I have now been in Bulgaria for a total of six months. I cant believe it, really. I feel like it was yesterday when I working in the insurance world, getting crazy in San Francisco, eating lots of delicious foods, and saying the last goodbyes to friends and family. And boy, have things changed since then. Now, I am teaching Bulgarian high school students, getting crazy in Stara Zagora, eating lots of Musaka and Shopska Salads, and trying to say things in Bulgarian. I have experienced so much in this small amount of time. Because really, in the whole scheme of life, even the scheme of 2 years, 6 months is nothing.
But nonetheless, I really have learned a lot about this foreign land and the people here. About this country I didn't know anything about, not even where it was (I had to Google it and search for it on a map). Although, I think I have learned even more about myself. Things I never knew.
Here are just a few things... I can actually live by myself. I no longer freak out by the creak in the walls or the wind blowing against my thin windows. I can kill a spider, cockroach, or you name it, without running to get some brawny guy to take care of it. I can paint an apartment and move furniture without help. I have learned how to hang dry all my clothes on the line (there is actually a certain way to do it). I have learned to drink luke warm/cold coffee. I have learned that a garbage disposal is not necessary (but how I wish I had one). I have also learned that a crumpled piece of paper serves as the perfect cat toy.
But in all seriousness. I have come to appreciate things in a much different way too. I appreciate what I had in the states. I dearly appreciate my family back home, (keeping in touch with them probably more than they would like, I am sure.) I appreciate the small things. Those things you never stop to think about, but when you are thrown into a land where your world is turned upside down, you are forced to looked at differently.
But at the end of the day, I am what we all like to call "a self-sufficient peace corps volunteer." 21 months to go...but who's counting.
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