Looking for a good book?

Then check out my 10th graders' new blog!
http://acsreads.blogspot.com/

Restaurant Review: O'Nice Scores Big

There were quite a lot of foods I didn't expect to see again when I traded Los Angeles for Sofia. Smoothies were high on the list. Double the thrill, then, when I took my first sip of the creamy "Bonanza" smoothie yesterday at the new bagel shop in downtown Sofia: "O'Nice." Run by an Irish ex-pat, Chris, who cheerfully greets each customer and even dispenses advice about how to buy the cheapest weekend tickets for Dublin, the small green and orange cafe is a bright spot downtown. 

Chris imports a variety of bagels, frozen, from other shores. He rounds out his menu with smoothies, gourmet desserts from Caramel (the French bakery I reviewed yesterday), and the O'Nice brands of coffee and tea. He says he is trying to lure the Bulgarian clientele in with great coffee, since most of them have never heard of bagels. The place is an ex-pat hub, but Chris says the numbers are evening out, and now he has about 40% Ex-Pat customers and 60% Bulgarians. The menu is available in both languages, and it's easy to check out the bagel sandwich ingredients since they are displayed in a huge class showcase (think Subway, but without that weird Subway smell). 

Brett ordered a Thai Chicken sandwich on a Jalapeno-Cheddar bagel, and I had a toasted multigrain with three kinds of jam in little dishes on the side. Add a Bonanza smoothie with two straws and we had a fabulous lunch. On our way out we ran into our next door neighbors - Kate and Mike - who also work at ACS. I did say it was an ex-pat hub...

Bakery Review: Caramel

An exceptionally shiny exterior on a dirty back alley of Sofia - what else could it be but the latest international cafe to come to Bulgaria, Caramel's French Bakery? We visited today on the first sunny morning we've seen since returning from Christmas vacation. 

We bought long and crunchy miniature baguettes, a sugared loaf with cracked exterior, a chocolate twist croissant, and two plain croissants Brett claims are "SO GOOD." I even picked out a little tri-colored chocolate cream tart currently waiting for after dinner in its own fancy box in the fridge. 

Once past its shiny exterior, Caramel isn't much to look at. It has one dingy table covered by one dingy tablecloth, and a few plates and baskets stocked with for-sale-food. Yet a team of pastry chefs is working in the back. It turns out they are preparing catering orders. Amusingly enough, we saw some of their work in the dessert case at the next place we visited - O'Nice - a bagel shop. I'd say the bakery is devoting 3 % of its resources to walk-in customers, but that is enough to give us a delicious taste of France... without a lengthy plane ride. 

Video from All That Jazz

The scene outside the theater * rehearsal before the show * first act number * final number.

All that Jazz with Boris

Driving by Parliament Square, newly calm scene of yesterday's protests

Boris and Roxanne outside the National Theater

One of the National Theater Cats (the other one looks exactly the same)

Testing the lights before the show

Actors run through a number 

View of the main stage curtain from the balcony

Roxanne and I in our killer seats

"And all that jazz!"

Bow to a Standing Ovation

Amidst the current chaos of Bulgaria - protests against organized crime and corruption turning violent, armored police vehicles driving by, a magically appearing overnight ice sheet causing accidents and school vacations, closed factories and cold homes in the second week of the Russia/Ukraine impasse - tonight I found good reason for hope in Sofia. 

One of the directors at the National Theater, Boris Pankin, invited Roxanne and I on a backstage tour of the theater followed by front center seats to the show he translated and adapted to stage for the world premiere a few years back - All that Jazz. Boris is currently directing the musical at ACS - Hair - and Roxanne is helping him work with the kids on pronunciation. He couldn't have been kinder to us, even picking us up from school and driving us down along the "Sofia Broadway", telling us about all the theaters we were passing. You might be interested to know that one of them, the so-called "Military Theater", was once staffed entirely by acting/directing/lighting military men. Incidentally, we also passed the parliament square where all the protests took place yesterday, but all that was left was a group of about 10 folks hanging out by the main statue, looking highly peaceful.

From the friendly wave of the set designer as we came in to the friendly wave of the parking lot guard as we drove out, we truly received V.I.P. treatment in Boris's hospitable care. He took us backstage before the show and at intermission, introducing us to the sound and lighting designers, the stage manager, the actors (the most popular t.v. stars in Bulgaria as well as an EXTREMELY flexible dance company), the men in charge of props, even the theater cats. 

We learned that in Bulgaria you say "Have a nice trip" instead of "Break a Leg", and that whistling on stage is bad luck. If you whistle from the stage, you are simply inviting the audience to whistle back at you later on. We had a chance to admire chandeliers large and small, rolling red carpet and tiny cupids along the balcony with golden trumpets and, go figure, golden penises. It's true. 

Before the show, we watched rehearsals as we sat and drank mint tea on a big white chair backstage - it later turned out to be a hospital bed in the second act. During the show, we sat in the fifth row in the middle (definitely the best seats in the house, since the fifth row has a big gap in which even Yao Ming would have plenty of leg room). We even had special permission from Boris to take videos and photos of the show, much to the disgruntlement of my nearest neighbor, despite my extreme efforts not to be disruptive.

Needless to say, I enjoyed myself completely, and felt inspired by the crew of hard-working performers, doing their thing while their country rolls with the punches. Though the dialogue was in Bulgarian, it was pretty easy to follow what was going on from the scenery and gestures. I did need Boris's help in the middle to understand that the beautiful lady in yellow who kept appearing to Joe Giddeon - the main character - was actually the angel of death, slowly leading him away from the world of Broadway. The musical numbers blew me away. It was incredible to see the combination: talented dancing singing actors. It will perhaps be the last year of All That Jazz at The National Theater, since the new management is far more conservative than the outgoing one, so I feel particularly lucky to have visited tonight. 

Check out this article about All That Jazz and Boris. He contacted the movie studio and persuaded them to grant him free rights to translate the film to stage and do a world premiere in Bulgarian/English! Talk about a creative inspiration, with the follow through to share it with the world. Plus, he's one of the nicest people I've ever met.  http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=71057

This I Believe

Class A2 program

On the Foyer stage, Lubo reads Emo's Essay "One Soul, One Team, One Life"

Brett reads portfolios with boys from the early morning class

Ina enjoys the products of the Food Committee's work

8th graders reading Senior Portfolios

Deniz kicks off the first show, reading Viktor's essay "I Believe in the Secret of Life"

Today my two 12th grade classes presented showcases of their "This I Believe" essays. Committees played music, decorated, laid out food, and invited special guests. A good time was had by all....

The Big Book Festival

That's right, today was the 2009 Outside Reading Book Festival in my 10th grade class. Or at least the first one - the other 10th graders will have theirs on Thursday. The kids ordered pizza, brought in balloons, put up tons of posters, made fabulous programs, and invited guests. There projects ranged from a miniature set of the rabbit warren in Watership Down to a t-shirt designed to represent The Little Prince. It was wonderful! 

Boyana Icefall

Yesterday a former student of mine, Will Stecher, traveled to Sofia for a visit during his winter break.  Two years ago, he and I headed to Mt. Baldy in California for our first ever mountaineering experience.  Today, we continued that tradition as we hiked up to Boyana Waterfall, which you may remember from an earlier post on the blog.  If not, scroll down the sidebar to the "Labels" section and click on "Boyana."  It looked quite different today:

When we arrived in Boyana, we asked for directions to the trailhead and received some skeptical looks, followed by dissuasion.  One person placed his hand on his chest, indicating that the snow was that high and we shouldn't try.  I reassured him we had the necessary gear, and he pointed us on.  When we got there, we were relieved to see a set of tracks leading the way, and snow that was only a couple feet deep.

After about two hours of hiking, we arrived at the waterfall, where there were a group of people preparing for some ice climbing.

Will and I were content with staying at the bottom (well, at least I was).

Will inside a little cavern behind the waterfall, where the following picture was also taken.

The wall behind Will in the picture above is basically the other side of where this climber is attached.

As we were leaving, Will and I wondered where we'd use our crampons again.  Not sure yet, but I hope it will be just as spectacular.

From Russia, without Love

Bulgaria is hunkering down for a day or two with no heat. As you've probably heard, Russia is flexing its muscles and cutting off gas to much of Eastern Europe. Basically, anywhere that is served via Ukraine pipelines is losing their supply. Due to the dispute between the two countries (http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/07/europe/08gazprom.php), our school is actually shutting down Thursday and Friday. I'm thinking of heading up the mountain. If it's going to be cold inside, why not go outside?

While many countries can get their gas from other sources, Bulgaria relies almost entirely on Russian gas. The country is currently trying to convert to diesel, which apparently exists in greater quantities. Current estimates are that the conversion will be complete within the next day or two. In the meantime, Betsy and I will be taking out our winter sleeping bags.

Initial reports indicated that Bulgaria had about a month's worth of reserves, but the latest news is that the reserves were "somehow" squandered (read: sold by corrupt political forces). But don't worry about us. The weather is relatively nice today and we have plenty of layers (as well as an electric stove -- woo-hoo!). More to come. In the mean time, the picture below of icicles on my face grows ever more relevant.

As we often say, "That's Bulgaria!" Our theory is that the more dire circumstances get, the more street cred we earn. We should be rich after this one!

Christmas and New Year's Travels

The New Year's Eve Bonfire at Tanya's Farm in Ohio

Felix, snoozing in his favored basket during the New Year's Party

Dad and Betsy, cross-country skiing at Korkki in Minnesota

Betsy at Korkki

Brett skiing in Vale. Ha ha, just kidding. He's also at Korkki.

Ah, America. It has issues like every other place, but I happen to love it. Three inches of fresh powder on a pine bough, ping pong that raises sweat on my forehead, shreds of cheese melting into lime rice and tomatoes in a thick burrito, late night games of password and movie showings, a slivered moon hanging over the Ohio River, Christmas stockings stuffed and poised for after breakfast, a stretching white sheet of light where I knew Lake Superior should be, kids singing in a puppet show about Jesus' birth in a packed church and a candlelit version of Silent Night, taking a walk with a goat and two dogs, taking a walk with three cats and two dogs, taking a walk by myself... I tried to stop and soak in moments like these as we drifted across the Midwest to visit our wonderful families. Thank you, our families, for welcoming us home. 

This I Believe

I have been working with my 12th graders for the last several weeks to create essays for the NPR series This I Believe. They are working on a portfolio of belief, and will soon submit their essays and perform them aloud as part of a live "radio" show somewhere on campus (the ambiance committees are still deciding where). Two of them asked me if I was going to write an essay, so I did. I just submitted it to NPR, and found the whole process quite interesting. Perhaps you would like to read or listen to some of the essays and write and submit one yourself. Just in case, here is the link to browse the This I Believe website: http://www.thisibelieve.org/index.php .

Here is my essay:

The Power of Creativity

I teach English in a yellow building on a wooded campus on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria, at the American College of Sofia. This is a country facing many struggles: big ones like E.U. sanctions and organized crime, and small ones like stray dogs and haphazard garbage collection. Its hope lies in members of the future generation, and their hope lies in the possibility of new ideas.

Last week my 12th graders debated a single question – what is the most vital issue for their generation? AIDS, drugs, violence, global warming, public education, the responses ranged as broadly as each new day’s frightening headlines. They went on to brainstorm possible solutions, but it was much easier to list problems than it was to solve them. Our conversation only strengthened my belief, that we need creativity in our world. We need the potential to create solutions where none exist, to bring beauty into spaces of despair - here in Bulgaria, and all over the world.

As a teacher, giving my students chances to be creative has always been my priority. I’ve seen them perform poem raps, cry while acting out the end of Death of a Salesman, illustrate graphic novels about teenage life, and publish children’s books touting environmentalism. They have scripted and storyboarded films, designed identity mandalas, and strutted the catwalk in a 1920s literature fashion show. It is more important to me to give them these opportunities than to teach them the difference between an appositive and a hanging modifier. I want my students to be dreaming thinkers, thinking dreamers.

Dreamers like Edi Rama, mayor of the capital of Albania, who hired designers to paint the communist-made concrete blocks of his city in a rainbow of colors, since he couldn’t afford to tear them down. Dreamers like Albert Einstein, Louis Pasteur, and Jane Goodall. Dreamers like that famous dreamer, Martin Luther King Jr., who saw a possibility others couldn’t see.

Who will be the next great dreamers? How can we help them learn to dream?

I keep a bumper sticker up in my classroom, a quote from Ghandi: “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” I try to teach the change I wish to see in the world, and I believe my actions will make a difference.

In December, I showed my husband’s 8th grade students how to cut snowflakes to decorate their room for Christmas. Why bother with such things in our schools? Maybe a student who can see a piece of delicate art in a white paper circle, will one day see a way to bring together divided peoples, a new method for creating energy, a cure for cancer in a lump of dirt. If we don’t teach them to see this potential in their world, who will?

If we value creativity, creativity will save us. This I Believe.

Back in the Saddle

We're back in Bulgaria! Betsy will apprise you of our vacation with her usual flair, but I just wanted to add a dose of absurdity first. This was in Brussels -- a row of chocolate statues modeled after the famous Manneken Pis.

In other surreal news, I went for a run upon returning today, and noticed that more than the usual number of people were staring at me. Granted, running is not the most popular sport here, and there were several inches of fresh snow, and I was wearing running tights, but still...what was with these people? When I finished, I caught a glimpse of myself in a store window. Then rushed upstairs to try and preserve the absurdity. Unfortunately, much of it melted by the time I could snap a photo, but you get the idea: