like strawberry wine

So today was a fun day!

As some of you may know, I was having a little trouble with one of my fellow volunteers in my small group. I am happy to report that I am a master problem solver, and was able to work it out. Of course, this person will probably still drive me crazy... but at least we have an understanding now. Honestly, it was nice to be honest and put everything out there. Hopefully things will remain kosher for the rest of the training period.

Speaking of training, today we recieved "site descriptions." Basically, we recieved descriptions of the 20 permanent sites that will have volunteers in them after training. It was very exciting!! I was interested in 13 of the 20 sites and VERY interested in three of those thirteen. It is so hard to decide, because there is so much to consider! For instance: the size of the town, the extracurriculars, the school size, the grades you will be teaching, etc. etc. Every school is so different and so interesting sounding! I have placement interviews next week and then Monday, May 12 I will find out where my permanent site will be!!!!

Also, today our small group made some traditional Bulgarian meals at our language trainer's house. It was actually quite delicious, and I am still uncomfortably full 3 hours later!! One of our trainer's neighbors stopped by afterwards. He insisted on serving us his homemade wine. I have never tried homemade wine before, so I can't generalize, but this particular wine was amazing! It was red and I normally prefer white, but this stuff was great!! Even though I could barely understand him (the neighbor), it was great to just sit on the porch, have a glass of wine and relax! Our trainer helped translate a little, but he mainly tried to have us listen and respond as much as possible on our own.

I am slowly but surely understanding more and more. It will also be interesting to see where my permanent site is, because the majority of the sites are Turkish and Roma neighborhoods. If I am in a Turkish neighborhood, I will have to learn Turkish as well as Bulgarian. The languages are totally different! I am up for the challenge though. (I mean, I would hope I am, otherwise why am I here?)

All for now, my family has gone to bed and I am going to watch my OC dvds (care of Lindsey). :)