There Are Some Born To Shine Who Can't Do It Alone-So Protect Them And Take Special Care

Hello everyone!

I am here and finally settled in. It was a crazy trip getting here as the airline I was flying didn’t tell me they contracted out my flight to an airline that was on the opposite side of the airport. Thankfully I was able to see Michael before I left in the airport and got on a shuttle with my mom and sister to dash to my flight.

Dashing!

The flight was fun, met nice people, made friends. But I became very sick and barely made it through the airport in France to my next flight. But perseverance is my best friend and I was able to keep pushing through to get to my gate. I spent that flight from Paris to Sophia basically unconscious as I kept throwing up and the flight attendant personally kept feeding my lemon slices and putting ice on my ears. Again I didn’t think I could keep going, but I got off the flight and got it together. Got on a bus and made it to the resort I am staying at for my language training!

The past few days have been hectic, I take 3 hours of Bulgarian language and 3 hours of ETA training everyday. Already I can translate the alphabet, conjugate some verbs, formulate sentences, read a paragraph, discuss nationalities, learned the gender identifiers, and apparently according to my professor I have “excelled very quickly and she is pleased.” So, a lot of learning packed into 2 days!!

Today the group of Fulbright ETA’s all went swimming together which was amazing because I can’t have my arm in the water until a week after my tattoo, and everyone joined in on making sure I didn’t slip up and taking pictures. We then all hit the sauna together. There were these amazing saunas between the Russian one, which was super dark and intense but very hot and relaxing. Between that and the Finnish and steam saunas it was heaven. I ended up relaxing in the herbal sauna and meditating! I came to Bulgaria to change the world here as much as possible but I get two weeks of intense learning as well as sweet relaxation before I begin!

Meeting all the Fulbrighter’s here has been a great experience. We are all academics who want to impact even a small portion of the world so these people have been a true joy to encounter. Every morning we have enthusiastic discussions about sociology or other disciplines and even while sitting in the sun we discuss the impacts of genocide. We just enjoy each others company and we keep each other motivated when jet lag sets in. I just can’t believe I am lucky enough to have this experience and get to interact with these fantastic and passionate people. I can’t even describe how nice it is to be around “kindred spirits” as Sarah (another amazing ETA) puts it.

I just remember being in undergrad and knowing such negative people that had hopes and dreams of their own but would stomp on mine, and when I would say I was going to make a difference they would tell me that no one was ever going to listen to me. Well a hell of a lot of people had to listen to me when I graduated because I was the commencement speaker and I was a force to be reckoned with.  And now I will be changing this tiny part of the world before moving to keep spreading positive change, equality, and hope. I’m not letting negative people get to me, I refuse to let someone else write the ending to my story!

 

totally me!

It has been tough adjusting. I left my mother during the most difficult time of her life. We were evicted from our home before I left, had serious trauma and we are still recovering. To leave her now was very hard, and it has been hard coping with everything that happened before my departure. But I just keep thinking about the Lord of the Rings: I made a promise Mr. Frodo, a promise- ‘Don’t you leave him Samwise Gamgi’ and I don’t mean to.”

Well I made a promise to take this journey head on no matter what trauma, no matter the pain or heart ache, and no matter how much I miss my kitten! I made a promise to myself and to my future students that I would take this journey to change lives and I can’t let trauma stop me. I was lucky to have my friends and my amazing Godfather George there to constantly check in and tell me just get to Bulgaria, just GET THERE. I miss them all, especially my godfather who is just my inspiration for who I am as a person most of the time and my sarcastic personality-he just gets me and even when he doesn't agree with my decisions he supports me. That's a true loving family member, I am hoping to connect with him while abroad, and I think that would just make this trip truly the trip of my life.

Fawlty Towers is the show the encompasses our humor!

So dear readers, after a long trip and horrible jet lag I am now sitting here making plans for after FISI (Fulbright International Summer Institute) to travel through Croatia down to Macedonia and back to Bulgaria. It’s a night of planning with Alex K, Aviva, Sarah, Katie, and guest appearances from all ETA’s eager to see the world and make an impact. Can’t wait to keep you posted!!!

Anna

Tonight's song is from SMASH called "Don't Forget Me" it is about Marilyn Monroe and how she was a special person who just needed more care and concern instead of being bought. I love this song because I feel like there are so many people out there like me that need a bit of extra care to help them excel...so if you see someone who is hurt, and if you know me at all-remember me when they need help. I wouldn't have made it to Bulgaria without a lot of help and care and concern-thus my last post!