So today it’s the sixth day I’m in Bulgaria… so far the experience has been very positive. I haven’t really met any locals, because there’s the language barrier, but I can see in the people face they are eager to meet me and the other volunteers. The closest I’ve gotten to have a conversation with a local is probably at the bars, coffee shops and so on. Of course I’ve spoken with my coordinators, mentors, etc. but I don’t think these count as meeting the locals…

Right now I’m writing this article in Kazanluk, but my adventure started before coming to Bulgaria to be honest… This is the first time I’ve been far from my house for more than a week, so so far it’s been a life changing experience, just for this reason. Also it’s also the first time I’ve traveled by plane…

I first arrived in Sofia on 5/07/17, and I had to sleep in some guy’s house, which I didn’t even knew the name. When we met he told me he was an Ex-EVS volunteer that had done something similar of what I’m doing but in Spain and that his name was Vesselin.

We took the metro and then the tram. First thing we did after dropping my luggage at his house was going outside to get a beer, which he kindly paid. After this he offered himself to show me a little bit about Sofia. When we were walking down his street he told me that he works as an architect so he would “bore” me with boring stuff about some boring monuments…

I found that hard to believe because he has a way of speaking that captivates people, and he is also really smart. He told me that they had this king (I don’t remember the name) that wanted a river going through his city because must European capitals have big important river that goes through the city, so he wanted one. The river was nothing more than a brook, that had garbage in it…

After the bridge we saw a monument that I think it’s called just Roman Wall or something close to it, he told me a story about it but I can’t remember it very well… it had something to do like people would go there on their knees and sleep by the monument… I don’t really remember. After this he left me to pick up his girlfriend and I walked around for a bit. I discovered a church which I couldn’t tell the name but I took a picture, actually, when I was taking the picture a little boy wanted to appear in the photo so he putted his hands in front of the camera.

I could go on and on about my brief trip to Sofia but I need to talk about Kazanluk… So about Sofia I’m really grateful that it was Vesselin that picked me up because he is so cool and smart and I learned a lot from him.

I went to pick up the other volunteers and we got on the bus to Kazanluk. I was awake the whole trip because all I could see were mountains and I’ve never seen mountains like these!! The landscape was beautiful the whole trip. When we got to Kazanluk we had two persons waiting for us, I didn’t know their names or their position in my EVS but now I know it was Krass and Nasko. We went to the house to drop our luggage and right after that we went to dinner with Maria, Nasko and Krass. The dinner was really pleasant, not only the volunteers were nice but also “our bosses”.

The next few days we went around the city, we met more “bosses” and we just hang out together. We went to Koprinka lake for a barbeque and some of us went to swim on the lake, the water was really good, really warm. Maria told us that during the construction of the lake, the builders discovered a Thracian city called Seuthopolis. In the barbeque we got a little closer as a group because we just chat and ate typical Bulgarian food.

So in conclusion, the trip is better than I expected, and like Maria said, if we have a positive mind we will have a positive experience!