As many of you might know, i'm an AVID Agatha Christie fan; her plot twists and literary style make Game of Thrones look like child's play! However, it's unfortunate (or maybe fortunate??) when your life becomes an Ol' Aggie novel . . .
But before we get into the details, we must stage the scene (voice crescendos). This said murder happened in the quaint town of Galabovo, Bulgaria (this would be my hometown for the next 10 months for those following my overly complex metaphor). With a population of 7,000 and it's coal power plants, Galabovo is somewhere between a modern day District 12 and a classic European village: all of the rural flair and pedestrian thoroughfares with a splash of solitude. Admittedly, this particular region is completely flat so, from time to time, i'm reminded of Ohio; but, even then, there are too many hills!
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| Europe! Peep Bulgaria in the bottom right |
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| Sofia (capital), minor fiefdoms, and my Bulgarian hometown, Galabovo! |
Anyways! Back to the story! So the crime occurred in, perhaps, one of the least suspecting establishments: my Italian villa! If you're like me, you would clutch your pearls and exclaim: Italian villa! How is Keegan living in an Italian villa! Now, I wish this was all in jest, but, yes, the rumors are true; I live in an Italian villa.
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| My Italian Villa aka scene of the crime |
As I mentioned in my previous blog, I am a corporate-sponsored ETA; the good folks at Contour Global--my corporate sponsor--put me up in their gorgeous hotel/house during the duration of my Fulbright. When administrators come to Galabovo to visit their electrical facilities, they are often put up in this extravagant chalet with it's fully stocked kitchen, king-sized beds, climate control, etc.! As an aside, i've gathered that an Italian company built the power plants unless the 'Italians who came to Bulgaria' is a reference to the Roman Empire. . . . Moral of the story, I'm too #blessed to be #stressed. Well, with the exception of . . . MURDER *screams are heard in the background* *small children cry* *old folks faint*!
The day was like any other day; I just got back from a beautiful excursion to Plovdiv and Smolyan to celebrate our first week of school with a few friends! The previous week had been exhilarating! The first day of school was only an hour long, and full of pomp and circumstance; there were flags, banners, company executives, knights, students, foreign emissaries! I was crowned King! It was just another day in Bulgaria! And the following week consisted of meeting my 8th - 12th level students, and getting to know more about PGEE (Professional Gymnasium of Electrical and Energy Studies); that's a fancy way of saying my students are studying to becoming electrical engineers and electricians!
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| Loyal subjects paying tribute (A pic with students for the 1st day of school ceremony). |
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| Other royalty sending their best wishes (My director--in green and white--and Contour Global execs posing) |
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| Knights marching around the premises (students placing our school flag) |
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| Coronation (My speech wishing students a successful year) |
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| Italian royalty wishing prosperity for my kingdom (Alessandro, Contour Global representative, and I working the paparazzi) |
Of course, Plovdiv and Smolyan were equally as exciting! I got a little too excited speaking Turkish in the Turkish restaurant (Plovdiv -> European Culture Capital 2019), and the Canyon of Waterfalls was gorgeous (Smolyan -> European Culture Capital 2020); despite walking 27,000 steps that day, we stuffed ourselves with food!
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| Bulgarian dancers performing in Plovdiv on the eve of Bulgarian Independence Day |
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| Iliya and Anna looking absolutely adorable! |
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| It's a sign |
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| 1 of the 43 waterfalls trying to be subtle |
FINALLY! THE CRIME! It was a temperate day: not too hot, and not too cold. The air was still, but, the atmosphere was ELECTRIC! I bought a printer upon returning from my adventures and decided to set it up right away. I plugged in my printer, and, without much attention, I plugged in my laptop charger. What happened next can't be described. There was a huge spark, a loud scream (it was definitely me), and the lights went out. Frantically, I searched for the illumination on my phone only to discover my worst nightmare: I killed my laptop. There it was. A pile of plastic and metal roasted like a Thanksgiving turkey because I haphazardly put my laptop charger's prongs in the wrong socket. Feeling defeat, I scurried away to decipher the fuse box. Luckily for me, Iliya (the most considerate man in the world who is pictured above) helped translate the 3 fuse boxes in the house and my mentor teacher, Darina, and her husband who happened to be an electrician arrived on the scene. I left that day with a dead laptop, a whole lot of knowledge about Bulgarian fuse boxes, and the appreciation of the helping Bulgarian hands around me!
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| Smiling on the outside and freaking out a little bit on the inside! |
This site FulbrightBlogaria.blogspot.com is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of Keegan Scott and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State or any of its partner organizations.
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