Varna

Before the weather turned cold I wanted to make it to Varna to check out the Black Sea. So on Thursday after classes 3 other American girls and I hopped on a bus to Sofia and then from Sofia a bus to Varna. 9 hours later we arrived at 5am in Varna. We decided to find a cheap hotel and a 15 leva taxi ride later landed us on the outskirts of the city at a 35 leva a night 2 twin bedroom..for 4 girls. A few hours later we left the hotel at 10 and went to the city center in search of a hostel and food! We finally found a hostel after hours of searching only because the hostel we wanted to stay at had been shut down and we did not know that. After checking in the hostel we explored the city the remainder of the day. The next day we went to the beach and spent a bit of time sunbathing and swimming although the weather was in the 70’s. We also explored Roman ruins, churches and did a bit of shopping. I was a bit bummed because we came to late in the season, and all the clubs and bars on the beach were closed but we still had a nice time.

Sunday morning we got back on a bus to Sofia, and arrived back in Blago around 9:30pm. I have a new found hatred for riding on a bus, and would much rather take a train. But from what I’ve heard it’s better/safer to take the buses then to take the train here. Overall it was a good trip, and I’m glad we got a chance to go to Varna! =)

                                                                      The Black Sea

 Black Sea

 The Roman Thermae

 The Roman Thermae

Opera House

Homeless animals of Bulgaria.

          Coming here I was expecting homeless animals on the street but definitely not to the extent I’ve seen it here. Everyday walking to class I see homeless cats and dogs. Now I’m beginning to recognize the dogs and there's even 2 of then that always stay together. If you pay a bit of attention to the dogs they will follow you around everywhere you go and wait for you outside a store when you go in. At first I was nervous about the stray dogs but I’ve never felt unsafe around them, if fact I think there pretty sweet animals. What can be annoying is when your sitting outside of a restaurant eating and then 2 dogs, or cats and dogs get in fights right under your table or near it. That’s happen twice and I was somewhat uneasy about it. But for the most part they really are nice animals.

          Going to Varna this weekend I was amazed at how many strays there were. It felt way worse then in Blagoevgrad. At one point there was a street with at least 20 dogs and cats, it felt like most of them were puppies. On the same street I saw, in what felt like slow motion a BMW with about 5 dogs around it slowly going only to run over a dogs 2 legs. The sound was horrible and I felt so bad for the dog. I’m not sure what happen to it, but I did see the owner of the BMW pullover but I don’t know what he did. On another occasion in my second week in Blagoevgrad I saw a dog get run over and quiver in the street, until it stopped. The car did not stop. I was really shaken up over these two incidents and I really wonder if in a month I’ve seen this twice, how many times a day does this happen here?! I don’t understand why the Bulgarian government can’t make a program to neuter the animals at least so this stops being a cycle! I realize that Bulgaria has a lot of other issues to deal with from corruption, the Roma, orphanages and so on. But for me I think this is a major issue that should be addressed. I’ve seen that some of the dogs have red tags on their ears and I’ve been told that this means they’ve received shots but I’m not sure if this means they’ve been neutered, but from the look of how many animals are on the streets I really am thinking they have not been neutered. I’ve never been an animal person, but I want to adopt a dog so bad!

                                              

  This is typical to see if you eat outside in Bulgaria.

                        

                         

                       

     Look how cute these puppies are and they have no home!

               

                

 My baby, I wanted to take him with me so bad!

                  

                     

                      

                   

                       

Buddy our beach buddy drinking water.


A link to a video with pictures of homeless Bulgarian cats:
 homeless_cats_in_Bulgaria
Video for adoption of Bulgarian animals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ynZDTCYTOw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f1B0g4YFxc&feature=related

Article on animal cruelty in Bulgaria:
http://www.sofiaecho.com/2010/04/15/887360_bulgaria-considering-five-year-jail-term-for-extreme-animal-cruelty

Blagoevgrad Orphanage

                          Orphan boys play on the playground of Blagoevgrad's orphanage in Bulgaria.

                                 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125903954
                              http://www.flashnews.org/features/students-help-children-learn-english.html


Going to the orphanage here in Blagoevgrad, I was a bit apprehensive not knowing what to expect out of this experience. Recently I found out that a volunteer group at my school goes once a week to the local orphanage to spend time with the children. One of the reasons I came here was to volunteer at an orphanage at some point of my stay here in Bulgaria, so naturally I became part of this group!
 It’s about a 20 minuet walk from the dorms and when I came upon the orphanage I was stuck by the bright yellow color it’s painted and the thought that it’s trying to be cheerful. There were a few kids already outside who ran up to the students who last semester had visited the orphanage frequently. We were greeted with hugs, and the children asked us our names. I was definitely overwhelmed with the look of the children, and the fact I could not make conversation with them. So the whole time I just smiled, and hoped I looked friendly enough. My favorite part was when a little boy who said he’s 10, but is more likely around 7 came up to me and sat on my lap for a bit, and then grabbed me by my hand and took me toward a swing to push him. The language barrier is the hardest part, and I wish I could actually have a conversation with them. The part that surprised me the most was when around 4 girls around 8-10 came and sat on the bleachers and started smoking. I don’t think I’ve ever saw kids that young smoking, and it made me sad.



I’m going to be going every Friday to the orphanage to visit with the children. I wont be taking any pictures of the children because A) apparently the Bulgarian government is strict on taking pictures and B) I believe it’s exploitation of the children, making them an object or a spectacle just to post on Facebook, or here on my blog.


So for now I’ll just be writing about my experience in the orphanage and will have to do without pictures. = )

Balkan Insight

http://www.balkaninsight.com/

Nice articles on health care in Bulgaria:
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/30503/

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/30419/

Dorm Rooms at the American University in Bulgaria

I was pretty impressed with my dorm when I first moved in, granted I live in the newest and nicest dorm building at AUBG. Just to give you an example in the other 2 dorm buildings it's 6 people per bathroom. In my dorm it's 2 people per bathroom. Along with air conditioning I think the $275 more I'm paying per semester in worth it.

Bathroom for two.

Below is the common area.

USAID sticker..it's on everything in the dorms

Trip to Rila Monastery

Weekend trip to Sandanski

Sandanski Pirin Folk Festival

View from hotel

Saturday afternoon 2 other American girls and I left for Sandanski, not far from the Greece border. The weekend did not start off so great, because we had to wait 2 hours for a bus since it was a holiday weekend and all the buses were really full. Once we got on a bus we hand to stand up for the entire 2 hour trip to Sandanski which was not horrible but it's also not on the top of my favorite things to do list. Once we got to Sandanski we looked into checking into one of the fancy resort hotels at about 140 leva a night, but then decided against it. Randomly a lady saw us with our suitcases and took up around the corner to a house/restaurant in which the owner rents out a spare room with a queen and a twin bed. So for 80 leva (40 Euro) we rented out this room for 2 nights. The first night we were so tired that we ate dinner and went straight to bed. The next day one of the girls went back to Blagoevgrad and Jennifer (in the picture above) and I went in search of what Sandanski is famous for: hot springs. After debating out options we deicide to go to the park hot springs. We searched a while and could not find them, so we ended up going to a hotel and using their swimming pool with the hot spring water. I guess I was expecting what I've experienced in the past with hot springs, but this water was not very warm and we only stayed about an hour. I was pretty disappointed since that was the main reason I'd come to Sandanski, but at least the weekend that we were there the Folk Festival was going on which only happens once a year! For 5 leva we went to the outdoor theater and experienced 3 hours of Baltic music it was really amazing and great to watch but after 3 hours we began to wonder when it would end, and we left to grab dinner. After dinner we were ready to go out clubbing in Sandanski, but we quickly learned that in Sandanski a Sunday night is not a night to go out (everything is empty!!) So we headed back to the hotel and were in bed by 12. Monday we walked around town a bit more, went to a market and made our way back to Blagoevgrad. While we did not make it to Melnik (a famous wine town) I still think we had a nice, quick trip to a near by town. A lot of people I know went to places like Athens and Istanbul for the long weekend. But to me if I was spending the money to go to Athens I would not want to spend only 2 full days there. I'd much rather get to know Bulgaria at this point of my study abroad then jetting off to places like Athens and Istanbul. Next weekend the school has organizes a weekend trip to a few villages nearby and it cost 30 leva. I'm thinking about going but am not sure. =)