Welcome to year two of the Gap Decade: I moved to Bulgaria! Follow along with the most current plot twist in the adventure saga that is my life.
This is a big year for me, and I expect to face a lot of challenges in the very near future. But living in Bulgaria is also my dream come true. I began studying the Bulgarian language two years ago when I worked as a waitress in Alaska alongside many Bulgarian colleagues. I fell in love with the language, and spent the following year self-studying up until I spent two weeks traveling all around Bulgaria. Further, the opportunity to work in Bulgaria was the only reason I applied for the Fulbright scholarship in the first place; had Bulgaria not been an option, I would have pursued something else. When I am feeling particularly overwhelmed, I remind myself that I am living my ultimate dream.
This ultimate dream has materialized in Haskovo, Bulgaria, where I have just moved into my beautiful one bedroom apartment. Through Fulbright Bulgaria and the America for Bulgaria Foundation, I have been honored with a fellowship to serve as an English Teaching Assistant for the next ten months at a foreign language high school. I have spent the last week familiarizing myself with the community, and tomorrow I will begin teaching my first classes.
If your first thought is, “Deena, why did you get a business degree to become a high school English teacher in a recently post-communist Balkan country?” then you and my father would get along really well.
In all seriousness, I am extremely grateful for how supportive my family back home has been with this successive long term departure from home. I am also extremely grateful for the new family that has adopted me here - in particular, my mentor teacher Elena. She has welcomed me into her life with open arms, from tennis practice with her seven year old daughter to a goat roast at a traditional Bulgarian cottage in a nearby village. Over coffee breaks in the park and during car rides through my new city, she told me the story of how she taught herself English (before accessible internet!) and eventually earned a position at a prestigious language school teaching the same subject. I am continuously impressed with her innovative teaching practices, progressive attitude regarding education, and the warmth with which she greets everyone. Nevena, another fellow English teacher that previously served as a mentor, is my new neighbor and has provided me with a wealth of information and support regarding my upcoming experience here. The teachers, the students, and the community members have been nothing but hospitable, and happy to help me in any way they can. My anxiety about teaching classes and living in a new country are no match for the gratitude I feel for the people who have so graciously welcomed me here!
Haskovo, Bulgaria is a small city, but still larger than I expected it to be. I have full access to anything I might want to buy and there is a bus station to take me anywhere else I might want to go. Although I do not speak Bulgarian well by any means, I know enough to get by, and much more than my colleagues expected me to know. I hear that my students will be respectful but loud (to be expected), and that they will be excited for the fun classroom activities I have in mind. Ironically, being a teacher is the part of this experience that I am the least qualified for but also the least nervous about.
If I step back and think about the move I have just made, it is objectively overwhelming. I am an alien in this new world, struggling to communicate and navigate unfamiliar cultural norms. But if I focus in on what I am doing right now, in the moment, (typing up my experience on a laptop while I enjoy a beautiful bouquet of flowers in my living room!) everything feels under control. Without a doubt, this particular skill is something I picked up during my last ten and a half months backpacking the world. Who knew my angsty year of backpacking would prepare me so well for a prestigious teaching position?
Pod Save the World podcasts to prepare for the US Foreign Service Officer Exam, my Bulgarian language notebook, a Google spreadsheet of lesson plans, a colorful planner full of upcoming trips through the Balkans, a shopping list for vegetables from the market. I am rolling along at full speed ahead, driven by both excitement and fear for this year ahead of me.
Keep in touch during this next rollercoaster!
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