Finally Spring

This post has been a long time coming, but I've felt less inclined to blog this year for some reason. It has been a long, although mild, winter here in Sofia and yesterday was supposedly the first day of spring. Accordingly, the weather was beautiful and sunny, even hot for March! Then today it just rained for most of the afternoon. Oh, well...

Summer cannot come soon enough. Kiril and I are going to be visiting Seattle for about a month, and I will stay a couple of weeks longer to spend some quality time with the family. I am really looking forward to it is as it seems like forever since I've had a real vacation!

In other news, I took the written exam for the Foreign Service again (for the third time, in case you haven't been reading for long). I am happy to report that I passed and completed my essay responses for the second stage of the selection procedure. I will find out sometime in May whether or not I am invited to an interview in Washington, D.C. this summer.

There have also been some very difficult times for my family over the last few months. My aunt, who had been battling cancer for two years, passed away in early Feburary. Since I went back to Seattle in December 2011 for Christmas, we said our more personal goodbyes then. It was heartfelt and deep, and I don't think I realized how much I would miss her until she was gone. Then my uncle unexpectedly died of a heart attack just three weeks later. It was a huge blow to my Mom and her siblings, and everyone is still reeling from the shock. These moments are when I feel very far away and helpless against the things I cannot control. I want to be home but I am here, and the distance seems to magnify as time goes by.

But still, there are good reasons for me to be where I am now. My project, Learning Through Our Differences, is finally taking off and we will visit the first high school on our workshop list this weekend in Shumen. I haven't been there before, but I know that it is a medium-sized town not far from the sea, and still remote enough to suffer from the same regional underdevelopment that exists in so much of the country. The workshop will focus on individual and group identities, breaking down stereotypes and bridging cultural barriers. There is also a component that will require participants to create their own "community action plans," which are projects aimed at addressing specific local problems related to intolerance. I have a lot of nervous energy about it, but I am really excited to see my ideas, and those I've collaborated on with others, finally put into action.

Stay tuned for Shumen pictures and another big project update, including a soon-to-be-live website, soon!