I’ve been home a week and am relishing the cool-down period after my vacation. Overall I had a great time, though there were moments when I wanted it to end. The best part was teaching at the debate camp near Chisinau.
Now, I have a lot of free time on my hands. I have set before myself three main tasks. First, I need to apply for grant money to pay for the second part of this year, when I want to go to Chisinau and do some in-theatre research. Next, I want to start my job search. True, I don’t need a job until next summer, but it can’t hurt to get my name out there. Though I’m sure that “getting my name out” means filling up a whole bunch of trashcans - digital and virtual. Lastly, I would like to write up some of the stories from my recent trip to Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova.
I have no excuse not to do these things, and we’ll see if I have the willpower to defeat my laziness.
I leave tonight at 1am on a bus to Sofia. I’ll spend all day tomorrow watching movies in English! I plan on seeing “Mr. and Mrs. Smith, ” “Batman Begins,” and “Sideways.”
Perhaps you’re saying to yourself, “Owen, shouldn’t you be wandering around the wonderful city center, seeing the cultural sights?” I spent a couple of hours there when I arrived a month ago, and it is beautiful. In fact, I do quite like Sofia. But I’ve seen a lot of cities in my life, and I can’t watch movies in English in St. Petersburg. So the choice is clear.
You can read about my one day adventure on the Bulgarian coast over at Alaskan Bulgarian.
I just got back today from the camp. It was an awesome experience. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to go swimming in the river, everyone assured me it was too dirty. Though there were plenty of Moldovans having fun in the water. When I pointed this out, the response was either “our immune systems are used to it,” or “ha-ha, we’re stronger than you!” There actually might be some truth to this argument seeing as how I fell ill immediately after eating a Moldovan national dish called “goluptsy,” or some such name. Everyone else was fine. I, however, was in pain almost immediately, and ending the evening throwing up for the first time in a decade. Moral of the story, don’t try ethnic foods.
At the camp, I met some really intelligent, promising kids. The older students mostly spoke English, but the younger ones were scared, and we usually conversed in Russian. I’m rather pleased with my progress in the language. My Russian is still far from fluent, but I can tell some real progress. I can express most of what I want, even if I end up sounding like a caveman.
I’m getting tired of traveling, and I want to start on my way home. I still have to head through Romania and Bulgaria, but I’ll get to go to the beach and finally swim for the first time in almost a year! I still haven’t quite decided when I go back to St. Petersburg, but I’m leaning towards the 17th of July and not the 24th. That would leave me with less than 2 weeks. This camp was the half-way point, and it went by quickly.
