Lectures, Food, and Dance

I have been attending a lecture, in English, about the history of Bulgaria, but I don’t think I can go again. The lessons have been very subjective, and focus on the positive aspects of Bulgarian history, and skip over the negative. I think it was best demonstrated in the lecture yesterday; our professor talked about the Ottoman rule and the oppressive Sultan regime. However, she did not explain how under the Bulgarian Tsarist regime, the peasants lived in almost the exact same way. It wasn’t until I asked that she told the class that life was identical except for a tax that non-Muslims have to pay. The way she instructed the class put Islam in a negative light, while she didn’t even discuss Bulgaria’s role in the crusades. I need objective history, and I don’t think I can learn Bulgarian history objectively in Bulgaria.
However, I am having a blast learning Bulgaria here. Three hours a day, starting at 9, we have a Bulgarian language lesson. At 12, we switch to specialized one hour classes. I have not been attending these classes as much as I should, but I have gone to a couple of phonetic classes and I think my pronunciation is improving. The Bulgarian language is fascinating, and, although difficult at times, living in Bulgaria greatly increases my capacity to learn the language. Of course, I probably will be confused again when I return to Prague, but perhaps I can continue taking Bulgarian at Charles University. After our language classes, we have free time and some optional lectures in the evening. It has been great to take off these evenings and enjoy the summer. I have realized that I have been in school for about 12 straight months now, but it is nice to have the month to act as a kind of break.
Last night was quite spectacular. Although I knew it was going to be a night of traditional Bulgarian food and dance, I had no idea that I was going to love this aspect of Bulgarian culture. I thought that the folk dances would be too difficult, and we would only watch professionals and that the food would be typical fare we eat in restaurants; I expected I would get some food and leave. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
The food was delicious. There were many Bulgarian dishes that I had not yet tried. I tried banitza, homemade yogurt, typical Bulgarian spices, and an interesting bean dish. They also had homemade wine and rakia (a Bulgarian aperitif made out of plums). Everything was delicious. In restaurants, the food is sub-par, although the prices are terrific, and I assumed that Bulgarian cuisine was not particularly interesting. However, from this meal and from what I have heard, good Bulgarian cuisine can be found in people’s homes. Restaurant food is completely different. I need to meet a Bulgarian family that will invite me to join them for meals...
The dancing was also wonderful. First, professionals came and showed off a very complicated Bulgarian dance. Eventually, they switched to a simpler dance, and students were allowed to join. I have been missing the Bulgarian dance lessons, but the dance did not look too difficult so I joined in. I think I am in love with Bulgarian dancing. It is done in a line formation, and a single pattern of steps is repeated throughout the song. If you google it, you could probably see an example. It was quite tiring, but I had a great night’s sleep after some great dancing.

Living Like An Ex-Communist

The architecture near the University is quite unique. Compared to the rest of the city, the dorms are built in a style that focuses on efficiency. My room is a single, with just a bed and a sink. Eight of us share two showers and two toilets. It is livable, but definitely a unique experience. Remnants of the Communist period seem to appear briefly in various degrees throughout the ex-Soviet Bloc.
A lot of things are quite different in Bulgaria. I am in Eastern Europe, and my surroundings make it quite obvious. Animals roam the city quite frequently. Packs of feral dogs are quite common, and yesterday, two horses and a foal were eating garbage, away from their owners, outside of our dorm. It would be interesting to see my sister’s reaction; Anna would like seeing the horses, but I am sure she would be upset that they were digging through the trash to find food.
I think that the students from the United States are the most surprised by things like this. Although we would probably never see such things in the US, they may happen in smaller cities in European countries. I could probably find something like that in a smaller city in the Czech Republic, but regardless, the culture here is quite distinct.
One of the greatest parts of the program is the huge variety in the participants. I am not sure what I expected, but there are representatives from around the world. I am not sure how so many people decided they wanted to study Bulgarian, but it makes quite an interesting group. I also expected the default language to be English, typical American thinking, but the tours are all given in Bulgarian. Nevertheless, when chatting with other people, the most common cross cultural language is English. It is amazing that these students have to talk to each other in their second or third language. With such language barriers, obviously things are lost in translation, but that makes this trip more exciting.
It also has given me the chance to brush up on my other languages. The first group of people I met were Czech, so I was kind of stuck in a bubble where I would speak Czech rather than Bulgarian. When the other BC students arrived, I obviously spoke more English, but I still have been speaking French, poorly, and Spanish. It is definitely an experience that I will treasure.
I just taught a fellow student how baseball and American football work. I never knew they were such complicated sports. It took about twenty minutes to explain baseball. The sport really is too complicated for its own good. But it was fun to spread a little bit of my culture to those who are teaching me some of theirs.

Eight Easy Steps

In Prague, I could blend. People would address me in Czech and it was only when I responded in a thick accent would they start talking to me in English. In Bulgaria, it is completely different. I'm addressed in English, people hardly give me the chance to try Bulgarian, and I have been even asked for directions in English. I've been trying to figure out how they know so quickly that my native tongue is English, and I think I have figured it out. There are both physical traits, and mannerisms which set me apart.
1) Blonde hair. It is ridiculous how little people have blonde hair in Bulgaria. I've gotten a lot of stares, and I've realized it is because of my hair. The only blondes here are bottled blondes.
2) My face. Most Bulgarians have very round faces. I have too many angles to try and be a Bulgarian.
3) Height. I'm a little too tall to be in this country. And I'm not really that tall.
4) Blue eyes and white skin. Not really noticeable at first, but I haven't met any Bulgarians with blue eyes. Not surprising. I'm also the whitest kid here. My skin is like porcelain, but not in a good way.
5) Polos. No one here wears polos. It was more common in Prague, but polo style shirts are not Bulgarian at all. However, polos are my favorite, so I continue to stick out. I tried to wear a tank top to try and blend in, but the only thing that happened is I burned my shoulders and my neck...
6) My back-pack. I can't lie, I wear my little red back-pack out and about a lot. I need to carry my water bottle and some small books in case I need to look up a Bulgarian word. You can't imagine how silly I look...
7) My iPod. It is a reflection of the wealthy country that I was lucky enough to be born in. Although it is just a shuffle, I have it a lot when I go on walks, and it sets me apart. Same goes for my camera or my computer.
8) Finally, my flip-flops are also a dead give away that I'm not a Bulgarian. Europeans don't really wear "Yapansky" as they are called, but I find they are the most comfortable shoes to wear.
Now, these traits could be considered an isolating force. However, I have used the "steps" to identify other English speakers. For example, on a tour of Tsaravets, I saw a girl with a back-pack, flip-flops, and a mini-skirt. The way she held herself and her nice digital camera, which had a full digital display of the pictures she took, pointed to the Western World. I guessed that she was from the States, and I was quite close. She was actually from Canada, so I need to do some tweaking of the steps, but they can definitely be useful...
Tsaravets is a huge hill in the middle of Veliko Turnivo. It is actually the ruins of an old fortress that was the seat of the Bulgarian kingdom, and it was quite interesting. My favorite part was the church at the top, which had modern recreations of earlier frescoes. I was worried that they would have been poor replicas, but they were very nice. They had recreated the frescoes in a modern art style that made them seem more accessible to people of today. Tsaravets also had a great view of the city, and it was great to see the city from such heights.
Sunday night, we went to a Slavi concert. If you don't know who Slavi is, I reccommend Youtubing him, because it is quite hard to explain. He was a great example of the differences in culture. The show was more than just a concert, it seemed to be a variety show. In the beggining, there was a slide-show of famous Bulgarian places, Slavi is quite the nationalist, and later there were comedians between songs. It was nice to have these breaks between songs and artists. The contestants in Bulgarian Idol were also at the concert, and it was great to see there idea of an idol. If anyone is trying to broaden their musical tastes, I would recommend Slavi.
It is raining a lot in Bulgaria right now. It is a great contrast with last week, which was bright and sunny everyday. But variety is good, and hopefully the rain will stop by tomorrow.

An End to Frustration

When I first arrived in Veliko Turnovo, I was very frustrated. I had just taken a 27 hour bus ride, only to face a test in Bulgarian, having forgotten all of my vocabulary since I started studying Czech, which I failed miserably. The other students at Boston College were leaving for the Black Sea, but they left before I had settled in, and I couldn’t leave with them. So here I was, stranded at the student dorms, while most of the students were staying at Motel Sveta Gora. I also was in a single room, so I had no roommate to rely on. I was completely alone. I wanted to return home to Prague, but I knew I couldn’t. Luckily, this mood didn’t last very long.
As soon as I had taken a shower and eaten some food, I headed out to the city. The walk was somewhat long to get into the centrum, but I immediately felt better. I think my negative attitude had sprung from the fact that I hadn’t slept very well on the bus, I hadn’t exercised in that entire time at all, and I had not eaten any protein since Wednesday. Luckily, these were physical problems that were fixed quite easily. After a 12 hour nap, and meeting some of the other members of the program, I am now able to recreate a family in Bulgaria.

Made It!

I finally made it to Bulgaria, but it has been a long trip, and if it wasn’t for a couple of people I wouldn’t have made it at all. I kind of set out later than expected, and when I was almost to the bus stop, I realized that I had forgotten my passport in the luggage I was leaving in storage. Luckily, Kevin had given me all of his change. If he would not have, I would not have been able to afford calling Jerome House and getting through to Stephanie. Stephanie was able to relay my message to Liza, and Liza and Max ran to the bus station with my passport. I was five minutes away from being left behind, which would have been horrible. Thanks to these people, I made it to Bulgaria. The bus ride, though 27 hours, was somewhat pleasant, and I had a great discussion with my neighbor about Czech politics, in English, which helped the time fly by. Of course, I had horrible cramps from trying to sleep while sitting up, but it was worth the money.
One thing that bugged me about the bus ride was the movies played. Although they were entertaining, all four films were gruesome and it seems plausible that Czechs would look at these films and believe it reflected the culture of the United States. Petr, the man sitting next to me, said that in Islamic states, films from the US are the only form of our culture that they see. It seems a poor way to represent what we believe.
After I was dropped off in Sofia, I had to find a train to Veliko Turnivo. During this time, I though I had lost my luggage, but it was luckily not lost and I made it to this small Bulgarian city with all my limbs. It is weird being out of Prague. I’m not used to the life here, and people already have made friends since the program started on Tuesday. I’m sure I will find people, but right now I feel quite alone. I thought I would have friends from BC, but they have left for the coast for the weekend. I might try to meet them there, but it could be difficult…

Heading to Bulgaria

I had to buy a bus ticket for Bulgaria the other day, and if you are ever in a similar situation, I warn you that it is quite a process. The various bus companies are all over the station, and you have to match where you want to go with what bus company you need to go through. However, there is no master list that displays which buses go where. No, you have to go from company to company to try and find the appropriate bus station. Furthermore, the station is not in the best part of town and is surrounded by vendors selling luggage and t-shirts who will not say no for an answer. (I ended up buying a small carry-on luggage, because the lady was so nice, I really did need it, and it was only 16 dollars) I finally did find my bus, but it was a hectic experience.
I’m going to head out for Bulgaria tomorrow morning, a 24 hour trip, so hopefully there are no letters getting sent my way to Prague. I’m excited, but I am going to miss my new friends and my new home in Prague. Although I didn’t know anyone coming in, I feel like we have created a strong community and I will want to see them in the States again. Nevertheless, I cannot wait to see Bulgaria. It seems like I will be heading further into Eastern Europe and Slavic culture and am extremely excited to see cultural differences not only between Bulgaria and the US, but also between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. It should be a notable experience.

Modern Art: Prague

On Saturday, I went to the Museum of Modern Art Museum on Kampa Island. Kampa is a small island next to Charles Bridge that has museums, a park, restaurants, and the Lennon memorial. I heard it described once as the “Venice” of Prague though I am not sure why. Although it is an island, I have never seen a gondola or anything that reminded me of Italy. Regardless, the island is very interesting and has a culture of its own.
The museum surprised me. Although it had some examples of the modern art outside, the actual art differed greatly from what I expected. There were three exhibitions at the time: a permanent collection of Stálá Sbírka, a temporary exhibit of Kupka Mondrian and a temporary exhibit of Andy Warhol. I went for the Warhol, but left feeling dizzy.
I decided to do Andy Warhol first. The theme was Disaster Relics and it was quite sad. There were portraits of Jackie Kennedy, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe as well as car accidents and prints inspired by racial unrest. I am not sure what I expected, but all the quotes on the walls were very depressing and set the mood for the rest of the museum.
After the Warhol exhibit, or výstava as it is known in Czech, I went upstairs to the permanent Stálá Sbírka collection. These black and white photographs were the best part of the entire museum and a lot more comprehensible. There were some photographs that I would love to have in my apartment, but I am sure they would be very expensive.
The final section focused on Kupka and Mondrian. Kupka is a Czech artist, and his work is somewhat hard to understand. They were very modern, and quite beyond me. However, some of his works in black and white would have looked very nice as tiling in a bathroom; I’m not sure if that is what he intended. Mondrian was a bit more impressionist than Kupka and at first I liked his art. However, as he progressed through life, it became more complex and abstract.
All of this modern art was making me a little queasy and I was glad that there was one section in the museum that was located on top of the smaller building in the open air. Visitors are allowed to walk out and look at the weather resistant art. My favorite piece was on the roof; it was a bunch of tainted windows attached to a larger metallic structure, but when two windows were at the right angle, it would create a mirror effect. This led to some brilliant pictures, which were quite fun to produce. Although I didn’t understand most of the art, this final piece was both entertaining and beautiful (in a very strange way).