A New Chapter: Living and Teaching in Burgas

Whew! Long time with no update! It would take me forever to tell you everything. On August 22nd, I said goodbye to all my new friends who I was with in Tryavna and began the train journey to Burgas. By that time, all of us at FISI (the 2-week international school in Tryavna) had really bonded in a way that I didn’t realize until I was away from them. I am so happy that I came to Bulgaria earlier in order to attend. It was truly a great way to kick off my year (or "almost year" 11 months) in Bulgaria, and really a very special time. I am still in touch with everyone and plan to see many of them when I visit Sofia for Fulbright Orientation Sept. 24th-25th. I am really looking forward to being with everyone again.

As far as Burgas, I arrived on Saturday afternoon, August 22nd. A good friend of mine from the Tryavna school traveled with me. I later realized he did this mainly to make sure I didn’t get lost or die, as he had to help me deal with traveling with all of my bags (imagine, everything for a year), translating from English to Bulgarian, and even stopping a train that had started to go so that I could get off!!! Yep, what a time. When we arrived I was greeted by Nina, my contact teacher, and also Misho, who is now my 21-year old landlord.

The people who I’ve met in Burgas have been wonderful. My acquaintances and friends to this point have been alarmingly hospitable and kind. Zhelyo is an interesting friend who I’ve met. While trying to adjust to the city of Burgas during the first few days, wondering "where’s the woods?" "why is there so much techno music?" and "who can I relate to?" Lo and behold I am introduced to Zheylo, a 19-year old Bulgarian who lived and studied for a year in where of all places??? Asheville, North Carolina! Not only did I now have someone who spoke English well who I could talk to, I had someone who knew completely 100% where I was coming from.

The day before yesterday I celebrated my one-month anniversary here in Bulgaria. At this rate, it won’t take long at all to do this 10 or 11 times. By now, the summer holidays are coming to a close and it’s time to buckle down with the school I will be working for and the students I will be teaching. I met the principal a few days ago and I am beginning to meet my colleagues. I will teach 9th grade and 11th grade. I will teach 7 classes of ninth graders on Fridays and 5 classes of eleventh graders on Mondays. Average class size is 30 for the ninth grade and 25-26 for eleventh!!!!!! This equals over 300 students who I will teach weekly. Wow. Talk about firsts…

Since I’m teaching on my own, I’ve got the freedom to plan the lessons and activities. With such large groups, I think I will find it a challenge to fit really effective language lessons into the 40-minute allotted time period. Yet, just because it’s challenging doesn’t make it impossible. We will find some great things to do, and I look forward to some excellent times with these students. If anything else, I will come back more experienced.

I think that’s enough for now. It goes without saying how much I miss you guys. Please continue to keep in touch and keep me in your prayers. - Steph

(Pictures: Top - FISI friends in Tryavna. After two weeks of hard work, they are waving their final certificates for the courses! Left Bottom: Playing guitar on the train with Elena and Dobrin (who took this picture. Glen Hansard's "Say it to Me Now" is a great song). Right Bottom: More wonderful friends in Tryavna: Richard, Julia, and Dobrin.)