sept 22

Sept 22nd was the Bulgarian Independence Day.  B got their indep from the ottoman rule in 1908.  now i must confess to not knowing lots about B history, besides some names, even though we had speakers and were given tons of information during pst.  the principal of our school asked nargis and i to plan something; he said go on a picnic but i kinda was thinking of something else.  i'm not really sure how right she is but n told me the students really don't have that much of an idea why they didn't have school, why they celebrate.  im not the most patriotic person around and not the best when it comes to my own country's history but i can tell you why i celebrate July 4th!  regardless of your personal thoughts about war and all that comes with that i think we all need to be grateful for those who came before us that gave us our freedom.  to not understand that i think is a travesty!  we came up with some great ideas i think and then didn't get the chance to do anything and to tell the truth i was kinda glad!  just like in the states, for holidays, the teachers were off and i didn't want to have them have to come on their day off.  and if some of them did, what about the teachers who commute?  and i really didn't want to do the program with 50 kids by myself!   i could've gotten help from some pc friends if i would've known a little more ahead of time.  something i've noticed that kinda goes along with this subject is the number of people who want to leave b. kinda like in indiana when all the graduates were leaving for better jobs.  lots of people i have talked to say there's no money here and they want to go somewhere else.  lots of the hs graduates go to universities in other, bigger, towns.  whereas i understand wanting a better life for your familywhat i don't hear a lot of is pride in this town.  i sound like my step-dad but everything is relative.  there's never going to be more money here until people are here and build it up but people can't stay b/c of trying to make a better life for their families.  now granted i've been in b for 5 months and in this town for 2 and have the pc behind me, but instead of hearing "it's too small and there's nothing to do and no money" i'd kinda like to hear "the people are super friendly and welcoming and all our friends are there and that's our home!  the more i think about it the more i tell myself that's part of our job and some of the reason we are here, to help the pessimistic attitude.  now a little about b.  the colors of the flag are white, green, and red and the colors go horizontally and in that order.  the white stands for peace, the green for environmental concerns and issues, and the red is for blood.   i do have to say they have the right idea with the environment!  the motivation is here, for the most part, we just need to use that motivation to help our planet!  those are my deep words for this rainy, gloomy day.