I got locked up.

These past two days have seemed so long! I think it's because we all know that the weekend is right around the corner and the weekend means that we get two days off in a row! Ugh! That is so exciting! I bet you're wondering about the title of this entry...well I'm going to make you wonder a little bit longer.

Yesterday we observed our schools for the second day. Luckily, we only had to observe one class and it was the one that we'll be teaching, NOT Microeconomics! When class was over Vinny, Kevin and I decided that we desperately needed coffee before we attempted to tackle and hour and a half of Bulgarian. We stopped at a little cafe in the middle of the "downtown" area. On our way there, we ran into Jackie, Mary and Rachel so it ended up being perfect. As we were drinking our delicious coffee, Tanya was walking by and we called her over to join us as well. We had a nice and relaxing time before Tanya got a phone call saying that one of our Senior Staff members (Jason) was coming sooner than we had planned. It turns out he was only about 10 minutes away and that we wouldn't have time to squeeze in our Bulgarian lesson before lunch. This made Tanya a little uneasy, but the rest of us were perfectly fine with it.

We finished our coffee and headed back to the Center where we met Jason. Some of the group didn't have a lunch with them (I did though, Nadka made me a sandwich and gave me an apple) and Jason was hungry, so we went to a nearby resteraunt to eat lunch. It was actually quite comforting talking and having lunch with Jason. He just wanted to make sure none of us were freaking out and that our host families were OK. He was very real and told us about his freak out moment when he was a volunteer. We appreciated the fact that Peace Corps cares enough to actually send someone to make sure we're all alright. I think that says a lot about the organization. Jason made it crystal clear that if we had any problems, any one of the Senior Staff would be there for us. Not that we were wound up before, but after having lunch with Jason, there was a definite ease among us.

After lunch, we all headed into an hour and a half of Bulgarian. We got a break at 2 o'clock to go talk to our Bulgarian counterpart teachers about the microlesson that we would be teaching the next day. Originally we were all only supposed to teach about 10-15 minutes each. Whenever Georgi talked about it, however, it was 15-20 and by the time we left his shop that day, he informed us that we would be teaching a solid 25 minutes a piece (which ended up being the whole class period because they were cut short due to the holiday). Vinny has three years of teaching experience behind him. Kevin and I, however, have never taught a proper class in our lives.

At 3 o'clock we had another hour and a half of Bulgarian. It's still difficult, but as the days go by I get a little bit more confident. I know I still have such a long way to go, though. Vinny gets pretty frustrated in these lessons so afterward we all went with him to walk his family's dog to get some of that bad energy out. Most everyone came and we all just walked to my house because it's clear across town. There is literally nothing past my house. Excuse me, there is a field of cows and goats past my house. On my way back one day, I almost got ran over by a renegade goat. I tried to move out of his way but he kept following me. This is the traffic that I deal with now...goats. At least they don't contribute to global warming.

When I got back to my house Hristo wanted to make up for making me mow the grass in my dress the day before and made a peace offering to play some soccer with me. We really just passed the ball back and forth. It was nice, though, and it brought back memories of my glory days on the field. Hopefully I'll get to really play soon. After soccer, I got to help with dinner again. This time I made the entire salad. I'm glad they're not holding back in letting me help with stuff. When dinner was over, I went ahead and took a shower and settled into bed. I had to get up at 6:15am the following day and I was in no way happy about it. Kevin and I were going to meet Vinny at his house at 7am and then we would all walk to school together and be ready to go at 7:30am.

I either didn't hear my alarm (which is perfectly possible because it's not very loud) or it just didn't go off. At 6:30am, Nadka came in to wake me up because she knew I had to be at Vinny's at 7am and she knows that it's a good 15 minute walk to get to that side of town. I jumped (literally) out of bed and scrambled to get ready. I went to my phone to text Vinny that I would just meet him at the school and not to wait for me. When I grabbed my phone I saw that I had a text from Kevin saying that he had a fever and wouldn't be making it today. What does this mean? I was supposed to go after him. Do I have to teach his lesson and mine now? I don't know what he's teaching. I don't have that book. I don't feel prepared for my own lesson, let alone his. This is ridiculous. I inhale my breakfast and powerwalk to the school. I walk into the teacher's lounge and half expect and hope to find Kevin there with a big grin saying "Just kidding guys!" but there was only Georgi and James (another volunteer who has Byala Slatina as his permanent site). Great. Where's Vinny?

Georgi knows about Kevin but hasn't heard from Vinny. I quit. I quit right now. Maybe I should call Vinny before I quit, just to make sure. I call him and he's on his way. Good. Georgi has figured it all out and I will teach the lesson I prepared for after Vinny teaches his and Georgi will wrap everything up in the last period before they get out for the celebration. Excellent, now I don't have to quit. Vinny walks in and is ready to go. The bell rings and the four of us walk down the hall towards our future. Vinny is a professional and his lesson went brilliantly. The bell rang and I chug my bottle of water. I'm not as nervous as I thought I'd be. The kids are smiling, which I assume is a good thing. The bell rings again and it's time. My time. I did it! We did fill in the blank activities, using pronouns, and using conjunctions to make complex sentences. It felt weird being up there, but a good kind of weird. My only criticism was that I talk too fast sometimes...but that's really not a secret. I was even complimented on my voice being very clear and pleasant sounding. So thank you, Mom, for always making me read those little booklets outloud in sixth grade Sunday School, it paid off.

Since the school got out early today (the next few days are holidays to celebrate the Cyrillic Alphabet...it was created by Bulgarians) we had so much time before we had to be at the Center for Bulgarian. Vinny, James and I had some coffe and ended up being joined again by Rachel, Mary and Tanya. We stayed at the cafe for a good hour before Vinny wanted to go back to his house to change out of his teaching clothes before our long day of Bulgarian. Mary had to do her microteaching and Rachel had tutoring with Tanya so they went their separate ways. Vinny, James and I went to Vinny's house to grab some food and so that Vinny could change clothes.

We stayed there for about an hour asking James what life was like after PST and all that good stuff. But soon it was time to head to the Center for Bulgarian. We went to leave and Vinny pulled on the doorhandle to open the door...and the handle fell off. Right there, on the floor. We each took a turn trying to put it back on by hand and that didn't work at all. If anything, I'm sure it probably made things worse. Vinny went to try to find some sort of tool but he was unsuccessful. While he was looking, I called Rachel to see if she could maybe come and open it from the outside. We still had the key but we could slide it to her. She agreed and she arrived shortly with Jackie and Mary in tow. They unlocked the door from the outside and tried to turn the handle but that thing was not moving. After about five minutes of struggling (which felt more like 15 minutes) Jackie had the idea to be like the movies and use a credit card. Now, I'll go ahead and admit it, I didn't think that this would actually work...but it did! We were free! Vinny felt bad for breaking his family's door, but overall this situation was hilarious (hence the title).

Bulgarian went by better than usual and after our lessons and tutoring we went to visit Kevin and take him his medical kit that he had left at the Center the night before (ironic much?). He was grateful for the kit and the company but he still wasn't feeling well so we didn't stay long.

Dinner was slightly more productive today. I told them that I taught the class by myself (in very broken Bulgarian) and we had that amazing creme caramel stuff. After dinner we watched that crazy but addictive soap opera thing. Tomorrow I think some of us are going to go for a walk around the town to get more familiar with things and just relax. Relaxing is what we all need to do. I still think the hardest thing for me to get used to (other than having to throw away my toilet paper instead of flushing it at the Center) is that in Bulgaria you shake your head for "yes" and nod your head for "no". Nadka gets on me all the time about that but it's been embedded in my head for 23 years. It's a hard habbit to break. Another thing that may or may not become a problem is that all of the thoughts in my head are now with a Bulgarian accent. It's weird and I hope that the accent will just continue to stay in my head and not come out of my mouth...unless I'm actually trying to speak Bulgarian. Clearly I need the weekend...leka nosht!