A Rila Good Time: Part 2 - Fest & Best

Mid-September onward would be classified as the Weeks of Training! From BEST Coach's Training to BEST MT Training, my weekends were jam-packed with information. However, I did manage to have a little fun and a few guests along the way.

The Stara Zagora Wine Festival

A Fulbright Bulgaria tradition, ETAs (English Teaching Assistants), Scholars, and Researchers alike converge in Stara Zagora (my current resident) in Mid-October to enjoy the fruits of someone else's labor! Around 40 stands setup shop inside the regional history museum which provide samples of their finest wines. Essentially, you get bottomless glasses of fine wine for a whopping 5 leva ($3). Of course, I had to show the fam around Stara Zagora and the weekend was capped off with a group pizza party and some of the #classic apple crisp.

Peep the Roman Ruins in the back

The misshaped rocks and the mosaics on the floor made walking and drinking a perilous task

The Sawyers are very serious about their cooking

Stara Zagora Day

A week before the wine festival, the festivities in Stara Zagora continued with Stara Zagora Day! There was a festival, concert, and tons of fun but, more importantly, that week I finished decorating my classroom!

Kapana Fest

With the first BEST Coach's training in Plovdiv, we had to take advantage of the great weather and see the city! Kapana FEST, aptly named after the hip district characterized by narrow, cobblestones streets, was a success! Vendors selling trinkets and divine delights around every corner, Kapana FEST felt like a cool Autumn jamboree.

7 Rila Lakes

In mid-September, a group of us decided to head to the 7 Rila Lakes, a cluster of some of the highest fresh water lakes in Southwestern Bulgaria. Driving there in the AM, we shimmied up the 30 minutes ski lift and spent the next several hours catching the views!

Troyan Plum Festival

Is there such thing as too many festivals?? The day after hiking to the Rila Lakes, I headed to Troyan, a smaller city in the Stari Planina, to catch the Plum Festival, an event highlighting all the gems made from the fruit. Notably, Rakia, essentially, the national liquor of Bulgaria, has a rather dangerous(ly delicious) variety made from plums. We got to see some of the old-timey production and we certainly enjoyed the sweets along the way. The ride back through the Troyan Pass, one of my favorites, was with great company and beautiful views!

Rakia production

The Troyan Pass!

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.

*Fact*street's Back: Part 3 - MLC & UFO's!

Buzludja!

One of my favorite Bulgarian tales is as follows:

The Communists, attempting to seize control, created a plot to knock off a high-ranking general and then cause a little mayhem at the funeral. The general was indeed killed, and the government, king-and-all, were at his funeral when, at the beginning of the service, sharp, bombs went off. The entirety of the BG leadership was murdered; however, the monarchy survived! Why you might ask?

I'll let you ponder that, but the answer is simple: the King was a solid 15 minutes late. From then on, I've been told that being *a little late* in Bulgaria could save your life.

Now, I must confess that I have no idea whether this story is valid or not, but it lends a testament to time in Bulgaria. For that, I have found myself on Bulgarian time which is why my first blog post is a convenient 2 months after the start of my 2nd year with Fulbright Bulgaria. In attempts to process my own crazy doing's, I will do a 3 part serious highlighting the past two months starting from now and going back in time.

Elections

There are fewer things I love more than civic engagement. Seriously. As is my usual protocol as an educator on Election Day, I set up my voting box, had my ballots readied, and donned the walls with the Ohio flag! 89 students voted on two controversial topics: social media preferences and a monarchical reinstallation. Believe it or not, 42 students voted against the measure while 41 were in favor of bringing back the Bulgarian royalty. Of course, several specified I would earn the title (idk if I should be nervous or excited). A fav quote of mine from a colleague: "We already have a parliament. Why do we need another king? (translated)"

Travels

I had the great pleasure of having Natalie Davis--color commentator, friend, Buckeye, maverick, and Fulbrighter (Romania)--join me for class on Monday post-Media Literacy Conference (below). We rented a car, hit up class in the AM, and decided to take our travels northwards starting with the Thracian ruins in Stara Zagora, ancient Thracian tombs in Kazanluk, the Shipka momument, and Buzludja, and ending in Veliko Turnovo at Tsarevets! Also, the finest pizza i've yet to have outside of the US.

Hanging out with 6B

Thracian Tomb - Kazanluk : Sadly, this is a replica, but the original one about 10 steps away is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! It's also locked.

Shipka Monument is dedicated to the Russian and Bulgarian units who fought during the Russo-Turkish War!

Buzludja, a Communist playground, was a former Soviet conference hall now turned into a derelict UFO.

Ego Pizza and Cafe - Veliko Turnovo. You all dont understand how good this was.

Media Literacy Conference 2018

You're probably why I aptly titled this post '*Fact*street's Back'; Fulbright Bulgaria, in conjunction with the State Department, held a 3-day conference in Sofia discussing the role Media Literacy plays in classrooms throughout the Balkans. We had the pleasure of meeting fellow ETA's throughout the region, and I couldn't have had a better time! Barbara McCormack, VP for Education at the Newseum and, overall, gem, dropped in for some v fun activities! Perhaps, the best time I had was simply showing off Sofia to the other ETA's via bread-making, fire-walking, folk-dancing, ambassador-meeting, and rakia-'sipping'.

Jumping into Media Literacy like!

OSU Alumni and current Fulbrighters are very serious at Ambassador-hosted events!

Halloween

Pumpkins are incredibly cheap. 70 cents per pound which is absolutely insane. So when the Bulgarian gods give you pumpkins, you make jack-o-lanterns! I decided to buy 20 some and have a giant party with my 5th, 6th, and 7th graders in my primary school (Hristo Botev - Galabovo) and my 11th graders at my high school (PGEE- Galabovo). 100 kids later, we had oodles and noodles of fun with costumes, medenka (bulgarian cookies), and, obviously, a ton of pumpkins!

TIKVANIK! It's this amazing pumpkin-filled banitsa (pastry).

The mummy-making contest

Stay tuned for more fun tomorrow!

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.

Summertime Madness

If I must be honest, I have no idea where I left off exactly, but there are some crucial moments that happened these past 3 months that I would love to share. So instead of you listening to me ramble, I'm going to give a brief description of each interesting thing, a short description, and a few pics to let you really feel it. Sounds good?

Bender Fortress - Bender, Transnistria (separatist territory in Moldova)

Prom

Like the US, Bulgarians go all out for prom, but, unlike the US, they have a short parade of the students who are constantly counting . . . well, yelling . . . from 1 to 12 to the Prom destination (a local restaurant in most cases)! Congrats, Grads!

Wrap-up Seminar

The End-of-the-Year event where all the Fulbrighters get together and say, 'Goodbye' came a lot faster than expected. I loved hearing about everyone's presentations, and taking a dip in the Black Sea. You all will be (have been?) missed <3

AK and I telling Sadie to raise the camera because we tall <3

My Fulbright gals!

Paris

Bless Jackie and Andy for their hospitality! A former teacher of mine, Mdm Pontius invited me to her humble abode in Paris to surprise two of my former educators who were also visiting! We strolled through Versailles, the Louvre, and went to an amazing 3D art exhibit in L'etoile des Lumieres filled with Gustav Klimt's work! Merci Beaucoup Mdm et M. Pontius <3

Le Louvre!

Klimt's 3D works

Le Tower Eiffel!

Italy

My cousin Meegan and her fiancé, Joe, were headed to Italy and I couldn't resist a meet up with one of my favorite travel companions #MeeganAndKeegansEuropeanAdventures. I headed for a few days to Milan followed by a trip in Venice. Il Duomo was stunning (Milano), and the Venetian canals are as romantic as they seem! AND THE PIZZA! La mia bella Italia <3

Il Duomo - Milan

Venice!

Istanbul

In June, I became a somewhat professional tour guide in one of my favorite places: ISTANBUL! Dragging Tajia, Dan, AK, and Epax around with me for a weekend was cok guzel (very nice). We literally hit all the hot spots--Hagia Sofia, Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Suleyman Mosque, Grand Bazaar--and, of course, I introduced them to lahmacun and ezme. If you haven't tried either of these, you need to go now.

Topkapi Palace!

Gul Park

Suleyman Mosque

Istanbul sunsets

Camp Golden Gate

2 weeks on the Black Sea Coast in a gorgeous resort with some of the brightest students from 13 different nations? I couldn't pass it up! Teaching Culture and Communication (I think it was mostly my students laughing with me in all of our activities), I had an amazing time from students all over the world!

The beaches of Albena

Day trip to Varna

Fun in the sun!

Holi!

Moldova

After camp, I decided to take the scenic route home. Hitting Moldova, supposedly the least visited country in Europe, I caught a glimpse of this quaint destination. Chisinau is a bustling micropolis with a handful of attractions. However, Orheilul Monastery, nestled atop of a hill in central Moldova, was worth the trip!

Orheilul

Chisinau!

Ukraine

I LOVE UKRAINE! Taking the gruelling 22 hour overnight train from Chisinau to Kiev was a trip and a half. But, upon arrival in Kiev, Ukraine's capital, I realised I came to the party. Kiev is both Soviet and Sophisticated, Cosmopolitan and Cosmonaut. Moral of the story, it's out of this world; I loved everything: the gold-topped churches gleaming in the distance, the affordability unseen in most EU nations, and the genuine friendliness of Ukrainians. Lviv, the smaller, more Gothic cousin, in the West showed up with stunning squares and castle views! And, hey, I've never felt safer (seriously!).

St. Sophia

Kiev Pechersk Lavra

Motherland Statue - Kiev

Opera House - Lviv

C'est Lviv!

Poland

Krakow, like Lviv, is a stunning city. The old town, surrounded by the stoic city walls, showcases market square with St. Andrew church. Of course, the castle, the cobblestone streets, and the cathedrals dotting the cityscape make it just a tad bit better. An incredible fusion of modern and old! However, my time was certainly an emotional one. I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau camps which are simply overwhelming. Everyone must go to truly understand the magnitude of the Holocaust.

Market Square - Krakow

Birkenau

Auschwitz

Spain

ESPANA!!! How can you not love Spain? The sunsets, the sangrias, the tapas, the sun! What more can you ask for? I fell in love with Barcelona, Park Guell, and La Sagrada Familia! What a place! Madrid didn't disappoint, and, **muchas gracias** to Paula for being my tour guide on her bday! The Royal Palace is stunning; I understand why the Spanish were after so much gold! I will be back soon, Spain!

Barcelona

Park Guell

Paula and I in front of the Palace! - Madrid

Inside the Palace!

Iceland

I literally went from 100 F (37C) to 50F (10C) in a short flight. But ICELAND! Around every corner is a natural wonder! Reykjavik, the capital, is cute town overlooking the bay. But the real action was my tour of the Golden Circle and the South Coast. Several geysers, 2 waterfalls, 1 black sand beach, a natural park, glaciers galore! All in 1 12 hour tour! What a trip!

Reykjavik!

Seljalandsfoss

Skogafoss

A geyser named Skogar

Home

I finally returned to the US! How my sisters have grown! How I missed my family, margaritas, and frozen cookie dough. . .maybe in that order? ;) 3 weeks is never enough, but just enough to get your passport with your Bulgarian work visa after USPS sends it to you in 6 days instead of 1, 2, or 3 days, but I'M NOT BITTER LOL! To summarise, I got my passport con visa 1 day before I left. Yikes!

My crazy (and sleepy) sisters

Sweden

I can never just get to my destination, can I? Taking advantage of the $300 flight from Pittsburgh to Stockholm and then the $17 flight on Wednesday to Bulgaria, I just couldn't pass up another detour. So, here I am, back in Europe, jet lagged, and travel-worn (lol) ready for my next adventure. Today consisted of a visit to an ancient shipwreck, and yet another palace! Stockholm is just picturesque with it's colourful homes, and city-sprawled islands. However, I'm ready for Fulbright round 2. I'm ready for my next adventure. I'm ready for the laughter of my students and new found friends alike. I'm ready to learn just as much as I teach. And, more importantly, I'm ready for bed!!! See you soon, Bulgaria <3 ще се видим скоро

Vasa in the Vasa Museum!

Royal Palace!

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.