Panichishte & Byala Slatina, Bulgaria

Hi everyone! WOW, so much has happened since my last post! But I want you all to know I got to Bulgaria safely and everything is going well so far.

The pre-orientation week in Panichishte, Bulgaria was SUPER busy, but a lot of fun. Every day began around 7 a.m. and ended around 6 p.m. Then, most of us would use our evening time to hike through the surrounding mountains and forests, it was beautiful there! My roommate Whitney and I had a really nice balcony connected to our room, so we enjoyed a view of the snow-capped Rila mountains every morning. So I couldn't complain about that! The classes, however, were very long and we had to learn SO much within such a small time frame. We had language classes every day with different language trainers and we also had a lot of health and safety classes. During this week, we also found out where we will be located during our pre-service training (PST) and who our "satellite" groups will be (aka the groups we will be with during training).

The town that I am currently in is called Byala Slatina and it is where I will be living until I move to my permanent site towards the end of July. It's a town of about 6,000 and is located 45 miles or so northeast of Vratsa (so I'm still in the northwestern part of Bulgaria). On May 24, all of our host families were waiting for us in Vratsa to pick us up and take us to our homes. It was a very exciting but nerve-racking day. My family consists of a mother (Yulia), a father (Krasimir), and a baba (or grandmother). My parents do have two sons, but they live in Sofia and do not visit very often. When I first met my parents, my mother cried because she always wanted a daughter - it was really sweet.

I've been living with my family for a little less than a week now and communication is very difficult (because they speak ZERO English). I'm the first American they have ever met, and they do not have children nearby, so they have really not been exposed to the English language at all. However, I'm learning more and more of the language every day (4 hours worth!) so hopefully communication will start to improve soon. Until then, I carry my dictionary with me at all times and rely a lot on my body language. Speaking of that, it definitely is true that Bulgarians nod and shake their heads the opposite way - which makes things even MORE confusing than they already are! For instance... I went to Mtel (the main cell phone provider in Bulgaria) the other day to buy more credit, so I asked the worker if they were able to do this for me, and he shook his head. It took me awhile to figure out that that really meant yes. I'm semi-starting to get used to it though!

This week the other trainees (I'm with Emmy, Raf, & Carolyn) and I visited the local school to observe classes. There are only two English teachers in our town, and they themselves do not understand or speak much English, so I think our presence will definitely be important in helping them learn what they need to learn. Tomorrow, I get to teach my first class! It's an 8A class (there are A & B classes - and the A classes are more advanced) so I'm hoping it will go smoothly.

Well it's about time for lunch and for classes to start again, but I will post more again soon about my life here in Byala Slatina. I will also be posting pictures soon so stay tuned! I miss everyone back in the states!

Ciao!

Last Week in America

Wow, so my time left in America has officially come down to ONE WEEK! After applying to the Peace Corps almost a year ago, the time has finally come for me to finish packing my bags and head to Bulgaria. It seems unreal.

In the past couple of weeks I have tried to focus my time on being with friends and doing the things that I know I will miss the most (like eating a lot of good American food!) I've been slacking quite a bit on learning the language, but after talking to fellow volunteers and meeting one of them last week, I'm pretty sure we're all in the same boat on that one. Although it's obviously an important thing for us to be focusing on, we've also got to worry about packing, saying our goodbyes, and soaking up what we can from our final days in the states.

This will probably be my last post until I get to Bulgaria, because I'm assuming that I'll be stressed out a lot this week making sure I have all the essential things I need packed. But I hope to have internet access probably about a week after my arrival in Bulgaria (because we're staying in a mountain resort in Panichishte for the first week, which as I understand, has ZERO access to ANYTHING). But after that, our host families will arrive to pick us up on Sunday, May 24 and take us to our homes where we'll be living throughout training. I can't wait to meet them!

Anyhow, wish me luck and I'll be posting again as soon as I can!

Dovizhdane America!

Final Steps

A few days ago I received my staging instructions via e-mail which informed me that my staging event (aka orientation) will begin in Washington, D.C. on May 18th at noon. Today, I made my flight reservation and will officially be leaving Ohio May 18th at 7:41 a.m.!

My staging instructions also included a lay-out of what will take place at the event. After registration, we will have a brief but intense orientation session from 2-7 p.m. During this time we will be given background information about the Peace Corps, talk about our anxieties and aspirations for service, cover the organization's policies and safety procedures, and detail logistics and departure/arrival information.

In the meantime, I am beginning to pack and finalizing things I need to get done before I leave (such as financial matters). I'm starting to find out how difficult packing is, since I need to fit everything I need for two years in two suitcases! I'm also trying to figure out some sort of gift to give to my host family when I arrive. I'm thinking about a mini-scrapbook highlighting some parts of my life in Ohio, so they have an idea of my background and where I'm from. I'll figure something out...

Patiently Waiting...

I'm about a month and a half away from my orientation in Washington, D.C. and I could not be more excited! Since my last blog I've spent a lot of time reading about Bulgaria and the Peace Corps experience in general. With my invitation kit, I received a Volunteer Handbook that I am supposed to read before heading to D.C. and it has really explained a lot about what life will be like once I begin my pre-service training.

When I arrive in D.C. on the 19th, I will meet the other trainees in my group. I just received an e-mail stating that there will be approximately 70 of us that will make up the 25th group that has served in Bulgaria! At orientation, I will get acquainted with the other volunteers and also the Peace Corps staff that will be with us during training. This will be a very important period as I will be spending a great deal of time with these people during training and will likely keep in touch with them throughout my two years of service.

Once arriving in Bulgaria, I will spend 4-5 nights at a hotel in Sofia where training will officially begin. I will then move into a home with a host family who I will be living with for the duration of my training period. I just filled out a "survey" listing my personal interests and hobbies in order to help the Peace Corps Bulgaria staff match me with a family. I can't wait to get there and meet them!

That's all I have for now, check in again soon!

The Journey Begins!

Today, I officially accepted my invitation to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria! It has been such a long waiting process, but has finally paid off. My assignment is secondary English education - so I will be teaching English as a secondary language to children ages 8-19.

My placement officer sent me a great deal of information about my assignment and country, and I am very eager to learn all I can before I depart for orientation on May 19. Here, I will meet the other members of my training class and receive my passport and Bulgarian visa. From there, I will fly to Bulgaria with my training class to begin an intensive 10-week pre-service training program. The training will include Bulgarian language study, community skills, health and personal safety, and technical training. I know it will be a difficult process, but I cannot wait to start learning!

I will be posting updates here and there before my departure, so stay tuned :)