Bulgaria – a hidden treasure?
Share This:
Translate
One’s impressions of a country are based so much on individual experience, so of course, mine is a bias view. We have close family friends in Bulgaria and it’s the first country we are visiting where we are working with a charity – the Blagotvoritel foundation.
Having said that: here are some impressions after just one evening in Bulgaria:
1) Bulgaria has a nice mix of cultures and an international feel.
I think this is because it is between Western Europe and Asia, it is a small country with five bordering countries, so when its residence travel, they experience many other cultures. It is also one of the poorest countries in the European Union, and its economic fate depends a lot on foreign investment and the EU, so the people we have spoke with seem to have a good understanding of many other countries and their relationship to Bulgaria.
2) Bulgarians have a reputation for being welcoming and we have experienced that already.
Our hostel has a very homey feel and the people who run it made us feel as if we were friends even though we had just met.
3) There is a variety of food!
Hurray! This would not have been something to note before spending time in Italy, but after having experienced a country where almost all of the restaurants serve only a limited selection of Italian food, this is cause for great celebration.
4) Sofia is a city of over 1.5 million people, but it clean, not so touristy and has a neighborhood feel to it.
Again – maybe not all that note worthy – except when you have just come from Naples, which unfortunately, is one of the dirtiest cities in Europe. (We did not know that before we ventured down there…but it was still a great experience and worth it to see Pompeii!)
5) People are friendly and helpful
– not only the people we know or the ones we are working with on the computer lab – but the couple who run our hostel, people at the airport (even the immigration official who taught me a couple of words in Bulgarian) and the woman whom I bought juice from at a neighborhood store. One even volunteered to write a post for the website about Bulgarian culture and to help us at the orphanage.
6) Things are cheaper!
We knew this would be the case, but to arrive and pay ½ to 1/3 the price for our room, food etc makes a huge difference for us in being able to stay within our budget. We can actually afford to buy drinks with our meals if we want to instead of always filling our water bottles in the bathroom sink at the hostel 
Over the next few days, we will have more to tell.
We will get better acquainted with the people who make the great work of the Blagotvoritel foundation, with whom we are working on the computer labs for the orphanages possible.
You can read about our project to fund two computer labs to be installed and managed by the Blagotvoritel Foundation for two orphanages in Bulgaria here.
We will also walk around parts of the city, visit the Aladza Monestary, and take a three day horse and camping trip up into the mountains of Bulgaria. (Bella picked one special activity for the trip and this is it!)
Then on the 26th, we start our volunteer work at the Maria Theresia Orphanage – we cannot wait for that!
If you would like to contribute to make a computer lab possible for a second orphanage in Bulgaria, please click here to give.
Small contributions are welcome – if we all do a little, together we will be able to create new opportunities for children who need them.
Posted on: September 19, 2010 | Categories: Bulgaria, Computer Lab - Bulgaria, Education
School is underway, and we are able to take a breath. I’m hoping to introduce my classes to your trip (many know Alex) through the possible projects. We will be sharing what each project involves and choosing which we can help with. You had mentioned a reading program (Reading Room or Read ???) I would like to have the name again. Could you email me at work so I can contact you directly? This was the only way I knew to reach you.
We saw some videos on Eastern Europe last spring , and I fell in love with the area, would love to visit. Am glad you are enjoying the food and the people.