January in Eastern Europe: Halfway Done

It's really hard to believe that I'm two works days away from being halfway done with my Fulbright. This Friday marks the end of the first term, and then we have a week off for winter break. I like the whole holiday break + winter break thing. The U.S. should get into that one. 

And what a winter it has been. Blagoevgrad, located in southwestern Bulgaria, is supposed to be somewhat shielded from the cold continental climate, but things seemed to change this year (at least for the past few weeks. There was a small-ish snowfall in early January (around 6 inches) which was nice and pretty...

The first snowfall: a sign of things to come. 

But a few weeks later, the skies dumped what I measured to be around a foot to a foot and a half. And the snow wasn't the worst part: the cold was the worst part. It got down to 2 degrees one night and some days failed to reach 20 for a high. That would be fine if I had a nice, warm apartment but my apartment doesn't do the heating thing well. I had the radiator on full blast and could still see my breath in the middle of the night. And a warm car is also not an option (see the Lada below). Having to walk everywhere (for groceries, school - which doesn't get cancelled - and other errands) was miserable. One things that helps (besides Smokey, see below) is a pair of knitted wool socks that a student's grandmother made for me. Thank God for these socks.

The second snowfall

Blagoevgrad's reaction to the snow reminded me of Memphis's: unprepared. The roads did get cleared but there has been absolutely no salt or cleaning up of the sidewalks. The worst part is that for a few days, it warmed up, so some of the snow melted, but at night it froze again. Walking on the sidewalks has been truly an adventure, like something out of a video game. Everyone I see has their heads pointed straight down, shuffling in small footsteps with arms out for balance. I had a grand total of two falls (but I am getting pretty good at it - Ithaca, watch out).

Why not just buy some ice skates? 

My biggest savior in the cold-weather times has been good old Smokey. I feel bad for him being in a cold apartment, but then I remember the alternative is him living outside like his siblings and other animals. The cat paws in the snow on the lean-to next to my window are heart-breaking. But I and others have tried to feed the cats. I laid down a piece of cardboard for a large dog to have at least a dry place to sleep. 

Smokey and I have fallen into a routine. He lets me get into bed, read, and turn the lights off. Once I settle down, he gets on my side and falls asleep. Sometimes he moves down between my ankles. When the sun rises, he gets up and walks around (and looks out the window for hours) but doesn't try to wake me up. When my alarm goes off, however, he comes and jumps back up on my shoulders. No meowing for food, but just a "Good morning, human!" It's a nice way to warm up before getting out of bed. 

I've also taken him to a vet close to AUBG for some shots. He didn't whine the entire time, even though there was an aggressive and large dog in there at the same time. I'm sure on the streets he met his fair share of dogs and has gotten used to them. From our visit to the vet, Smokey got his "pet passport" which shows all of the vaccinations and tests that he's been given. He seemed to be proud of it (or just wanted to put his scent all over it). It was so cute to see his name written in Cyrillic in the passport (Смоуки Брансфорд). The doctor also said he was around 8-9 months old, so we "settled" on a birthday of April 1st. 

Other things going on include seeing what is called a "Kukeri" festival. It's a long-standing Bulgarian tradition that happens in different cities at the beginning of the year. The purpose is to scare away evil spirits and prepare for a good harvest. I met another Fulbrighter from Plovdiv who came down to Blagoevgrad to see the festival. Words or pictures really can't describe how interesting and strange it was. 

Speech and Debate is still going strong, but there have been some major changes that have made my life easier and I think will be better in the long run if the team has an ETA who is not willing to put in much effort for the team. Before the holiday break, we decided to set up a varsity/novice mentor program. Novice members (8th and 9th graders) are partnered with varsity members (10th-12th) who volunteered to help the youngin's. So the new students first go to their mentor with questions about their piece selection, speeches, etc. It's great because they are able to talk in Bulgarian and probably have more useful conversations than with me. 

I help out along the way with different edits and meeting with students, but I am now seeing novice students who are ready to start actually practicing their events. That means a lot fewer times that I spend 3 hours before school starts. I can't thank the varsity members enough. I'm excited to see how our team does at the tournament in Pernik in early March (on my birthday) and the national tournament in Plovdiv. I am also looking forward to seeing some of the students qualify for the U.S. tournament which will be held in Salt Lake City next summer. The U.S. Qualifier tournament is right here in good old Blagoevgrad. 

This was definitely an interesting debate...

I'm ending the term by doing some fun lessons (in my opinion) on different American accents. Student seem to have enjoyed seeing that not everyone talks quite like me. I think the New York accent was the most surprising to people. I hope in the next term to do more interesting lessons that bring in American and Bulgarian cultures into the language-learning process. 

Next week I'm off to enjoy Sweden and Denmark. Thanks, WizzAir for the cheap flight! Stay warm and dry, everyone back home! I miss you all and will see you later this year! 

Prague and Vienna: Holidays with the Family

I'll begin with the obligatory apology (largely to my mom) of not having posted in quite a while. I think this stems from me getting into more of a routine and not feeling like my day-to-day life is worthy of talking about.

But the trip to the Czech Republic and Austria with the family is definitely worth writing about.

I've been on a lot of vacations in my life (having a pilot as a father helps), but this one stands out to me. For one, it was the whole family reunited. Bulgaria is far from home and, yes, I do get really lonely here, not unexpectedly. I was and still am so grateful to have a family that's willing and able to fly across the Atlantic to celebrate the holidays together.

Prague 

My family arrived in Prague a day before me and, I believe, spent most of that day recovering from jet lag. I was lucky in that I only had two short flights and no time zone change. We met in the city center after a car service van dropped me off.

My immediate impression of Prague was: holy sh**. This is a city that has its act together. Everything was clean (at least in the city center). Every time you turned a corner there was another magnificent view. The people were incredibly polite and willing to put up with our lack of Czech language skills (we tried).

Granted, the Old Town Square (a sort of central gathering place in Prague) was PACKED full of people, but the crowds were not a huge problem. We were able to get tables in the restaurants we wanted (in contrast to Vienna) and people in the large crowds were polite. Plus, there was some great people watching.

Christmas day was a memorable one, if only for the fact that I was up before the rest of the family. That never happens. I opened the door of my room and expected to be greeted by a "Finally!" but instead, the rest of the family was still sound asleep. My little kid self kicked in, and I woke them up with obnoxious banging on doors. It worked. Our exchange of gifts was essentially gifts for and from me, as it would be illogical for my family to have to pack gifts for each other and then carry them back home. My presents to my family were various mementos from Bulgaria. Unfortunately, the shirt I bought for my sister (an AUBG shirt) was actually a kid's size. Live and learn!

My favorite memory from the whole trip was on Christmas day when my sister and I struck out on our own adventure while my parents did a tour of the Jewish area of Prague. She and I went across the Vltava over the Charles Bridge. We walked through alleys and back streets where it was beautifully quiet. Our goal was to get to the park that overlooked the rest of Prague. After passing several embassies and other important-looking buildings, we stumbled across the park. It was so nice to find ourselves walking on dirt paths with no one in sight, as opposed to the jam packed cobblestone streets in the actual city. We wound our way around the park and eventually came across a pseudo Eiffel Tower. We climbed up (a great workout, I might add) and were met with a stunning view of the entirety of Prague.

Ellen overlooking her kingdom 

We spent an entire day traveling to and wandering around the Terezin (or Theresiendstadt) concentration camp, located about an hour outside of Prague. This was not as "fun" as the rest of our adventures, but it was certainly memorable and haunting, to say the least. Terezin was actually a model concentration camp set up by the Nazis. They used it to show various international organizations that their camps were not "that bad." In fact, the Red Cross even visited Terezin and admitted that conditions were not that bad. Regardless, seeing the cramped bunked beds, the execution wall (with 4 clearly marked spots where the accused stood, complete with bullet holes in the brick wall behind it), the gallows, and the sheer bleakness of the place made it clear that, although it was a "model" camp, it was far from a good place to be. 

Other activities included visiting Prague Castle and its various museums, walking along Wenceslas Square where the Russian troops quashed a Czech uprising, a Christmas Eve service in a Spanish synagogue (go figure), a World War II guided tour including walking underground, eating at a Mexican restaurant (my main goal), and clothes shopping with my mom at the busiest mall of all time. There was a lot of just aimlessly walking around, which is a great way to view a city. 

Unfortunately, as our time in Prague ended, my sister had to get back to the United States, so we said our farewells before my parents and I headed to Vienna. 

Vienna

We took a train from Prague to Vienna, and I was blown away by how comfortable and nice the train ride was, after having been on a few trains in Bulgaria. Although it was slower than my 35 minute flight from Vienna to Prague on the way there, it was far easier, cheaper, and more relaxing. I wish that train travel were more established in the U.S. outside of the northeast corridor. 

Vienna was entirely different from Prague. Prague felt compact and more old world, aided by the fact that it was largely spared from any destruction in WW2. Vienna, on the other hand, seemed more spread out, modern, and fast-paced. Granted, we only spent 3 days in Vienna as opposed to 7 days in Prague, so my observations were somewhat limited. 

An interesting note about Vienna: when we arrived at the train station, I looked to see if there was wifi. The only unlocked wifi network was titled "refugee wifi." It was a reminder that not all of those traveling through Vienna are as lucky or as excited to be there as I was. 

Most of our time spent in Vienna was truly just walking around. We didn't have as much time to explore different museums or take day trips outside of the city, but it was still a majestic city, reminding me of both Paris and Washington, DC. 

It was also tough going from the relatively cheap Czech Republic (not in the eurozone) to expensive Austria, which does use the euro. It reminded me of how cheap everything really is in Bulgaria. I'm glad Bulgaria does not use the euro! 

One frustration I had with Vienna was the difficulty of finding places to eat. Granted, it was New Years, but it was almost impossible to find somewhere to eat without making a reservation. My parents did, however, indulge me by going to the Hard Rock Cafe for some good ol' American food. My stomach was happy. 

We had no big New Years Eve plans, so we went to the top of our apartment complex and watched the different fireworks shows from there. We wanted a low-key night, and watching the fireworks away from the crowds and the cold was the perfect way to celebrate the arrival of 2016. 

All in all, the trip to both cities was an unforgettable experience. A caveat was that some of the niceness and comfort of Prague and Vienna made me sad for Bulgaria. In both cities, you simply did not see the same level of poverty that you see in different parts of Bulgaria. The infrastructure of these two countries was on a different level than that of Bulgaria. On a personal note, it was lovely to use "real showers" (with doors and curtains) and non-squat toilets. It reminded me that in Bulgaria, I really do miss little comforts like that, but I'm adapting and learning that discomfort can be a good thing: it gives me perspective. 

Back in Bulgaria, I've been reunited with my sweet cat Smokey, who has seemed more affectionate than ever. It snowed all day and night yesterday, but unfortunately Bulgarian schools don't close like U.S. schools. I still remember being released early from middle school because there was a chance of snow. No such thing here :( 

It will be hard to get back into the swing of things, both teaching and coaching speech/debate, but I'm excited about the challenges and joys that this New Year will bring. I'm almost halfway done with my time in Bulgaria and have learned a whole lot about this country and myself. 

Here's to a great New Year!