Almost one month since I arrived in Bulgaria and I have seen so much. I have been living in Plovdiv, the second biggest city in Bulgaria. I also spent a few days in Sofia – the capital. Plovdiv is a lovely city, the old town is so beautiful and the centre is pretty too. All the Bulgarian people I have met have been so welcoming, I’ve also made friends from Spain, France and the Czech Republic and encountered the cat mafia (see photo below).
In my short time here I have climbed two mountains (maybe hills – depending on your viewpoint). I have seen -10 with snow and soon I will see the beach and the sun! I have seen amazing Roman ruins and communist leftovers. I even performed some poems in a club in Sofia. It took me three weeks to find vegetables, it seems the supermarkets are terrible here and you have to find the fresh markets if you want broccoli.
I have learned some Bulgarian, enough to order coffee and pancakes with honey! Learning it was very difficult, Bulgarian grammar is a minefield and my course was entirely in Bulgarian with no English translations to speak of! I’ll admit I probably learnt more this way, but it was traumatic to say the least.
It was not a very soft landing here; I arrived on a Saturday and didn’t speak to anyone until Monday. I have gone from feeling a little isolated to feeling completely at home. But tomorrow I move to Burgas where I will have to start again. I’m excited and nervous, this time I will actually start teaching and have to find somewhere to live, quickly! Flat hunting is hard enough without the language barrier! Any who, below are a few pictures from my adventure so far!
nichol keene 