Flu Vacation Adventure

Last week we were given the week off from school as mandated by the BG Ministry of Education to help end the spread of the flu epidemic through our schools... Now, this would have been a great idea and a great way to spread germs however, all other public areas of business and entertainment remained open, so I am not sure how well their epidemic control worked, but it certainly made for some excited teachers here. Unfortunately some people had to remain because they were considered to be "administrative staff", so not all parties were included in this time of unexpected adventures. This did not stop a few of us from taking advantage of this time to explore a few previously unknown territories. Some went off to Italy (Cinque Terre and the Lakes Region to the north), others to Greece, Rome, Romania... I went with a few friends in a rent-a-car to visit the oft-disputed region of Macedonia.

Partially I was interested in going because of the beautiful pictures and accounts of travel in the country enticed me. Another part (and the part with the stronger interest) wanted to visit Macedonia to try to figure out what all the hub-bub has been over with this tiny, little country! Bulgarians claim the region and its' people to be Bulgarian; Greece lays some of the same claims. I am not sure which or if either are correct (doubtful) but I feel like this little place has something special to offer if there are so many people upset. I wanted to find out for myself about the country and to try to see what it all was about.

Wednesday morning, we rented a car and were off to the BG-MK border. The night before, I had received an email from the Warden of the US Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria warning travellers that a bridge on the BG side of the border zone had collapsed the previous day .... "due to bad weather"... Now, I am not sure what kinds of bridges you all have travelled on, but I am pretty sure that the bridge is not supposed to collapse DUE TO WEATHER. We luckily received this email and decided to take an alternate, longer, but also more beautiful route. We certainly had a hard time figuring out where we were supposed to go-- there apparently is NO MAP INFO available on Google Maps feature! It was SO WEIRD.... So, because we did not have a map, we just kind of took off driving in the right direction, hoping there would be better signage on the other side of the board. There was not.

We actually believed this was the customs border patrol of Macedonia. For a brief man...

Lindsay in front of the Aleksandar of Makedonia memorial/public fountain/giant war symbolism

Mosque in central Bitola, Macedonia

(there will be more uploaded soon!!!!)

Adventures of Pink House

Recently, our washing machine and dryer have been giving us a run for our money.... While I ws out of town for the "flu vacation" which was given to us last week, thus prompting an impromptu trip to Macedonia, my roommate who works in the college counseling office, who was required to stay and work for the week, had an encounter with our washer... This is her letter to the school president... It was too hysterical not to share... :) perhaps we will receive a new washer and dryer?? Who knows...

Hi ___,

The washing machine here at Pink House is a sad little machine these days. A part of it broke off a few weeks ago and it was leaking water, so I put in a work request and they sort of fixed it. I mean, it wasn't perfect - Vinka (our house cleaner) said that it was "Bulgarski rabota," Bulgarian work, since it was still leaking some water. Anyway, this past weekend it got worse. The part that had broken off broke off again and the machine started walking. More like shimeying, really. I came home one day and it had shimeyed out a good six feet or so away from the wall. It even turned a corner - impressive!

All this to say that our machine is in rough shape. It shakes loudly during the spin cycle, it still leaks some water down the front, and it shimeys all over the place. I'll leave it up to you to decide the best course of action, I'm not sure if there's an appliance repair place that could be called or if this sad little machine has just met its end.

Thanks for your attention to this matter.

-"A"

Zombie Remnants of Halloween Eve

I look like a crazed demon (or I guess, a zombie) in this one... 

Happy Halloween kids!!! hahahahhaaa...

First Snow!!

IT'S SNOWING!!!!

Today was the first snow that has any sort of accumulation on the ground. I will take pictures tomorrow to post :-D

(UPDATE! Here is a photo I took this morning before heading to school :-) Hooray for snow!)

I love snow! It tells of the coming winter....

My students were not as excited for snow as I was... They also were campaigning to get 50 more students absent from school so that the admin would possibly cancel it for a "flu vacation". I told them to stay healthy, drink lots of water and get lots of sleep... what a good Biology teacher I am.

okay, so I admit that since looking at these photos, it is not a whole lot of snow. However, it was still nice to see yesterday :)

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...

Change the World Wednesdays, Part Deux

So here is another one from Reduce Footprints that you may find will challenge you!

For one entire week, put yourself on a "No Spending Diet" ... don't buy anything new (except for food, health and safety products). No new clothes ... no new shoes ... no new gizmos or gadgets ... forget about a new car, new furniture or new appliances ... nothing new for one week!

OR ... if you're already in the habit of buying used or repurposing what you have, for all or most of the time, write a paragraph or two about how it works in your life or write about your favorite repurposed item and send it to me (you'll find Reduce Footprint's email address on the left sidebar). In an upcoming post, I'll include everyone's ideas!

If you're wondering why a "No Spending Diet" is good for the earth, check out The Story of Stuff. It's a brilliant video!

I think this is a great idea! At least just stop and think whether or not you actually really do need that new fancy gadget... see if you can find one to borrow, or you can get from the local thrift store...

Back In the US....of A (sung in head to the tune of Back to the USSR)

so yes, back in the States, safely with a relatively uneventful journey.

Will update more about summer plans when I have more reliable internet access.

One thing is for sure... being in an English speaking country once again is strange, and has a reverse culture shock on me. First, I really have come to the automatic assumption that people do not speak the same language I do (which obviously is false...) Second observation is that people share too much of their lives aloud... being able to eavesdrop even when I do not want to can be difficult. At least in Bulgaria, I have mostly no idea about what people are saying most of the time.

Just some thoughts.
Happy summer vacation!

Change the World Wednesdays

Here is a little shout out from your tree-hugging, earth-loving friend/daughter/sister/granddaughter living here in Eastern Europe...

I have stubbled upon a pretty interesting and inspiring blog, which has a link on my blog page, which calls us all to think and perhaps rethink how it is we carry out our day to day activities... 

"Reduce Footprints" (http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com) is asking readers (and fellow bloggers like myself) to take a look at our lives and to try to make small (or big!) steps towards reducing the impact we have on the Earth and her resources.  This blog runs a "special" entry each Wednesday, where the idea is that if all of us make a small change in our lives each week, that we could actually have a larger impact on limiting our carbon footprints. 

This week, the challenge for the "Change the World Wednesdays" is as follows (taken right from the Reduce Footprints blog):

For one full day this week, don't use (or ride in) a car. That's right ... leave the car at home and either walk, ride a bicycle or take public transportation (or even ... stay home). One full day ... 24 hours ... no car.

OR ... if you are already car free, write a post about not using a car. Include such topics as how to make it work, drawbacks and solutions, and why it's better for the environment.

What do you think? Can you do it?

We're changing the world ... one challenge at a time!

 So, family and friends and random readers of my blog, this week (until next Wednesday when I will update you on the new challenge) take one day to not use your car or public transportation at all.  Walk, bike, run, swim, kartwheel even... but leave the gas guzzlers out of your daily routine.  If we all have a day where we do not burn fossil fuels, think about all the CO2 and other nasty gases we would keep from entering the atmosphere.  (And also think about the quality exercise you could potentially get in!)

Instead of driving to the grocery store, see if you can walk or bike to one which is closer... If you don't really need to go out to the store, why not save all of your errands to do in one trip, instead of several?  

Just one day to stay out of a moving vehicle.  That wont be too bad.  If you all participate and have any reaction, then please post a comment here or on the Reduce Footprints blog.  It is an interesting blog, and I would suggest you to check it out. 

I think that is all from this earth-lover.  I need to finish packing to go home tomorrow! Woohoo! 

Peace. 

 

Click for this week's challenge

Also, if any of you blog yourselves, pass this post along to your readers.  The more people who read this "challenge" the larger the impact we will have... just some food for thought :)

May and June -- Rundown in 60 seconds (more or less)

It has been nearly two months since my last blog post.... woah.  Where does the time go? 

The time goes to a weekend wedding in Rome; 

a celebration for St. George, complete with dancing and Bulgarian karaoke; 

graduation weekend and all of the crazy senior antics; 

me working as quickly as possible to get my courses wrapped up; 

our own evening out in Sofia at the one bar that hosts karaoke on

 Wednesdays;

an IB training in Manchester UK so I can be prepared to teach IB biology next year; 

a "last hurrah" trip to Sweden -- Stockholm and the quiet little town of Dalarö -- full of lounging, kayaking and taking in the land of the tall, blonde, tan and beautiful...

 

...and all the while, trying to visit with the friends and people I have met this year who have now become my family.  Some will be here for another year (or two, or three...) but some will be moving on to different countries, different schools, jobs, friends and family.  It has been exciting, sad, fun, tearful but also full of laughs.  I certainly have a few more places in the world to visit, now

 with people to host me, although I will miss them greatly... xoxo and best of luck to you all. 

 

Here are some photos and accompanying captions to try to capture the fun, whirlwind, delightful and bittersweet memories and emotions that came along with this end of the year…  

a night out for fondue and fun at the Swiss Chalet... seriously a swiss chalet that was just stuck in the middle of the commie bloc apartments somewhere in Sofia

... a view of the Stockholm harborside ...

... after Erin purchased an ice cream sandwich at a sidewalk stand, we were stopped by a tv crew, who wanted to ask us what we thought about the recent hike in ice cream prices in Sweden... random! 

... more random -- movie film crew on campus, filming a scene where this girl walks into one of the villas... Erin and I watched them film this scene about 8 times from our living room... 

See the previous post for photos from our trip to Stockholm and Dalarö.... I will continue to update the post with more captions and thoughts over the next few weeks... 

My Fave Pictures of Sweden

.: Stockholm, Sweden :.