I thought I was having a no-good, ugly-rotten day today.  I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning even with my alarm clock beeping and beeping.  My faucet in the bathroom drips and drips and after brushing my teeth I couldn't get it to stop.  Then I went to make coffee and I didn't have .20 Leva for the coffee machine in my kitchen and it requires exact change... of course.

I called the Fulbright lawyer about my visa extension application and she asked if we could meet tomorrow at 9:30 because the next step will take much more time and I'll have to wait for at least an hour while they have my passport.  Sure, I'll be there.  But what I wanted to add was: I hope.

<!--more-->

Then I went to school.  I didn't have to go but I needed a more clear idea of what I was actually going to to be teaching this year.  I double checked my schedule to make sure that I'd written it down correctly.  And then I tried to talked to my supervisor.  When I knocked on her door no one answered and it was locked.  Not that I had an appointment or anything.  Luckily, another English teacher had shown me where the library was so I went down there to look through some English Language text books.  The librarian didn't speak English--not that I should be surprised by this.  So I read through a couple of chapters and took some notes and after maybe a half an hour the librarian made it clear to me that I had to leave.  Great.  Now I am being kicked out of the library and I didn't know why.  Isn't there a rule against this?

Well, I decide that I am going to go and see the principle.  It turns out the librarian had the same idea.  Somehow, all the way down the hall I am in front of her but she ends up in the principle's office before me.  So now I am waiting some more.  It's this point, that I realize that I am having a no-good, ugly-rotten day today and it kind of makes me want to cry.  But I think there's a rule against that so I try really hard not to and I succeed.

When I get to talk to the principle, she is very nice to me and answers a lot of my questions about what exactly I am going to be teaching this year.  Then she tells me that today the 8th grade teachers are meeting with their classes at 1pm and that I should introduce myself to each class.  Okay.  I can do this.  It seems a little bit strange just to march into another teachers class but the principle has told me to so I decide it will be alright.

So I went across the street and had a coffee, a banitsa with cheese and bottle of water.  Things looked better after that.  I am not sure but I think that this trio maybe be a magical combination.

Back at the school, I introduced myself to each of the 8th grade classes.  They are so young and were so cute.  I am excited to start teaching them.  I did however get a few blank looks and I am now a little worried that I talk to fast and that students may not tell me to slow down because they don't want to be rude.  I guess, I'll just wait and see; it may be a different story when their supervising teacher isn't in the room.

Anyhow, that went well and from here I think my day started to turn around.  I went on search for an iron and a hair-dryer and I found both for good prices.  I am going to be a new person starting tomorrow--my clothes will be neat and well pressed and my hair will be, hopefully, less disheveled looking.  I also think it would help if my bangs looked a little neater but the last time I gave my bangs a trim out of desperation before a job interview I ended up having to change the side I part my hair on because I didn't do it right... so I am going to wait this out a little longer.

Then I stopped by the Fulbright office and had a great chat with the coordinator and on my way out of her office I stopped at a magazine stand looking for a copy of this English language magazine published in Sofia on life, culture and politics in Bulgaria called <a href="http://www.vagabond-bg.com/?page=guide&amp;sub=33&amp;open_news=406" target="_blank">Vagabond</a>.  So I bought a copy of this.

At some point in all of this, I realized I think that fall is coming and I stopped working about what I was going to be teaching this year and started paying attention to the way the city is slowly changing--it's not summer any more.  I got home and dropped of my hair-dyer and iron and went out to the local market.  There are still lots of summer veggies but this time I also saw more squash and fewer fresh raspberries.  It's funny how the seasons change and one day you open your eyes and think hey, it's getting colder.  Certainly it doesn't help that it's been raining on and off for four days, so I don't really know for sure that it's fall but is doesn't feel like summer any more either.

I made a great dinner for myself a spin on this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/health/nutrition/04recipehealth.html?ex=1236225600&amp;en=1f4057d140508efb&amp;ei=5087&amp;WT.mc_id=HL-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M060-ROS-0908-PH&amp;WT.mc_ev=click&amp;mkt=HL-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M060-ROS-0908-PH" target="_blank">great recipe from the NYT</a>.  I have to say that I didn't know eggplant could taste so good.  To my foodie roommates in DC, I couldn't follow the recipe a 100% because I couldn't find any celery (well I didn't look) or capers (which I did look for) so I put in some green pepper and some extra green olives and viola it was done and delicious.  I even cut a whole onion without crying--the first time in years I have been able to do that.

And when I realized this, I thought: I guess this wasn't such a no-good, ugly-rotten day after all.

Then the best thing that's happened to me in a long time happened.  Beer in hand, I switched on the tv after dinner and there it was: the music was just queuing for Law and Order: SVU <em>and </em>for the first 30 minutes I thought it was an episode I'd never seen before. Well, it turns out I'd seen it before but in Bulgarian it was like new.

So there you have it, I spent the whole day worrying about what was new to me, what was unknown, what was a surprise and in the process making myself anxious and unhappy (it's not every day I think that I am have a no-good, ugly-rotten day, you should know) when what I could have been doing was embracing the new and the unknown.   I did come here for a new adventure after all.

And now, I am going to bed.