Did you know:
This morning I was in a café with two of my good friends Kiril and Hrisa..the topic of the morning was Indians..as in American Indians. Now..if you don’t know where Bulgaria is and you are this blog..look on a map. It’s Eastern Europe. It was really odd to me that both of them (Hrisa and Kiril) liked to read books and watch films about the Indians in the United States ,long ago when they were kids..I mean, it is just odd to me that Eastern Europe 30 to 40-some odd years ago was watching films about American Indians..it was an interesting conversation..including that after WWII, these books and films were banned because the author was known to be a favorite of Hitler?!...(remember now..this is my translation of what I understood..the conversation was in Bulgarian)
Last year, I headed back to my host family’s place for Christmas. This year, I am a being a bit of Scrooge and staying home (to chat with family on Skype)..but, since I am around my city and villages I work in, there is so much going on..I’m happy that I’m sticking around. I was recently invited to one of my good friends oil painting exhibition. Here is the link to her work, Irena Lutinskaite (she is from Lithuania, but lives here in Bulgaria) http://www.artiren.com/index.php/gallery
..but I have to say, the pictures barely do her work justice..she is a very talented artist, and I plan to buy one of her pieces before I leave. And back to that small world again..turns out my hiking friends know my artist friend, and one of my English teacher friends..I don’t why, but it still surprises me when all of my Bulgarian friends know each other..In the United States all of my different groups of friends were very separate and different persons..but here in Bulgaria, I feel like all the good people know each other.
Another great friend of mine, Stella, is a great photographer; and if you would like to see some beautiful pictures of Bulgaria, check out her link at: http://photo-forum.net/bg/index.php?APP_ACTION=USER_IMAGES&USER_ID=50091
I really need to get some pictures of my new classes I am teaching..as soon as I get my new camera I will be posting pics again..i’ve got my fingers crossed to have it before Christmas..there’s so many invites and activities I want to get pictures and video clips of to remember; my kindergartners are adorable..they know how to ask a persons name, and answer..they know their number 1-6, (because they are 6 years old)..they know words of the alphabet up to P (for Pumpkin), they know Head shoulders knees and toes, and they know walking, running, hopping, and sit down (this for some reason is their favorite word)..I could write plenty about all of my classes, because I really like my students.
I don’t know if you’all have noticed, but I have noticed that the longer I am in Bulgaria, the worse my spelling and grammar have gotten when I am typing out these posts..
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
HIJA (HUT) GRAMADLIVA
Hija Gramadliva – hiking with my tourism group
Good people, good friends
Warm-patches of wind
Dew covered eyelashes
Trees w/o sickness, koledari, Bai-Stan
Rakia, red wine, dancing
Pictures..lots of pictures, Katia
Huge water puddles
Muddy trails..very muddy trails
Karma, Life, Daisy
Map-making; Dec 1 tales; Didka
Snow touched trees and leaves
Freezing cold..side of the road
A ride home, Planimir
No waiting at a busstop!!
Good people, good friends
Warm-patches of wind
Dew covered eyelashes
Trees w/o sickness, koledari, Bai-Stan
Rakia, red wine, dancing
Pictures..lots of pictures, Katia
Huge water puddles
Muddy trails..very muddy trails
Karma, Life, Daisy
Map-making; Dec 1 tales; Didka
Snow touched trees and leaves
Freezing cold..side of the road
A ride home, Planimir
No waiting at a busstop!!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Hija Buzludja
Hija Buzludja
I am finally getting a moment to write about my great hike to the Hija and monument of Buzludja in the ‘Stara Planina’ (old mountains). We really lucked out with the weather.. It was 65-70 degrees for both days of the hike, and this was in the mountains, in November.
Another great surprise was seeing Daisy, an old Bulgarian friend from a nearby city, who I haven’t seen since the 4th of July. Yeah..I was waiting for the tourism group (as we were travelling by train to our hike), and out of nowhere comes Daisy. It turns out she’s taking the same train. She’s also an avid hiker, and decides to join our group for an upcoming hike. And you know how I like to say ‘everything happens for a reason’..well, I learned a lot about my hiking group through Daisy, as she speaks English fluently. I learned that a much anticipated hike date had been changed to Thanksgiving weekend..a weekend I am unavailable We also talked about Mt. Olympus in Greece..a place I think I want to climb.
One of the best things about these hikes, other than the outdoors and the magnificent views is the people. Everyone hikes at their own pace..so, when I feel like pushing myself, I stay at the front of the pack with the leader Stancho (he ran a BG mountain race; 100km in 24 hours)..and when I feel like taking it easy, there’s always people to fall back with and chat with. They were all a little intrigued by my camelpack.
Mitko and I were talking..and he’s trying to tell me these jokes..but they didn’t quite sound like jokes. I heard ‘baby’, ‘baby carriage’, ‘thumbtacks’, and another time ‘teacher’, ‘students’, and thumbtacks’..you have to remember, I don’t always understand every word of Bulgarian..but I can usually figure out the context with key words..finally he sees my confused look and says ‘черно хумор’, black humor, and things start to make a little more sense.
So, the last 2 hours of the hike on our first day, our leader decides not to stop and wait for all the groups to catch up anymore..and there was a turn where I figured others might not be aware of..like me. So, Mitko and I wait for everyone to more or less catch up..and none of us are all that sure where the Hija is, which led to a very interesting hike with two others going down the side of the mountain. I asked him if he was sure if there was a path..because I didn’t see it..and eventually neither did he..after a couple tumbles down the mountain on all the leaves, we eventually did find a pretty neat path, and finally the hija as well.
It turned out to be Stella’s birthday as well..so that evening was very festive. After the DJ tired of dedicating songs to Stella, he decided to start in with dedications to me ‘the American’..every English speaking song was dedicated to ‘the American’..but, as always, I had fun.
There’s more information that I wrote on the pics about the hike. Follow the link at the bottom of the page labeled Tricia’s new pics – then Buzludja.
I am finally getting a moment to write about my great hike to the Hija and monument of Buzludja in the ‘Stara Planina’ (old mountains). We really lucked out with the weather.. It was 65-70 degrees for both days of the hike, and this was in the mountains, in November.
Another great surprise was seeing Daisy, an old Bulgarian friend from a nearby city, who I haven’t seen since the 4th of July. Yeah..I was waiting for the tourism group (as we were travelling by train to our hike), and out of nowhere comes Daisy. It turns out she’s taking the same train. She’s also an avid hiker, and decides to join our group for an upcoming hike. And you know how I like to say ‘everything happens for a reason’..well, I learned a lot about my hiking group through Daisy, as she speaks English fluently. I learned that a much anticipated hike date had been changed to Thanksgiving weekend..a weekend I am unavailable We also talked about Mt. Olympus in Greece..a place I think I want to climb.
One of the best things about these hikes, other than the outdoors and the magnificent views is the people. Everyone hikes at their own pace..so, when I feel like pushing myself, I stay at the front of the pack with the leader Stancho (he ran a BG mountain race; 100km in 24 hours)..and when I feel like taking it easy, there’s always people to fall back with and chat with. They were all a little intrigued by my camelpack.
Mitko and I were talking..and he’s trying to tell me these jokes..but they didn’t quite sound like jokes. I heard ‘baby’, ‘baby carriage’, ‘thumbtacks’, and another time ‘teacher’, ‘students’, and thumbtacks’..you have to remember, I don’t always understand every word of Bulgarian..but I can usually figure out the context with key words..finally he sees my confused look and says ‘черно хумор’, black humor, and things start to make a little more sense.
So, the last 2 hours of the hike on our first day, our leader decides not to stop and wait for all the groups to catch up anymore..and there was a turn where I figured others might not be aware of..like me. So, Mitko and I wait for everyone to more or less catch up..and none of us are all that sure where the Hija is, which led to a very interesting hike with two others going down the side of the mountain. I asked him if he was sure if there was a path..because I didn’t see it..and eventually neither did he..after a couple tumbles down the mountain on all the leaves, we eventually did find a pretty neat path, and finally the hija as well.
It turned out to be Stella’s birthday as well..so that evening was very festive. After the DJ tired of dedicating songs to Stella, he decided to start in with dedications to me ‘the American’..every English speaking song was dedicated to ‘the American’..but, as always, I had fun.
There’s more information that I wrote on the pics about the hike. Follow the link at the bottom of the page labeled Tricia’s new pics – then Buzludja.
Училищни Хроники – The School Chronicles
Училищни Хроники – The School Chronicles
It feels so good to get the first issue of our new online school newspaper out. I know the school editors worked hard (after school in the computer lab, and Skype meetings in the evening)..and we will continue improving the website with future editions. If you haven’s seen the newspaper yet, you can view it at the following link.
http://my.hsj.org/it/lyaskovets,bulgaria/mr_507
Because it is primarily in Bulgarian..these are the links I believe will be of the most interest to the English speakers reading: The English corner (from me); Галерия (pictures..click on them once to make them bigger..and click again to make it smaller); Репортерите питат (video clips of interviews with the first graders).
It feels so good to get the first issue of our new online school newspaper out. I know the school editors worked hard (after school in the computer lab, and Skype meetings in the evening)..and we will continue improving the website with future editions. If you haven’s seen the newspaper yet, you can view it at the following link.
http://my.hsj.org/it/lyaskovets,bulgaria/mr_507
Because it is primarily in Bulgarian..these are the links I believe will be of the most interest to the English speakers reading: The English corner (from me); Галерия (pictures..click on them once to make them bigger..and click again to make it smaller); Репортерите питат (video clips of interviews with the first graders).
8th grade girls
My camera broke on my last hike to Buzludja..I had been thinking, what a great camera I have..it’s lasted so long, even with me being the klutz that I am and dropping it often..and then it just quit working..so, you won’t see any pictures for a while
So last week, I was given the opportunity to meet with the 8th grade girls in the school I work with. I had this crazy idea that maybe they would be interested in an exchange of ideas with some American girls. It was a bit disappointing from the start..my translator didn’t show up..and after finding another student to help, the girls were interested in hearing the Americans responses..but not so interested in answering the questions themselves.
There were a few discussions, and difference of opinions – as to how old they want to be when they get married. A few said ‘in their early 20’s’, the majority said ‘mid 20’s’, and 2 said ‘in their 30’s’.
They quickly indicated that their lives wold be different from their mother’s lives..and they all wanted to get married and have kids. The majority didn’t think men and women paid equal in Bulgaria..but they think that girls their age in Bulgaria have no problems.
So..what I did learn, was when I meet with the 9th grade girls I need to use methods other than only a discussion to work with the girls.
So last week, I was given the opportunity to meet with the 8th grade girls in the school I work with. I had this crazy idea that maybe they would be interested in an exchange of ideas with some American girls. It was a bit disappointing from the start..my translator didn’t show up..and after finding another student to help, the girls were interested in hearing the Americans responses..but not so interested in answering the questions themselves.
There were a few discussions, and difference of opinions – as to how old they want to be when they get married. A few said ‘in their early 20’s’, the majority said ‘mid 20’s’, and 2 said ‘in their 30’s’.
They quickly indicated that their lives wold be different from their mother’s lives..and they all wanted to get married and have kids. The majority didn’t think men and women paid equal in Bulgaria..but they think that girls their age in Bulgaria have no problems.
So..what I did learn, was when I meet with the 9th grade girls I need to use methods other than only a discussion to work with the girls.
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