my weekend part 2

brad can you believe i lost this too?!?!  second time's the charm!  on saturday we had breakfast and then one of our students came over and we went to her house, her aunt and uncle came over, and then went back to my collegues house when we were done visiting.   we had lunch and studied more english.  we took a "pochievka"(break) and then went walking and na ghosti again that afternoon.  i will repeat again: everywhere i went i was fed and fed some more!  on sunday we had breakfast and then my collegue said we were going to go outside and work with the flowers a little but i was just going to watch.   one thing i have learned since coming here is that the B women work very hard.  now i'm not saying the men don't I'm just saying i noticed how hard women work since i'm a woman.  everytime i tried to do even the littlest thing i was told no and i didn't have gloves on.  i told my collegue i work like this all the time at my house in the states and that didn't seem to matter; if you're a guest you don't help.  so here i am standing (i felt very funny!) watching 2 women slave away, one of which was the age of my mom-in her mid 60s probably, in the garden and all i can do is watch!  i'd feel uncomfortable doing that in the states let alone here!  anyway they finished after a little, we had lunch, and then went na ghosti again.  most places i go i run into someone who can at least say a few words in english and they are eager to share their knowledge with me and i am more than happy to ablidge them!  most places i go i also run into people who want to teach me bulgarian or turkish and i am to teach them english.  i would so love to help everyone with english but it's impossible!  but i can try and that's why i'm here...that and for youth development!  when we got home it was time for me to catch the microbus back here with the students.  i have to say it was very enlightening going to one of my students homes.  in the states they would be below poverty level.  but they make do and it's life for them.   they drop what they are doing when someone comes to visit and welcome them with coffee and food, and spend hours, sometimes, talking.  dropping in on someone is not done in the states or at least very much.  we're scheduled to a T and plan things to the n'th degree.  it's kinda refreshing just "dropping in."  i'm going to quit and get this published before i lose it again.  how did the Pacers start their season???  love to all!

familiar faces!

 i must apologize for not blogging the past couple days and for the next couple.  i've been busy trying to bring a little bit of Halloween to B.  i found some ghost stories online that, believe it or not, i think i remember from when i was younger.  the 28th, yes it's the night after i get back so it will be a busy day, i've recruited the teachers that live here to help me and we're having a party in the stol, where the students eat their meals,  after supper.  i'm going to read the stories in, of course, a spooky and scary voice and at just the right moments the other teachers are going to make noises and scare the students.  the teachers helped me cut out some ghosts and bats and pumpkins and other halloween things and i had them with me tonight at dinner,planning on starting to decorate the stol.  some of the students who were still eating asked me about them and if they could help.  they did everything!  that was really cool how they wanted to help.   all this o say i've been busy trying to prepare for halloween that i haven't even packed to leave tomorrow morning to leave to see my parents and to see my B family.  i plan on being back here the 27th in the afternoon/early evening if all goes as planned.  so i will catch you all in about a week!  thoughts and prayers are with my family at this time.  love to all!  

my weekend

well i can tell you i had way too much to eat this past weedend!  everywhere i went, with my collegue, i was fed.  on fri afternoon i took the minibus with the students who lived in the same villege.  it was about a half an hour ride.  i got there and dropped my stuff in the room where i was to sleep, we rested for awhile, and then went and took a tour of the village.  we went to the mayor's office and everything.  of course while at the mayor's office we had coffee and talked for awhile.  then we headed back to the house and got ready for dinner.  lots of women here sew, including my collegue, and she showed me her "goblins" (framed finished needlepoint or crosstitch pictures) and they were all really beautiful.  she also showed me an outfit she made for a turkish wedding that was also beautiful and very intricately stitched.  we talked a little and studied english a little and then it was time for bed.  saturday morning one of our students came over and visited with us a little and then took us back to her house to visit.  her aunt and uncle came over and we had a housefull.  her uncle spoke english and so i spoke with him, but also used my B.   since i only speak english with the studnts many of them, ok most of them, don't know i speak B too or at least very well.(I'm not saying i speak very well but i can say more than hello and i'm good in B) so speaking in front of one of the students was kinda interesting for me!  on course more food and when we left we went home only to have more guests come over.  everytime i tried to lift a finger i was told no and that i was a "ghostinka.  Sejada!"  i know i'm spelling that wrong but basically i was a guest and to sit.  i finally broke into helping when i washed my glass and silverware after dinner.  everywhere i went the people i met wanted to teach me B, or turkish, and i was going to teach them english.  I've got my work cut out for me!!  sorry but i'm going to sign off here,  dinner's here and MY WASHER IS HOOKED UP!!!!  not sure if i trust myself enough to use it yet tonight.  maybe i'll wait till tom.  will wrie more about this past weekend later!  love to all!

the people behind the scenes

so before i tell you all about my weekend in another village i have to tell you about my morning.  i recieved a phone call letting me know there was something for me at the post office on fri but couldn't do anything about it because i wasn't in town.  so today i arrived at school only to be told by nargis that i had a package waiting for me at the post office.  thinking they might want to have it gone i headed over to the post office to get my package, i didn't know from whom.  imagine my surprise when i saw the big box sitting there for me!!  everytime i get a package i want to share a few things so i took it to school and opened it there.  i couldn't believe what i saw!!  yes, several smiles and big time grins crossed my face!!  i can't thank my aunts enough for this!!  however what i want to share is this.  yes i'm here in B and this has been a dream of mine and, ok, maybe i'm doing what other people think of doing but don't.  HOWEVER!!!  for everyone who does something a little hard or different or what have you there are tons more people behind the scenes who really make it happen!!  i was an instructional assistant for special education at an elementary school for 7 yrs and i know how hard i worked.  i'm not saying this right i know.without the example of service set by my grandparents who spent 2 years in africa with heifer project i wouldn't be here.  without all the encouragement and support of and from my family i wouldn't be here.  without people who believe all countries and peoples need to work together i wouldn't be here.  without people praying for me on a daily basis, yes i feel it, i wouldn't be here.  without friends who support what i'm doing i wouldn't be here.  and how can i forget without B being open to me i wouldn't be here.  what i'm trying to say is, ok maybe i do rock if you must call it that...but...YOU ROCK MORE!!!  the people behind the scenes really do the work.  without all you i couldn't focus on my job here.  you are the ones who make me happy.  when i'm happy i'm more focused on what i need to do.  so, from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU FAMILY, steffens and millers that i know of.  like my earlier blog, the word thank you just doesn't come close to expressing my feelings!!!  a big hug to all!!!  i love you all so very much and i'm only carrying out the tradition of service in our family!!  and happy birthday a day late mom!  love to all!

it's the small things

just this morning i had the idea for this blog.  every day i deal with this difference but just now thought to write about it.  over here the temperature is given in *C instead of *F.  so yes, while 5*C is cold it's not as cold as one might think.  there are more correct ways to compute *C to *F, including on my phone-"there's an app for that"-but a quick, give or take 2 or 3 * is multiply by 2 and add 30.  so 5*C is around 40*F, and yes the other morning when i woke up and was watching the news Pyce, which is about 45 minutes NW was 5*C at about 7:15/7:30.  sure enough!  i just checked on my phone and 5*C is 41*F.  that took some getting used to!  one on the guys in my pst group got me a termometer for my birthday and it has *C and *F and that sure has been helpful!  another thing, in addition to the temperature being different, is distance isn't in miles, it's in kilometers.  over here it's all liters and grams, not cups or teasoons.  before i left the states my cousin printed out and had laminated a conversion chart for cooking.  now i really don't cook that much but have to say i've used it several times already and converting all the quantities when making choc chip cookies took longer than the actual baking process.  i never was very good at math!  now to my day.  tom afternoon i'm leaving for the weekend to go ha ghosti to one of my collegues villages.  that will be fun and i have to say it will be a real test for my B language!  and it could be that my collegue is the only person who speaks and B at all.  we'll see and i am looking forward to it although will have to work on a few things for next week.  halloween is coming and both the kdgn and english school want me to do something and i need to plan!  but i'm going to another place in B and that will be nice and a new experience for me!  that being said i'm not sure if i'll get to blog tom or not.  if not have a great weekend everyone and i'll talk to you on mon!  oh yeah!  this is the day, oct 14th, 50 yrs ago when JFK stood on the steps of the MSU campus and challenged the students to serve their country by going abroad  and the idea of the Peace Corps was planted.  next yr, 2011, is the big 50 yr anniv celebration and also 20 yrs in B!  what a time to be in the corps!  and in B too!  love to all!

some random thoughts

ok first of all SOPHIE QUIT LAUGHING!!  so i went to see the police man in G this am, don't worry-nothing's wrong, and was quite pleased when he told me that i speak faster than i used to.  that's always nice to hear!and if i might brag for just a bit i will add that i didn't have my dictionary OR nargis, counterpart and translater, with me and got along fine.  yest was my groups 5 month mark in Bulgaria.  today, this is going to  random so either put up with it or close the blog, my B. teacher told me she was going to give me 3 books in B. to read, and retell back to her, before my stint in G is over.  pretty heavy stuff but i told her to "bring it on" and when i said that everyone that was in the "teacher's lounge" looked at me like "what in the heck is she saying?"  of course i may get one page read a day...if even that!   i told her i was going to give her 3 english books to read but i don't quite think that would be fair since i have had 5 months of B and she doesn't know english very well, but she continues to surprise me.  tomorrow a rep from the yd program will come to G and check on how i'm doing (which means to clean my apt! it's not bad at all mom!).  i've also been put in charge, american person for an american holiday, of planning something for halloween.  i've got some great plans!  now they just have to work which may be the problem!  now, to be even more random, i got a letter from my aunt and thought i'd address some of her questions.  i'm doing well although right now my foot hurts and i'm thinking the 15k i was going to do with another volunteer next oct isn't going to happen.  more than you wanted to know i realize.  i'm still at the english school 2 days a week and helping with an english class for 5-7 yr. olds at the kindergarten 2 days a week.  the adult english class i'm going to have hasn't started yet b/c i can't find a place to have it and, as of the information  i got this morning-no one knows, is on hold for awhile.  this is all the better for me b/c i can plan lessons and be more prepared!   i have to say the only time i have physically spent with other volunteers is for the mandatory meetings the corps has.  weekends would be my chance to travel but weekends are my chance to catch up on the next week as well as do necessary things around my apartment.  and i have to say i really don't feel the need to leave, i like it here!  as far as integration goes, i feel pretty integrated.  i say hi, in either B or Turkish-if an older person, to everyone on the streets and they always answer.  of course integration has more to do with being visable but i have to say i think i've done a pretty good job of this so far.   the people i workwith are all ages but the english school is from 8th-12th grade.  alcohol???  it's a problem but it's also a way of life.  for instance, there are drunk guys every night in the center, which is close to my apartment.  i know they're drunk, or at least i assume and i don't think i'm wrong but i could be, because i can hear the smashing of the beer bottles.  over here that's kinda what people do.  you go to a kafe with friends and drink and smoke.  so when i'm asked if it's a problem of course i think it's a problem because i don't drink to excess but it's tolerated.  in the states we have a big problem with drinking a driving.  over here few have cars and if they do don't drive more than a mile, if that, after they've had a drink.  in G you're not stopped by the police for drunk driving.  if there's violence that occurs when someone is drunk i haven't heard about it.  it's just different.  compared to the states with the violence, theft, and other things that are associated with alcohol i would have to say it's not a problem.  however.......like i said before, it's just different.  Love to all!

being gratefuli

today is all about being grateful for what i(we) have.  i haven't been the best at that here recently.  now mind you i haven't been the worst and most people would think nothing of it but since i'm who i am i think i need to stop and think about all the things i HAVE.  i have my belief in God and that's all i need i believe.  i am grateful for the opportunity to travel to another country, not on my dime i might add, and experience another way of life, help others (which is what i love to do), all while traveling different places in the world!  that's pretty lucky if you ask me!  i have a wonderful family who sends me things and friends who back me up in this venture.  included in with the family are the children in my family who are decorating my wall so i have pretty pictures to look at, and also to remind me to be a kid too!  i havea place to live over here and am surrounded with very nice people who look out for me, help me in any way they can(include give me food), and teach me about Bulgaria, including the language!  i have a job for which i am grateful.  now granted it's not a job per say in the fact that there is no paycheck but i'm taken care of.  this totally sounds cheesy and if i could think of another way to say it i would but i get paid with other things.  i was in the kindergarten today and we were working with forming the letters on the floor.  the kids would lay down and i would move their bodies to the shape of a letter.  when the kids chuckled, i had to make sound effects you know while moving them, or the fact that THEY noticed i left my notebook behind in their class and gave it to the teacher to give to me, or when they all raise their hands to help me and wanted to make the letters,THAT'S my payment.  yes it's corny and cheesy but that's what i do.  i am grateful for a netbook with skype so i can talk and see my family every weekend and keep in touch with emails.  i don't have to worry about from where my next meal is coming like some people here.  i am grateful to be given the chance to represent My Country to people around the world.  i am grateful to all of you who want to learn about different lifestyles and give me the opportunity to share my knowledge of B.  there are tons more things i could type but i think probably most of all, after God, i am humbled and very grateful to all of you who pray for me daily, send loving thoughts my way, and support what i'm doing.  i've said it before and i'll say it again.  if every one of you weren't behind me and supportive of my decision to move to B for 2.5 yrs it would be so much harder for me to be here!!  the moral of the blog is count your many blessings and be grateful for what you have!  you never know when you could be like the person i saw eating from a dumpster this morning!  love to all!

a "weighty" issue

ok sophie!  this one's for you!  i asked for more information about why everyone is so eager to weigh themselves and put other people on their scales.  everyone having a bathroom scale in their house is relatively new and still there are people who don't have one.  a while ago in bigger cities people would sit in the middle of the street with a scale and charge a small amt of money if you wanted to use the scale.   so, when people come across a scale no matter where it is, as long as it's free they'll use it.  that's it and nothing more.  i have one b/c with the way everyone feeds me over here i can't imagine i won't gain weight and feel like i need to have some control over that.  it's really the same with age.  people over here ask ow old a person is and they don't think twice.  in the states it's considered rude to ask someone their age.  i should clarify that.  it's considered rude to ask women, especially older women, how old they are.  i don't mind giving out my age b/c i figure i've earned every single one of these grey hairs on this 39 yr old head and quite frankly have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of!  now i don't need all my friends and family to comment back and remind me of the little "mistakes" i've made along the way; i'm quite aware!  anyway i do have to say i was taken aback a little when i first got asked that question over here; i'm really not used to being asked how old i am.  now that that's taken care of i can tell you all about the wonderful"gypsy" summer we're having right now!!  the only thing i could think of after school was going for a run which is kinda odd b/c i really don't run.  but i'm trying to however!  if i'm going to make 15k i better start.  L if you're reading this you're incrediably strong and have so many loved ones with you on this!  you're in my thoughts and prayers!  love to all!

hands

i found out last night that the right hand is considered rude.  i took dinner from the stol over to nargis' house.  i asked her where her other ring was that she used to wear and she told me she wears the one she had on more as a wedding ring.  then i noticed it was on her right hand.  now i've never been married but i know married women in the states wear their wedding ring on their left hand.  this kinda confused me so i started asking more questions.  there is an engagement ring too but it goes on your left hand not with your wedding ring like we do in the states.  she told me to hold out my hands and she told me "see.  your left hand is smoother  then the right" b/c we do all our work with our right hand.  (sorry lefties we were talking about the right hand; not trying to shut you out)  then she told me the right hand is considered rude but the right hand is also the stronger and more flexible of the 2.   now if you happen 2 be a leftie like my mom i'm not so sure if this is still true.  i'll get more info about this.   she was watching the turkish program she likes and right then it was about a woman who was going to get married but was walking alone one night and came upon some men.  these men were not very nice and b/c of that the man she was going to marry didn't want to get married anymore b/c, well i think you know where i'm going with this.  in the Muslim, and generally speaking here-not ALL Muslims, society every man must marry a lady who has not been with another man.   i think on some level i knew this but never heard it to be true, at least not a Muslim woman.  this is something that's different  from the states too. i 'll just leave it at that and if anyone wants  me to ellaborate i will.  i think we skipped fall and jumped right to winter b/c it's cold outside but nothing i haven't experienced before!  however i hear we're in for a "gypsy" summer next week which means a slight warm-up.  have a great weekend and i'll catch you all next week!  love to all!

nonsense words

you can't believe how hard it is to talk w/o all those little nonsense words we always use!  now that i think about it they are more like self talk than nonsense.  (those of you who know me know i do a lot of self talk!  sometimes i even answer myself.  sophie, i hear you laughing) they do serve a purpose amazingly.  they're kinda like a bridge btwn thoughts.  it's like they enable us to continue thinking while taking a break.  i'm talking about the "man i had it" or "where is it!" when looking for something or "i know i know that."  things like that.  the other day during my tutoring lesson when i got frustrated at myself it was b/c i don't think in B.  when my tutor said i needed to start trying to think in B i tried...and do you know i couldn't finish a thought w/o uttering some of those phrases!  when i was in maybe 7th gr my stepdad was helping em practice a speech or something along those lines.  my choice nonsense word then was "well."  ron challenged me to say 1 sentence w/o saying that and do you know it was almost impossible?  i couldn't do it! it's kinda like a crutch when you think about it.  all those little "oh man"'s or "where is it...i can't find it"  are like little crutches that we depend on and we don't even realize it!  now of course i realize it b/c it has been brought to my attention.  so i've started replacing oh man” with “o boshe” and i think “a me” is kinda like “well, let me see.”  it’s harder than one might think, getting rid of those little crutches!  when i’m looking for something and can’t find it i try and remember to say “kude (where)” instead of the actual “where is it”  it’s kind of an interesting relavation when you figure it out.  so i challenge each one of you to become more aware of the words you use.  try and make it through a day, an hour, a sentence without using meaningless words.   and L. (D too) my thoughts and prayers are with you!!

birthdays

i can't remember if i have written about this or not so will share again.  in B it's custom to give chocolate on your birthday and very rude if you don't take the chocolate offered to you.  this i may have mentioned but did i mention its customary for the bday person to buy dinner??  yes that's right, the bday girl/boy buys the dinner if you happen to go out to eat to celebrate your bday.  in addition to birthdays, which are kind of a recent celebration for B, there are also name days.  name days are days of certain saints and if your name is the same as the various saints then you get to celebrate on that day too.  name days are a little bit more popular than bdays.  o if you happen to have a bday and invite all your friends out to dinner you better be prepared to pick up the tab!  as you can imagine this could pose quite a sticky predicament for an unknowing birthday person!  now on to some revalations ive had without even thinking twice or stopping to think about what was happening.  just this afternoon i realized i can hold a conversation with people AND THEY CAN UNDERSTAND ME!!  excuse me while i take a moment to celebrate.  YEA FOR ME!!  anyway i realized today, it just kinda hit me and i'm not sure why now, that people for the most part, maybe even more than that but i'm not holding my breath, know and understand what i'm saying!  now i still run into those turkish speakers who have no idea, and vise versa, what i'm saying but for the most part i can hold a conversation and be understood.  i guess i'm mainly talking about the people i deal with on a daily basis and talk to regularly.  for example just this afternoon i had 2 meetings, well one was a phone conversation, by myself and was understood by them and also i understood.  ivan, with the corps and one of the yd trainers, is coming for a visit and so i told the principal of the eng school.  i then realized that i work for the kindergarten and mayor too and maybe shoul let hem know as well about the visit.  i had a meeting with the principal of the kindergarten, by myself i might add, AND called the mayor to let them both know.  y bulg-eng dictionary is still with me the majority of the time but i'm relying on it less and less.   just this afternoon after work i was having a conversation, that alone i think is incrediable, with some teachers in the eng school and they were asking about the corps, the process, and other things like that and i think i got my point across.  if i didn't and you are reading this Tadzhenur, don't tell me they didn't understand; just let me have this one  woke up this am with what i thought was pink eye.   emailed the pc dr and asked about what to do.  thru the course of the day it got better and now i think i'm suffering from a very bad mosquito bits!   don't know where they come from but they find their way into my house and those kinds of ghostis i don't like!  love to all!

day of volunteering

i knew they would love it!  at least the young women had fun.  i can't say what the young men did and i'm going to have to ask the principal of the kindergarten if they need to come with me on thurs.  the y.w. with me jumped right in and i fell in the background, which is actually what is supposed to happen for sustainable development, i just didn't realize it would happen with the classes!  it actually came in very handy b/c they know B better than i do and could translate for me.  i think we even stayed a little longer than we were scheduled to but hey, as long as it is working!  one of the teachers went with me to take pictures and i think she had a nice time too and it also helped for translation too.  i have to say tho it was kinda tiring afterwards.  i offered to take those who wanted to out for kafe for a t-you and one of the y.w. and the teacher who came to take pics came with me.  one spoke B and i speak english with the student and it was hard going back and forth!  i usually try to speak B if one person knows only B but there were times when i was just talking to the student, can you believe i don't know all their names and i spent 1.5 hrs with them, and i had to switch back to my native tongue.  not gonna lie it was kinda hard.  well maybe i planted a seed but either way it was kinda interesting having someone volunteer, help, me since i'm used to being the volunteer!  there's a lot more i have to and want to do but all i need is time!  i almost forgot!  today while having tutoring my tutor told me my language was at 5th gr level.  i'm 39 yrs old and in the 5th grade!  anyway...tonight i have to think about how to tell the story of pinnochio in B!  Today i listened to a fairytale in Bulgarian and for homework i have to think of one in english to translate into B.  why is it that when she said that the only story that jumped into my head was that one!  and i really don't know it that well.  i'll have to sleep on it!  i'm going to help the y.w. in the hostel tonight after dinner which i'm kinda looking forward to.  that's all for today.  it's raining outside right now and is only going to get colder!  do utre!  all my love!

REGGIE

just had to let everyone know!  i just went to a magazine here to talk to someone and while looking around i found a notebook WITH A LITTLE PICTURE OF REGGIE (miller for those of you who don't follow) ON THE BOTTOM!!!  of course i bought it right away.  what can i say??  reggie is reggie.

babies #2

clarification time.   i asked about the baby gifts thing and found out that indeed the parents to be don't go w/o pre-baby but only the family gives gifts before the birth and then after that's when shower the family with gifts!  now today's blog entry.  tomorrow is the day for volunteering and also my day at the kindergarten.  i had an idea that maybe some of the students from the english school could help out at the kindergarten.  i asked the director of the kindergarten and also the principal of the eng school and now have 5 students at my disposal to help tom!  i kinda thought they'd get into helping little kids and when N and i told 1 of the girls her face just lit up and she was so happy!  when i asked the director of the kindergarten earlier in the day, by myself i might add with notes, she told me it was a good idea.  in the states we do that kinda thing all the time, big helping little, 1st gr students reading books to young children to practice their reading, things like that.  maybe tom will lead somewhere for one of the 5!  also, 3 boys are going to see if they can help put a shelf together or build a door or something.   think if the students really like helping out this could become a partnership btwn the 2 institutions!  i'm pretty excited about it and glad i get the opportunity to "use" some students!  it turned chilly over the weekend and i might actually have to use a blanket tonight in addition to a sheet!  i got some pictures of my nieces today and that was a very welcomed surprise!  thanks mom!   love to all and happy birthday krista!  

babies

now i don't have lots of info on this subject but apparently in B when someone has a baby you don't get them presents or give them things before the baby's born.  one of the teachers at the english school is pregnant and today was her last day with us.  i stopped off at a magazine before i went to school and got a few things, not much but a small stuffed heart, baby powder, and a spoon and fork set.  after i gave it to her one of the teachers pointed out that in b it's not customary to give gifts before the birth.  this is something different b/c i can't say how many baby showere i've been to in my 39 yrs!  i really can't see this either b/c the reason we have showers pre-baby is b/c of all the things needed once the baby arrives and it's not like you can run out and get them!  i'll have to get more info on this; maybe she was just talking clothes.  even then tho the baby's going to need something those first days!   after eating lunch i was going home and left n, she and her family go to her apt in another town, and happened upon some students outside the hostel waiting to go home.  they are so eager to use their english and show me that they can talk in english!!  and i have to say some of the students are better than i thought they would be!  they yelled the common "have a good weekend" or "hello" and then started laughing when i stopped walking home and went over to talk to them.  i do have to say when nargis told me it's tiring translating, going from bulgarian to english and back,  i now understand that she is right!  there are coworkers at the english school who speak english and i speak english with them (i figured they'd want to exercise their english but i guess i could ask them which they prefer) and there are coworkers  who speak bulgarian and i speak b with them, or at least try to.  BUT...with the students i'm here to speak english with them so they can hear the native tongue and to help them learn.  sometimes i forget who i'm speaking to!  like when a student is leaving the stol, cafeteria, and says "cao" to my other collegues sometimes i forget to answer in english!  opa!   then there are people who i run into, like the other day in a magazine, shop, i like, that speak english and it takes awhile for me to switch to english and realize i can speak in english to that person.  or another thing i've run into, and this happens often, is someone has a friend or a relative visiting and wants to speak english with me.  the other day i was at the eng school with my class of 1 student and the door opened and the principal walked in.  the head of the muslims, who finances our school, was here and came to see me; i had missed him on the first day of school b/c i was traveling for the corps.  he motioned for me to follow him and we went into the principals office and then he left and another man came in.  he was from saudia arabia and spoke english and the principal wanted me to speak to him...in english.  you know, when i was in the dominican republic i looked at the American things and saw the dominican people wanting to be like us and got a little mad.  i saw them trying to stifle their culture and replaace it with ours b/c i thought they thought ours was better and i didn't necessarily agree!  it really kinda frustrated me b/c i didn't want them to stifle their culture!  now i have a little different view.     regardless of my thoughts on the subject english is becoming increasingly more popular.  to get anywhere you kinda have a need for english- i'm learning that now.  if you travel to another country and don't speak their language but know english, chances are you'll get by b/c someone will know english.  nargis asked me the other day, it's been awhile ago, if i was proud that everyone else wanted to learn my language.  i told her it depends on why they want to learn it.  if they want to learn english so they can move to an english speaking country and leave their native country b/c they don't like it or think the grass is greener than i'm not proud that you want to learn.  however, if someone wants to learn english b/c the world is gravitating towards english and knowing english will help you make a better life for your family or just like learning new things than yes, that i can get behind.  i just see lots of good and different things in this culture, and in the hispanic culture, and hate(d) the thought of someone wanting to lose that!   this is a long and i have to say pretty confusing entry based on the title.  i'm going to try to get lots done today for next week so i can concentrate on cleaning and other things this wknd!  preatin yekend!