Halloween in Bulgaria

Halloween for me in Bulgaria is officially finished!! There were times when I thought it would never be done with..but the 5th-7th grade students really seemed to enjoy it. Unfortunately, like all well planned activities in Bulgaria, there was a challenging, very challenging (for me) catch. I pretty much expected around 50 or so kids; but, upon arriving, there is a hall full of even younger kids. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade teachers seemed to think it would be a good idea to bring their students also..fun, right..NOOOO

But anyways, the 2 hours passed by so fast..all of the teachers that never showed up to help the prior week (after they had specifically mentioned they would be there)..miraculously appeared, thinking that I would desert the kids to chat with them and try to explain what was going on.. Sorry, no more venting.

Here are the highlights from last Friday and today. Last week we decorated the gym. The students worked hard at making masks, decorations, spiders, spiderwebs, posters, and giant crossword puzzles for a competition between the classes. They also learned the password to enter the party – Trick or Treat. Later, we went to the school’s home ec kitchen and made the dough for chocolate chip cookies (this was a first for everyone but me :) Then..do to a lack of teachers helping, the day ended badly..I will leave it at that.

Today..we had no music, since everyone I asked indicated that they, and the school, have no speakers we could use..and let’s face it..with as many kids as there were, we wouldn’t have been able to hear it anyways. However, to continue..we did have many wonderfully carved pumpkins. I was really impressed. We also had a Halloween crossword puzzle competition (in English of course) between each of the classes. The 5th graders won!! I’m pretty sure the 7th graders were a little more into taking pictures of all the fabulous costumes. We had a fun time at apple bobbing..in which I took part of :)

We also decorated pumpkins that were not carved, with pieces of vegetables to make funny faces. We had a box to vote for everyone’s favorite mask (we had made masks the prior week, and they were labeled and posted on the wall)..we had a costume contest..but my favorite part was the scary story contest. At first, all but one girl said they didn’t have a scary story to tell..but we still went to a dark corner with a lit jack-o-lantern..and, it went so well, that after the party, we went back to the corner to tell more scary stories.

So..what did I learn from this Halloween..well, I guess one factor never changes here..it’s hard to find dependable adults. Without fail, the children showed up. I can only hope they continue in this pattern as they grow up..to be dependable. Also, I learned a lot about the students themselves. I saw their creative sides come out. Just check out some of my newly posted pics on the link at the bottom of this page. They were creative in making their masks, and all the decorations. They stayed after to help clean up..many even stayed to help calm me of my little melt-down on Friday.

It’s good to have Halloween done..now it’s just that deadline looming for the online paper. It’s definitely getting there. The student writers really liked the press passes I made up and laminated for them.