blogaria09

Following all of the lectures I was left with a lot of information to process.  9 lectures in 2 days has a way of flooding your brain.  There were a few in particular that I thought were fascinating. History has always been something I am interested in.  We learned how Bulgaria has transitioned from one ruling power to another and how they are trying to rebuild now that they are back on their own.  There has been a large amount of turbulence in their history that has held them back from advancing and becoming a stable country.  It’s interesting to imagine the kind of country Bulgaria would be if they had been left on their own during the half century of Ottoman rule and the 45 years of Socialism.  As a result of these difficult times Bulgaria is now in the process of creating their own laws and societal structure.

We had a lecture on the economics of Bulgaria.  They informed us of Bulgaria’s past and current financial crisis.  Reasons and solutions were presented which was very interesting.  We learned about the EU and what that meant for Bulgaria’s financial situation.  Bulgaria has a very large sum of money waiting for them once they meet all of the requirements.  This money is crucial for Bulgaria’s economy.  It will enable the country to continue its growth and advancement.  One aspect holding them back is the current inflation rate.  Countries must have a certain inflation rate to obtain the money from the EU and Bulgaria’s is currently too high.  I posed the question of how they plan on resolving this issue.  They responded saying that Bulgaria was currently going to economic trouble and recession.  Quite often during a recession inflation rates drop as result of loss in capital and jobs.  Bulgaria is hoping that from this current struggle may come the benefit of the remaining EU funds.  This is a very optimistic view during a rough time in their history.  If they succeed in obtaining those funds it seems that their economy and in turn their country will benefit greatly and be able to rebound quickly.

Bulgarian media is not very different from our own, at least not now.  During socialist rule there were very few outlets for media.  Everything was controlled by the government, so the information being given to the people was very biased and possibly even skewed.  It was said that during this time people in the west could use radios to try and pick up outside news from neighboring countries.  This was both illegal and dangerous.  Ever since Bulgaria was able to gain back its independence and adopt a democratic model for its country media has slowly become more like ours.  There are many outlets for people to obtain the information they want.  They spoke about how politics was handled.  Just like in the US presidential candidates receive equal air time.  One major difference is the way reporters are assisted in obtaining news.  Here in the US if a reporter must travel somewhere dangerous to get the facts they can receive protection and assistance from the government.  In Bulgaria, they receive no such help.  The reporters are on their own.  A question was asked regarding corruption.  No countries media is perfect.  There will always be some form of corruption.  They only question is to what extent is it affecting the media that reaches the people.