She learned English while working at Six Flags Great America in Chicago two years ago.

She's got eight housemates: four other Bulgarian girls - they're all buddies and recent accounting college grads - and four Russian girls, who are housecleaners.

They are all living and working in Rangeley for the summer. And to hear her tell it, there's no joy like working a 70-hour week.

Elisaveta Tomova is back for a second summer at the IGA. The 22-year-old traveled more than 4,500 miles in late May to slice cold cuts and ring a register here. The largest grocery store for miles bustles in the summer, hiring three times as many workers. For years, they haven't found enough locals to take the jobs. So they've hired Bulgarians.

In September, she's hoping to end her Maine summer with a little Miami heat, and maybe rethink that major.

Vitals: Elisaveta Tomova, 22, Varna, Bulgaria

How she wound up here: At our job fair, they ask us, "Do you want to go to Rangeley to work in the deli department or as cashiers?" We said OK. We didn't know, where is Rangeley. After that, we found in Google that Rangeley's in Maine.

We liked last year, it was really, really fun.

IGA vs. Six Flags: The people in Maine are nicer. Six Flags really, nobody cares about you. I mean, we are 800 (international students). The employer can't care about everybody, too many people.

Any surprises? That people here don't lock their cars, because in Bulgaria, everybody locks everything.

Now that you've graduated from college, is this the last summer in Rangeley? The work and travel program allows anybody who's a student under 28 to come again. Maybe we'll be back. We want to study the master's degree out-of-country but in Europe, not in Bulgaria.

Nine women, two bathrooms. How's that work? Yesterday (the Russian girls) made a cake for us because it was their one month (anniversary) here, like a celebration. They're nice. Sometimes we have problems, for example, the dishes, but that's normal.

Why pull all those long hours? We're saving some money for our education, first of all, and we save some money to see the United States. Last year, we went to Niagara Falls - it was awesome - and New York City and Boston. This year we want to go to Miami. I would like to go to L.A., if it's possible. ... We work hard because at the end of the summer, we want to have fun. (The women paid $2,000 each to take part in the program that brought them over. That amount includes transportation to and from Rangeley, but they must pay their own room and board.)

Does that schedule leave room for summer romance? (Laughs) Kind of. A lot of people ask us, "Do we want to stay here, to get American citizenship?" We don't want this. We want to have fun here, save some money, then go to Bulgaria. Our families are there and everything, our life.

When you find time for fun: We have some friends from last year, we hang out with them. ... We like kayaking. Last year we went kayaking on Rangeley Lake. This year we're going to do the same. We like shopping, but not in Rangeley. Next week we're going to Augusta on our day off. We went to the Auburn Mall.

Up next, a career in accounting? Honestly, it's a little bit boring, accounting. (Laughs) I guess I have to do this because I graduated. Accountants in Bulgaria make good money, it's good for that, but yeah, it's a little bit boring. Numbers, numbers everywhere. I prefer to work with people.