WSC

Okay, here comes the good news. The Bulgarian Minster for Education has wisely and judiciously decreed a week’s holiday for all of the students of the schools in Sofia because of the influenza epidemic that has hit schools all over Bulgaria. (What a good and sensible chap!) Yes, I know that this might seems a bit crazy, dear reader, as I have only been at St. George’s since the beginning of January and now we have ten days of holiday. That is not bad, eh?

Yesterday I was terribly busy, even though it was a Saturday. Yes, we had the Sofia round of the World Scholar’s Cup at St. George’s. Justin Kilcullen-Nichols, my new headmaster, looked very pleased as he welcomed hundreds of students (and their parents and teachers) from all over Sofia. I must say that St. George's new theatre looked super-swanky and very impressive. 

I was one of the judges for the junior and the senior debating competitions. In a nutshell, you have two teams making speeches about a particular motion and then you have to give marks to each speaker for Presentation, Strategy and Content, in order to decide which team was the winner. The rather pretty young lady from the WSC team explained our judicial duties to us when we had a meeting, up in the school's ultra-posh penthouse. (Just in case you are wondering, the penthouse is a huge wood-pannelled room, with lots of sofas, posh light fittings and a fully-equipped bar. And what is above the penthouse? The observatory, of course.)

The junior debates were in the morning, with the seniors after lunch. There were some interesting motions. Should homeless people should be allowed to sleep overnight in schools? Does a film about a Bulgarian superhero need to have a Bulgarian director? Would it be a good idea if personal fitness trackers should be compulsory for everyone? Should all schools make sure that no one is offended by History lessons?

From right to left: Jerry the MC, the pretty lady MC whose name I cannot remember, an alpaca, someone who needs some sleep, my headmaster (J. K-N) and an anonymous chair

Alpacas are the official mascots of the Word Scholar’s Cup and it appears that an alpaca’s favourite (and indeed only) word is “Pwaah”. This was also my comment when I saw the school's new theatre for the first time. The theatre really is rather impressive.

In order to adopt an alpaca, the students at the World Scholar's Cup have to make a solemn promise to be good alpaca parents, look after their alpaca properly and not eat him (or her). As you probably know, this important promise has to be made while the alpaca is sitting on your head.

When I came back to our apartment in Ulitsa Kozyak after the World Scholar’s Cup was over, Irena was very upset. The bad news is that Boris is very ill. Boris, as you probably remember, is Irena’s step-father (well, he would be, if he were actually to be married to Nina, Ira’s mother). It looks as though Boris has had a heart attack and this is probably life threatening. He is 74, so actually he has had a pretty good innings. Of course, Irena is very distressed because she is worried sick about Nina being at the datcha all on her own.

The next day I did not feel so good. Yes, it was influenza and I have been in bed for the last four days. The antibiotics cost 45 leva (that is about twenty British pounds). Yes, they were blooming expensive, but at last they seem to be doing their job.