Coming to Kazanlak wasn’t really a cultural shock for me. Slovenia could also be considered as a partly Balkan country; we both speak Slavic languages (some words are even the same), and as I already knew Cyrillic, I wasn’t that confused when arriving here.

But it did happen to me, when I asked a lady if I was on the right bus from Sofia to Kazanlak, and she shook her head sideways, then I was scared for a few seconds. I thought I was on the wrong bus, but luckily, I remembered about the opposite use of head shakes for yes and no in Bulgaria.

I did also notice quite a few things (besides roses) that you don’t see that often in my country:

there’re lots of stray cats and dogs;

posters of people who passed away on walls and doors all around the city;

coffee vending machines everywhere;

gardens are really beautiful;

balconies are often colorful;

and I noticed that this Boza drink (which I haven’t tried yet) is sold in every supermarket.

These are impressions I’ve had in the last two weeks while staying in Kazanlak and I’m sure I will make many more interesting observations about Bulgaria by the end of the project.

Ana Šimenc is a volunteer on a short term EVS project the “Deep Roots” in Kazanlak, Bulgaria. Learn more about her in the article: “Meet the Ecofest 2019 Organizational Team”.