The Bulgarian experience

On the 8th of April I got up early. I left home and went to the meeting place. Only a few of us, the Bulgarians, were going to Sofia to welcome the other participants in the project. We- Ralitsa, Kristian, Mrs Damyanova, Mrs Stankova and THE bus driver. Me and Kris were listening to some songs the whole trip and it was sooo funny. Rali wasn't feeling so well, so she didn't talk with us too much. We didn't use the main highway to Sofia, so the road was awful. But it was a shortcut.

We arrived in Sofia 3 hours later, had lunch and spend some time in our hotel room. We were eager to welcome the Irish group, which was to arrive first at the Airport's 1st Terminal. And. after a few hours, we set out for the airport.
After getting there, we walked around for some minutes, and then waited 10- 15 minutes till the Irish came. And... they finally came. Mrs Damyanova recognized their teachers and said "Here they are!" and all of us went to greet them. We introduced ourselves and went to the bus. I tried to talk with them, but I'm not so good at communicating with others, so I didn't talk with them much at first. Rali and Kris didn't say much either. We went back to the hotel, passing through one of the areas of Sofia, inhabited by gypsies. There were lots of awful houses, destroyed roofs and of the kind... One of the dirties places you can see in Sofia. I tried to explain the others that this is not the Bulgarian part of the city, because they seemed quite shocked. I didn't want the others to think that this is what Bulgarian cities look like. Then, we went back to the hotel and had some time to rest.

We had dinner at 18:00 and talked a little bit with each other. It was quite silent round me, but I just didn't know what to say, and it seemed the others didn't know too.

Around 22:00 we went to the airport again. They left me and Ralitsa at the 2nd Terminal to wait for the Spanish group, and the Irish students, Kris, Mrs Damyanova and Mrs Stankova went to greet the Norwegians.

We waited almost half an hour before the Spaniards came. We recognized them quite quickly and went to introduce ourselves. The Norwegians flight got delayed, so we had to wait an hour or so with the Spanish people till the others came to get us, so we had time to talk with them. They were quite friendly and we talked more than with the Irish when we met them earlier the same day. Then, the bus came and we all got in it and went straight back to the hotel for a good night's sleep. Almost none of the groups tried talking with each other, but it was to be expected, as it was past midnight and everyone seemed tired.

Kris' alarm went off and woke me up early in the morning. I pretended not to hear it and tried to sleep some more. But then Kris started poking me saying "Wake up! Wake up, Roska!". Aaaand... I woke up. >.< We then went down to have breakfast, but I wasn't so hungry and didn't eat almost anything. We packed our stuff and took our luggage to the bus. We left for the center of the city. But our bus couldn't stop where we had to meet our guides, so it left us quite far from the meeting point and we had to walk there. Atleast we didn't pass near the gipsy houses again, so the others didn't have to see that degenerated area again. I shall skip the part of getting to the meeting point as it would be boring for you to read how I ate my cheeseburgers from McDonald's. :D

And sooo... we met our guide Kris. Yeah, Kris! Kris & Kris! :D:D So, the guides split us in 2 groups, and we moved so that after our group (the 1st) finished at some place, the other came right after us. It's easier to explain things when there are less people after all. Kris was quite a good guide. We saw the main tourist attractions around the center of the city, and there's quite a lot of them. Alas, we had no time for all of them, so we kind of just skipped a few of them. We saw the National Art Gallery, The National Theater, The national Library(well...almost!), the mineral baths, some of the older layers of the city and a few more places. Kris introduced the non- Bulgarians to one of our traditions- wearing a Martenitza on your hand, and putting it on a blossoming tree after you'd seen a stork.

We met up with the other group and walked to the place where the bus was supposed to wait for us. WE waited for it some time, and got in. And we left for Veliko Turnovo(or Tarnovo maybe, w/e).

At first, I was supposed to stay in one room with Conor and Ian, but because of... "an accident" I had to leave the room. Who knew that trying to repair a broken bed with a couple of plastic bags wouldn't do the trick, eh? So, I shared a room with The bus driver. Kris was supposed to sleep in a room with Marc and Sergi, but due to some other unavoidable circumstances, he spend the night on the sofa near the reception. Way to go Kris!!! :D And, Ralitsa shared a room with two Norwegian girls, she didn't tell me who they were, though. We had dinner at 19:30 and then I thought that there might be a lightshow at the castle. Turnovo's keep is famous for its lightshow, but the real deal happens only once or twice a year. At first, I told my idea to Kris, but then, it spread and the others wanted to join us. Mrs Damyanova said " Rosen, there's no lightshow, what are you talking about?!". But still, we went to the castle, and waited a few minutes. And then... the lights started dancing infront of our eyes! There are 5 different colors, and each represents a different period of the Bulgarian history. The Norwegians didn't come with us, but all the others really enjoyed it. Or so I hope!
And then, we walked around the town for some time and headed back to the hotel. I went back to the hotel I was staying at, with the bus driver in the same room, and finally got some rest. ^_^.

The next morning, we had breakfast and some of us went to the church. I didn’t enter. Instead, I took some photos around the place while waiting for the others. Then- me, Kayla, Kris and Ralitsa went to see the castle. Rosen and Ralitsa, Kayla and Kris= R & R and K & K? :D I was kind of familiar with the place, as I’ve been there a few years ago. The weather was not the best, because the wind was too strong, but we had a lot of fun.

Then, we went back to the hotel, got our stuff and went to the bus. And… we set off for “Etara”. It was really cold and gloomy, so we didn’t stay there much. After the guide told everyone about “Etara”, we spend a little time there and got on the bus again. The new destination was the “Shipka Monastery”. The time spend there was really short, compared to all the other places. But… no wonder! Everyone was tired after all the travelling. And, spending less than an hour there, we set off straight for Kazanlak, more precisely, to our school, where everyone was supposed to be waiting for us. But, arriving half an hour or even more, earlier, we had to wait for the parents and the other students from our school to come and meet us.

We waited for 30 minutes and I told my teacher that we are going home, and, me, Ian, Conor and Hristo, along with my mother went home. We played a little bit on the PS 3 and went out around the city. After meeting up with the girls, we went to the Hollywood café and spent some time there. Then, we met up with Ilona and Sergi and went to the park to play some games. After it got dark, we went back home, had dinner and went to sleep.

The next morning, we got up at 7a.m., had breakfast and went to school. There, we had a sculpture class and a fast tour of the school after that. Then, the second work meeting of the Comenius project started. Every group introduced to the others their work up to now, and we got to know each others’ cultures some more. Then, the local media came to get interviews from 1 student of each participating country and 1 teacher. Alas, for some unknown reason, no students were interviewed from us, the Bulgarians. Me, Ralitsa and Kristiyan translated to the reporter and that was where our job ended. After that, all of us went for lunch at the “ Magnoliya” restaurant, and then, we went back to school, continuing the project activities. After we were done with the work for the day, at 3 pm, we went shopping for a while, and then, almost all of us played football and gaelic football. I, ofcourse, took a lot of photos! And after we were done with the sports, we went to Hollywood again, where we stayed for a few hours. And then, we went right for the “Magnoliya” restaurant again, to enjoy the great Bulgarian folklore program that was arranged especially for us!

The next day was pretty much the same at school- 1 class, then project activities. But, at the end, we ended the Second project meeting by giving away certificates and with a traditional Bulgarian dance. After the lunch at the restaurant, we all went to say goodbye to the Norwegians. Then, we went to the Thracian tomb and the Museum. And again, we spent a few hours in Hollywood. But this time, all of us went to have some pizza together and enjoy ourselves, as it was the last day we’d be together!

We made friends and great memories, though only for a little time spent together. We learned something of each others’ cultures as well! The next morning, all of the participants were gathered at school, where we said goodbye and took the last photos with most of us together. At the end, we waved goodbye at the bus, and that’s how the Bulgarian visit of the project ended for me!