I Love Stalking(s)

Today I sent my mom a text message saying, “I have some ideas for my stalking list: black hair rubber bands and new ear buds for my ipod," as my mom will be sending me a package full of Christmas goodies soon. I realized right before pushing “send” that I’d spelt it “stalking” instead of “stocking”. Oops. But, then I of course started to think about what would have been on my “stalking” list.

1) Binoculars (obviously)

2) Camouflage (or I could just make an outfit from those handy condoms PC gave us)

3) A new phone with an application that blocks my outgoing number

4) “How to Get a Restraining Order Appealed For Dummies” (it’s out there)

5) Snacks (stalking sometimes requires long hours with no lunch break – it takes real dedication)

I think that would make a nice starter kit, at least. Hmm, I can feel the entrepreneurial side of me responding to this idea, leave a comment below if you’d like to invest.

Also, tonight I went to the local children’s hospital to help my counterpart teach English to the students there. There are seven students, some with Down Syndrome, others with polio, and all super sweet and excited about English (what a nice change!). I plan on helping her out there a lot more in the future. There was a student with Down Syndrome who kept saying the word for “boobs” in Bulgarian while referencing mine and my counterparts. It was pretty hilarious and the other students couldn’t stop giggling…and neither could I. The word in Bulgarian, I now know, is similar to “Bambi” so I at first thought he was referencing the movie and was encouraging, saying things like, “Oh, Bambi, how nice. Do you like that movie?” My counterpart stopped me right there and corrected my mistake. Oops.

Also, our In-Service Training is starting soon and we’ll all be spending a few days together in Plovdiv! I’m very excited about this. My counterpart and I were asked to give a presentation on Team-Teaching that Monday about which I’m equal parts nervous and excited. We planned it out today and will be incorporating some videos we took of us teaching 2nd and 5th grades. We plan to end the presentation by showing our 5th grade boys making sexual gestures to the camera while we weren’t looking. It’s kinda hilarious. I’ll post that video on here soon – you’ll laugh, it can’t be helped.

But, before Plovdiv, I’ll be heading back up to the Vratsa area in order to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of my favorite volunteers. We’ll be cooking and eating traditional Thanksgiving meals (to the best of our ability) all day which just sounds heavenly. I can’t wait.

All in all, it’s gonna be a fun week! Happy Holidays!

-Age