За много години!

With the return to school, I have been negligent in taking out the camera to document the insane snow, so this post will be sans-photos. (I know you upstate New Yorkers think 6-8 inches is no big deal, but please remember we have no salt here! Furthermore, if you'll recall October heating woes, it seems we are not out of the woods yet...evidently, thanks to Putin's embargo, Sofia is without central heating beginning today, indefinitely until our supply is restored. Considering it was -5 centegrade this morning, classrooms and flats are going to get cold fast! Looks like I'll be using my oven and dryer for warmth again.) Speaking of the return to school...I came back yesterday expecting questions about the holidays and travel, but instead was greeted repeatedly with the phrase, "Happy New Year for many years!" (Yes, my students said it to me in English.) They all also came in with very specific wishes for my happy new year, including our traditional health and prosperity, but also wonderful trips, good food, good times with friends, visits from family, etc... It was an unexpected and lovely moment of Bulgarian culture. And in other very exciting news, for two consecutive days, the faculty bathroom in my building has had toilet paper and soap - yay for starting the new year off right!

And now, in spite of my resolutions to enjoy the little things, embrace my inner Italian and New Yorker, and to truly live carpe diem...that planning queen is still lurking...thus I leave you to go grade papers, hang pictures, research tickets to Vienna, and write a semester final before I can begin planning my next 3 units. (Note to anyone who has stuff for 1984, Heart of Darkness, or Things Fall Apart - I'll gladly take handouts!) It is my hope to have the semester planned before my trip (I think to Istanbul) at the end of the month.

Before I go, I would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to print photos and trek to the post office to mail packages to me. My bulletin board rocks! I'll take some classroom shots when I bring my camera to campus this week and show you the fruits of your labors. Other upcoming posts will include William, Williams, and the neighborhood dogs (who have finally returned in search of food after the fireworks scare of New Year's Eve), and the Bulgarian National Theatre which I have been invited to tour backstage.

With that, I wish you all a happy new year, za mnogo godini (За много години)!