On Thursday, Kristen and I met Stoyan and Nersi for breakfast in the lobby of our hotel, and then headed through Velingrad to to the Edelweiss kindergarten school. This is a school that includes several children with disabilities in mainstream classes. The school is within Stoyan's resource teacher network region so he knew the staff very well, many of whom were at dinner with us the night before.
Much anticipation was in the air because the school had created a special morning program to welcome both me and the new Mayor of Velingrad. March 1 is traditionally the Baba Marta holiday, but in our honor the teachers and children had created a special program to highlight inclusion and the celebration of Baba Marta Day.
Six little girls started off the program with a beautiful Bulgarian folk dance in full costume. Then, a teacher led in the six year old class and they did a lesson about the story of Baba Marta. Finally, the children worked on Martenitsa red-and-white crafts at their tables, which they presented to the Mayor and to me. The ones I have are for Access Living, from the children of Bulgaria.
This class includes a boy with autism, who participated in the activities along with the others, especially with the crafts. He came over to me specifically to present the postcard he made. Although he is not very verbal, he has made a great deal of progress in the class. The staff are clearly very thoughtful and committed. Every child with a disability should be so lucky.
It had also been arranged that a Bulgarian TV news crew filmed the event and the segment aired! You can see it online at this link. Having the Mayor, an American advocate, AND a TV crew was a great piece of publicity work for this school. I am so happy for the teachers, families and students! Congratulations! I know that budget cuts in the city are a problem, so I hope the publicity will help.
Stoyan, Nersi, Kristen and I were then provided a tour of the local national park, which is centered around the area's natural springs (or geysers). Our guide also happens to be a resource teacher at the Velingrad school---great guy and very knowledgeable. There are pools and channels coming from the springs, of which the biggest is the third largest in Bulgaria. Clear, clean and tasty water. There is also an old restaurant built in the Communist days that has fallen into ruin. It is on a beautiful pool of water, but it is difficult to renovate given the regulations around building in national parks.
We then all headed for a lunch of pizzas, salads, beers and other items behind the old Communist administrative building, which has also fallen into ruin. Velingrad is a place that mixes many things: ancient Roman baths, old houses, Communist architecture, modern spas, discos and casinos.
Nersi once again took the wheel of our special education bus and we headed back down the winding highway through the gorge in the Rhodopes. Thankfully Nersi is a wonderful driver because the road is very, very curvy and also narrow. We did get to see the small train that runs on the tracks by the highway---it would be wonderful to ride that mountain train. We then headed across the plains to Stoyan's hometown, Pazardjik, and checked into the Hotel Primavera. This is a small "family style" hotel with some very nice staff (and as we would see the next morning, a super delicious breakfast).
Stoyan then took us on a walk through his home town. We saw teh history museum and pieces of Pazardjik's archaelogical past; the old clock tower; the theater that was formerly an SS prison under the Nazis; the youth center where Stoyan was married; the main street where he marched as a boy in Communist parades, and the beautiful, fantastic Church of the Holy Mother of God Eastern Orthodox Church (see the link for a picture of the altar). What a spectacular church. It is in complete Bulgarian style with amazing icons and some of the most beautiful wood carvings I have ever seen.
We then walked through the old town taking pictures of the houses, and ended up on the "island" which is situated in the Maritsa River. This is a public park where people come in teh summer, but on a chilly February day there were few people on the benches. Stoyan showed us how to use the hot chocolate/coffee vending machine and we took a look at the zoo, where some of the animals (bighorn sheep, a type of coyote, and others were in their cages). There is apparently a tiger, but Stoyan has never actually managed to really see it. !
We had a bit of rest before dinner with his principal Gari and her husband Ivan, the former mayor of Pazardzhik. (Do you notice the mayor theme?) Gari and Ivan treated Kristen and me to a wonderful traditional Balkan style dinner. We had, for example, roasted peppers and cheese, lamb, a giant grilled meatball, salads, and beautiful grilled forest mushrooms. We discussed American politics, disability education, and Ivan's vocation as an anesthesiologist. Ivan and Gari were kind, warm, and generous---just lovely people.
However it was a very long day and Kristen and I were grateful to get to bed, as the next day we would see more sights in Pazardjik.
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