Out and about

Last night was the BBQ for the international teachers.  It was nice to get to talk to everyone a bit more.  Later on we went to a bar called Candle Bar, which was a former secret meeting place for Communist leaders.  It's down an alley and has no electricity.  The entire place is lit by candles.  Greg went with some people to a place called Mojito after, but I headed home with some neighbors.  I can't believe how exhausted I am after just one week of school and no students yet!

As of today, my classroom is still under renovation, so I have no place to set up and no computer at school.  The entire English and Science departments are in this situation.  Even our offices are under construction.  I'm not stressed about it at all, since I have been told it is perfectly fine to hold class outside.  Class rosters are supposed to come to us sometime next week, so then I will have to begin studying student names.  That part is always hard for me!  I'm still working on faculty names at this point.  

I'm also sure I should be studying my Bulgarian, but I'm so swamped with English work that I haven't had a chance.  I took a break from prepping today to rearrange the apartment and clean it, since it got a bit out of control last week.  It's funny how quickly Bulgaria has impacted us.  Small things are victories now, like getting laundry done without a dryer (king size sheets on a drying rack on our 3x2 balcony), cooking a meal and finding a place to wash and dry all the dishes, and finding a restaurant where the food is decent, cheap, and we can identify what we are eating is very exciting.  Of course, logging on to the internet to find messages from friends and family is a huge victory too!

It's pretty hot here today, and I'm hoping to spend some time outside.  Tomorrow I think I'm going downtown with Jess, while Greg and Steve go golfing.  Then the girls are all getting together for dinner while the guys watch Sunday night football.  Should be fun.  It seems there is plenty to do here and little time to be bored, which is good news for us since we haven't found a dog sitter yet, therefore, no travel plans to date.  We have a three day weekend coming up 9/20-9/22, and would like to go somewhere, but no plans yet.  People have been great about giving suggestions for where to go and how best to get there, cheaply!  It's neat to be in a place where all of our colleagues are here for the same reason and are so willing to share info.  

I promise, more pics are on the way.  I'll take some downtown tomorrow and then more next week when the renovations are (hopefully) completed.