As for teaching, I am half way through my second semester of teaching. Each day seems to be better than the last. I continue to learn new things about this difficult profession. I gain more confidence as I stand up there in front of my 250 students teaching them what I know. Right now I am working with different classes on Poetry, Folktales, and Advertising. It has become more of a creating writing class with me, but they seem to take well to it. It is such an amazing sight to see my "difficult" students (meaning those that never do anything in my class, other than play games on their phone) are actually taking part in my class. On those days, I walk home with a bit of satisfaction that I have done my job well.
As for other things, I am currently working on writing a grant for my school. It is a Small Project Assistant (SPA) grant through USAID. The project consists of updating the current English Library and Media Resource Room. The existing one is quite inadequate for todays standards for developing language skills. Our hope is to get the grant approved for newer books, a computer, printer, projector, etc... It is a strange thought to think that when I was a student, these type of things were already in every classroom without question. But unfortunately, this is not the case in Bulgaria....Hence my project. Grant writing is a difficult process, but one I am quite enjoying. I am learning so much from this experience. I will be able to take these skills back with me when I finish my service. Not to mention, my Bulgarian colleagues also know how to write a grant. They can now pursue other avenues in order to develop their school needs. We are not finished yet, but at least we have the ball rolling.
As for things I have to look forward, srping break is less than a week away for me. I head on a mini vacation (with Matt) to Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia. We will be taking many trains and buses, but will have a chance to see other countries in the Balkan region. The itinerary thus far is as follows. We will be taking a train from Sofia (Bulgaria) to Belgrade (Serbia). Straight away we will be heading to Sarajevo (Bosnia) for a couple days. I am most excited for this city as it has so much recent and unfortunate history. From Sarajevo, we will take a bus to Dubrovnik (Croatia) and spend 3 very relaxing days and nights. Dubrovnik is right on the Adriatic sea. Lets just hope the weather is good for our seaside stay. After lots of fun in the sun we will slowly head back to Bulgaria stopping in Sarajevo for another night and Belgrade for a couple days. The trip should be a lot of fun (and traveling)...and definitely worth it. I will be sure to take lots of pictures.
Upon my return back to Bulgaria, I will have another week of teaching before I head out to London. There I will be meeting up with my sister, Jenny and brother-in-law, Scott. Having been to London before, I am more excited to finally see family. People keep asking me what I am going to do and see there. I just say, "I am along for the ride. It is all up to Jenny and Scott." (So you better plan a rocking good trip..but I have no doubts that you will.)
After London, comes the one year mark of my service on April 22nd and the home stretch till summer in July. But for now, I will enjoy the spring weather and outdoor cafes of Stara Zagora. People watching can take up the good part of a beautiful day...and I look forward to it all. I may even catch a good chess game between the diados (grandpas) in the park. Keep living healthy!
(Note: Pictures are taken around Stara Zagora.)
No comments:
Post a Comment