Other than my one "adventure splurge" with hiking in Switzerland in September, I reinstated as a PCV after my accident and promisrf myself that I would lower my risk factor... no skiing for me this winter! I intend to make it to April 13th unscathed...

Yesterday we took the kids ice skating after school. The municipality has given us three free one-hour sessions this season on the rink in the town center, and it was a blast! All the kids were asking me why I didn't get on the ice, but the idea of strapping myself into skates that looked an awful lot like ski boots definitely made my stomach turn... so I sat this one out.

When I found out that we'd be going 2 more times before the end of March, I decided that I'll use the time before the next session to get up the courage and at least float around the outer edge of the ice with my fav 8th graders. ;)

The kids in action - they did so good! Considering how excited they were when we rode the elevator in Sofia, I was rather surprised to see how comfortable most of them were on the ice. Although, they are all natives of Samokov - "The capital of the white sports." ;)

They loved it... we tried to get all the kids going on a train, but they quickly lost interest.

Such sweet girls. Gonna miss them!

Organizing a group photo is always a challenge... even more so when they are standing on slippery ice!

I'm starting the process of clearing out a lot of my pack-rat-ish tendencies from my apartment in anticipation of my last couple of months here in Samokov. I've been stockpiling "tastes" of home in my kitchen for days when I really want an easy batch of cupcakes or some overprocessed Mac-and-Cheese as comfort food, and now I'm realizing that I need to put all this deliciousness to good use before its too late!

I also realized that as a Youth Development Volunteer, I've been stockpiling egg cartons, empty yogurt containers, toilet paper rolls, soda bottles, and empty plastic shopping bags for two years. I mean, you never know what kind of creations or game props these things could turn into! We've been bowling with soda bottles, used yogurt cartons for peanut tosses, and toilet rolls have been loving turned into zoo animals and nutcrackers at Christmas, but I still seem to have a ridiculous surplus...

Yup... time to clean out! 

Rest in Peace, Sargent Shriver!!!

"... Be servants of peace ...

Work humbly, persistently and intelligently ...

Weep with those who are sorrowful ...

Care for those who are sick ...

Serve your neighbors ...

Serve your towns ...

Serve the poor ...

That is your challenge."

- Robert Sargent Shriver, first director of the US Peace Corps -

November 9, 1915 - January 18, 2011

For the last 50 years, Peace Corps has placed more than 200,000 volunteers in the field in 139 countries. Volunteers range in age from 18 to 86, representing all 50 states, with diverse backgrounds and motivations. The one thing they all share: The same energy and commitment exemplified by Sargent Shriver when President Kennedy challenged him to bring the Peace Corps from idealistic vision to effective reality.

A brief thought from Crazy Love by Francis Chan

 I urge you to consider and actually live as though each person you come into contact with is Christ.

Calling all PCVs and RPCVs!!!

I thought you might be interested in www.ThirdGoal.org, a new non-profit community project celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps in 2011 by collecting the best stories, photos and videos from the 200,000 volunteers who have served since 1961. Read more about the project here: <http://www.thirdgoal.org/about/>.

They have weekly contests ending every Sunday night at 11:59pm PST, where they give away 3 prizes every week for best Peace Corps story, photo, and video. Right now the prizes are $27 REI Gift Cards in honor of the 27 months of Peace Corps service. :) And my photo actually won the Week 13 photo contest: <http://www.thirdgoal.org/photos/view/merry-christmas>.

Anyway, I thought you might like to get involved! Do you have a favorite Peace Corps story, photo, or video that you'd like to share?

Get connected at <www.facebook.com/thirdgoal> and visit the site at <www.ThirdGoal.org>.

Thanks so much,

Katie

the end in sight...

THREE months from today, I'll officially join the ranks of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers around the world, and will be setting off to start the 2 month European backpacking trip that I've been dreaming/planning/saving for since high school. 

Six months from now, I'll be back home - on American soil. 

Never were there crazier mixed feelings. 

Due to the holidays and then a nasty sinus infection that had me away from the kinders for a couple or weeks, I finally got to go back to hang out with the little ones yesterday. Have I mentioned that they all give the greatest hugs? ;) Well, they do, and after an awesome welcome back from them, a few rounds of "Simon says" and "Father Abraham," I finally taught them the Hokey Pokey. I canNOT believe I hadn't taught this to them already!! It was so fun, and per usual, they had a blast and it was absolutely adorable. The teacher left the room for about 30 minutes, and when we came back we sang and danced for her.

As we were getting ready to go, the teacher (a different one than I normally work with), commented that Ivo's dad is a really great musician, and Ivo is learning to play the accordion. Well... I'm not sure about you, but seeing a 6 year old play as well as he does in this video on a FULL sized instrument is absolutely incredible:

Child prodigy! SO CUTE.

Thought and challenge for the week from my good buddy CS Lewis:

"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.  It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."

The kinders have a new favorite giant... my fav part about when Justin (American athlete with the pro bball team in town) comes to hang out with the littles is that he only speaks English with them, they speak in rapid Bulgarian to him, they seem to communicate beautifully, and no one cares. Its adorably awesome.

I got a "plans for your coming COS" (Close of Service from the PC) email from the medical office here in Bulgaria today.

Weird. 

Tired... but optimistic.

And this is the year I get to go HOME. 

The American one.

8th grade boys...

... hmmmmm. Where do I begin? 

One of absolute best parts of my 9 month "sabbatical" in 2009 was that it conveniently stretched my 2 year Peace Corps service over three consecutive school years. As a Youth Development volunteer, this is an awesome thing... and a gift - to be able to see my cute little 6th graders grow into the confident pre-adults that seem to have morphed into this year as 8th graders. For the most part, the encouraging interactions and fun moments outweigh the heartbreaking and challenging ones, and its been awesome to triumph with these kids and pour my day to day into finding better ways to serve them. Whether or not I feel like I could have done more here is not the topic in question ("Hi, my name is Katie, and I'm a perfectionist...") ;), but overall I feel blessed to have had the last couple of years with these awesome and energetic middle schoolers.

{**Even though I never would have chosen - nor do I plan to in the future - to work with middle schoolers as my primary job. :D **]

A couple of weeks ago, a teacher that I work with from time to time came up to me and started telling me that the entire school now knows me, and where to find me. Even the little kids that I don't interact with on a day to day basis. She exclaims, "the kids love you! They ask about you every day" This made me feel really great, until she follows with, "those 8th grade boys though... now that is a different kind of love."

To this, I just laugh. Because yes, I'm aware.... 

If I've said it before, I'll say it again. Inevitably, something happens to boys during the time between their 7th grade year, and their crazy 8th grade selves. I'm not so sure I truly appreciate the change, and I was hardcore praying that whatever it was would pass over my beloved boys from last year. Maybe I should have painted lamb's blood over their doorways or something, because sure enough... these boys are a bit much to handle this year.

But I love them. Truly. 

Even though I'm constantly rolling my eyes at them or deflecting various inappropriate comments, these little players are often my favorite part of the day. 

Especially when out of the blue, one of them gives me a brief glimpse of the adorably sweet kids I know they can be, like when my homeroom class was supposed to be writing anonymous "luck" wishes for the new year. These little slips of paper (kind of like a fortune cookie fortune) go into a pile, and you draw one, and are wished life and health or something for the new year. Well instead, Krasi wrote one specifically for me, so when drawn by another student, it was immediately put in my hands:

"One new boyfriend for Katie, and that she'll stay in Samokov for all of life."

Not so sure about the boyfriend thing (but hey... I'm just sayin ;)), but the fact that they aren't ready to get rid of me yet is a good sign!!

Gonna miss these kids... so thankful I'll get camp with some of them this summer!

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how, as I get older and my experiences in life resonate more, my definition of "family" continues to redefine itself. Despite the fact that I spent the entire first week of the month in Istanbul, and all last week away from school on winter vacation, December was a very long month. I kept dreading the thought of spending another Christmas away from home, and when I stopped to think about my last Christmas in the US - 4 years ago - I couldn't even remember a single detail. 

The first part of the month just kind of dragged on in this emotional dread of the holidays to come. The plan had always been to spend Christmas Eve with Katya's - my boss - family, and then travel to Sofia the next day to spend the day with some American friends there. It wasn't until I was sitting around the table with Katya, her two kids, Petya's boyfriend, and then a friend of mine that I realized that when you're far away from home, "family" begins to take new and exciting forms. Nothing will take away from traditions with my parents and brother and sister in law, aunts, cousins, uncles, grandmas back home... but I was experiencing a new kind of family that I'm not sure I truly appreciated until that night - over two years after I first got here. I had originally felt guilty about inviting an additional person to Katya's family meal, but when I explained that Justin only got a few days off, and we were both like "kids from the orphanage" without our own families this year, she told me later that she felt honored that we both chose to spend Christmas with her. I felt honored too, to be sitting around a family, communicating in an unbelievably comfortable combination of fluid Bulgarian and English, and laughing like I was with people I'd known for my whole life. 

The next day, Justin and I took the bus to Sofia around lunch, and spent the rest of the day relaxing around the fire, eating, playing games, cuddling with puppies and little kids, eating some more, and partaking in some of the most much-needed fellowship I've ever experienced. It was so refreshing, in fact, that New Years was spent in much of the same fashion - with the Christ-followers God called to serve in Bulgaria. Amazing. 

Family. I'm ready to have the blood-bound, "stuck with each other for life" ;) people back in my life on a daily basis, but wow. I continue to have my mind blown by the new family members that have entered my life in the last 2+ years. I can't wait to be back in my US home in the months to come (THIS year!), but it is going to be so hard (impossible, maybe?) to say goodbye to this home... this family.

Merry Christmas, и весели празници!

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes, did You realize that You would be my Savior?
And the first breath that left Your lips,
Did You know that it would change this world forever?

I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

Merry Christmas from Coca-Cola... and Bulgaria!!!

There may not be any of the Coke polar bears that I love so dearly in this year's Coca-Cola Christmas commercial, but it was filmed here in my beloved Bulgaria!

The entire cast is Bulgarian - even Santa! - and it's set to Train's new song, "Shake Up Christmas."

Very cool! Enjoy.

Christmas program with the kinders! #3

Seriously... how could you not love these kids??? If I've said it once, I'll say it again, these little ones keep me going. I'm going to miss their high fives and hugs after these last few months.


The woman on the left is the teacher I am partnered with, and then the other two women also work with my class on the days Iskra is off.

This might be mildly inappropriate, but I still laugh when I think about this photo... Yanitsa and this little boy - the grandson of one of the teachers - became fast friends today... we all caught them snuggling up to one another when Iskra yells, "Look! That's full integration!" They are adorable together...

There was a man there this morning to take "professional" photos and make a video of the kids program. I seized the opportunity to ask him to take a photo with me and all the kids with my camera... since I am never in any of the photos I take (no one knows how to use my camera!)... as has been pointed out to me on multiple occassions! (yes, I realize that of the 1100 photos I took at camp this summer, I was in 2 of them... shameful).

I like it. :)

Christmas program with the kinders! #2

Dqdo Koleda/Santa arrives!


Dance of the snezhinki


Malkite (the little ones) watching on... and in one case, totally cheesing for the camera. ;)

The kids singing one last song with our purple haired accordian player...

Christmas program with the kinders!

I had an absolute blast this morning with the kinders at their Christmas program! They've been practicing their repetitions, songs, and dances for the last few weeks, so it was nice to be able to see it all come together today. Not to mention seeing the look on their faces when "Grandfather Christmas" arrived... and the fact that I literally got bowled over by 20 of the cutest munchkins MULTIPLE times when they all charged at me for hugs didn't hurt either.

Our little "snezhinki" (basically snowflake princesses) - too cute


Such studs.


Showing off the character masks I made them for their little play/program


Going to see Santa!!

American friends from Sofia - Ellee and Jeremi - teaching the kids how to make balloon animals and swords.

I still love how everything we introduce to the kids over here is so new and exciting and novel! There is no way balloon animals, musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey, or "duck duck goose" with the average American teen would fly in an after school program like this, but these kids love all the new games and activities! Makes my job a little bit more fun, and a lot less stressful as I can easily pull from the vault of ideas that is my brain.

I absolutely cannot stand how adorable these kids are... kidnapping is still, and probably always will be, illegal, right??????