Halfway Through Orientation

It's Sunday morning, and we've made it through half of Fulbright Orientation, which has been busy and enlightening.

Each day has involved waking up to an incredible breakfast buffet of every imaginable breakfast food. My choice has usually involved a "palachinka" or a crepe/pancake with a little bit of Nutella spread on it and rolled up. Others opt for the cucumbers...

We go through several different sessions that are not unlike TFA's All Corps, except I have found them more relevant and informative, probably due to the smaller group involved. We've had training on security from U.S. Embassy Officials (don't walk predictable routes, carry passport, etc.) and great sessions from Jessie, a guy contracted through the Embassy to give teacher professional development.

I think the most helpful sessions have been the roundtable talks with former ETAs/returnees who offer great practical advice. There have also been sessions on Bulgarian history from a guy who runs a podcast I actually listened to before coming here. And one more session was on different cultural and ethnic groups here. It's a ton of information to take in but doesn't seem as overwhelming as TFA Institute, probably because the teaching stuff is a "review."

Mock-lessons 

Two experiences so far have stood out to me as worth mentioning:

(1) Dinner at Restaurant Vodenitzata which is in the mountains overlooking Sofia. We had course upon course of different Bulgarian foods, and I got to sit next to the famous (amongst Fulbrighters)  Iliana Dimitrova, the Fulbright ETA Program Director who essentially got us all to Bulgaria in one piece. I mean, she even called the Chicago Consulate of the BG Embassy at 3am her time to set them straight about my visa application.

The dinner also included a traditional Bulgarian folk dance and a firewalking show.

A memorable moment occurred in the bathroom of all places. I was led to the bathroom by a 4 year old (interesting in itself) and once inside, noticed there was a suited man standing there with an ear piece, a la FBI. Turns out he was with the Embassy security, as the Ambassador to Bulgaria was at dinner with us.

(2) Day Trip to the Rila Monastery. The Rila Monastery is this fascinating place tucked away in the Rila Mountains (very close to my placement town of Blagoevgrad). It's an Orthodox monastery from the 10th century and, needless to say, was gorgeous. We had an English tour of the monastery's museum and free time to walk around. We then went down to eat at a nice Bulgarian restaurant where I faced my fear of fish, or риба, and ordered the trout which was caught from the stream at the side of the restaurant. Unfortunately, "trout" included the head and tail and skin and everything in between. A fellow Fulbrighter saved the day and cleaned up the fish so that I could actually look at it, much less eat it. I'll work on my fear of seafood. Sometime.

Incredible frescoes at every turn 

Рилски манастир


 Probably the best part of the trip to Rila was the post-lunch exploration of the stream beneath the restaurant. I failed at an attempt to hold a frog (apparently a fear of mine?) and we engaged in some serious rock-skipping that reminded me of my times at my grandparent's house in Heber Springs. 

I'm looking forward to the next week and meeting my mentor teacher, but I'm most excited about finally getting to go down to Blagoevgrad and settle in to my new home.