I’m alive

Yes, I’m still here.

The lack of any posting or communication from me pretty much sums up all of May, in which we had something like 10 days off, but scattered throughout the weeks so that we only had one full week of school. Given that we don’t see our students every day, this led to some CRAZY scheduling and left everyone feeling a bit out of the loop.

Along the way, I visited Belogradchik and, unexpectedly, Vidin, graduated my first Bulgarian seniors, attended my first Bulgarian prom, did my first clothes and shoe shopping in Bulgaria, and went to Thassos, Greece on a pretty much perfect vacation (and did not get Raptured on May 21). I also returned from Greece after 5 days away to find 50 emails in my inbox, 46 of which could be deleted instantly. Although I use the internet every day, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in Bulgaria it’s how very disconnected you can let yourself be, even with technology at the tip of your fingers. This can be both good (I can go on vacation on an island with no internet in my accommodations and not feel compelled to get online or check email) and bad (I know jack shit about any current events happening throughout the world) and humbling (it’s a little weird to know you’ve been away for several days and the world – including everyone you know in it – continued without you and didn’t really think about you), but it’s been an interesting change/discovery nonetheless.

More on some of these accomplishments (hopefully) in the days to come. Meanwhile, here is a pretty picture of Thassos:

BG Photo Scavenger Hunt

The international faculty at my school have often joked about holding a Bulgarian Photo Scavenger Hunt, where we compile a list of quintessentially Bulgarian scenes / flat-out crazy shit that you would never see in the U.S. and challenge people to capture them on camera. 

We’ve never actually done it, but here is a small sampling of possible entries…

Randomly Racist Marketing and Products:

Bugga’d

I’m feeling very Bugga’d today.

(NB: The internationals use the term “Bulgaria’d” as a verb and have now shortened it to BG’d, which in turn sounds like “bugga’d” when you pronounce the B and the G in the Bulgarian way. This term usually refers more specifically to cutting people in line, but can also be used in general when life in the Bulgat is kind of getting you down.)

This is not to say that anything that happened to me today is particularly Bulgarian (or particularly traumatic, I’m just cranky and whining). Certainly I’ve had very similar days in the U.S. But when days like this happen to you here instead of at home, you get all indignant and entitled and “Muhhhh…Bulgaria!! die!!!” like a big ol’ baby. Which sometimes, you just need to be. 

Here is basically what happened: