The first day of school

Boy has it been a busy few days!  We've spent the past two weeks gearing up for the first day of school, which was today.  Last Friday we had an all faculty BBQ at Tom's house.  As always, the social functions are fun.  I had a blast hanging out with his children and pets.  The big black guy is Floyd, a year old, 100 lb, Black Russian Terrier, and the little guy is Fred, who frequently appears around corners on campus and in buildings.  He always brightens my day!  

Yesterday was Greg's birthday.  We spent the day exploring downtown Sofia.  As you can see, Greg tried to bring home a new puppy for his birthday.  Fortunately, she found some other people to follow, because, cute as she was, there really isn't room for another pet in this apartment!  

Downtown we had lunch at a really cute place called Pastarant. 

 Some tasty Italian food...yum!  

There was fascinating people watching, 

and you can't beat the architecture, graffiti, and interesting shops in downtown.  We were excited to find some statues on a bench and paused to capture Greg with them, to continue our tradition that Andy began in Montreal. 

 

In the evening went out to the Radisson to watch some football with the other international teachers.  The Radisson is a big ex-pat hangout, so they have a more "American" menu.  Meghann and I ordered quesedillas, which had cheese and jalapenos in them, but there was no salsa available, and the "guacamole" was more lemon paste than guac.  Meg spiced hers up with some bloody mary!  

First, of course, 

we ate some homemade Boston Cream Pie cupcakes.  

It's been cold and pouring here for the past two days; quite a big change from the month of hot, dry, sunny weather we'd been having.  Everyone says we will get Indian summer here, but in the meantime, jeans, jackets, sweaters, and umbrellas have come out in full force.  Luckily we got our "new" car, so we don't have to get soaked walking from the bus stop to school anymore.  

As promised, I have shot photo and video of the first day of school.  I've also added a few pictures of campus.  We have a fabulous garden in honor of a student, with a wishing wall, and swing.  The first day was such a blast!  

It began with an all school assembly where the new faculty was introduced and brought on to the stage in our communist-era auditorium. The kids stood and cheered!  It's a great welcome.  They also introduced the new "prep" class, the 8th graders entering the school.  Evidently, the preps are called rabbits, so as tradition dictates, carrots are thrown at them on stage.  A little crazy, but you can't argue with tradition.  

This fun was followed by an introduction of our block system, where the kids were divided up and the entire school was given t-shirts to unify their color block.  The preps wear white (nice symbolism, isn't it?), grades 9-11 are divided into 8 other colors (I'm yellow, Greg is green), and the seniors wear purple, the inverse of the preps.  In short, all year the teams will compete in terms of attendance, GPA, extracurriculars, sports, and special events, culminating in the team with the most points winning the "Black Cup."  For fans, it probably sounds reminiscent of Hogwarts, but remember, as this is Bulgaria, it's actually Durmstrang!  Many of the faculty jokingly refer to this as quidditch, and truthfully, it's been pretty fun so far.  

To kick it all off, our administration cancelled classes and held a mini-olympics today.  It rained on our parade, but was still a blast.  Kids competed in a three-legged race, potato sack relay, 

water balloon toss, 

tug of war, and mini-bicycle race among others.  Seniors were the refs, and everyone was invited to spectate all day.  Be sure to check out the video of the bike races crossing the finish line to the tune of "Chariots of Fire" - which even though our kids are so young, some seemed to recognize.

Tomorrow we begin teaching and get settled into routine.  Hopefully, the winner of the mini-olympics will be announced as well.  I start with a full day of 6 in a row periods 1-6 (out of 8).  Fortunately, the week gets better as it goes on, so I'll have some time to recover and settle a bit.  Though, as you may expect, my first unit is fully planned and copied, so I'm in pretty good shape - I just like to be prepared!  That will let me enjoy my 3 day weekend coming up - yay for Bulgarian Independence!  No plans yet, but hoping to go somewhere cool.  Definitely open to suggestions...which is my not so subtle way of telling you to leave comments, please.  In return, eventually, I will learn how to caption these photos...

We miss you guys...keep those emails coming!