A little history

Last saturday a group of students to a visit to Blagoevgrad's natural history museum. They had displays relating to the region's geological make-up, flora and fauna, and a lot of stuffed animals. They also had a decent amount of artifacts from the Byzantine and Middle Ages. They also had examples of traditional Bulgarian clothing. Probably what was most interesting and definately what they had the most information on was the Bulgarian revolution. Until the late 19th century Bulgaria was still part of the Ottoman Empire (or what Bulgarians call the Turkish Enslavement). They had displays of different revolutionaries, guns and muskets, books, and letters from that time. We had a tour guide who only spoke Bulgarian but Savina translated for us. It was still kind of hard to understand completely what the guide was telling us. But they are very proud of this part of their history. Blagoevgrad was named after the founder of the Bulgarian Communist party, Dimitar Blagoev, and it is only one of five towns in Bulgaria that didn't change it's name after the fall of the Soviet Union.

I'm on the AUBG website!

My picture is in an article announcing new international students. This was during our diversity night during orientation. We're trying to come up with 20 cities that start with a P. Two of the guys are from Bulgaria, one guy is from Moldova and Kim and I, the two girls, from the USA.

Here's the link to the website:
http://www.aubg.bg/template1.aspx?page=news.ascx&menu=000001&nid=72

More Pictures!

This is the river that runs by the dorm

I walk through this park to and from class. It will be pretty in the spring. There are always workers picking up trash and trimming branches.

Those are the dorms to the left.

A street close to the dorms.

This is a public bathroom/washroom. The water is from a mineral spring and you can shower there if you so desire. I haven't tried it out yet.

My humble abode

This is the "suite" I live in. I share my room with two other girls - Liliya and Velina. They are both Juniors and are studing business. They call me T because it's easier for them. People look at me funny when I pronounce my name because it's not the way they pronounce it here. People tend to think I'm Russian because Tanya is a common nickname for Tatianna. When I went to apply for my Bulgarian ID card and I told the clerk my name she was really confused and gave me a funny look. My translator kind of shrugged and told her that that's how they must pronounce it in the United States. So I have a kind of common name that's is pronounced differently. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the video and sorry if it pauses a lot.

A view of the Main Building

The main walking street where all shops are.

The hillside by the dorms


The dorm - Skaptopara 1 affectionately known as skapto

A street view

Classes

I started classes yesterday. They seem to be very similar to classes I would take in Nebraska and since the University here is based off of American liberal universities it doesn't surprise me. I have a Bulgarian professor and a Romanian professor and they can be kind of hard to understand sometimes but they are all willing to help the students if they need anything.

Comfort and efficiency are not very important to Bulgarians. Women will wear high heeled shoes everyday and walk around town in them just to look good even if it isn't convenient. Meals last 1-2 hours just so the cooks can prepare your meal and you can enjoy your food and company. It's a lot different than I am used to - eating in 20 minutes. It's also strange eating most of my meals at restaraunts instead of the dining hall. We have two canteens on campus but the food isn't all that great and people would rather go out. Luckily food is cheap.

People smoke a lot here. Inside, outside, all the time. I'm going to come home in four months and smell like I've lived in a bar. Not joking. It does get kind of annoying, especially since I've been spoiled by the smoking bans in the US. It's just something else I'll have to get used to.

I still don't have internet in my room (hopefully tomorrow) but as soon as I do I'll put some pictures up. My friend Sevina took me to Varosha (the old city) today and we went inside the Orthodox church there. It was very pretty with a lot of paintings and woodworking. You can't take pictures inside but I'll post some of the outside eventually.

Sevina is in the AUBG choir with me. She told me that this is the 15th anniversary of the choir and they are hoping to go to Britain during spring break to sing with a British orchestra. It all depends if the school can find the money. I think it would be amazing!

Baptist church in Blagoevgrad?

The main religion in Bulgaria is Eastern Orthodox and there is also a significant population of Muslims. Only approximately 1% of Bulgarians are Protestant Christian and I found out today there are only around 4 Protestant Christian churches in Blagoevgrad.

My Navigator friends, Bill and Lisa Clark, who live and work in Blagoevgrad, took me to their Baptist church this morning. I was astonished that there was a Baptist church here. Really, it's very rare. There were about 30 people there and the service was similar to a church service in the states. I was even introduced to the congregation and at the end they prayed for my time here at the University. Bill had to translate the message to me since it was all in Bulgarian but he did a great job and I was able to follow along pretty well. They sang songs out of a Baptist hymnal but there wasn't a piano or any kind of accompaniment. I tried to follow along the best I could but I'm pretty sure I failed miserably trying to read the words.

The church in what used to be a store, but it was still very small. About the size of a dorm room but a little longer. The people were very friendly and those who spoke English welcomed me and invited me back. Another AUBG student named Didi was there and we arranged to get together later in the week. She's from here in Blagoevgrad. I really enjoy meeting students from so many different places.

This afternoon I went out for coffee with a girl named Sara from Kosovo. We talked about her country and Kosovo's desire for independence from Serbia. She talked a lot about how thankful the people of Kosovo are to Americans. She said they celebrate our Independence day and each year have a memorial for September 11th. It made me feel ashamed that I know so little about what's going on in Kosovo and how hard it is to live there and how difficult a time the Albanians have had but yet they are so involved in what is going on in the United States. She sounded more patriotic and proud of America than most people I know.

Not much else for now. Classes start tomorrow. I hope you have a blessed week! Ciao!

Classes!

I got to register for classes today. Yesterday I met with my advisor and discussed my schedule. I'm going to be taking Historical Methods: Fascism and Communism, Intro to European Integration, Intro to Bulgaria, British Lit, and I'm in the choir.

All foreign students have to get a Bulgarian ID card, which happens to be a long and annoying process. Today I had to withdraw 1,000 lev (about $700) to open a Bulgarian bank account. On Monday I have to go back and get a certificate that proves I opened a bank account. With that and a bunch of other documents I have to go to the police station and apply for an ID. Then, 17 days later, I get a card that lets me travel in and out of the country. Worth the work I know, but I still don't like the idea of that much of my money in a Bulgarian bank.

Still really enjoying the food. So far I've had some salad, which is really just vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and mushrooms) covered with grated cheese. And the cheese here is good! I've had a chicken stuffed with more cheese, mushrooms, and ham. And yesterday I had a wonderful hash with potatoes and beef.

The coffee here is espresso. If you want to order a more American type coffee you can order a cappucino, which is a double shot of espresso and some hot milk. I want to ask for an Americano but I doubt they would know what that was.

Tomorrow for orientation we are doing a community service project. We are going to a home for mentally disabled people and visit with the people. The University also has connections with an orphanage in the area that students can volunteer at.

Got to go! If you have specific questions about anything please ask!

I made it!

So I made it over the big blue ocean safely and am now relatively settled in my new home for the semester. This is my second day here and we finally were able to get on the lab computers. I don't have internet in my room yet but I will post some pictures as soon as I can.

I won't write a lot now because I'm going to bed soon but I've already met some people from the US, Moldova, Kosovo, Russia, and Mongolia. I met a girl named Didi who is from Blagoevgrad and she showed me around the town a bit and helped me buy a towel and some clothes hangers. The Nav staff couple, Bill and Lisa, also took me out to dinner the night I arrived and then lunch today to introduce me to Didi. They have taken good care of me. I'm going to church with them on Sunday. It's in Bulgarian but I don't really care. As long as I get to be around the people. I will also be in a Bible Study with Lisa and some other girls.

The town is pretty nice. I think I'll really like it. I live in the town center which is mainly a walking area with no cars. It is filled with restraunts, cafes, clothing shops, banks, mini grocery stores and shops with just about everything. Clothes are kind of expensive but food is cheap and very very good. Bottled water is only about 50 cents.

I'm going through orientation this week. It's mainly for incoming freshman but there are some things for international students as well. That's about it for now. I'll write more later.
Bye

For you all

Hey all,

This is the blog I will be keeping while I study abroad in Bulgaria in Spring '08. I'll be able to keep you all informed much better of what is going on and it will be easier to post pictures here than trying to email them to everyone.