Happy Halloween!!!

This week, we have been hard at work.  Classes, extracurriculars, and this.... 

... the school halloween dance where we made a special appearance.  Rock on, rock on. :-)

Happy Halloween, ACS!!! 

the video is kind of dark, but I think you get the idea.  I am in the front left (white shirt and black vest). To my right is Kate and then Abby.  Back row behind me: Lindsay and then Jaime (look for the big hair!)

So. Much. Fun. :) 

Ecology @ ACS

I am the advisor of the Ecology Club at ACS this year.  I am totally stoked because not only is it a topic that I am interested in, but I am working with a group of very motivated and passionate students, who are just doing all of the work themselves.  They have already come up with a group logo and have a few great projects in mind for starting a sustainable recycling program here at ACS.  I am totally excited for them and can't wait to see the good things they will com up with this year!  

Let's welcome our new club logo!! :

This is the idea for a fundraiser to help us promote the use of recycled paper at ACS... 

Change the World Wednesdays

Here is the post for this week's CTWW: 

(see the blog here)

Recycling produces a lot of reclaimed materials. In order for the process to
work, there needs to be a strong aftermarket for products made from recycled content.

For this week's challenge:

Each time you shop for a non-food item, look to see whether a recycled version is available. If feasible, buy the recycled version. If there isn't one, but it's a category such as paper where you know recycled versions exist, ask the store to start carrying a recycled version.

OR

If you already buy recycled items regularly (or cannot afford to do so at all) then write a blog post about products made from reclaimed materials.

Great challenge, don't you think?

That's it for this week. Okay ... all together now:

WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!

Fall in Bulgaria

Fall is here. It is official.  There are fall colors on the leaves, it has been cold and crisp for most of the past 2 weeks; the government has turned on the central heating (I think) or at least the heat in our houses and our school is on... Snow is on the top of Vitosha, and winter is well on its way :) It makes me happy!! 

We had some time for some adventures in and around Sofia, including a trip to the Black Sea, which was great, and a lot of fun.  I love road trips, and it was nice to share the time with the new roommates and Jess.  We stayed in Sozopol, which was a wonderful cultural mix of Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece... travelled during the day to Burgas, Nessebur, and Sinemorets.  We had a great time with a few fun adventures including trying to find a beach in Sinemorets (which there is not much of)... we also tried to find this park preserve/lake where there are supposed to be all these water birds which is outside of Burgas.  No matter how hard we tried, we could not find it! And then I realized we had been driving past one of the lakes each day and that it was there all along, but by that time, no one was really interested in visiting the park preserve.  In the middle of this particular quest of the weekend, we happened upon this Thracian tomb which dated back to some ridiculous time around the 5th century, AD or BC... I am not sure.  I think maybe BC.  It was really old...  Basically it consisted of a round, earthen room that had this tall "chimney" like thing in the middle, that you could see up to the sky above, but the whole tomb was underground... very odd, but pretty interesting.  We got there right before closing time, and so we did not have to pay the 2 leva entrance fee that usually was required.... hahha.  It was random and weird, but kind of fun :) 

I wil have to post up pictures from this weekend in Sozopol.  It was beautiful!  Off to dinner now, but with more to come! 

It has been too long...

I cannot believe I have been negligent with my blogging.  However, for a quick rundown of the past THREE MONTHS.... eeek! ... keep reading!! 

AMAZING trip to Mexico with Christy, fellow international teacher extraordinaire who is in Liberia again this year.  Travelling in Mexico ended with a small jaunt to a friend's wedding in Cabo San Lucas. Fantastic!! 

Wonderful visits with old and dear friends in Virginia. 

Family visiting. 

A relatively uneventful move back to Bulgaria for the new school year. 

A busy start to the new year... new responsibilities, new roommates (who are wonderful!), new places travelled and some more trips to come!! 

Here are some of my favorite photos from the past few months.  I hope to elaborate a bit more about each of the trips, places, people and events in the next week or two.  I am thrilled!!! to have my friend Sally come for a visit this week!!  She has been living in Prague and will be there this year while she is teaching English at a Prague high school.  They have a week off of school randomly and so she is coming here to visit in Bulgaria and to try to see some of the great places BG has to offer, as well as explore around Sofia with me and friends.  I am totally excited to have her here, and I look forward to sharing some of our adventures together! 

Okay, so the photos, in no real particular order... 

The house of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo... what a long, emotional and messy relationship they had... 

Cultural Festival in the Mexico City neighborhood of Coyoacan

Anti-government grafitti

Reflections 

Christy and I at maybe the greatest taco place in Mexico City (well, at least in the neighborhood) which also had the most adorable waiter, Pedro, who was completely taken with us and kept getting teased by the "older Pedro" and the other waiters... completely hysterical. 

Nationalism is the largest flag in one of the largest central squares in the world. 

Sunset in Cabo

Rocks on the boat ride/dinner cruise in Cabo to kick off Derek and Jenn's wedding festivities :-)

Plymouth, Massachusetts

I love New England towns. 

Plymouth Rock!! (I think this has already been posted in a previous blog post... oops.)

Colors! Eastern Market, D.C.

Eat your vegetables!!! Eastern Market, DC.  I want to live here! yummmm...