I know it has been a long time since my last post, so it is really hard to figure out where to even begin! So much happened in the month of December, so here are a few of the highlights.
We had our first few snows for this year, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of waking up to this view!
We hosted our team Christmas party at our flat, so we had fun decorating. All the snow flakes were made by my roommates and me.
At the party, we had time of fellowship, singing Christmas carols, and reflecting on this past year and all the things God has done in and through us.
We even got to go and see The Hobbit with a bunch of our Bulgarian friends (there were 20 of us in all!) The movies here are in English with Bulgarian subtitles, so it is always a good way to practice my Bulgarian by trying to match the words to what they are saying. I always feel very accomplished when I can spot the differences. ;)
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| Chillin' with Gandalf |
The next major event was our English Club Christmas party. With two English Clubs up and running now, we decided to combine the two for a large party at our Christian Cultural Center. We were a bit concerned about people coming out to a new location, but our fears were for naught as we had more than 40 people! We sang Christmas carols in English and Bulgarian, as well as read the account of Jesus' birth from Luke in both languages before breaking up into small groups for discussions. Many of the people attending had never read this before. We even had one young man from Turkey who told us this was his first time celebrating Christmas! We closed out the night with some Christmas themed charades and an optional viewing of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".
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| Practicing the songs before the party |
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| Conversations and food |
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| 40+ people all discussing Jesus' birth! |
A few of the interns hosted an "End of the World" party at their flat on Dec. 21st for some of our Bulgarian friends. We celebrated by introducing them to a great American tradition... S'MORES, roasted over the fire place! Complete with marshmallows and gram crackers from the States.
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| Roasting marshmallows |
This year, I was able to attend the same Christmas concert I went to last year. It has a full orchestra and is conducted by an American here, but the choir is made up of various choirs from National churches. All the songs were sung in Bulgarian, but I was amazed to see how much more I was able to understand than last year at this time.
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| Christmas Concert |
For Christmas itself, I was able to travel to Vienna, Austria, (one of the cities on my bucket list!) as a Christmas present from my parents. I went with two of the other American interns on my team, and we had such an amazing, relaxing time. We even found a Christmas Eve service to attend, in ENGLISH! It was such a blessing!
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| Christmas Eve in Vienna |
To ring in the New Year, we ended up hosting a party at our flat with our Bulgarian church friends. It was such a treat to be able to experience a New Year's celebration with them. There was much dancing, including them teaching us several traditional dances and us showing them a few of ours. Just before midnight, we all gathered together a few people prayed to thank God for this past year and to lift up the coming year. At midnight, the fireworks began all around us! We all rushed out to our balconies and watched the sky light up in every direction.
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| What was left of the group around 1:30am |
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| Learning some new dances |
As I've reflected some about this past year, I have to just pause and think about how I ended up where I am. God so clearly led me to Bulgaria last year, and affirmed the decision to return for a second year. I really have no clue where God will lead me when my term here is finished, but fortunately there is still plenty of time before then, and it is comforting to know that God has a plan, and he is currently preparing me for the next step.
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