Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Woooo Weeeee, it's been snowin' up a storm over here....it's a winter wonderland and it's absolutely gorgeous and glorious. It snowed all day Sunday and it's piled up to about a meter. That is really exciting over here in Mom"chill grad" ('grad' is city in Bulgarian and it's definitely chilling right now!). It's really exciting because it's only snowed here once this year, so far, and i wasn't here when it happened...i was in Sofia. It's exciting because it's been raining here in November and this is probably one of the warmest places in Bulgaria since it's so far South. It's exciting because it's a first, it's a big one, and it's a rare event. It wouldn't be so exciting in places where it snows all the time.

I am feeling giddy with joy. Just got back from a meeting with my spunky friend Nezhda and the group of kids I've been helping her teach about important things like kids' rights, puberty, nutrition, emotions, etc....these are things that are probably most important for kids to know as they enter 'teenagerhood', yet they're hardly even mentioned in the 'regular' school curriculum. After we got done with the 'work' part of our meeting, we ran outside, threw snowballs, made snow angels, and tried to slide down the school hill on little plastic grocery shopping bags.

At one point, I got the idea to use a board that was just sitting in the school. Everyone got excited by the idea and a whole crowd of kids that were playing in the school yard gathered to watch the new-found sledding tool zoom down the hill. The air was fizzing with anticipation. I put the board down, ready for a wild ride. As I sat down, there was silence. Something big was about to happen. And then....nothing. That's right, absolutely nothing happened. The board sat, just as it had been, as if nothing was supposed to happen. My bottom sat glued to the board. We waited for a moment and the whole crowd erupted into uproarious laughter at the absurdity of the whole thing. Some of the kids tried to push me down, but the board wasn't fond of that idea and it refused to budge. Ah well, it was worth a try....it made for an absolutely hilarious situation. Tomorrow, Nezhda and i will try wrapping the board in a big plastic bag. Hey, it's not about never getting stuck, right? It's about getting up off the stuck board and moving on...perhaps with the help of the plastic bag, the board will feel more inspired to move. We'll see!

Well, I'm starting to feel wet and cold now from our snowy adventures. Wishing you all a beautiful holiday season and a minimal amount of stress. If you're starting to feel stressed, do what Dido (one of the kids in our group) did...find a big pile of clean snow, bend over, stick your head in it and wiggle it around. You're guaranteed to forget about whatever worries you were harboring in your mind the minute before ;P