Yo-yo-yo-yoga

Feeling much gratitude today...this morning i taught my first yoga so-called class ever...i had a whoppin' two students and it was absolutely fabulous! We stretched like dogs (downward and upward), we breathed like cats and cows, we stood like trees, and it was absolutely wonderful...i'd like to do it more, and i'd like to do it at my site, if possible. It's a great tool for maintaining your sanity!
Another awesome thing is that my cousin Andy's been teaching Tae Kwon Do, with Maria, Ati, Sunai (Fred's host mom) and I. We've been kicking, punching, blocking, and yelling up a storm in the local Chetalishte. Sometimes we have an audience of kids and others looking on outside. I can't tell you how good it feels to yell, kick, and punch your guts out (well, not literally, of course...that would probably be not so pleasant ;P )

Other things i'm grateful for:

- the amazing, deciduous tree-covered mountains here that assure fantabulous hikes with breath-taking scenery

- The river running, flowing, dancing through it all, river Vucha...I could spend hours staring at the waves and rhythms of the dancing water. Not that i have hours to spend doing that with our highly structured schedule, but i can always dream :)

- Frisbees! We had a cultural experience day in Pazardjik a few weeks ago and played a hot game of ultimate frisbee with the Roma kids that Aneesa (our technical trainer for youth development) works with. Ati, Andy, Tanya (a co-worker of Ojgune's), and I also played frisbee in Sofia one day.

- Kaimet...a friend of Berin's whose request for the bettering of Krichim is more love between people (other kids requested 'Krichmland'...a Krichim Disneyland, and more bears and lions :) ). Her constant enthusiasm, big smiles, big hugs, and big love-full greetings bring me so much joy that I forget that darkness even exists.

- Our PC group's weekly movie night, where we can let loose, relax, make a tasty meal, drink some tasty rakia, and watch a movie that doesn't involve much in the way of thinking. We get plenty of thinking during the week, learning Bulgarian and Turkish, doing projects...on movie night, we let all that go.

- The internet...this amazing possibility to keep in touch with you all and to send and receive messages that reach you within seconds. How cool is that?

- My Turkish family's hospitality and kindness...their readiness to take in guests, to laugh, to cook up delicious food, to play frisbee, to create things with pipe cleaners, to kick ass with Tae Kwon Do, etc.

- My America-residing family and friends' love, support, and helpful wisdom. I appreciate the encouraging messages, the thought-provoking ideas, the questions, and the care. Thank you!

- The beauty of sit-down toilets with plenty of toilet paper that you don't have to pay for. One learns to appreciate such things when most public toilets consist of a hole in the ground with a place to put your feet and you have to pay 50 stotinki for a napkin to use as toilet paper.
So much for pondering the meaning of life for a few hours and connecting with the john ;P

- Animals that will play with you and love you, regardless of what you look, smell, or think like at the moment...without ever having seen you and without ever having to see you again. Why can't people be more like that?

- The opportunity to see family and friends in Sofia and get to know them all over again after so many years of being out of touch.

- The vast support network and wacky, uplifting humor of the Peace Corps volunteer family, people who are going through similar experiences, and the highly organized staff who is quick to take care of you, no matter what happens.

- The power of the mind to create something wonderful out of any experience. Of course, this can also work the other way...like a wild horse, the mind must be tamed for joyful riding...over the past few days, i've been relearning how to tame this mind, which tends to go wild when faced with new and uncertain experiences.

Remember to Enjoy the Ride!