In the morning, the resource center bus picked us up early to take us to, of course, the resource center, where we met Stoyan Pavlov and his colleagues. Stoyan is my friend and the Bulgarian who came to the US for four weeks last fall to spend his fellowship at Access Living. Thus, he has been responsible for coordinating the time I am spending here that is focused on education. He is warm, funny, smart and full of life---just a great person.
We met briefly with Principal Damienev, as well as a principal from a neighboring resource center. After this, we (and several teachers) piled into two buses and headed over to the Education building at Sofia University, where we were greeted by Neda Balkanska, the head of department specializing in Deaf and hard of hearing education/speech therapy.
The plan was for me to deliver a two hour lecture on my personal story as a Deaf person and then an overview of Deaf and hard of hearing education in the United States. This was, of course, not as simple as it appeared.
For one thing, we had a LOT of communication supports. We had Kristen for English to ASL, plus a wonderful Bulgarian sign language interpreter, plus of course our patient English/Bulgarian translator Mitko Ivanchev, who also assisted with technology supports.
The audience was composed of university students, Deaf community members, resource teachers, university professors, and probably some other people as well. The Bulgarian Deaf Union was definitely present and I was very pleased to meet their leader.
And then of course there was the cameraman and reporter from a Bulgarian television show that focuses on Deaf and hard of hearing people. So, one can imagine that at the start I felt a little...overwhelmed.
However, once we began discussions, it was a terrific experience. The diversity of the people in the room allowed us not only to talk about specific things Deaf and hard of hearing people need, but also to discuss the need for partnership between groups, and to be honest, the need to be flexible and sometimes admit that you are wrong. It was a powerful discussion with many people completely involved. One man had even delayed a flight in order to be there so it was clear that this was a very important topic.
At Sofia University with the lecture attendees
Afterwards, we had lunch in a cafe downstairs and I was able to chat more with several of the Deaf attendees, and film them introducing themselves. Some already knew quite a bit of ASL, so I was very impressed. Like Deaf people in the US, Bulgarian Deaf people have a wide range of interests and goals, and community connection is important to them. It will be an ongoing struggle to create opportunities, but I hope Deaf Americans will consider visiting Bulgaria!
We then went with Stoyan and our driver, Nerses Shirinian, to another resource center bus to drive to Velingrad. This meant driving out of Sofia and the Balkan mountain range, and then down into the Maritsa river valley, passing vineyards and villages, and many home made wine and rakia stands on the street. The stands also sell pickled vegetables. We continued on till we reached the base of the Rhodope mountains, and paused for a break at a roadside stop.
Here at this stop a group of men worked on a small bright green car, while we took a breath, looked up at the mountains, and inspected a Communist war memorial dedicated to the Bulgarian soldiers who died fighting the Nazis. If I understood correctly, this area was one with many people who sympathize with the far right now. An irony.
We hopped back into the bus and Nerses took us though a dazzling gorge, filled with mountain so high they seemed to bend, following a small train track and a tributary of the Maritsa River. The Rhodopes, and especially Velingrad, are filled with geothermal springs that can be as hot as 200 degrees Fahrenheit. People bathe in springs with different mineral properties for different health issues, and the hot springs heat homes, and of course, our hotel.
Velingrad is in a valley in the middle of the Rhodopes, and has many old homes with red tile roofs and narrow roads, some cobbled. We passed the school where Stoyan's resource teacher colleagues work, and arrived at Hotel Enira, a spa hotel. This means it offers massages, pools, and so forth. Kristen and I happily had massages, one at a time, and I spent the rest of the time before dinner in the pool with Stoyan and Nerses, who is a very interesting and charming man originally from Romania.
At seven Stoyan, Nerses, Kristen and I were picked up by one of Stoyan's colleagues to go to dinner, where we were greeted by about fifteen people, all from the resource center network in the Velingrad area. They greeted us with traditional Bulgarian bread and honey that is usual for welcoming guests, which really made Kristen and I feel so honored. One teacher's husband makes home made rakia, and we started off our long meal with rakia toasts and shopka salad. Stoyan insists that Bulgarian pizza is the best, and so we had traditional Bulgarian dishes as well as pizza (and it was delicious).
Stoyan acted as translator for long discussions about the US and Bulgaria disability issues, and we also talked about the role of women in Bulgarian society and who should be the next American President (always a complicated subject). Interestingly, there are many women throughout Bulgarian government, including the head of the security service. Fundamental equality stems from the Communist era when women and men were considered equal, but there remain problems with the pay gap and also domestic violence.
At the end of the evening we confessed to Stoyan that we were a bit tired, and we were driven back to the hotel after group photos and saying our goodbyes. A truly wonderful day and we were so lucky to be so welcomed by people from across Bulgaria. And now it is a misty morning in the Rhodopes, and I am ready for a new day.
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