reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated

I’m alive. I’m still in Bulgaria. I’m not dead. I’m sorry that I have been so delinquent on keeping up with my posts but I’ve been busy. And right now I’m sick. Well, right now I’m recovering but I was sick enough to miss school yesterday and today. It’s been hard for me to do this. Even harder to do no work.

So what’s new with me? Well, my brother got married on September 9th, to a wonderful girl named Meghan. I went home for two weeks as I was the Best Man and of course I couldn’t miss my brother’s wedding. The wedding was a great time, it was in the beautiful little Northern towns of Landaff and Franconia, New Hampshire.

School has also began again. This year I’m teaching 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades. I’m excited for this year because my classes this year are more motivated and have a better grasp on English than some of my classes last year. I will also begin teaching at the prison again on Thursday. The other day I had a hard day at school and actually found myself wishing that I had a class that night at the prison. Even though it is extra work, my classes there tend to relax me and make me feel as if I am making a difference.

I wrote a short essay last night at the request of my program manager that I thought I would share here. It sort of sums up my first year and a half here. Hope you enjoy:
I am sitting here in my apartment, which is unusual for a Monday afternoon, but I am sick. It seems like whenever the seasons change, I get some kind of cough or throat problem. But I think this is good because it gives me a chance to reflect on my year and a half as a TEFL volunteer in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, no simple one word descriptions come to mind; my time here has been full of great highs and lows. But somehow, despite the cold winters, the hard times teaching and learning to make do with little, I remember the good things more clearly.

I remember the look on my 11th grade students last year when they finally understood the Future Perfect Progressive tense. I remember my 12th graders putting all of their end-of-the-year effort into making posters describing the “8 Steps to Success,” which this year will be hung up in our new multimedia room. I remember prisoners, to whom I teach English, being able to hold conversations, in English, with visitors. And I remember the many holidays, birthdays and outings with friends I have made here. But the happiest memory I have came just last night.

My 8th grade class last year was a real struggle for me. There were numerous problems with discipline, motivation and respect. Added to this, for the first semester I was in the classroom by myself. In particular, one boy really got on my nerves. He yelled in class, never did his homework and the only words he knew in English were swears. I tried to work hard with him, like all the students. By the end of the year, much to my shock, he was doing homework, sitting in the front of class, and actually chastising other students for their poor behavior. This year he has moved to a technical school and he told me that his class is divided into a slower class and more advanced for English. He told me with a smile that he was in the advanced class.

I joined the Peace Corps in part because of the commercials that used to say: “Peace Corps: The toughest job you’ll ever love.” Those commercials have fallen out of usage as of late, but I think they are part of the most powerful and honest advertising campaign I have ever seen. Is the Peace Corps hard? Oh man, is it. Will it challenge you and sometimes beat you down? Of course. But will you always remember these times and will it make a difference in your life and others? Yes. And will your time in country mean something?  Without a doubt.