elation!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

*she does a little jig to celebrate*

first day of school down and OH MY GOD it's going to be SUCH a better year. my enthusiasm here may strike some as odd, but after coming out of a hell of a year, HALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEELLLLLLUJAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! i have teachers who help me, teachers who speak to me in english, students who speak enough english i NEVER- no NEVER- have to speak in bulgarian. i am teaching 4th graders this year and they, at least for the first day, are like brainy little squeezable sponges ready to soak up all of my knowledge and craziness. they at least don't look at me like i am nuts when i ask them to do arts and crafts with me.

i cannot convey just how warm and tingly i feel inside- the elation is killing me.

shaun- the students miss you. but, because of you, i get a second chance at this experience in bulgaria and thus, do not know whether it is more appropriate to say thank you or i miss you or the people here adored you and you prepped them well for me.

what a better year it's going to be! i can't wait to share some of the good things with you, dear readers, instead of marking all of the harrowing, god-awful, i will not make it another day in this country days on my calendar and in long, tedious and dreary blogposts. maybe this year, i'll have oodles of GOOD things to remember. i'm sure on the lookout for them.

here's to a second experience!