitrina studies here in Shumen. I still get to see her on a fairly regular basis. She was here last week, and it was really nice to go out like we used to. My time at home this summer didn't do much for my language skills. I feel like I lost so much, although I know that I really didn't. I just need to hang out with colleagues a little bit more and I'll be right back in the swing of things. I also feel like I missed out on the summer thing at the beach. Except for the beach party, I didn't have a chance to go to the Black Sea at all. Jake and I were going to go this weekend, but the weather here has ben so funky lately. It's cold and rainy, and definately not summer anymore. It's time to put away all thouse cute sundresses and skirts, and break out the long sleeve shirts, long pants, and fleece jackets-it's Fall! I feel like I really know my place here in Bulgaria, and it's a shame that it took so long. I know that it's normal for everyone here, but this last year will fly by, and I feel like I just figured it out. In a few weeks a group of us will travel to Munich for Oktoberfest!! and after that is the Halloween party in Romania, then Thanksgiving, then home for Christmas...You get the picture. It's going to go by so quickly. Jake and I are starting to plan more weekend trips, trying to see as much of the country as possible before we leave. ISTANBUL!!!!!! I told you all that I would write about the trip to Istanbul. Thanks for being patient with me. It was absolutely incredible. So different from Bulgaria. The only way I can explain it is with this example. We took a bus from Burgas, and got dropped off in a different part of town than we wanted to be, so we took the subway into the old town. Then we walked a-ways to find a hotel. We were told by other volunteers that there are a bunch, and that you just walk in off the street. Well, we were obviously not in the right area, because we only found a couple of hotels, and they were either booked, or too expensive. While waiting outside one of the hotels for the people who went in to use the bathroom, the manager came outside. It was a nice hotel (100USD a night), so I thought he was going to tell us to hit the road. We were dirty, smelly and looked like very weary travellers with all our packs. Instead, he said that they were full, but if we needed a room, he knew a place down the street. Jake and I were very hesitant, thinking this guy was going to take us some place to rob us, or take us somewhere and then expect some sort of payment for helping. Than kfully Jake's friends weren't as "Bulgarianized" as us, and followed the man. He took us to a great Hotel/Hostel in a wonderful location that was also very cheap. He also helped us by translating with the desk guy, and even showed us some good restaurants. You would never find this in Bulgaria. Everywhere we went we encountered the same attitude. The Turks love tourists, and really know how to treat them well. The food was wonderful and the sights were incredible. We visited the Sultan's palace, the AyaSofia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Market and even took the ferry over to Asia! I can't describe how great the vacation was for me. It was beautiful, warm and very friendly. As soon as I have the time, I will put up pictures form the trip online so you all can see it too! Well, I figure this is long enough for now. I hope everyone is well. -Sarah |