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!

What the future may hold

About a month ago, I took the Foreign Service Officer Test at the American Embassy in Sofia. The FSOT is the first qualifying stage to becoming an employee of the US Department of State. Ideally, I would like to work in the Public Affairs section. More info here. While I was away in England I received an email notifying me that I had passed the exam and I have been invited to complete the next part of the application, which is a series of short essays. I'm working on that now and should be ready to send it off next week, so wish me luck!

In other news, this weekend I had the pleasure of visiting a nearby village with my friend Dessy. Orehovitsa is a small village about 30 kilometers north of Pleven, towards the Danube River. As we approached on the bus I noticed that the landscape started to become more hilly and green (although there was still snow on the ground!). It is in a beautiful location and I plan to return when the weather is a bit warmer. The village is named for a walnut grove lining the main road, and there were lots of fruit and nut trees all around. Dessy's grandmother lives there with her aunt and we joined them, along with her mother, for lunch. It is always refreshing to get out of your normal surroundings, especially when you can spend time with good friends. Her family has been especially welcoming to me since I've been living here and I felt very much at home with them.

I also went to get another haircut in Pleven and I'm pleased with the results. The last time I had a cut it was to try and fix some damage I had done on my own, and thankfully my awful bangs have finally grown out to a normal length!  

Busy, busy, busy!

This weekend was another long one away from my apartment (where my poor plants nearly died of thirst- again! But they seem to be alright now). I was in Sofia for three days on some important "business:" firstly I went to the embassy to take the Foreign Service Officer Test, which is the required exam to work for the State Department. I'll find out how I did in about three weeks. It's definitely not a job I would be able to start in the near future, even if I did pass. There's a long selection process but I'm at least getting a head start on it while I have the time. Secondly, I met with a friend and former colleague about starting a new educational program in my school and with Fulbright. I am going to be a part of the planning process and hopefully contribute to writing some of the curriculum! More on that later as things progress.
I also got to hang out with friends in Sofia, which is always a pleasure. I "discovered" some new places I hadn't been to before and I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of navigating the city. I went to the Teahouse, a really cute vegetarian cafe/restaurant that would be very much at home in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, and also Dobro, a hip little neighborhood restaurant near my friend Ellen's house. Parts of Sofia remind me a lot of Budapest, I'm beginning to realize, but there's also something very unique about the city. It's unlike anywhere else I've seen in Bulgaria: young, vibrant and energetic but also laid-back and sophisticated.
In other news, it snowed here in Pleven again. Hopefully that will be the last of the winter weather. We had a week of warm-ish temperatures recently so maybe that's the trend and today was a fluke. One can dream!