You might be asking yourself: Why are you living in Bulgaria???? Good question, I say!! But it is a little tricky to answer….

About 4 years ago, Mark used to work for a company that was owned by Bulgarians. We used to joke: “Where in the world is Bulgaria?” haha! (Did you find it on the map?) Then, one day, Mark came home from work and said the company was sending him to Bulgaria. Well, we quickly got out a map and looked up where Bulgaria was!! He came over here for the first time several weeks after that.

While he was here for the first time, Mark befriended many people. Later on, the company he worked for brought one of the Bulgarians (Niki) out to the United States. Mark and Niki decided to start their own company. They create websites (like, when you go to Disney on the internet, somebody had to make it look all fancy, and that’s what their company does).

Well, for the past couple of years, the company grew and grew. All of the designers (the people who actually make the websites) are in Bulgaria. Since the company was getting bigger and bigger, Mark wanted to live in Bulgaria for one year to help hire and teach new people. My job would be to teach English to people who want to learn it. And there you have it!! That’s why we are here.

I miss living in San Diego and teaching at Logan Elementary, but this is only for one year, and then I will be back. Until then, I am enjoying my time here in Bulgaria. I am learning a new language and meeting a lot of new people. I will never get the chance to live in another country again, so I am trying to have a lot of fun!!

**Some geography for you: Can you name 5 or more countries in Eastern Europe (hint:use the map you just saw). What are their capitals?