Oh wow.

So I've been here for two weeks...well I've been gone for two weeks. I've been in my small town for one week and in Bulgaria for a week and a half. I'm starting to notice culture differences, which is good. There are a lot of things that seem the same on the surface, but aren't really the same at all once you get down to it. I started teaching yesterday and will have my first full class on Wednesday. So far I've taught 7th graders. They are loud and crave attention, but I really enjoy them. They are eagar to learn and aren't apathetic yet. I think I'm starting to come down with something though. So let's hope it's just a sore throat and that it'll be gone by Monday.

Let me give you a basic run-down of my schedule:
between 6:30 and 7 am Wake-Up
8 am Meet the other Volunteers at the cafe and drink coffee and walk to school
8:30 Get to school and prep for class
9- 11:30 We teach English
12:30- 1:30 Lunch at "home"
1:30 -4:30 Bulgarian Language Class
5:30- 7 Read and study
around 9 pm we eat dinner
i go to bed before 11 every night.

Needless to say I'm glad it's the weekend! Now, I'm going to go rest. :-)

I'm in Bulgaria!

As Jeff stares over my shoulder I write this to tell everyone that I'm safe, I have a new apartment and a host mom to go with it, I have 40 new friends, and that I can say basic phrases in Bulgarian. I don't have long; we just got done eating at Ben's house and we have to go back for more language and training stuff. I'm in a small mining village between Sofia and Dupnitsa. It's beautiful and all the people know each other even though there are about 6 or 7,000 people here. There are 3 other volunteers in the village with me: Josh (from Columbus), Ben, and Jeff. Yes, back to the Tech ratio. I don't mind that a bit. I miss you all and I hope that you're doing well. Send me emails and mail! I'd love to hear from you. I have pretty good access to the internet, so I should be able to check and write back weekly.

I'm leaving TODAY!

I'm so excited! Yes, our flight might be canceled. Yes, we have to sit in the first airport for 5 hours. Yes, we have to sit in the second airport for 4 hours. Yes, it's pouring outside. Yes, I have way too much and way to heavy luggage. BUT I'm still really excited!! I'll miss you all terribly though.

I really like all the people I met here. They're all so different but so similar. There's the quiet guy or two. I'm the crazy girl, I have a feeling. We have the thoughtful few and the ones who kinda go along for the ride. And I like them all; that's the best thing.

Two Days, Too People, To Parents

I can barely stop myself from running outside and jumping around (the cold rain is a good deterrent though). The four glasses of sweet tea may have something to do with it, but I'm sure my exuberant abundance of excitement about leaving in less than Two Days is the main cause. I can't believe it. I mean that phrase very literally; it is very hard for me to grasp and believe that in two days I will be on a plane and gone from Atlanta for over two years. In the past weeks I've come to realize how much I love ATL. I always knew that I enjoyed the city and never minded living in it, but I feel like Atlanta is home. I'll miss it while I'm away; I missed it even when I was only an hour away.

My parents are being hysterical, well hysterically funny. My mom tries to dramatize every moment. Tuesday night we're all watching TV and she blurts out "Krista! This is the LAST Tuesday night you'll be watching TV with your parents! *fake sob* *fake sob*." Then, as we leave for church, "Krista! This is the LAST time you're going to church with us!! *gasp* (as she swoons with her arm on her forehead)." It's better than crying and funnier than moping. My dad is reserved, but very intent on saying "Bye, I love you!" every time he or I leave the house.

Packing isn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. And yes, I did make an Excel spreadsheet and already pre-packed just to make sure everything would fit. But I was still debating exactly what to bring (and I kinda still am). It's been much easier to start weeding things down though. I have one bag entirely packed; it's like a heaven for vacuum bags. I had some stuff, like my amazing 5 pound buckwheat pillow that I love like a child, that I just couldn't take. Then there was some more stuff that now fit since I wasn't taking the other stuff. All in all I've just got a ton of stuff, actually only about 100 pounds of stuff but that's still alot.