blogaria09

So I haven’t posted in a while…or slept really…life here is too enjoyable to spend time on the computer!  I don’t want to repeat other people’s explanations of the past few days, but I can’t simply say “Hi Mom” and post.  So you must read about our lives here once more.  The lectures were very longggg but actually interesting (not that I’m too surprised).  If we took out the repetition in every lecture I could honestly admit I learned a lot and found the majority of them to be worth it :).   The most unique of them all was the role of the media.  I was personally surprised to hear the media wasn’t full of freedom fights, minority activists, corruption…I guess I didn’t realize how settled people already are within this democracy.  The rest were a bit more alike, and there was only one in which we were ALL miserable.  We went shopping in Sofia and I bought some delicious raspberries.  I enjoyed going to the University of National and World Economy and meeting students our own age.  While the actually presentation/discussion didn’t go as smoothly as hoped, it was kind of just nice to meet our equivalents here, see similarities and differences.  Then we went to a black market type deal, there was A LOT of Nazi and Communist parafanalia, it was very uncomfortable.  We wandered through, saw some jewelry as well and some odds and ends.  Then we went to the American Research Center, met the 3 graduate students who live and study there, hung out for a bit, shmoozed, all the good stuff.  We went back to the hotel, wandered a bit to find dinner, enjoyed a cultural experience with some of the research students and celebrated the end of a fabulous week one.  We also had to say goodbye to one of our favorite group members…the groups persona has slightly changed 😦 BUT we’ll take 200000 pictures and make him even more sad for leaving yay.  So I stayed up till 5 to say bye, went to sleep, and woke up at 8 ready to set out for the next day.  We piled into the bus and first drove to a sick cave.   It was HUGE  and absolutely beautiful.   We wandered through for a bit, taking pictures and hearing what the locals referred to different locations within the cave as.  It was way cool.  Then we got back into the bus and drove until a lunch break.  Then we drove the rest of the way to Gabrovo, another town.  Our first stop there was at Etura, a museum village preserved to be how it was hundreds of years ago, all the artists using their hands and watermills for their basic skills.  It was SO cool to see a guy carve a bowl out of wood using a watermill contraption.  We got a tour through the village and then shopped for souvenirs.  I bought a beautiful ring.  Then we came to our new homebase…a HUGE villa!  Its incredibly beautiful with an amazing view into the mountains.  We wandered in awe, played some frisbee, darts, and even ping pong…we might move in.  Then we met Stefan Morov and got to learn about the life of a business man in Bulgaria during the transition to Democracy.  We ended the night at a fabulous restaurant in which I had my favorite meal so far.  Given, it was still a salad and “stewed vegetables” but they were just better there.  A few of us hung out in the hotel after, being silly and loving our new found friendships.  Next thing we knew it was 2 am and we needed sleep.  I slept like a baby.  Now I’m prepping for another exciting day full of monuments, sight-seeing, and shopping!  I’m actually looking forward to the nearly empty schedule of the day…the lack of sleep is hitting hard, and the fact that school is only a week away is beginning to dawn on me.  We miss our bacon and eggs though, thats for sure!

I’ve posted a smattering of pics from the trip on the flickr account (linked via the tool bar)…it wouldn’t allow anymore because of file size limitations. They aren’t in any particular order, but should give folks a feeling for what we have been up to.

To the rest of the group still in Bulgaria – I miss you all already! It was tough leaving today, and even tougher being stuck in Charles de Gaulle airport for a little while due to technical difficulties (lack of sleep and any companions made that an utterly joyless experience). For those who I didn’t get to say this to during my departure festivities last night, working with people like you really makes this job worth it, so thank you for that! Drop me a line to let me know how you are all doing!

The last three days have certainly been exhausting for students and faculty alike. It seems like we have spent pretty much every hour from 9am until 6pm in meetings, lectures, and presentations. I have to say that I am extremely proud of our students – they have demonstrated a degree of professionalism that is quite impressive. For all of the demands placed on them over the last three days – long days with only a few short breaks, lectures on complicated topics, meetings with an almost endless barrage of people, and all of this done on minimal sleep as we have been coping with jet lag – this group of students never failed to rise to the challenge. They have asked excellent and insightful questions and have fully immersed themselves in the experience of being here in Bulgaria. They are always engaged and energetic. Discussions have run over outside of the official presentations and into meal times and even late night talks. They have represented Drexel well, and I am sad to be leaving such an excellent group after an amazing, but all too brief, stay here in Sofia. While I will be heading back to the states tomorrow (due to some potential job opportunities while we were in the planning process), the rest of the group will be moving on to Gabrovo and then Plovdiv (so stay tuned for that!).

So, yes, I am sad to be leaving – such opportunities to travel and study in interesting faraway places don’t come along all that often. To do so with as good of a group of traveling partners is even rarer. I will be posting a bunch of photos upon my return (forgot the stupid cable at home…but, considering that that is the only thing I forgot, I guess I did pretty well!). I hope that the students continue to connect the lessons that we have learned about Bulgaria’s transition to democracy to the rest of their travels throughout the country. And, I hope that they have a great time during the rest of the trip – I’ll be keeping tabs on them!

Because we’ve been doing so much!  (That’s a good thing, right?)

We’ve had classes at the University of Sofia for the past couple of days.  I learned everything imaginable about the “painful” transition to democracy during day one, and during day two, we learned about media, drug trafficking, education and an “insider’s view” of the transition.  Very interesting!

However, I really do want to know what it is like to live in socialism/communism — especially because people say that America is “on the path to socialism” (Newsweek, blah).  But it’s all over the web, all in the papers . . . are we the next socialist regime?  I’d just like to know the warning signs.  🙂

I enjoyed shopping yesterday, too.  Surprisingly cheap!  When I was in Crete, phew, you would have to spend 30 euros for a shirt.  Here it’s like 10-20 Lev, which is worth less than the dollar.  Very nice!

Looking forward to meeting the grad students in Bulgaria again — and listening to their presentations!  (And I believe Suzanne will be giving a presentation today, too!)

As a design and merchandising major, I tend to use my knowledge of the different design styles I see (in art, fashion, architecture, interior design) as a lens through which I can gain some insight into different people and cultures. In all my studies of European design and Art History, Bulgaria never came up, so I really wasn’t sure what to expect. After a few days spent traveling around the country, and viewing a plethora of historical art and artifacts, as well as seeing the modern styles on the streets of Sofia, I’ve realized Bulgaria has a lot to offer to anyone who values design.

The historical aesthetics of Bulgarian design seem to be quite diverse. Ancient Thracian designs that draw heavily on classical influence and culture, Byzantine gold and mosaics, medieval design rich with religious symbolism and gothic details, can all be seen in the National History Museum here in Sofia, (which I highly recommend for anyone interested in viewing one of the most amazing ancient jewelry collections I’ve seen). Traditional folk art consists heavily of woodcarving, which is ornate, and featured on many ceilings around the country, so if you ever visit, be sure to look up frequently! Bright colors, geometric patterns, and a lot of interior wall painting help to make up this style as well. 

As for street style, Bulgarians definitely adhere to the dress code for much of Eastern Europe, a lot tight clothing, a lot of skin showing, and a lot of serious colors (dark blues and blacks seem to be favorites). What is most interesting to me about modern design in the city of Sofia in particular however, is the graffiti. It’s all over the place, and much of it seems to have a very political aim. It ranges from the basic graffiti styles seen in signatures on walls in the states, to a more graphic, two dimensional cartoon style, and there are anarchy symbols as well as other, less blog-friendly political statements, spread throughout the city. I find the prevalence of graffiti as a means of artistic expression in Sofia very interesting, and can’t wait to find out if this trend has spread to other Bulgarian cities as well. One of the Bulgarian students on the trip has informed me that in a few days we will be visiting a museum with lots of historic costume to explore, which I personally cannot wait for. 

But today, its off to the University of Sofia, and as we all know that in the States college life has a dress code all its own, I’m really excited to see what Bulgarians are wearing on campus!

So my first trip to Eastern Europe has been all that I have expected and more.  The social night life is lively and makes for a great time.  Much of the history has been well preserved by means of thousands of years old artifacts, which were amazing to see.  Some of the places we’ve been thus far includes the Rila Monastery, which is the oldest monastery in Bulgaria, the National Museum of History, which houses thousands of treasures and other artifacts, and the village of Koprivshtitsa, which has been historically preserved. 

The first day didn’t count much since I was pretty beat from severe jetlag.  Most of the group ignored probably wise recommendations to not go to bed straight away, but that is easier said than done after going almost 24 hours without sleep.  Several of us had the same “I woke up at 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep for a while” story during breakfast the next morning.

Day 2 is when the trip actually started.  The drive to Rila Monastery was long, but I enjoyed driving through different parts of Bulgaria and learning about the people that lived there.  A Bulgarian native travelling with us was able to inform us of the types of people that lived in the different parts of Bulgaria.  He pointed out one of the affluent villages that we drove through as the residence of many corrupt politicians.  He explained that in Bulgaria, entering politics was a way of gaining wealth (via corruption) for most; while in America politicians are often wealthy before entering the political realm.  It’s interesting to see that the development of democracy in Bulgaria has offered people more opportunities to get involved with government rule, while at the same time provided more people the opportunity to enter the circle of corruption in order to get their “piece-of-the-pie.”

So far, today was the best day in Bulgaria.  I was able to view some of the oldest gold, not only in Bulgaria, but in the world.  The craftsmanship displayed in these pieces of art is phenomenal.  It’s amazing to think that these civilians crafted these precious metals and stone with such intricacy using what we would probably consider cavemen tools, while today, at least in America, detailed work done by the latest technologies don’t parallel.  If Bulgarians were able to create these pieces of art thousands of years ago with those tools, and our (Americans) craftsmanship and technology doesn’t quite measure up even now, ironically, we have a seriously undeveloped jewelry industry in our very developed country.

So we’ve been here for 2.5 days and I am not living off of granola bars and pop tarts.  I have recently tried to become a more adventurous eater since I have been very picky for most of my life.  It was hard to imagine what the native cuisine would consist of.  Would the food be spicy or comprised of a million and one ingredients.  Although I have not tried anything too different, I was surprised to see that there are many similarities with food back home in the US.  There are pizzerias that have your basic cheese, veggie, meat and anything else you would like.  Being a cheese lover and wanting to try something a little different, I went with the 4 cheese pizza.  Doesn’t sound to adventurous but the cheeses were Bulgarian rather than your usual mozzarella.  The cheese in this pizza had much more flavor.  There was one that was creamy and tasted like cream cheese.  Sounds weird but I loved it.   As far as differences go, they have some unique choices on the menu.  Some of these were the “Monastery Sword”, “Force Meat Sausage”, “Pork Tender Lion”.  The first two were  meat dishes and the last was most likely a translation error.

Breakfast is my favorite meal and I could eat breakfast food all throughout the day.  In Bulgaria they eat a large breakfast full of pastries, fruit, yogurt and several different kinds of meats and cheeses.  Being a breakfast lover I thoroughly enjoy the delicious choices to eat eat morning at our hotel.  The chocolate crepes are particularly good.

While the food may have mirrored some of our own, the service was sightly different.  As usual we started off with ordering drinks and our entrée.  Most of the time this was done at the same time where as in the US we usually order drinks and then wait till the waitress or waiter comes back to order our meal.  Restaurants in the US always bring every ones food at the same time.  This could potentially lead to some ones food sitting out for a while, but avoids the awkward silence and hunger that ensues for the person who received their food but politely waits for everyone else.  Here in Bulgaria food comes out as it is prepared.  The time between entrées is not too long but it definitely takes some getting used to.  The food also comes out much quicker here as well.

I am excited to see how the local cuisine changes as we travel to new cities.  We will see if geography plays a part in the traditions and specialties.  As for now I will fill up on the foods I like.  Maybe the adventurous side will kick in later on in the trip.

Bulgaria…

Day 1-3…

It’s quite possible that I’ve destroyed what little internal clock I previously had. This place is everything I hoped it would be, and I find myself grateful to be out of my comfort zone.

A run down of events:
– Notorious = Bulgaria
– Dolphin Yogurt?
– An arduous hike up a mountain to a cave where a hermit who founded the most famous monastery in the country is really just a metaphor for a country’s struggle towards democratization.
– Long meals, crazy showers, Bulgaria Dance Club… not necessarily in that order

We arrived and I made the early decision to battle sleep deprivation and try to get myself aligned with this new timeframe; jet lag’s a bitch. I was doing well until Steve (Cardiac) and I passed out in our room and were late for dinner. No big deal. We’ve been eating at pretty typical restaurants, consuming massive quantities of chicken, potatoes, and crepes w/ chocolate; there’s a really healthy chance I’ve gained weight. The food, though simple by my choosing, is delicious. Things like ketchup and ice cream taste different which was initially surprising, but I’ve since learned to cope.

We’ve visited a couple UNESCO sights. Got to spend a lot of time outdoors the second day while it was beautiful: hot and sunny. We visited the Rila Monastery (Google it). It was awesome. Pictures do it some justice, but seeing it with it’s mountainous backdrop and a cloudless sky really increased the awe. The structure itself was a bit more modern than I expected, though it featured some amazing, beautiful wood carving work… a recurring theme throughout the country. We also climbed said mountainous backdrop for a while and went to the cave where the hermit Ioan Riliski (sp?) did his whole “I’m a hermit and will respect God by not chillin’ with the village peeps (i.e., citizens, not to be confused with early Village People… see: Indian, Cop, Biker, etc.) and instead doin’ my own thang up here on this mountain, in this here cave, until the day I… oh look, is that butterfly?” [NOTE: Some historians hypothesize that Mr. Hermit was in fact an early case of ADHD… I think.]

Moving on… today, it rained while we visited the National History Museum (NHM)–worth the trip for anyone who feels like making it!!–and a small heritage village about two hours outside Sofia. We ended up waking up late because we’re morons and at 5:00 AM or so decided that the meeting time was 10:00 AM rather than 9:00 AM… the knock on our door at 8:50 AM led to a prompt lie that, Yes, we’ve been up for a bit now and will be down in a minute. The NHM featured a beautiful collection of intricate gold work and stone carvings from across Bulgaria’s expansive history. Much of it was Thracian, though a large portion was from before the common era (a.k.a. – BC).

The heritage village, Koprivshtitsa, was small, but pleasant. We enjoyed a meal and some shopping. It’s hard to shop when you can’t communicate what exactly it is you are holding in your hand. Oh well.

Following this: dinner, minor sight-seeing, this blog and, in approximately 15 seconds, sleep.

Family and friends, I love you all. Everyone else, you’re cool too. Keep cool, expect more, actually important material to follow at a later point. For now, just trust me when I say Bulgaria is an awesome and under-appreciated location. Consider it in the future.

So I’ve always kind of had this thing for Eastern Europe–the majorly pastoral lifestyle, the hearty food, the folk culture, the love of vodka…you get the point. I’ve just been drawn to this place for quite some time and finally got a chance to go because of this trip. After a summer spent in a classroom learning Russian five hours a day, five days a week, this is my reward, although Bulgaria is turning out to be quite different then what I expected. 

At the airport, Steff and I made friends with a UPenn grad student who was taking the same flight to Sofia as we were. He started up a conversation with us after listening to us struggle with the pronunciation of our “Helpful Bulgarian Phrases” index cards. He asked us what kind of trip we were on, etc and we asked him for some advice on touring the country. He seemed very concerned that we knew none of the language and told us we should stay with our Bulgarian translator guides at al times. I remember finding this odd, because everywhere else I’ve traveled English is so pervasive that it is almost impossible to practice your language skills even if you want to. So initially, I thought he was exaggerating. Bulgaria can’t have escaped the spread of American-ness that the rest of Europe is experiencing.

Well I was wrong. The restaurants we have been to so far have typically not had English speaking wait-staff, and our tour guide at the National History Museum spoke to us in Bulgarian, with Delcho translating. In every other European country I’ve been in, these are the two areas where I find English to be most prominent (service industry and tourism), but not in Bulgaria. I kind of like it though, because it makes you a more cautious traveler ad less likely to make dumb mistakes (you won’t be able to talk your way out of it).

Another thing that has surprised me is the cuisine. Maybe we just haven’t been to the right restaurants yet, or maybe I’m  just too chicken to try anything really exciting, but thus far Bulgarian food has turned out to be as bland as bland can be. Basically summed up in five words: tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, cheese, meat. The guide books I read ahead of time absolutely raved about the food, and although I really like the fresh vegetables that are so prevalent and the cheese is amazing, I definitely expected better. Perhaps we just haven’t found the right place yet. 

And finally, I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful the country truly is. We’ve now spent many hours in our little bus going to places, and Bulgaria is the lushest, greenest, vast expanse of a country that I have been in yet. There are huge leafy trees everywhere, and the air is so much cleaner than Philadelphia’s. Haven’t seen much of Sofia yet, but I’m excited to explore. I love the little bits of Soviet times that kind of just pop up unexpectedly, be it a bland boxy apartment complex or the random military equipment you find on street corners. Definitely a different experience. 

That’s all I’ve really got right now, hopefully there will be more interesting observations to come.

Since arriving to Bulgaria on Friday life has been a whirlwind of events.  The flights over were somewhat long and for some reason impossible to sleep on.  We basically slept and ate and then slept for 12 hours or so…much needed recovery!  As we walked to and from dinner I realized the more I see of the world, the less different all the places become.  Obviously every place has its own culture and people and all, but in reality, its not all THAT different.  Saturday we spent at Rila Monastery. It was interesting enough, but not exactly my cup of tea.  I’m more interested in the cultural and political history, without the religious aspect, but I guess its a part of their culture…oh well can’t love it all.  OH and we went to use the restrooms and found to our surprise squatters…cultural surprise there.  So far everywhere else has had real toilets.  After the touring we ate lunch at a restaurant right outside the Monastery and then took a walk/hike up to a cave to see a memorial.  The memorial was meh but the hiking up and hanging around on big rocks was fun.  It was nice to be in the outdoors and get our blood moving.  Then we drove the 2 hours back to Sofia, changed into warmer clothing and went to dinner.   After 2 hours of sleep we were up again and heading to the National History Museum to see Thracian treasures.  I was completely exhausted, but all the treasures managed to keep me going.  It is so impressive how detailed their art work was 7000 years ago.  The smallest designs and carvings on all the gold…and there was a lot of it! Beautiful! And the building itself was beautifully done, although we wanted to explore outside more, it was a foggy, gross day.  After the History Museum we went to a small church, only a few people paid to go in, the rest of us wandered outside enjoying the air and blood circulation.  I saw a snail eating and it was surprisingly adorable.  I even took a video as he just munched away, nature is often times more beautiful than gold.  Then we took a 2+ hour bus ride to the town of Koprivshtitsa.  It still had the feel of 200 years ago.  We had lunch and wandered for a bit there, looking in some gift shops, looking and different buildings, seeing what a Bulgarian cemetery was like.  I was actually surprised but every grave had  picture of the person on it…creepy. Then we passed out completely for the long bus ride home.  Tomorrow should be a long day, so tonight I’m taking an easy night.  But so far I have been really enjoying myself and am very happy to say the group is bonding very well!!