Gina Gonzales served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bulgaria



Gonzales, who completed her two-year commitment in the corps July 2, said she was assigned to teach English at a primary school in the small farming village of Madara, located in the northeastern part of the country. "Madara is a town of about only 1,600 people, very Eastern European and very post-communism," she said. Gonzales said she was responsible for teaching English to second-graders and students in grades five through eight. "I found the little kids were really excited about learning English, but the older kids didn't understand why they had to learn it," she said. Gonzales, who had no teaching experience, said she tried to make learning a new language fun for all her students.
"I tried to teach the same way that I remember my teachers in elementary school teaching me. I used a lot of games and songs in my teaching." She also incorporated many American customs and celebrations into her teaching. She carved pumpkins and made masks for Halloween and decorated cookies at Christmas. "Kids are kids no matter where they are in the world," she said. "They love having people do things with them. I would have kids over my house all the time wanting me to do things with them."

Gina Gonzales served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bulgaria

Global conscience

Local woman spends two years in Peace Corps to give something back for her ‘good life.’

Caption: Gonzales poses with some of her students at a primary school in Madara, Bulgaria, where she taught English for two years.

By GAYLE PEREZ
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

For as long as Gina Gonzales could remember, she wanted to be a Peace Corps volunteer.

"I remember as a little kid talking about joining the Peace Corps," said Gonzales, 26. "I've always thought that idea of giving back was something that I wanted to do."

But after graduating with honors from Central High School in 2000, Gonzales used the Boettcher scholarship she received to attend Colorado State University-Fort Collins. She graduated in 2004 with a degree in graphic design.

"After I finished college, I didn't know what I was going to do. The idea of going to the Peace Corps was still in the back of my mind," said Gonzales, the daughter of Richard and Esther Gonzales. "Life has been so good for me, I have a good family and good friends. I had a great high school experience followed by a great college experience and I just felt like I needed to give something back."

Gonzales said the Peace Corps had a booth at a college job fair and she signed up to volunteer.

"About six months later, I got a call and they asked if I was ready to go," she recalled. "Four weeks later, I was on my way to Bulgaria."

Gonzales, who completed her two-year commitment in the corps July 2, said she was assigned to teach English at a primary school in the small farming village of Madara, located in the northeastern part of the country.

"Madara is a town of about only 1,600 people, very Eastern European and very post-communism," she said.

Gonzales said she was responsible for teaching English to second-graders and students in grades five through eight.

"I found the little kids were really excited about learning English, but the older kids didn't understand why they had to learn it," she said.

Gonzales, who had no teaching experience, said she tried to make learning a new language fun for all her students.

"I tried to teach the same way that I remember my teachers in elementary school teaching me. I used a lot of games and songs in my teaching."

She also incorporated many American customs and celebrations into her teaching. She carved pumpkins and made masks for Halloween and decorated cookies at Christmas.

"Kids are kids no matter where they are in the world," she said. "They love having people do things with them. I would have kids over my house all the time wanting me to do things with them."

Gonzales said one of the projects she was most proud of was introducing her students to baseball.

She said a friend from Pueblo, Jamie Abeyta, helped gather donated baseball gloves, bats, balls and catcher's equipment that Gonzales donated to her students in Bulgaria.

"That was the most fun, teaching them to play baseball," she said. "The kids really enjoyed it, I think mostly because they had somebody who would play with them. The teachers there have so much to worry about, they don't have time to play with the students after school. The kids would come by my house after school and ask me to come out and play and I would."

Gonzales said she also played basketball and soccer with her students. Both were sports she played at Central.

Gonzales said she also helped raise money and received grants to help purchase fitness equipment for the school which could be utilized by the entire community.

When not teaching in Madara, Gonzales spent some time teaching English to international students attending a summer camp at the American University in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.

"The camp was so different from the classes I taught at the school, because the students all wanted to learn English," she said.

She also took advantage of her time abroad to do some traveling. She visited Turkey, Romania and Germany, where she attended a World Cup soccer match in 2006.

Gonzales said after completing her Peace Corps mission, she has come back to the U.S. with mixed feelings about the experience.

"I feel happy because I accomplished a life goal, but at the same time I had my own expectations of what I had wanted to accomplish. I realize that it's hard to accomplish some of those goals in a foreign environment, and as a result it was hard to meet some of my expectations."

But the experience she gained from living abroad and learning a new language and culture has inspired Gonzales to continue her education.

In two weeks, Gonzales will be leaving for Boston to attend Emerson College to pursue a master's degree in global marketing, communication and advertising.

"One of the things that I gained from living abroad is that I want to be involved in social marketing of some kind and I'm hoping this degree will help lead me in that direction," she said.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: August, 2007; Peace Corps Bulgaria; Directory of Bulgaria RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Bulgaria RPCVs

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