Bulgarian Food!

In a word, it is delicious! Early on I've discovered the joys of one of the national dishes – Shopska salad – tomatoes, cucumbers, a soft white cheese, and maybe some onions and some oil and vinegar. Sounds simple, but it is absolutely delicious. These are the winter vegetables, but it is amazing how rich and succulent they are. We are constantly told that this is nothing compared to how they will taste after harvest. The next common foods I've been eating a lot of are the meat snacks. Kebab-che, which is like a sausage of ground meat and Kufteh, which is like a flavorful little hamburger shape of meat. These are everywhere and amazing. Also it is easy to find the fried cheese (can't remember the name, as it is fried in bread, I never got one!), as well as chicken kebabs, and a variety of salads. Since Silistra is on the Danube, it's also easy to find a fair number of restaurants with good, fresh seafood. I went to one restaurant right on the water, overlooking a small fishing dock, where little old men came and went in their tiny little rowboats, hauling nets and bringing in the occasional fish. I did this place on my without any local assitance, and nobody at the restaurant spoke any English, so I pretty much let the waitress/owner decide for me. Just before bring the grilled fish out, she showed me pictures of what was coming- something looking like a huge catfish, as well as some kind of a Perch....

 A Shepard's Salad - like the famous Shopska, but with a few added delights....but still the basic white cheese, tomatoes, and cucumbers...

While I've loved all the restaurant food, nothing has topped the dinner at Vessy's house. Oh my goodness, this was something else....She started us off with a wide variety of salads – including the best Shopska i've had yet, and one of my favorite things I've tasted so far – the bean salad (need to get name from Vessy!). After three hearty helpings of salads, we then had the main dishes which included a cabbage stuffed with meat and sauce (to die for!) and …... Of course, one of the very important parts of any meal here is the Rekia. One of the first questions people (including students) asked me – have you tried the Rekia? Followed by, shame on you or shame on your hosts! Well, I finally got to try the Rekia- it's a very, very strong brandy type drink, made from distilled fruit. I think ours was grape – and it is very strong! I survived a few glasses of this without too much trouble. Deserts here tend to be pastries, and there are many little pastry shops all over the place.....

Teacher Training Workshop Day!

Saturday, the big day – My Teacher Workshop. I must admit I was nervous! Working with students is one thing...I was a little nervous about this my first day, but I felt an immediate connection to these students as I launched into my Africa stories and they were on the edges of their seats, paying attention, struggling to understand the English, so they could understand the story....but adults? Teachers? They can be the toughest audience in the world. And we had really no idea how many teachers would come. We assumed about 20. I got to school early, around 8:35, and a man who spoke no English used gestures to get me around to a back door that led me under the school and in. I began working in the computer lab, only to find that the internet connection wasn't working and my powerpoint presentations weren't going to be able to play video clips. Oops! That was a huge part of my plan right there! Oh, well, luckily I had plan B and C and D....the teachers began to file in early- around 8:50...I thought they'd be on Bulgarian time! By 9:00 am there were already 20, and they kept coming. By 9:10, we had about 33 teachers (including 5-6 university students in training to become teachers. This was a serious looking crowd, and looking back on it, I think I would have felt a lot less intimitaded if someone had warned me of a huge cultural difference here – shaking one's head side to side means, “yes!” - oops! Now I know that I was misreading body language.

I started off with a simple icebreaker, opting for cultural reasons to avoid the goofy game type approach. We just introduced ourselves, and had to share what we taught, where, and one thing we love to do OUTSIDE of school – and let me tell you that was difficult for some. Some said “i have nothing interesting”, or “no time for anything”, or “watch tv”....but then some loosened up, or were more outgoing, and they had some great answers – bicycling, hiking, spending time with family, reading poetry, and so on....We finished with everyone, and then silence again. All eyes were on me. I had a laptop and a projector, and a small pile of handouts. And we were off....

The first topic was a poetry teaching activity, courtesy of Amy J-S. This went really well. I taught it like a sample lesson, and then also gave examples of a multitude of various ways they could adapt the class. Once again, I used one of my favorite poems – Whitman's “Oh me! Oh life!” as well as “I never went fishing on the Susquenhanna”. This whole lesson seemed to go over really well. At this point we took a 10 minute cigarette/coffee break.

Unbelievably to me, the entire group was quite engaged, and we had an awesome day- I got lots of great positive feedback, and looking back on my final days of teaching after the workshop, I found that with most teachers my relationship was far improved. Some other topics I covered included:

“Teaching Social Justice” (this went REALLY well – maybe more on it later..)

”Teaching with Technology” (internet was down, so not so great, but we covered some good basic stuff)

“Journaling and self-evaluation”

“Teaching with simulations”

I wrapped up with topic #6, “Final teaching techniques”; which combined a wide variety of lessons from some of the best workshops I have ever attended, along with some of my own stuff; “Educational Inquiry/Questioning” and Teaching with Passion”

When it was all over, I was exhausted, inspired, amazed, and more....my head literally spinning with a blend of adrenaline and coffee, I needed to walk around to let off some steam....so I hit a few of my favorite sights in town...

 World War II memorials - this is one of the tanks that "liberated" the Bulgarians from the Nazis, even though technically they entered in as allies with Germany at first on their own.....and below, my favorite sign in town - I'm pretty sure it says something about not shooting ducks!

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Visiting the Fortress

On Friday, I was invited to join the senior class on their outing to the Fortress that towers above town. This was built in the late 1800's, and used in the Crimean War and the Russo-Turkish War. Warning: history nerd type details below....skip to final photo if you want for a cool story of who I met at the fortress...

And now, some History corrections – the original Bulgarian name of the town is Drustar, founded in 106/107 AD – they recently had their 1900 year celebration! Then it became the Roman city of Durostorum, then Silistrawas the name given to it when they were conquered by the Turks, and held in a 500 year enslavement. The town has so many connections to Turkish culture that even after a war of liberation to free themselves from Turkish rule, they have kept this name (though it is sometimes referred to as Silistra-Drustar. A few people have told me a popular local joke-  When the Byzantine Empire conquered Bulgaria, shortly there after it fell into ruins. Then the Ottoman Turks conquered Bulgaria, and shortly thereafter they fell into ruins (if 500 years counts as shortly!), then the Russians took control of Bulgaria in the Soviet Union, and they fell into ruins....and now Bulgaria has joined the EU, so what will happen next! Anyways, back to the fortress - If you can read the sign below, you get some more details on the fortress...

The inside has been turned into a little museum, with an interesting collection of statues and artifacts. Bulgarian heroes, as well as Todor Zhikov, the long serving Communist dictator, and even some Marx, Lenin, and Stalin thrown in as well. The Soviets didn't need to "conquer" Bulgaria, as there was a deep sense of gratitude already towards Russia for their help in the Russo-Turkish wars of the 1800's that led to the freeing of Bulgaria.

On top of the fortress, after climbing a scary, old stairway to one of the guard towers, I met Oggie - an incredible old local character. Turns out, he is one of the few remaining Jews in town, and that his ancestors are from Moldova via Romania, very much like the story I was told from my Grandmother! He couldn't stop hugging me when he found this out, and he insisted that I come to his house later, where he plans to give me some very important Jewish artifacts to take home.....Also, the view from up top is pretty amazing - you can see Silistra below, as well as the Danube, Romania across the way!

Teaching Class! (Thurday and Friday, March 24-25)

 Work in groups! One of my favorite things to do back home is to have students work in quads. I'd heard here from the local peace corps volunteers that you got in trouble for trying to move tables around, but it was easy enough to create groups of 4. I asked each group to brainstorm and plan a presentation that they would give on Bulgaria to an imaginary group of American students. Most kids took it seriously and did a great job. They talked about Bulgaria's history (500 years of Turkish slavery!), teenager's favorite past-times (facebook and hanging out with friends....hmmm...sounds familiar), Bulgarian Easter (they hide eggs and eat lots of food), and sports (soccer, volleyball, and Quidditch) (actually, just kidding on the Quidditch, but they are all amused when I mention that for many American students the only thing they might know about Bulgaria is that it is where Viktor Krum of the Harry Potter books is from.)

Students also talked about their hopes for life after college. Many of them expressed a desire to travel the world and to live abroad. They said they are hoping to go into all kinds of careers, from engineering to programming to tourism. These kids were all born after the fall of communism in 1989, which is kind of incredible to think about, as this has been a time of such dramatic growth and change.

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DAHVEED, the fur trader has arrived in Bulgaria! I taught them some details about the French fur trade in Canada, introduced my character, answered questions about my costume, and then performed my favorite folk tale, la chasse galerie - the diabolical magic flying canoe. Of course, the students star in my performance, and they all had a great time and many of them were wonderful actors, and really good at hamming it up! I wish I could have gotten some pictures of the students and the teacher's faces as I walked down the halls of the school on Friday. Thursday, by the way, was Africa day, and I was in full "pagne" - African cloth. Wednesday, I had eased them in slowly, with a more moderate outfit, of khaki pants, and an African shirt. Most teachers dress quite casually here, and I've seen lots of jeans. The only tie was on the vice principal under his sweater vest. The principal is out because of a death in his family.

More shots of students, and Vessy in action! Many of my classes consisted mainly of introducing myself, answering questions, and then telling stories of my travels in Africa. This has been a huge hit, and will spark tons of questions and conversations with the kids. They love the "Histoire!" "Raconte!" call and response that we do, and they are very curious to learn about Africa through my stories. I also led two classes on Poetry Interpretation, sharing some of my favorite Walt Whitman poem's using a great activity sent to me by a CSS English teacher, Amy Johnson-Smith. Thanks, Amy! This was a particularly rewarding experience and in both classes, students came up to me very eagerly to thank me and to talk more about these poems and how much they enjoyed them. In French class, we did African storytelling, and also studied the Henri Dikongue song, "C'est la Vie". My head is spinning a bit as I am switching back and forth between English and French classes. I am teaching 5-6 classes a day (I'll print out a typical schedule later), and these are sometimes 45 minutes and sometimes 90 minutes. There are 10 minute breaks between classes, and a 30 minute coffee break, but no one gets lunch, and I am starving by the time I finish at 1:30 each day.

Senior class fieldtrip! After school on Friday, I got to join the 12th grade for a trip to the Fortress outside of town, towering above Silistra on a big hill. We climbed 100's of steps, and I learned all about the infamous year long senior slumps that the majority of students go through. Except for the few that are trying to take special exams to study abroad, the rest of them are quite confident that they will pass exams and so it seems many barely bother to show up for school. College entrance isn't really competitive, discipline is lax, and so many teachers dread their senior classes. I was lucky that they were very curious to meet the American, so for the 2-3 classes that I had them, they were very well behaved. More on the fortress later.

Discovering the Peyo Yavrov Langauge School

Luckily for me, my first full day of "work" was a school holiday, celebrating the 21st year of the school's founding. The school is named after a famous poet, and the official name is pronounced something like "Estemirova Gymnasia" - I've learned to say this, so that I can take a taxi to get there in a hurry in the mornings. Teachers are supposed to arrive at 7:45 but breakfast at the hotel isn't served until 7:30, which makes for a hurried morning for me. Fortunately, the cab ride only costs about 2 Leva ($1.50) and takes less than 5 minutes. Anyways, back to the holiday - this took place downtown in the central theater. It was a lot like our school's revue - essentially a talent show. What impressed me was how much these students love American hiphop! There were at least 3 hip hop/breakdancing acts. There was also a girl who sang 2 french songs, and another group that did a fantastic choreographed song and dance version of the Pointer Sisters, "I'm so Excited!". There were also several skits, generally involving boys dressed up as old babas (grandmas), making fun of the generation gap that plays a huge role in today's Bulgarian culture (more on that later.)

After the show, all the teachers met in a fun underground Bulgaria bar/restaurant for lunch, drinks, and cigarettes. The amount of smoking here is a bit insane - they love their cigarettes, and it's everywhere. Can't get the smell of my clothes, and I feel like I've inhaled a pack or 2 of secondary smoke already! This picture above is on the following day, Wednesday, my first real day at school. This day was meant to be mostly about observing teaching, but several teachers wanted me to dive right in and teach, so I was off and running! Here above is me and the 2 Vessis - both amazing English teachers, and really incredible people. It's has been such a treat to get to work with and talk to such interesting people, and they have been very kind and generous hosts.

This is the landmark that helps me find my way home from school in the afternoons. "Turn right at the Roman Tomb", they tell you casually. This building was built to house some ancient tomb ruins. We will need official permission to go, so it may or may not happen this time.

No day is complete without returning to the city center. Full of wide plazas and avenues, and lots of people strolling (though as you can see above, not if it's cold or wet out!) the center really gives a great feel to this town. In the background of this photo is the art museum. I hope to find time to visit!

Here's a close-up on the front entrance to the school. From what I've heard from teachers at this school, as well as several from other schools (and the two local peace corps volunteers,) this is an usual school with excellent teachers and very successful students. Almost everyone passes and goes on to University, and they really specialize in teaching English, as well as French, German, Russian, and Spanish. Fortunately, I've already had a chance to talk with several teachers (2 lunches, and a dinner with from 6- 18 teachers, and lots of time walking around town with several of them.) Two themes have come up frequently as the biggest challenges/problems from the teacher's point of view. There is apparently a nation wide crises of motivation - apathetic students who seem unmotivated and uninterested in learning. Perhaps I am overstating what I heard, but I am struck by how often this comes up. The other topic is poor teacher pay - they make something like $250-300 per month - this is incredibly low! As I do the math, it doesn't seem like this would even be enough to pay for the cigarettes some of the teachers I've met seem to smoke in a month! Apparently, almost everyone has second and third jobs outside of school just to make ends meet. And the teachers seem overwhelmingly to be female. In the English department, there is just one man - Valentine, out of 7-8 teachers. Every time I'm in the faculty lounge, there are 15-20 people, and if Valentine or the PE teacher isn't there, I'm the only male in the room. Several colleagues assure me that there are more male teachers, but they are outside smoking.

The long trip to Silistra

Finally, a chance to catch my breath and do a first real entry! The journey here was without incident but long - drive to Denver, fly to Atlanta, fly to Paris, and then fly to Sofia. That's not all, but I wanted to mention quick that this flight to Sofia was very exciting, knowing that I was off in an entirely new direction to lands unknown to me....I'm so used to being in Paris and flying off to Cameroon....anyways, I was met in the Sofia airport (after a ridiculously easy customs - they didn't even ask me why I was coming to Bulgaria, nor did they even look at my bags)by the warm, smiling face of Vesselina Koulcheva, my host. She is, quite simply put, incredible! This whole trip has really been planned by her, and she is super helpful, friendly, and ready to answer every question. Anyways, back to the trip - from Sofia we took a cab to the bus station, and bought our tickets to Silistra; an 8-9 hour bus ride away. After 3 flights this felt long, but it passed quickly, and I got to move into my hotel room a little past midnight, for a very good nights sleep.

My only picture in Sofia - the bus station. Brand new. Will get more photos later - the legacy of Communism was one of the most overwhelming sights here in Sofia, with unending rows of flats (large, concrete, bland looking appartment buildings - row after row after row.) I don't remember reading about concrete flats in any of the Marx that I've studied, but this left a strong impression on me.

After a long sleep (from about 1 am to 10 am!) I had a quick lunch in the hotel restaurant and then was off for a tour of central Silistra with my guide and host, Vesselina. Here above you see my favorite part of the city - the riverfront! Silistra is located right on the banks of the Danube river. That's Romania you see across the river. And the ruins behind me - that's the Roman ruins that date back to the founding of the city (originally called Durosturum) way back in the 4th Century AD (right around 301 AD, if I remember correctly.)

More Roman ruins - these are right in front of the Billa shopping mall in the center of town. This is a very modern, 4 story mall with elevators and escalators, a grocery store, 2 cafes, a child care center, and several shops. It's fairly new - and when they began building it, they discovered these ruins on the lot! Fortunately they decided to preserve them, and in order to keep building, they had to agree to turn the entry way of the mall into a mini-museum - full of the artefacts that they had discovered on this site. A great example of being surrounded by ancient history in your daily life!

Truly, my favorite thing here- the Danube. I could walk along the river all day every day if there was time, and never grow tired of it. The water is swift, and the air is fresh, and the feeling of river life is all around. Barges steam past from time to time, and fishermen are seen out and about. This beautiful sunset marked my first full day in town. I hope to see many more of them over the river while I am here. One thing about the river that mystifies me is it's role as both a barrier and a carrier. On one had, it has given Bulgaria a historical connection to Germany, as it is navigable from here up through Budapest, and eventually on to Germany. But on the other hand, it has for over a millennium served as a true frontier. On the other side, the Romania's speak a completely different language from the Bulgarians. Many people I have talked to on my first day here, tell me that have never crossed the river in their lifetimes. I hope to learn more about this river and how it manages to play both these roles.

Packing up

Tonight is the final night before my departure to Bulgaria.  It has been spent busily packing gear and preparing the final lessons for my exchange program.  Nervous anticipation awaits as it's my first time going to Eastern Europe.  It has been many years since I have traveled to a country where I neither speak nor read the language.  The challenge is something I look forward too.

Leaving on a jet plane...