blogaria09

Monastery at Rila.

So, I’ve been here for less than two days, but I’ve already tried my hand at exploring!

As strange as it sounds, I like Bulgaria’s grittiness — the graffiti on every building, the broken down cars, the stray dogs and cats, laundry hanging from outside of balconies . . . this is the kind of essence that I wish we could have in America — but there’s a law against all those things or they are not considered “civil.”  Oh well.

I’m working on reading Cyrillic — trying to re-spark the Russian that I learned years ago.  Hopefully it’ll all catch on, especially when I’m reading all this graffiti!

Anarchy still seems very much alive in Europe, especially in countries with “emerging democracies.”  In Greece, the circled A was painted all over, along with whimsical hopes of freedom.  The same can be seen here, and it’s very interested to see that politics and revolutionary spirit are very much alive here while back in America people are bickering about health care.

We already got to see the city Rila and the “infamous Monastery.”  We also got to climb up to a cave belonging to St John of Rila.  Today we are going to many museums, including the National History Museum!  I’m excited!

First full day in Bulgaria, and as I was too tired yesterday to do anything but sleep and eat, there really wasn’t much to tell. Today has been a different story though, this morning we took a trip to Rila Monastery. There we went on a tour of the monastery and museum and it was gorgeous. The monastery itself has been rebuilt several times due to fires, attacks and relocation. It is located in a gorgeous mountain setting, with trees and hillsides behind it and the mountains framing the whole scene. The monastery itself is beautiful, hand painting everywhere, lots of gold, biblical scenes, and a bell tower that dates back to the 13th century. We had a chance to take a tour through the church, see some relics, and learn a bit of Bulgarian history through the history of the monastery. Obviously, Bulgaria has had a bit of a turbulent past (for example, the multiple attacks and fires set to the monastery during the Turkish occupation). Getting the opportunity to learn about Bulgarian history by visiting national sites, like Rila Monastery, is definitely exciting, and will hopefully help supplement my background knowledge of Bulgaria for when we begin our visit to the University of Sofia and discussions about the current national climate on Monday.

Well, I’ll be walking out my door shortly to go catch a train to the airport. I’ve got this sort of anxiety-filled anticipation; I’ve only ever been out of the country twice before, to the same location both times, and have never been on a plane for more than a few hours–definitely not 13+ hours, even if it is broken up in Paris.

Truth is, no matter how much time you spend preparing, you’re never ready until you’re on your way.

So, I’ve decided to stop packing and stop worrying and start exploring what I hope to get out of this trip. You see, I’m a civil engineer so my involvement on this trip is a combination of: my having nothing to do over term break; me confronting my lack of empathy for, and understanding of, foreign (and domestic) governmental policies; and my research interests in just how infrastructure–a centerpiece of civil engineering–ties into a country developing its democratic system.

My personal experience should also be quite different because I received word from my parents over the past day or two that my grandmother, who’s been sick for quite some time, will likely be passing during our time in Bulgaria. I’m sure this will put a damper on parts of the trip, but I think it will draw in a unique emotional perspective. Since I feel like an ass for, likely, not being home for everything, I’m going to dedicate my time–and this blog–to my Grammie.

So for you, Ruth Taylor Gormley, I say I love you and wish me luck as I begin my adventure in Bulgaria. And to the world–or just anyone who actually reads this–send good thoughts our way and over the course of the next two weeks, hopefully we’ll be able to share some interesting and insightful perspective on Bulgaria… an emerging democracy.

We just arrived safely in Sofia about an hour ago for those keeping track back at home. I’m a little too exhausted right now to write anything too substantive. However, I am excited by the prospect of checking out the military museum across the way from the hotel. We saw some old MIG’s and half tracks as we pulled up to the hotel, so I think that Joel and I are going to check it out in a bit. More later!

Well, it’s hard to believe that we are a little over a week out from starting our trip to Bulgaria. As we have been preparing, I have asked the students going on the trip to familiarize themselves with a number of readings on Bulgarian politics, culture, and economics, including the chapter on Bulgaria from Robert Kaplan’s Balkan Ghosts (for those unfamiliar with this work, Bill Clinton supposedly kept it on his night stand during the Yugoslav Wars of the 90’s).  As I have been reading back through this book, I am increasingly excited to get a firsthand account of the trials and tribulations (and successes!) of democratization in Bulgaria.

I think that Kaplan has also provided us with a good blueprint for approaching our studies and travels as Westerners coming to the Balkans. Too often people in the West (read: America) think that there is only one way to “do” democracy. I am confident that we will not come to Bulgaria with this kind of hubris, and that we will come away with a more nuanced understanding of the democratic process (newsflash! democracy does not begin and end solely with holding successful elections). This trip will offer our students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture of Bulgaria and to learn directly from Bulgarian experts what the last 20 years have wrought in the wake of the Soviet empire’s collapse.

I hope that, as contributors to this blog, we all take a lesson from Kaplan’s Bulgarian friend who, in the early 80’s advises him to not be a “hack…like all of those rotten guys who call [Bulgaria] a satellite! Go deep, deep into history and see for yourself who [Bulgarians] are.” That is the goal of this trip, after all.

Also, for those interested, here is a copy of the academic itinerary for our time in Sofia:

VISIT OF DREXEL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO SOFIA.BULGARIA

September 7-9, 2009

Tentative program

Monday, 9/07/09

9:00 am                    Visit to Fulbright Commission office, 17 Alexander Samboliiski Blvd, tel. 981 85 67

9:30 – 10: 45 am     Lecture: Bulgaria at a Glance. The Fulbright program in Bulgaria

Speaker:  Dr. Julia Stefanova, Executive Director

10:45-11:00 am      Coffee break

11:00 -12:30           Lecture:  Economic Liberalization and Democratization in Bulgaria after 1989

Speakers: Dr. Lena Roussenova,  Dr. Plamen Chipev

Lunch break

American Corner,    4A    Slaveikov Square

2:00 – 3:15 pm  Lecture:  Bulgaria: the Heritage of the 20^th Century and the Road to EU

Speaker: Dr. Kostadin Grozev

3:30 – 4:45pm    Lecture: Nationalism and National Identity in the Transition to Democracy

Speaker: Dr. Ognyan Minchev

5:00 – 6:15    Lecture: Bulgaria’s New Foreign Policy after 1989.

Speaker: Krasimir Kostov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

6: 30 -8:30     Informal Reception at American Corner

Tuesday, 09/08/09   Sofia University. Hall 1

9:00 – 10:30 am    Lecture: The Role of the Media in the Process of  Bulgaria’s Democratization

Speakers: Dr. Maria Deenichina,  Dr. Neli Ognyanova, Irina Nedeva

10:45 am – noon   The Bologna Process :  Reforming  Bulgarian and EU Education

Speaker:  Dr. Roumyana Marinova

Lunch break

2:00 – 3:15pm      Bulgarian Politics after 1989: an Insider’s View

Speaker: Dimiter Stefanov, former MP and Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party

3:30 – 4:45 pm     Social Inclusion: the Case of Roma Population in Bulgaria

Speaker: Dr. Lyubov Mincheva

Wednesday, 09/09/09

10:00 –  11:30 am   Meeting with members of the Students International Relations Association at the      University of National and World Economy,  Studentski Grad

Chair: Deyan Nikov (Presentation by Associate Dean)

2:00-2:30 pm     Sofia University

Meeting with Vice-Rector ( tba)

2:30 – 3:30 pm   Presentation by Associate Dean to students and faculty of Sofia University

4: 00 – 6:00 pm Visit to the American Research Center of Sofia (ARCS)