April in Review

Smokey enjoying some sunshine and warmth (it hit 88 degrees a few weeks ago!)

April was a busy month.

From a cold-or-flu-or-allergy from hell to a trip to Greece to nationals preparations to traveling to Sofia for nationals, it has been one heck of a month. I certainly can't complain though.

April began with spring break, but the first half of my spring break was somewhat derailed. I got incredibly sick which required many trips to the аптека, or pharmacy. Finally, I had two students who went with me to the pharmacy so I could actually get some medicine that worked. It didn't help that I initially thought nationals registration was due during the Wednesday of spring break. An email was sent out to coaches saying that they'd moved the registration until after spring break, but unfortunately my email got left off the list (no hard feelings), so I spent a lot of the break inputting ISBNs, running after students for money, and helping students finalize their piece choices. The upside is that we were done with registration early, so I got to relax a bit after that. So then I went to...

Thessaloniki, Greece

I took this trip for a little spring break adventure. I considered going to Athens, but Thessaloniki (or Solun, as they call it in Bulgarian) is a short bus ride from Blagoevgrad, and that sounded much easier than a bus north to Sofia and then a flight to Athens.

The trip started out a bit scarily. I went to the bus station where, you know, one would imagine a bus would depart from...not so. I was given a long explanation in Bulgarian which I understood approximately 3% of, so I turned around in desperation. But then I saw one of my 12th graders who looked more like a goddess than a student in that particular moment! She helped me translate. They were telling me that I needed to go to a different office but they couldn't give specific directions. It was more like "Go left and go past this intersection then you will see a tree and a crosswalk and it is a little bit to the right behind some shops." Fantastic. Luckily I found the office. But it wasn't quite over. The bus, it turns out, started in Sofia and did not stop at the bus station in Blagoevgrad but rather at a random corner. I was not fully understanding the woman's directions (again, in Bulgarian) but guess who happened to walk down the street 10 minutes later? The same student. So I was told to go wait on the corner and that the bus would be there between 10 and 10:45. It came at 10:50.

But the bus was the nicest bus I've ever been on, so I cannot complain. There were personal TVs like on airplanes. There was an assistant who brought around food and drinks. And there were bathroom stops (my favorite! Alyssa Kasher...). And this cost me around $15 total. Much better than a plane ticket.

The next problem was that the bus dropped us off in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. I had mapped out the directions to my hotel from the bus station, but apparently on this trip bus stations are overrated and underused. I figured I would find a taxi, but first I needed euros which would require an ATM. No such luck. So I decided to just wander until I found the coast because I knew how to get to my hotel from the seaside. And it was definitely an incredible view.

While I did have a long itinerary of things to do (thanks in large part to Laura Hutchison!), I spent the first day just wandering. Specifically wandering uphill. Thessaloniki was largely destroyed in a fire in 1917, but one large neighborhood (Ano Poli) was spared. While most of Thessaloniki is in a nice grid (after being redesigned post-fire), this part of town (on a map) looked like someone threw a bunch of cooked spaghetti and called it urban planning. Which has its own charms. But not when you're walking uphill. Eventually though, using my "This is uphill" GPS system, I made it to the top where I was greeted with a lovely view. It was actually much more of a climb than this picture makes it seem.

On the way down, I got some Greek food (many, many gyros were eaten) and wandered a bit more slowly, enjoying the winding streets this time. I also walked into some beautiful churches and stumbled across the old Roman Forum (no big deal, right?).

On my other two full days there, I visited several museums: The Museum of Architecture, The Museum of Byzantine Culture, The War Museum, The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki, The Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, a photography museum, and a cinema museum. The cinema museum was particularly fantastic because, well, it had movie theater-type seats in every room. I have no real interest in the cinematic history of northern Greece, but I acted like I did. Plus, it was free. Free is good.

Aside from my first day's aimless wandering, my 2nd favorite part was visiting the White Tower, the symbol of Thessaloniki. It had a winding stairwell (well, without the stair part) just like the Round Tower in Copenhagen. I didn't really fit in the walkway (height is a problem), but I eventually made it up. There was a fantastic view of the city and ocean from the top. On the way back down, I stopped in the different rooms that have been turned into a miniature museum (shocking!) of Thessaloniki.

Now, given my misadventures with bus rides to the south, I decided to take the train back to Blagoevgrad because trains most certainly have to leave from the train station, not a random corner.

And it was the nicest train I've ever been on (although I haven't been on many). I had an entire 6 room compartment to myself, although I paid only around 15 euro. I had planned to nap, but the scenery was too incredible. There were constant rolling green mountains throughout both Greece and Bulgaria.

I was a bit nervous about the border crossing. Three large, muscular Bulgarian police/customs agents walked into my compartment and took a look at my passport. After laughing at my hair in the passport photo (it's from 2009 when I tended to make bad decisions), one Bulgarian man looked at me and said (in the thickest Bulgarian accent imaginable): "AMERICAN MAN!" Then they left.

Jokes aside, every time I've crossed a border during my stay in Bulgaria, I realize how lucky I am to be able to do so. And to have an actual destination. I realize that not all are as fortunate as me, especially during these times.

Pre-Nationals and the Tournament 

I fully admit that this tournament scared the crap out of me. It was the first full national tournament, and I have placed far too high expectations on myself and the team throughout the year.

The amount of preparation all of my students did was insane. I want to give a special shout out to all of the varsity members who helped with the novice students. Many of the varsity (10th-12th) students spent just as much time coaching as I did. It was effective in reducing the workload on me (sometimes you gotta be selfish), but I think it was also effective because the students could communicate in Bulgarian, great relationships were established, and the the older students got to mentor the younger students.

But still, I was oh-so nervous and anxious and probably slightly insane...Around half of our 10th graders were unable to attend because they had a French exchange program. One of our top poetry and prose performers got smallpox the week before the tournament, and we only had 2 debate teams, usually our strongest event.

But I had no reason to be nervous because everyone did wonderfully. I don't care whether a student didn't make it through the first round or won the finals - I am still proud of them. Imagine being an 8th grader and giving a 10 minute, memorized speech in a foreign language. It baffles me that they have the courage to do so. That goes for ALL of the teams from across Bulgaria, not just Blagoevgrad.

Two moments that stuck out to me from the tournament were:

(1) Giving Elena Trayanova (or Lollie) a superlative award for "Best Team Therapist." I wanted to write "Best Team Therapist and Mentor and Counselor and Varsity Superstar and Calming Influence" but they limited the number of words I could use. I'm terrible at keeping secrets, so I almost let this one slip several times, but I kept it in.

(2) Seeing Hrisi Tsonkova, an 8th grader, win the poetry competition. I have watched her grow so much this year, from being so shy and nervous in her first tournament to giving an outstanding and emotional poetry interpretation that left everyone silent and with goosebumps. She absolutely deserved first place (she'll be the humble one, I'll be the one to brag).

A blurry photo of some undefeated national champions 

Right now it feels strange not having practices after school. It's bittersweet. When I found out I was coaching speech and debate, my first reaction was: "IN BULGARIAN?" Once I got over that fear (quickly), I then added on: "I have no idea what speech and debate even means!" And then I realized that I'd be coaching one of the biggest teams in Bulgaria with one of the best track records of winning. That initial anxiety eventually faded, and coaching these lovely students has really become the defining experience of my time here in Bulgaria. They are all wonderful, courageous, and certainly talented people who will go on to do great things.

So this week is all about relaxing. This coming weekend and the following week, I am going with my mom to Poland. We'll visit Warsaw, Krakow, and Auschwitz. My last two trips (Greece and Sweden/Denmark) have been solo trips, so I'll be happy to let her do some (or most...) of the planning. In my defense, she likes to plan trips. Or at least that's the excuse I'll use to watch Netflix, enjoy the incredible weather, and try to learn some Polish phrases this week, specifically "Do you speak English?" ('Czy mowisz po angielsku' if you're curious. Poland, the Cyrillic alphabet makes things a lot easier, just saying).

Alright, that's enough out of me for the night.

March: Things Are Heating Up (Literally and Figuratively)

Champions for the 2nd time! 

March was a really busy and, frankly, crazy month for me, especially the last week, which I guess was technically half April, but I don't really care :)

Pernik Tournament 

The tournament in Pernik (March 5-6) feels like a lifetime ago, although it was only a month ago. It was much easier to get to the tournament because we traveled by train, although my stress level peaked when 5 minutes before the train was due to depart, some of the students were still not there. Luckily, everyone made it in time. Because we were late to the fall tournament, I was determined to not be late to this tournament, In fact, we got to the school before BEST was even there...Sorry kids for that 6 am train ride.

But we got there with enough time to relax before the first round, which was definitely a plus. As always, the students did amazingly and took first place. They also had a surprise celebration for my birthday which included cake, a pie in the face (thanks Stefie), and a ton of amazing gifts. The best gift, though, was seeing them all perform and win again.

I will remember this when doing your semester grades. And I see all of you in the background who are laughing!

US Embassy Visit

This one was a surprise. I got a call (which is unusual here) from an unknown number (even more unusual). I answered it and was frightened to here, "Hello, I am calling from the United States Embassy in Sofia." What have I done? I thought to myself. It was a frightening 0.3 seconds before she explained that some Embassy staff members would be in Blagoevgrad the following Tuesday. She asked if I would set up a sort-of school visit for the staff. Athena (my predecessor) had done this before, she said. Knowing Athena's planning skills, that was little comfort.

What we ended up doing worked out quite well, although it involved running around the school on Thursday and Friday getting different students to agree to be in different rooms at different times.

First, let me say that the US Embassy is super-intense about their security. When the French ambassador came, it was like "Oh hey." But the US Embassy needed a full list of all students who would be in attendance, and the security detail came an hour before the staff. And the ambassador wasn't even coming himself!

In order to make the security measures easier (they had to check all the rooms we would meet in), we only meet in 2 rooms instead of the staff going around to different classrooms. The staff was met by two 11th grade students dressed in traditional Bulgarian outfits with the traditional food greeting.

From there, the staff and I met with the school director and my mentor teacher in the director's office. After that, I went and got several of the speech and debate students who came into the director's office and spoke about BEST and how our school has done with the tournaments this year. 

After that, the staff and I moved to the teachers room, where 50 selected students were waiting (very patiently). Strangely, the BEST students who had been in the director's office were not allowed into the teacher's room. Security, again, was intense. 

This was my favorite part because students got to ask a ton of questions of the staff. They asked about NATO, refugees, American stereotypes, and the challenges of working as a diplomat in Bulgaria (and elsewhere). The staff answered all of their questions truthfully and, well, diplomatically. 

US Qualifying Tournament 

This tournament was, thank God, in Blagoevgrad. It's a lot easier to wake up in your own bed and walk over to a tournament. And to not have to deal with school/travel paperwork. 

The US Qualifying tournament allows Bulgarian students to compete in the NSDA (US) Championships which are held every June, this year in Salt Lake City. The only events that can qualify are original oratory (a basic speech) and duo. Each team is allowed 4 entries for each event. 

While all of our students did well (we had 2 finalist duos and 1 finalist oratory), Kari and Nansi (12th graders) took first place in the duo with an amazing performance of a piece about human and sex trafficking. Every time I saw it, I got goosebumps. Mario Mateev and Marieta Milusheva (11th graders) took 2nd place in duo. Again, goosebumps. Judges later told me the difference between 1st and 2nd was a tough choice. But both teams gave each other huge hugs and were happy for each other. 

It was tough to see some hard-working students not qualify, but the level of competition was fierce. Dealing with losses is a challenge that I have had to deal with, but never as a coach. So that was a real learning experience for me. 

Duo finalists: Marieta and Mario on the left, and Kari and Nansi to the right of them

The Rest of March 

And at the end of all of this, I got some sort of horrible cold or flu or allergies. Whatever it was, it had me coughing so hard that Smokey was concerned. And it's not as easy as walking to Walgreens to get some medicine here. All medicine is at an apteka, or pharmacy. After a failed attempt at getting what I needed at the apteka, Lollie and Yoana went with me to one and got me what I needed: cough syrup. It has helped tremendously. 

It has also helped that last Friday started spring break, so I have gotten to do a lot of lying around trying to get healthy. I am headed off to Thessaloniki, Greece (Greece's 2nd largest city) tomorrow so that I have some semblance of a spring break. But couch + Netflix + Smokey wasn't a bad first half. 

I also decided that I will be going to Cornell Law next year instead of staying in Bulgaria a second year (ETAs here are allowed to apply for a second year). It will be hard to leave (reverse culture shock is apparently a thing), but I am excited for the next chapter. I've begun speaking with my replacement ETA and telling her all about life here. It's so hard to believe that there are only a few months left. It feels like I'm just learning how to get things done. Kind of. It also feels like only a few months ago that we all landed in Sofia with no idea what we were in for.

But of course, there is still a lot of work here to be done. 

Speaking of which, registration for Speech & Debate Nationals are due tomorrow...

Your duo champions!