1. Balkan dance for the Christmas Concert. Every year the student Balkan dance group and the parent Balkan dance group perform at the Christmas Concert and a special group of teachers (mostly international, though a few Bulgarians join in) is created. So, we had a few practices to learn our dances, or horas, and work out our line-up, by height (I was in the "short" section, imagine that). We also got to wear traditional Bulgarian dresses. They were red wool (i.e. hot) with a white under dress and a bright, multicolored apron. They don’t do much for your shape. They mostly make you look very square, like a sturdy peasant woman that spends her days milking cows and churning butter, but they do make it possible to dance outside in the snow without getting cold.
Wednesday night was the first performance. A lot of parents and alumni came to the evening performance. No one fell off the stage and it was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we went to the alumni reception to eat free food. Thursday afternoon was the second performance that most of the students go to. Needless to say, we got a lot of applause. After the concert, we went outside and formed a giant line to dance in the snow with everyone. It was fun and I only slipped and fell once.
2. Christmas parties and Secret Santas. We had our faculty party, complete with Santa, last Friday. The food was great and almost everyone from the school came. We also found out (though most of us had already guessed) who our Secret Santas were. My was Z, from the public relations office. She gave me a really nice planner and picture frame. I gave gifts to R, who really liked the scarf I got him almost as much as the cookies I’d given to him earlier in the week. P played Santa. And oh, what a Santa he was. Very jolly but otherwise indescribable. Let’s just say he was awesome and future Santas will have trouble living up the standard he set.
The international teachers also did a Secret Santa and party, which is nice since we don’t have our families here and most of us aren’t going home for Christmas. A. cooked great food for all of us and we exchanged our gifts. Oddly, B was my Secret Santa and I was hers. We were the only two people that had each other and neither of us figured it out before the party. I got some pepper-nuts (tiny gingerbread cookies) and a clock-picture frame combo- sorry, a blue clock-picture frame combo. All my favorite things rolled into one.
3. Going to see the Nutcracker. I enjoyed the performance, but it was unlike any Nutcracker I’ve ever seen before. They didn’t seem to have enough strong dancers to fill all the parts, so Clara and the Nutcracker were pulling double duty. She danced the Sugar Plum Fairy and they both danced in place of the Snow King and Queen. Also, the choreographer was a huge fan of the flexed foot. When the characters are dolls, this makes sense, but they continued this in the second act when they are alive and it drove me crazy. Also, the characters (like the Russian dancers) had “Buzz Lightyear chop chop arms” (anyone from my dance class knows what I mean). It was part of the choreography, but drove me crazy. I guess I just prefer a little more ballet in my ballet. Still, it was a fun diversion from all the work that was piling up at home.
4. Christmas Eve dinner. The internationals that are left on campus today are having dinner tonight, which means that after I am done with this post, I am going to the grocery store to buy food so I can cook something to bring. Cooking… yay.
5. Planning for Italy J Ok, so due to all the aforementioned things, we still haven’t really planned well for Italy, but we have places to stay and plane tickets, so that is a start. Anyway, I’m leaving on the 26th and won’t be back until Jan 5. I’m excited for warmer weather and pizza and NO WORK!
Until I get back, Весела Коледа и щастлива нова година everyone!  |
| Alexander Nevski Cathedral in the Snow |
