I Want to Go to There

This past week has been a busy one, and it went by so fast! It was the week of Counterpart conferences and our visits to our permanent sites.

We spent the first 3 nights in Vratsa. After an agonizing 2 hours of listening to who knows what, as we were all entirely too anxious about finding out our permanent sites than to listen to a damn word they were saying, we were all taken to a large courtyard with a map of Bulgaria on the ground and several cities identified with a colored sheet of paper.

 We gathered around the outside of the mini-Bulgaria and watched as, on-by-one, our friends were told where they would be living and working for the next 2 years and spread all over the country. Some were ecstatic to be near the Black Sea while others stood near their location with a look of “I know absolutely nothing about this place but I’m still really excited about it.”

Our PST site, T---,  is going to be hosting a volunteer and my site-mates and I under no circumstances wanted to be placed there. Basically, we were all too entrance by the mystery of being swept off to some unknown location to consider the fact that we absolutely love T--- and whoever was to be assigned there would be incredibly lucky. However, as luck would have it, Kristen, our P---ian neighbor, was given T--- and we all clapped and cheered partially because we were happy for her, partially because we were happy for T---, but mostly because we all felt a sense of relief. Our city of mystery was still out there among those 8.5” x 11”, bluish-green pieces of paper.

When our group was called, I had no time to be nervous as I was almost instantly swept away with a congratulatory carnation in my hand to M--- P---. Uh…where? I’d never heard of the city and didn’t know the area well but I decided to be instantly in love. M--- P---became the best city, excuse me, village, in all of Bulgaria and probably the prettiest. Oh, and with the most interesting people. I was also pretty sure it was going to smell like Disneyland.

I excitedly looked around to see which volunteers would be close by – I got some good ones. I was also friggin’ excited to find that the capital, Sofia, was only an 1 ½ train-ride away. To top it all off, my language trainer came over to inform me that it’s a resort village. Of course it is, I had little doubt. It is, afterall, M--- P---, the best damn village in all of Bulgaria. Closely followed by T---, a place I will, truthfully, always love and miss.

I went with my counterpart, Reni, to M--- P--- for 3 days to meet the principal, mayor, teachers, and students. I was expecting a village just like T--- as the population is the same and it’s only a few hours away. It couldn’t be more different. The village is at the base of the beautiful Bulgarian mountains with little red-roofed houses scattered all along the hills. There’s also many shops, cafes, and even a few hotels. The scenery was breathtaking and I was thrilled.

Right as I got off the train I met the Director, Mrs. Petrova, and a few of the students who were all very sweet. I expressed my happiness with “Priatno Mie”s and smiles. It was a really nice welcome and I have a feeling that teaching in this small school is going to be challenging but ultimately rewarding experience. Basically, it was a great trip and I can’t wait to get started!




Also, I'm having computer issues (what's new) and I'm using a friend's computer to post this so pictures will eventually be posted just not until my bad computer juju goes away.

-Age