I am thankful for...

I am thankful for my life. More importantly, my happiness.

I am thankful for my family who support me in everything I do.

I am thankful for my friends back home. You guys are great!

I am thankful for all the challenges Bulgaria brings me.

I am thankful for my Bulgarian family and friends. They make it that much better.

I am thankful for my mad Bulgarian skills. Too bad I will never use it at home.

I am thankful for my students. Who constantly make me laugh.

I am thankful for all those who send me postcards and packages. You know who you are.

I am thankful for my Bulgarian boyfriend...Costa, my cat!

I am thankful for my Peace Corps friends. They really make it that much better.

I am thankful for my three wonderful site mates. They rock my socks!

I am thankful for Peace Corps and this great opportunity. My dream.

I am thankful for all those who make me smile!


I miss everyone back home and will think of you during this great holiday.

Thanksgiving with My Students...

Well, thanksgiving is quickly approaching and I felt the need to celebrate it with my students. Afterall, I am the American English teacher here to teach them about our traditions. So, I misxed a little fun with facts. We discussed the history of the day and even had a little fun, I had them make a thankful turkey. I couldnt exaclty have them trace their hand and decorate it. I remember doing that in like the 3rd grade. These are high schoolers. This is where I got creative. I made a poster with two copies of turkeys pasted to it. Then, I cut out lots of paper that looked like feathers (well sort of anyways). They had to write a few things they were thankful for and paste it to the turkey. I guess it is still for little kids but I bet it beats the other lessons.

Some of the things they were thankful for...

family
beautiful girls
silicone
zagoka beer
rakia
friends
chalga music
our school
and of course they said ME!

Gobble, gobble!

From Deamons to Angels....to deamons.

Well, as expected, the good behavior didn't last too long. My angel of a class were back to their usual selves of fighting, running around, singing, etc... But the good news is that I have such a creative mind that I was able to keep their attention for longer than 5 minutes. YEAH ME!!!

The trick...David Sedaris. He is a really funny writer that my friend Mandy introduced me to. He writes short stories or snippets from his own life. I chose a really short story from "Me Talk Pretty One Day" titled "Big Boy." Big Boy was the perfect story to outline the plot diagram of a story for our short story unit. (Yes, I am a slowly developing into a real teacher.)


The brief story line is as follows...David Sedaris is at an Easter dinner party at a friends house and excuses himself to use the restroom. Upon entering the bathroom he finds a huge turd in the toilet. Like any normal person he feels to urge to flush it down. But to his dismay, it is not going anywhere. But he cant be "that guy" so he tries again. No luck. And suddenly...someone knocks on the door wanting to use the restroom!! Panic ensues and he even considers throwing the turd out the window. But instead, he finds a plunger and breaks it up and gets that little bugger down the toilet. Finally he leaves the restroom and starts observing the suspects at the dinner party.

So, can you see why this kept the attention of my high schoolers? It is that gross humor that they love. You were young once, you know what it is like. It was a great feeling listening to all their giggles of enjoyment from reading the story. And I think they even learned something today. Again...YEAH ME!!

I am the coolest!!!

So today was my big day.

My program manager and my principal of the school I teach at observed my teaching. (Keep in mind, my principal doesn't speak English so that eased the nerves a bit.) But anyways, they observed my absolute worst class that I have. This is a class where the boys are running around the classroom like wild monkeys, they are always getting into fights and sometimes even try to throw the little runt of the class out the window (obviously without success every time).

But when we walked into class today, my students were perfect angels. They were all sitting quietly at their desks anxious for class to start. It was like the beginning of those scenes you see in movies where the class is perfect because they are playing tricks on the teachers. But no tricks were played....

...And I kicked some major ass. They LOVED me!!! And my students in line for once they actually thought the lesson was interesting.

So, the after class critique...My director loves me! She thinks I am doing a great job and have adjusted to everything really well. She has heard nothing but good things about me and thinks the students take to me very well. My PC program manager also thought I was a very good teacher. I was confident and poised and had control of my students. I was very prepared and organized. He also really liked my ideas and the material I was teaching.

Man....I am soo cool!!! (for today anyways...)

Only in Bulgaria...

Only in Bulgaria would I be driving in a car touring different cities with a guy from France and a girl from Spain. And our main means of communicating was all in Spanish... And although I could understand everything in Spanish (most everything), my answers kept coming out in Spangarian or Banglish... I kept thinking in Bulgarian and couldnt seem to dust off the Spanish that has been sitting uselessly in the back of my mind. Oh well.


This was what my Sunday consisted of. We rented a car a drove to a few popular destinations. Veliko Turnovo, Shipka, and Kalofer. It was quite a treat to be in a car and not have to worry about the public transportation. Veliko Turnovo was a very unique city. It is very much the modern mixed with the old. There is a big rebuilt ancient castle with a church atop it. But there is a twist..the art in the church was very modernistic and almost abstract. Not what you would expect to find. With only a short time to tour the castle, I am certain I will be back to tour the rest of the city. Cant wait to see what it looks like in the spring when the fog is gone and it looks less like a scary medieval setting. I think there may have even been snow...(well, some form of it anyway.)


All in all a good day. My new motto for living in Bulgarian...."Todo es possible en Bulgaria." (Anything is possible in Bulgaria...in Spanish)

Go Bears!

As most of you know by now, I was brought up on Cal Football. I used to go to all the home games with my family. We would tailgate before hand and after head to the fraternity house and meet up with my dad's old "brothers." If I have my memories in order, I can remember running around the house playing on a rope swing in the back while my parents mingled. That was when I was much younger. As the years went on it became more of just a quick trip down to the stadium to watch the game and then we would head back. Needless to say, I have many a memory of those great Cal football games. And even now, living in Bulgaria, those memories have come back. The reason being...Alex.

(Alex, Matt, and Larry...my site mates.)

Alex is the new PC Volunteer in town here. He arrived a few weeks ago and I have only just met him. So, when you first meet someone you usually go through the whole shpeal...where are you from, what were you doing before this, how old are you... you get the point. Well, with Alex, it didn't get much further than hometown. This is how the conversation followed..

Jessie: "Soo, where are you from back in the states?"
Alex: "California."
Jessie: "Really!! What part?!?"
Alex: "San Fransisco."
Jessie: "REALLY!! What part?!?"
Alex: "Oakland. Where are you from?"
Jessie: "Oakland...Berkeley!"

As one would expect, I was very excited, anxious to know more... I suddenly had soo many questions. The conversation continued on its course. What high school did you go to? What part of Oakland are you from? Do you know so and so? (Playing the name game of course.) The conversation continues...

Jessie: "Where did you go to school..college?"
Alex: "CAL."
Jessie: "Really. My dad went there."
Alex: "Go Bears!"

That was all I needed to hear. I think we will get along just fine.

Bulgaria Goes Bling..

Shaky chairlifts, drafty dormitories and watery beetroot soup? Don't believe it? Its Bulgaria (well, certain parts of it)! And it will soon be the chic place to winter, giving the likes of other ski resorts a run for their money. There are even cigar lounges and vitamin bars. Bulgaria is the perfect place for today's traveler looking for a cozy place to vacation.

Are you intrigued?? Come visit....what are you waiting for?

The Gang...

Just a quick look at the gang...

The two Lincolns, Julie, and myself back in Chigaco when we first met. What would I do without great friends here.