Movements to change social situations usually have people who lead the way. Kristen and I were very lucky on Friday to be exposed to two such movements in Bulgaria: the movement to advance education for children with disabilities in Pazardzhik, and the movement to free the Bulgarians from Ottoman rule in 1876, in Koprivshtitsa. For both, there have been those who organize.
Friday morning, Kristen and I had a lovely continental breakfast at the Hotel Primavera in central Pazardzhik, and at 9:45 Stoyan and Nersi picked us up in the resource center bus. They drove us to the Pazardzhik Center for Inclusive Education, part of the national network of resource centers serving schools nationwide. This particular center was the first in Bulgaria to use goal planning for children with disabilities, similar to that used in the US for IEPs. Its symbol is a curved rainbow with birds. Here is where Stoyan is a supervisor.
This particular center is housed in the same building as a special school for children with mental disabilities (we would say intellectual/developmental disabilities in the US). Over the next year or so, the children in that school will be sent to other programs as Bulgaria undergoes a transformation in its special education structure. The Center for Inclusive Education will take over the rest of the building. At this location, a kindergarten and a secondary school are also within a block, all within walking distance of Stoyan and his colleagues.
We went in the building and were immediately greeted by Gari, who is the principal of the center, as well as the principal of the special school. Gari made sure that we had coffee as well as cheese pastries for breakfast, which were delicious. I made sure to give Gari and Stoyan materials from the Northwest Down Syndrome Association, which is a parent led disability group in Portland, Oregon. Thank you to Angela Jarvis-Holland, Angela Frome and Abby Braithwaite for their materials. They have wonderful photo-based items that promote the message of inclusion, and they are one of the best parent groups I know in the US.
The plan for the morning was that the Center would do a ceremonial opening of its newest sensory room, and that I would cut the opening ribbon with Gari, as guest of honor. The trick was that I also had to say "CHES-ti-TAR!" which means something like "best of luck on your efforts." We all went upstairs to the hall outside the new sensory room, where about 20 people gathered with balloons as well as a Bulgarian welcome bread with honey. Kristen and I had a little bread and honey, and then Gari did a speech about the importance of the center and the new sensory integration bread. Together, Gari and I cut the opening ribbon (in green, red and white flag colors) and said, "CHES-ti-TAR!" and everyone cheered. They gave me a piece of ribbon to take home to Access Living.
Then, we went into the sensory room where a Bulgarian TV crew showed up again to film the event. Maria, a new resource teacher, and a fiver year old girl named Pepi with Down syndrome, played on the equipment to demonstrate its purpose. You can see the news clip at this link. After this, Stoyan introduced me to his colleagues at the beginning of a learning session for the teachers on sensory integration, and we took a tour of the center, the kindergarten and a quick visit to the secondary school across the street.
I would like to highlight the following points, especially for US people reading this blog:
...Just like US special ed teachers, Bulgarian resource teachers and staff are very caring and work very hard to support the growth of the children. They are paid relatively very little (about $350 US per month) compared to US teachers, and work hard with limited resources. Often, the teacher make or build things themselves that the children need, such as the equipment in the new sensory room. Staff built the swings and painted the room themselves, for example. Ready made equipment is not affordable.
...Stoyan's specialty is working with blind children, but here again, resources are greatly lacking even for students with potential. The school cannot afford a Braille printer and paper, so for example Stoyan made a Braille curriculum for blind children with a manual hole punch. It took him six months to make. Magnifiers, especially digital ones, are extremely expensive also. BrailleNotes are too expensive. I would very much like to see if there are ways that the US can assist to provide support because there is no reason these children should be left behind.
...Right now, inclusive classrooms mean that for mainstream rooms, only about up to three students are included. Total class sizes can range from 10 to 35. Like US teachers, Bulgarian teachers have paperwork obligations (and no one really likes paperwork!). But the resource teachers also have to teach regular teachers about inclusion, and some are resistant. Others are already supportive.
...The children, whether Bulgarian, Roma or Turkish, are SO cute. In general the children I saw were well behaved and the teachers had taken steps to work with children who have behavioral issues. Most children I saw were between the ages of 3 to 7. Like US children, they like to play, sing songs, learn stories, and volunteer in class. They take naps in the afternoon on little beds and breakfast and lunch is provided to them so they are fed.
...Bulgarian schools have work to do in terms of physical access. I have seen some ramps, but more schools need to be made accessible so that children with physical disabilities (and parents with physical disabilities) can get in. In fact, this was one of the requests of the Edelweiss school in Velingrad. They want to include more children with physical disabilities so they need ramps. However bathrooms also need access improvements, and most doors are what Americans would consider narrow.
...The Bulgarian educators I have met take great pride in their work. They share joy with the children, and I think they hug and pet children more than American educators do. The classrooms are usually decorated with many colorful posters, toys and books, and the sensory rooms are filled with creative touch and visual options. I was very impressed with Stoyan's interactions with the children he works with---you can see the love, patience and encouragement, and the children respond.
To me, with educators like there, the hope for Bulgaria's youngest children seems very bright. And yet over this week I have also heard of the crisis in disconnected young people leaving school, or receiving poor educations for a variety of reasons. I hope that the communities around the schools can maintain this sense of positive hope and joy. As my friends at NWDSA say, kindergarten is the front line of the disability movement. Here in Bulgaria, in the kindergartens, I see hope. It is written in their eyes, and it is a resistance against everything that keeps Bulgarians oppressed.
As Stoyan took us on our tour, Pepi's teacher Maria joined us because Pepi had gone home. Our plan for the day was next to visit Koprivshtitsa, a mountain village famous for its National Revival architecture. We asked Maria if she would like to join us, and she said yes right away. So Maria joined Stoyan, Kristen, Nersi and me, and away we went in the resource center bus to Koprivshtitsa.
The day was foggy and rainy, and the road through the Sredna Gora mountains was winding and steep. We made a pit stop in a town with a monumental sculpture featuring one of the Mongolian rulers that ran this area long ago. After some two hours we arrived in Koprivshtitsa, tucked in a mountain valley famous for sheep herding and for its preserved homes, which were saved by wealthier people who paid Turkish invaders not to burn their houses to the ground.
Stoyan and Nersi led us on a walk through this wonderful town, stopping especially to note sites of historical interest from the April Uprising of 1876, which was an effort to push back against the Ottoman empire after 500 years of rule. The April Uprising contributed to the re-establishment of Bulgaria as an independent nation in 1878.
In particular, Koprivshtitsa was the home of Todor Kableshkov, a young man who was a main organizer of Bulgarian resistance against the Turks. He was a clerk and a mailman and this made him wealthy for his day. Yet he also called his fellow Bulgarians to arms, and in April of 1876 a conflict with Turkish soldiers forced the hand of Kableshkov and his fellows. They engaged with the Turkish army on a bridge in Koprivshtitsa. Because it was unplanned, they were unable to muster reinforcements for the region. There had actually been planning since the year before for an uprising, but things moved faster than anticipated. Kableshkov was able to flee and fight broke out across Bulgaria, but he was ultimately captured and committed suicide at the age of 25. He is buried in Koprivshtitsa near his home.
Kableshkov was famous for writing a letter signed with the blood of a Turkish governor. It called upon the local revolutionary council to take up arms against the Turks. Here is the letter in English:
Brothers!
Yesterday Neceb Aga arrived in our village from Plovdiv, and asked to imprison some people, including me. When I heard about your decision, made at the Council of Oborishte, I called up some brave men and after we got armed, we headed towards the konak and attacked it, killing the müdür and some policemen...
Now, as I am writing this letter, the flag is waving before the konak,
rifles shoot and the church bells echo simultaneously with them, men are
kissing one another on the streets... If you, brothers, happen to be
true patriots and apostles of Freedom, then do follow our example in
Panagyurishte...
Koprivshtitsa, 20th April (old style) 1876 T. Kableshkov
And so, Todor Kableshkov was one of Bulgari's most important community organizers, helping to lead a wave of change for Bulgaria. And in this Stoyan and his colleague are similar---not using guns but knowledge and creativity to create a better future for all those in Bulgaria.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Friday, February 19, 2016
From Velingrad to Pazardzhik
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.
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.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
From Sofia University to Velingrad
Normally I post at the end of each day in Bulgaria, but the end of yesterday happened to involve a lot of home made rakia (plum brandy), so my writing skills needed some sleep!
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
A Bulgarian Thirst
For the Bulgarians reading this post, I do not mean thirst for wine, beer or rakia!
What I do mean is this: my fellow U.S. traveler Leah Torrey today described what she saw in Bulgarian community work as a thirst, a thirst to make things better, a thirst to create opportunities, a thirst to learn. And I think today for me has been a day about that thirst.
This morning Kristen and I were met by occupational therapist and National Association of Resource Teachers board member Peter Lazarov, who also happens to be extremely involved in working to organize resource teachers across Bulgaria for disability education reform. Peter was part of the Professional Fellows class of 2012 who went to the United States, and he spent his time with Paraquad in St. Louis. He and Stoyan have been working together to organize my involvement with the resource teachers this week (resource teachers are teachers who go to schools to support students with disabilities...they are usually based at one of a network of resource centers across Bulgaria).
With Peter and Kristen getting ready to ride in the resource center van.
Naturally what else would we ride in to Peter's resource center, but the center's big yellow van for disabled kids? (It does not have a wheelchair lift---I really have not seen any vehicles with wheelchair access here yet.) So, off we went across Sofia to the center.
At the door we were greeted by a young man named Dimitar Ivanchev, better known as Mitko, who works at the center but will serve as the English/Bulgarian translator this week. Peter, Mitko, Kristen and I went upstairs at the center (admin is on the second floor, classrooms on the first) to meet with a resource teacher named Nevena Pashova, with whom I had a fascinating discussion about the education of Bulgarian children with disabilities.
In Bulgaria, children with disabilities typically go to mainstream schools. The resource teachers travel to each school to work with the children on a regular basis. In Sofia, there are 1,730 children documented as having disabilities. Nationally 16,000 have been identified and are in school now. About 200 special education specialists work in Sofia alone. Children who have great difficulty in mainstream schools are sent to separate special schools, which are now transferring to administration by regular schools, though they are physically separated.
During the current school year, a new initiative has started to have some children with autism come to Nevena's center for therapies related to sensory integration, as well as other therapies. Her resource center works with children with cerebral palsy, autism, ADD/ADHD, intellectual disabilities and others. They serve kindergartners through age 18, though here "kindergarten" means ages 3 to 7. Resource centers are government run; the National Association of Resource Teachers, on the other hand, is an NGO.
Children with disabilities are referred to the resource centers by their teachers. The special education specialists consult with the parent and evaluate the child. They prepare a recommendation and secure a statement from a professional testifying to the disability. As I mentioned yesterday, schools receive a set amount of funding per child, but the amount is greater for children with disabilities to cover the added cost.
In general, regular education teachers are not prepared at university to work with children with disabilities, or with the resource teachers and specialists. This poses a great challenge because the specialists much teach the regular education teachers how to work with the children. They must also address disability discrimination from the regular education teachers. Stigma of disability is a huge cultural problem---but more parents are starting to speak out against the stigma.
Due to a new law, next year regular schools with begin allowing teacher assistants in classrooms to support students with disabilities. Previously, only the regular education teachers were allowed in the classrooms. The teacher assistants will not be required to have the same education as regular teachers, but they will be important supports for the children with disabilities.
The specialists stay closely connected with parents because they usually serve smaller groups of students at one time. However often parents find it difficult to accept that their child has a disability, and this delays the start of support services. There are also no ways to hold parents accountable for maintaining therapies at home. However some parents (and siblings!) do come to support their children at the center. I saw this for myself.
Nevena is currently working with a group of about 10 Deaf and hard of hearing children. In Bulgaria, sign language is not officially recognized as a language and is not really permitted in the classroom. Nevena works with her children through oral methods, as part of a team that includes a speech therapist, a psychologist, a teacher and a specialist for sports.
Nevena noted that sometimes in families with Deaf or hard of hearing children, the hearing siblings are ignored. When this happens, the center involves the siblings in activities and parents realize the need to be fair with their children.
I asked her to tell a story about an activity that was very successful. She talked about taking the children to a horse camp for one week, during which not only did they ride horses but they also improved their self care skills. This impressed the parents, but unfortunately the training was not always maintained at home, so the skills of some children dropped again. Still, horse camp was a success.
Some of Nevena's children have cochlear implants and some wear hearing aids. An odd hierarchy has developed where the two groups have separated socially. The CI children think they are cooler than the children with hearing aids. Strangely, the only child that actually signs and wears no aid moves between both groups and is the most popular child in the class.
She also pointed to the example of an 11 year old with a cochlear implant whose parents allow him to participate in extreme sports. This child is a leader not only with the group but in the school.
Some schools use FM systems for children with hearing loss, but few have elevators. There are many learning aids for students, but if it is not high tech many time the teachers make them themselves.
I asked whether some specialists have disabilities themselves. Nevena and Peter think there are a few out there; recently they hired a Deaf one. There is also a blind teacher that they know of, and one with CP.
I also asked how much the teachers make---the answer is about 350 leva per month, which is about $200 US. They do have national health care and some additional benefits.
At this point I was given a quick tour of a play therapy room and a sensory integration room. In the second room, I met Ani, who works with children with autism, but has a background as a sign language interpreter and an audio visual therapist. Ani provided several interesting insights, such as the lack of official recognition of sign language and its prohibition in Bulgarian education. Ani will be attending my discussion tomorrow at Sofia University and I look forward to seeing her.
After leaving Ani, I sat down with Peter to look at plans for Saturday, where I will help deliver some presentations to support a community capacity building effort by the National Association of Resource Teachers, who are organizing for educational reform. We went over logistics and decided I will be talking about using multiple advocacy strategies and work to organize at the local level. I am very much looking forward to Saturday as well.
After another ride in the school bus to CEGA, Kristen and I quickly ate lunch and then joined our U.S. colleagues for a meeting at the U.S. Embassy. I have been to consulate buildings in the U.S., but that was nothing compared to the armed security process at the U.S. Embassy compound in Bulgaria. Given Bulgaria's situation in a volatile region, the security is understandable. No pictures were allowed.
We met with Brian Stimmler, the Counselor for Public Affairs, Justin Heung and Evgeni Todorov, Political-Economic Specialists, and Vanya Ivanova, a Cultural Affairs Assistant. After introductions, we got down to discussing the Embassy's perception of issues in Bulgaria.
According to the embassy staff, at the broadest level, understanding Bulgaria today means being aware of generational differences and competing interests. The role of Russia in the region cannot be underestimated, along with the economic pull of China. They reminded us that transition after Communism fell in 1989 was extremely difficult and the effect is still felt. There is a swing of the historical pendulum: under the Soviet era, Bulgarians yearned for the West, but under capitalism, many Bulgarians are feeling a pull to the East.
They pointed out that Bulgaria is the poorest country in the European Union, and it was asked what they forecast for economic prosperity. They noted that money is being made in the car industry, that information technology has become significant, and that tourism has become central to the Bulgarian economy. Its larger and richer neighbors can have an impact, both good and bad.
The Embassy staff noted that the position of the Roma people in Bulgaria has declined since 1989, with the closure of factories.With fewer jobs and difficulties with education, the current young generation of Roma are a "lost generation," the most marginalized in Europe, the poorest of the poor.
The Embassy works with NGOs and in public affairs to try to use limited resources to assist with oppressed groups in the country like Roma. They work with the Red Cross to provide relief, for example, and each summer they host two to four Roma fellows working at the Embassy.
Garbage is, interestingly, a major concern in Roma communities and when it is not picked up it ends up poisoning the environment and the people. Most Roma do not own homes and are often squatting, which means they don't pay the fees necessary for garbage to come by.
Also, each year the Embassy supports LGBT Pride in Bulgaria, which is increasingly gaining visibility. There remains a large resistance to marriage equality.
I asked about the issue of Syrian refugees. Ebassy staff said that Bulgaria first began to feel the impact in 2013. Due to lack of funding for supports, Bulgaria just unlocked the doors of abandoned schools and moved people in with no infrastructure. The Embassy called on the Red Cross to help, and they built kitchens so people could eat. They also assist with translation services. The Embassy has called upon the Bulgarian government for an integrated approach to support.
The staff pointed out that one difficulty for funding NGOs is that most funding from the European Union tends to go to tourism rather than NGO work. This undermines the efforts to assist the refugees.
A major difficulty in refugee work is the effort to document and fingerprint each person. The vast majority are constantly on the move, and in many cases would rather not accept government help. Since 2010, 15,000 people have applied for asylum in Bulgaria, but when asked to locate each person, the Bulgarian government could only locate 800. The constant motion of refugees and their personal preferences can make consistent work very difficult.
We then moved on to reviewing the work each of us from the US was doing with community projects in Bulgaria. Although our time was limited, I was very glad to meet the staff (who said to say hi to you, Judy Heumann!! And to come visit, smile).
After the Embassy Kristen and I walked back to the hotel to take a break. Later, we joined our group to eat dinner at Osteria la Prima, one of the best Italian restaurants in Bulgaria, and right down the street. As it turned out, our coordinator Emil knows the chef, Elica Venkov, who is famous in Bulgaria. Elica was so nice, and gave us free dessert!
So when I think of thirst in Bulgaria, I think more of a desire for the things that will make life easier, with more opportunities and with less barriers. A very particularly Bulgarian thirst.
What I do mean is this: my fellow U.S. traveler Leah Torrey today described what she saw in Bulgarian community work as a thirst, a thirst to make things better, a thirst to create opportunities, a thirst to learn. And I think today for me has been a day about that thirst.
This morning Kristen and I were met by occupational therapist and National Association of Resource Teachers board member Peter Lazarov, who also happens to be extremely involved in working to organize resource teachers across Bulgaria for disability education reform. Peter was part of the Professional Fellows class of 2012 who went to the United States, and he spent his time with Paraquad in St. Louis. He and Stoyan have been working together to organize my involvement with the resource teachers this week (resource teachers are teachers who go to schools to support students with disabilities...they are usually based at one of a network of resource centers across Bulgaria).
Naturally what else would we ride in to Peter's resource center, but the center's big yellow van for disabled kids? (It does not have a wheelchair lift---I really have not seen any vehicles with wheelchair access here yet.) So, off we went across Sofia to the center.
At the door we were greeted by a young man named Dimitar Ivanchev, better known as Mitko, who works at the center but will serve as the English/Bulgarian translator this week. Peter, Mitko, Kristen and I went upstairs at the center (admin is on the second floor, classrooms on the first) to meet with a resource teacher named Nevena Pashova, with whom I had a fascinating discussion about the education of Bulgarian children with disabilities.
In Bulgaria, children with disabilities typically go to mainstream schools. The resource teachers travel to each school to work with the children on a regular basis. In Sofia, there are 1,730 children documented as having disabilities. Nationally 16,000 have been identified and are in school now. About 200 special education specialists work in Sofia alone. Children who have great difficulty in mainstream schools are sent to separate special schools, which are now transferring to administration by regular schools, though they are physically separated.
During the current school year, a new initiative has started to have some children with autism come to Nevena's center for therapies related to sensory integration, as well as other therapies. Her resource center works with children with cerebral palsy, autism, ADD/ADHD, intellectual disabilities and others. They serve kindergartners through age 18, though here "kindergarten" means ages 3 to 7. Resource centers are government run; the National Association of Resource Teachers, on the other hand, is an NGO.
Children with disabilities are referred to the resource centers by their teachers. The special education specialists consult with the parent and evaluate the child. They prepare a recommendation and secure a statement from a professional testifying to the disability. As I mentioned yesterday, schools receive a set amount of funding per child, but the amount is greater for children with disabilities to cover the added cost.
In general, regular education teachers are not prepared at university to work with children with disabilities, or with the resource teachers and specialists. This poses a great challenge because the specialists much teach the regular education teachers how to work with the children. They must also address disability discrimination from the regular education teachers. Stigma of disability is a huge cultural problem---but more parents are starting to speak out against the stigma.
Due to a new law, next year regular schools with begin allowing teacher assistants in classrooms to support students with disabilities. Previously, only the regular education teachers were allowed in the classrooms. The teacher assistants will not be required to have the same education as regular teachers, but they will be important supports for the children with disabilities.
The specialists stay closely connected with parents because they usually serve smaller groups of students at one time. However often parents find it difficult to accept that their child has a disability, and this delays the start of support services. There are also no ways to hold parents accountable for maintaining therapies at home. However some parents (and siblings!) do come to support their children at the center. I saw this for myself.
Nevena is currently working with a group of about 10 Deaf and hard of hearing children. In Bulgaria, sign language is not officially recognized as a language and is not really permitted in the classroom. Nevena works with her children through oral methods, as part of a team that includes a speech therapist, a psychologist, a teacher and a specialist for sports.
Nevena noted that sometimes in families with Deaf or hard of hearing children, the hearing siblings are ignored. When this happens, the center involves the siblings in activities and parents realize the need to be fair with their children.
I asked her to tell a story about an activity that was very successful. She talked about taking the children to a horse camp for one week, during which not only did they ride horses but they also improved their self care skills. This impressed the parents, but unfortunately the training was not always maintained at home, so the skills of some children dropped again. Still, horse camp was a success.
Some of Nevena's children have cochlear implants and some wear hearing aids. An odd hierarchy has developed where the two groups have separated socially. The CI children think they are cooler than the children with hearing aids. Strangely, the only child that actually signs and wears no aid moves between both groups and is the most popular child in the class.
She also pointed to the example of an 11 year old with a cochlear implant whose parents allow him to participate in extreme sports. This child is a leader not only with the group but in the school.
Some schools use FM systems for children with hearing loss, but few have elevators. There are many learning aids for students, but if it is not high tech many time the teachers make them themselves.
I asked whether some specialists have disabilities themselves. Nevena and Peter think there are a few out there; recently they hired a Deaf one. There is also a blind teacher that they know of, and one with CP.
I also asked how much the teachers make---the answer is about 350 leva per month, which is about $200 US. They do have national health care and some additional benefits.
At this point I was given a quick tour of a play therapy room and a sensory integration room. In the second room, I met Ani, who works with children with autism, but has a background as a sign language interpreter and an audio visual therapist. Ani provided several interesting insights, such as the lack of official recognition of sign language and its prohibition in Bulgarian education. Ani will be attending my discussion tomorrow at Sofia University and I look forward to seeing her.
The sensory integration therapy room where I spoke with Ani
From left to right: Mitko, Ani, Peter, me and Kristen
After another ride in the school bus to CEGA, Kristen and I quickly ate lunch and then joined our U.S. colleagues for a meeting at the U.S. Embassy. I have been to consulate buildings in the U.S., but that was nothing compared to the armed security process at the U.S. Embassy compound in Bulgaria. Given Bulgaria's situation in a volatile region, the security is understandable. No pictures were allowed.
We met with Brian Stimmler, the Counselor for Public Affairs, Justin Heung and Evgeni Todorov, Political-Economic Specialists, and Vanya Ivanova, a Cultural Affairs Assistant. After introductions, we got down to discussing the Embassy's perception of issues in Bulgaria.
According to the embassy staff, at the broadest level, understanding Bulgaria today means being aware of generational differences and competing interests. The role of Russia in the region cannot be underestimated, along with the economic pull of China. They reminded us that transition after Communism fell in 1989 was extremely difficult and the effect is still felt. There is a swing of the historical pendulum: under the Soviet era, Bulgarians yearned for the West, but under capitalism, many Bulgarians are feeling a pull to the East.
They pointed out that Bulgaria is the poorest country in the European Union, and it was asked what they forecast for economic prosperity. They noted that money is being made in the car industry, that information technology has become significant, and that tourism has become central to the Bulgarian economy. Its larger and richer neighbors can have an impact, both good and bad.
The Embassy staff noted that the position of the Roma people in Bulgaria has declined since 1989, with the closure of factories.With fewer jobs and difficulties with education, the current young generation of Roma are a "lost generation," the most marginalized in Europe, the poorest of the poor.
The Embassy works with NGOs and in public affairs to try to use limited resources to assist with oppressed groups in the country like Roma. They work with the Red Cross to provide relief, for example, and each summer they host two to four Roma fellows working at the Embassy.
Garbage is, interestingly, a major concern in Roma communities and when it is not picked up it ends up poisoning the environment and the people. Most Roma do not own homes and are often squatting, which means they don't pay the fees necessary for garbage to come by.
Also, each year the Embassy supports LGBT Pride in Bulgaria, which is increasingly gaining visibility. There remains a large resistance to marriage equality.
I asked about the issue of Syrian refugees. Ebassy staff said that Bulgaria first began to feel the impact in 2013. Due to lack of funding for supports, Bulgaria just unlocked the doors of abandoned schools and moved people in with no infrastructure. The Embassy called on the Red Cross to help, and they built kitchens so people could eat. They also assist with translation services. The Embassy has called upon the Bulgarian government for an integrated approach to support.
The staff pointed out that one difficulty for funding NGOs is that most funding from the European Union tends to go to tourism rather than NGO work. This undermines the efforts to assist the refugees.
A major difficulty in refugee work is the effort to document and fingerprint each person. The vast majority are constantly on the move, and in many cases would rather not accept government help. Since 2010, 15,000 people have applied for asylum in Bulgaria, but when asked to locate each person, the Bulgarian government could only locate 800. The constant motion of refugees and their personal preferences can make consistent work very difficult.
We then moved on to reviewing the work each of us from the US was doing with community projects in Bulgaria. Although our time was limited, I was very glad to meet the staff (who said to say hi to you, Judy Heumann!! And to come visit, smile).
After the Embassy Kristen and I walked back to the hotel to take a break. Later, we joined our group to eat dinner at Osteria la Prima, one of the best Italian restaurants in Bulgaria, and right down the street. As it turned out, our coordinator Emil knows the chef, Elica Venkov, who is famous in Bulgaria. Elica was so nice, and gave us free dessert!
So when I think of thirst in Bulgaria, I think more of a desire for the things that will make life easier, with more opportunities and with less barriers. A very particularly Bulgarian thirst.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Dust Devils
A dust devil is a term for a small whirlwind. This evening, downtown Sofia was windy and full of dust devils, throwing dirt and pebbles into our eyes and making my hair stand on end.
The idea of a whirlwind also fits the day today. The main activity today for the U.S. mentors of the Professional Fellows Program was to coordinate a day-long workshop for Bulgarian Fellows and applicants on community organizing. As the outside temperatures rose to an unseasonal 73 degrees Fahrenheit, our group met in a community conference call to consider the look, feel and process of community organizing. Between the six U.S. mentors, we represented Vermont, Minnesota and Illinois---it was a rich experience to co-facilitate with my group.
At the core of our teaching today was the need to listen, think, act and learn as organizers do. Mike Griffin and Anthony Shields used a version of one-on-ones to get to know each other in small groups. I led the activity known to Access Living as the Power Game, where the group must seize control from the one person in the room with all the power (the group did very well and rose to the challenge!). Leah Torrey discussed what is known as the "dog poop" campaign in Slovakia as a demonstration of the cycle of organizing. Joanna Brown discussed some of the work done in education by Logan Square Neighborhood Association, and Regina McGraw discussed funding.
We heard a lot today from the Bulgarians involved in community change. They came to Sofia from as far away as the Black Sea in order to take advantage of this training and day of solidarity. They are all doing wonderful work, so some examples are:
...Asen is leading a Roma organization in Plovdiv to implement a three year strategic plan of creating opportunities for Roma people in a range of areas, including jobs and education.
...Diana is working with refugees from Syria, who face the problems encountered by people with no money, no papers, and no connections in the community.
...Mina is organizing children, teachers and parents to expand opportunities for children in the arts and crafts. She has started a foundation called Minka to further this initiative.
...Svetomil worked with two men he knows to pressure the mayor of his town to improve the water pipes in his area, because people were going without water for a week at a time. He even went and knocked on doors to get people involved. The mayor agreed and the water is now flowing again.
...Kirilka, or Kiki, is organizing families to try to address opportunities for improved education for children, including children with disabilities. Her best one-on-one site is the playground.
Asen, Mina and Svetomil will be coming to the US later this year. Others in attendance, like Ianna the researcher, teacher and baker of traditional sweets, and Silvia, the teacher and teacher coordinator from the Black Sea, have applied to the program and came to the training to learn how to develop their own plans for organizing.
Silvia, Kristen and I spent lunch together, and Silvia provided some very interesting information about Bulgarian education. This is important as on other days this week I will be spending more time with Bulgarian educators of children with disabilities. Some major points Silvia made:
...The curriculum here depends on every student learning the same material at the same rate, and it is difficult when children cannot keep up due to disability or language barriers (because they may be Roma, or Syrian, or other ethnic groups).
...Schools tend to only have on support specialist for all children with disabilities at the school. There is no specialist/child ratio.
...Schools are funded on a per-child basis, with the current annual rate per child being 1,300 leva. Aside from the fact that this situation creates a disincentive to enroll children with disabilities, it also creates a situation where enrollment is inflated by principals.
...In her area, there is one Deaf school for the region. Over time it has added an autism program and a cognitive disabilities program.
...There are some schools for children with disabilities that are "weekly schools" where the children are sent to live for the week. Sometimes families with non-disabled children attempt to enroll their child in these schools so as not to have to care for them as much.
Tomorrow I will be visiting with more people in the area of education, so it will be very interesting to follow up on these points.
At the end of the day, Mike and Anthony had to make a presentation at another organization, so the rest of us went to Pizza Palace on boulevard Vitosha to take advantage of the warm weather and have a drink. Our plan was then to have Vladi Petkov take us on a walk to see the sights of central Sofia, mainly in the government/church area.
Vladi patiently led us through Sofia past St. Nedelya Church to see the St. Sofia statue on a column in a plaza that used to be the site of a big statue of Lenin. This also happens to be an area where the central mosque is located, left from the Ottoman empire. Here we were assailed by strong dust devils and took shelter by the casino across the plaza. He took us through the Ministry building which is build around the 4th century St. Georgi church with Roman ruins. Down the street was the old house of Parliament and beyond that the old residence of the President. Parliament and the President are now housed in newer (and better secured) buildings.
Vladi did note that Bulgaria has around 600 political parties, of which about six or seven currently hold seats in Parliament.
We continued on to the massive St. Alexander Nevsky cathedral, one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches in the world. Under the moon, the cathedral was filled with shadows and I startled when a man dressed in black walked near me in the portico. Unfortunately photos are banned in the cathedral and thus the main impression I can give is of a host of frescoes of Orthodox patriarchs and saints, with massive chandeliers and several candelabra for people wanting to light a candle. In a way, its inside design vaguely reminds me of the Pantheon in Paris, which was originally a church. Like the Sofia cathedral, the Pantheon was caught in major political change. Alexander Nevsky's interior is clearly seriously Orthodox, gloomy but soaring, full of icons that look like the people I have seen on the street.
We turned around and passed the statue of Tsar Samuil, with its lighted eyes that serve as a beacon to right wing nationalist groups. It is a bronze statue whose eyes actually do light up with a little LED light. Forbidding and....a little strange.
We ate dinner at the extremely kitschy Laguna, which is known for its extravagant desserts. On the way home down Hristo Belchov, Kristen and I were once again assaulted by dust devils that blew chunks of dust straight into our eyes. Perhaps they are caused by the rhetoric of the 600 Bulgarian political parties...or the ghosts of Orthodox priests past. At any rate they have a way of making you feel more alive.
The idea of a whirlwind also fits the day today. The main activity today for the U.S. mentors of the Professional Fellows Program was to coordinate a day-long workshop for Bulgarian Fellows and applicants on community organizing. As the outside temperatures rose to an unseasonal 73 degrees Fahrenheit, our group met in a community conference call to consider the look, feel and process of community organizing. Between the six U.S. mentors, we represented Vermont, Minnesota and Illinois---it was a rich experience to co-facilitate with my group.
The photo above shows some of the attendees at the workshop discussing issues in a circle.
At the core of our teaching today was the need to listen, think, act and learn as organizers do. Mike Griffin and Anthony Shields used a version of one-on-ones to get to know each other in small groups. I led the activity known to Access Living as the Power Game, where the group must seize control from the one person in the room with all the power (the group did very well and rose to the challenge!). Leah Torrey discussed what is known as the "dog poop" campaign in Slovakia as a demonstration of the cycle of organizing. Joanna Brown discussed some of the work done in education by Logan Square Neighborhood Association, and Regina McGraw discussed funding.
We heard a lot today from the Bulgarians involved in community change. They came to Sofia from as far away as the Black Sea in order to take advantage of this training and day of solidarity. They are all doing wonderful work, so some examples are:
...Asen is leading a Roma organization in Plovdiv to implement a three year strategic plan of creating opportunities for Roma people in a range of areas, including jobs and education.
...Diana is working with refugees from Syria, who face the problems encountered by people with no money, no papers, and no connections in the community.
...Mina is organizing children, teachers and parents to expand opportunities for children in the arts and crafts. She has started a foundation called Minka to further this initiative.
...Svetomil worked with two men he knows to pressure the mayor of his town to improve the water pipes in his area, because people were going without water for a week at a time. He even went and knocked on doors to get people involved. The mayor agreed and the water is now flowing again.
...Kirilka, or Kiki, is organizing families to try to address opportunities for improved education for children, including children with disabilities. Her best one-on-one site is the playground.
Asen, Mina and Svetomil will be coming to the US later this year. Others in attendance, like Ianna the researcher, teacher and baker of traditional sweets, and Silvia, the teacher and teacher coordinator from the Black Sea, have applied to the program and came to the training to learn how to develop their own plans for organizing.
Silvia, Kristen and I spent lunch together, and Silvia provided some very interesting information about Bulgarian education. This is important as on other days this week I will be spending more time with Bulgarian educators of children with disabilities. Some major points Silvia made:
...The curriculum here depends on every student learning the same material at the same rate, and it is difficult when children cannot keep up due to disability or language barriers (because they may be Roma, or Syrian, or other ethnic groups).
...Schools tend to only have on support specialist for all children with disabilities at the school. There is no specialist/child ratio.
...Schools are funded on a per-child basis, with the current annual rate per child being 1,300 leva. Aside from the fact that this situation creates a disincentive to enroll children with disabilities, it also creates a situation where enrollment is inflated by principals.
...In her area, there is one Deaf school for the region. Over time it has added an autism program and a cognitive disabilities program.
...There are some schools for children with disabilities that are "weekly schools" where the children are sent to live for the week. Sometimes families with non-disabled children attempt to enroll their child in these schools so as not to have to care for them as much.
Tomorrow I will be visiting with more people in the area of education, so it will be very interesting to follow up on these points.
At the end of the day, Mike and Anthony had to make a presentation at another organization, so the rest of us went to Pizza Palace on boulevard Vitosha to take advantage of the warm weather and have a drink. Our plan was then to have Vladi Petkov take us on a walk to see the sights of central Sofia, mainly in the government/church area.
Vladi patiently led us through Sofia past St. Nedelya Church to see the St. Sofia statue on a column in a plaza that used to be the site of a big statue of Lenin. This also happens to be an area where the central mosque is located, left from the Ottoman empire. Here we were assailed by strong dust devils and took shelter by the casino across the plaza. He took us through the Ministry building which is build around the 4th century St. Georgi church with Roman ruins. Down the street was the old house of Parliament and beyond that the old residence of the President. Parliament and the President are now housed in newer (and better secured) buildings.
A panoramic shot of the rear of St Georgi with the Roman ruins in the foreground.
Vladi did note that Bulgaria has around 600 political parties, of which about six or seven currently hold seats in Parliament.
We continued on to the massive St. Alexander Nevsky cathedral, one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches in the world. Under the moon, the cathedral was filled with shadows and I startled when a man dressed in black walked near me in the portico. Unfortunately photos are banned in the cathedral and thus the main impression I can give is of a host of frescoes of Orthodox patriarchs and saints, with massive chandeliers and several candelabra for people wanting to light a candle. In a way, its inside design vaguely reminds me of the Pantheon in Paris, which was originally a church. Like the Sofia cathedral, the Pantheon was caught in major political change. Alexander Nevsky's interior is clearly seriously Orthodox, gloomy but soaring, full of icons that look like the people I have seen on the street.
We turned around and passed the statue of Tsar Samuil, with its lighted eyes that serve as a beacon to right wing nationalist groups. It is a bronze statue whose eyes actually do light up with a little LED light. Forbidding and....a little strange.
We ate dinner at the extremely kitschy Laguna, which is known for its extravagant desserts. On the way home down Hristo Belchov, Kristen and I were once again assaulted by dust devils that blew chunks of dust straight into our eyes. Perhaps they are caused by the rhetoric of the 600 Bulgarian political parties...or the ghosts of Orthodox priests past. At any rate they have a way of making you feel more alive.
Wine and Love: Impressions
***Those interested in photos of the trip should check my Flickr album at this link for photos.
I wanted to write a post specifically about the late afternoon/evening of February 14. After breaking for the day at CEGA, the U.S. group had free time to nap or explore. I used the time to write the previous blog post, but I also decided to buy a juice drink from a small shop near the hotel.
February 14 has a double meaning in Bulgaria. Bulgarians participate in Valentine's Day in a way that is familiar to those from the U.S., with flowers and dates and sweets and all things pink and red. However in Bulgaria, it is also the national holiday to celebrate wine, and specifically the country ritual of the first trimmings of grape vines. It is known as the saint day of St. Trifon Zarezan or Wine Day.
Over the course of the day as our group traversed Sofia on foot, we saw many couples and families out wearing red, carrying balloons and flowers, and in general having a pleasant time. Street vendors sold U.S. style Valentine's toys and gifts. Children rode their bicycles and some even rode miniature motorcycles (this was boulevard Vitosha after all, the main shopping district designed more for those with money). Love was everywhere (and there is a lot of wine).
Yet if you looked carefully it was not hard to see the Bulgaria that labors hard and experiences poverty. As someone who is not Bulgarian, it is a little complicated to interpret what one sees, but here, for example, is what I saw at the juice shop.
The front of the shop was covered in posters with photos of fruit and lists of different prices for drinks, all in Bulgarian. It had a sliding door that was open and I could see a pale-skinned older woman waiting for customers at the tall green counter. The entry had one step and I stepped up and into the shop. The price list at the side of the counter caught my eye; while I cannot read Cyrillic (much as I wished I did), I was able to point to the picture of a mango and a price of 3.50 leva. The woman came around the counter, looked at the mango thing, and nodded. She went around behind the counter and began feeding fresh mangos through a juicer.
While the juicer roared loudly, a second woman, much darker and unsmiling, came in carrying a box of grapefruit. She ignored me, placed the box on a shelf, and left. A co-worker? A farm worker making a delivery? Who knows. The first woman loaded my juice into a bottle and returned to the counter to ring it up and add in two bottles of water I also asked for.
As she bagged the items, I saw that her hands were very heavily callused, and her fingers had very deep scars from being cut. These scars were so deep flesh was actually missing from her fingers. They were unlike the hands of anyone I know, but resembled the hands of migrant farm workers in the U.S. They were clearly not the hands of someone with an easy life. She looked up, and I gave her my leva. She provided the change. I murmured "blagodaryuh" (thank you in Bulgarian) and she smiled. Probably just polite, but because I tend to want people to like me, it was a small pleasure. The juice was delicious.
As a person curious about people, I wondered about her name, her family, where she lived. What does something like Wine Day mean to her? What does she think of her customers? What does she think of Bulgaria?
After I returned to the hotel, I worked on this blog and later met the rest of my group to walk to dinner at a restaurant called Before & After. Emil had arranged a long dinner table for our group, complete with wine, of course. To the side was a dance floor which over the course of the night was populated with tango dancers, several of whom were very skilled. Some of our new Bulgarian friends went out on the dance floor, which we applauded. The room was beautiful with a fountain in the middle and a Valentine's decoration hung from the ceiling. Kristen and I had a terrific time getting to know our group better. At the end of the evening it was easy to say: Bulgaria is a wonderful place and Bulgarians are lovely people.
And yet the same starry Balkan night hung over our party, that hung over the homes of the women in the juice shop. As in every country many realities exist at once and we see first one, and then the other. Sometimes they mask each other, but they are held together by time and place. Wine and love.
I wanted to write a post specifically about the late afternoon/evening of February 14. After breaking for the day at CEGA, the U.S. group had free time to nap or explore. I used the time to write the previous blog post, but I also decided to buy a juice drink from a small shop near the hotel.
February 14 has a double meaning in Bulgaria. Bulgarians participate in Valentine's Day in a way that is familiar to those from the U.S., with flowers and dates and sweets and all things pink and red. However in Bulgaria, it is also the national holiday to celebrate wine, and specifically the country ritual of the first trimmings of grape vines. It is known as the saint day of St. Trifon Zarezan or Wine Day.
Over the course of the day as our group traversed Sofia on foot, we saw many couples and families out wearing red, carrying balloons and flowers, and in general having a pleasant time. Street vendors sold U.S. style Valentine's toys and gifts. Children rode their bicycles and some even rode miniature motorcycles (this was boulevard Vitosha after all, the main shopping district designed more for those with money). Love was everywhere (and there is a lot of wine).
Yet if you looked carefully it was not hard to see the Bulgaria that labors hard and experiences poverty. As someone who is not Bulgarian, it is a little complicated to interpret what one sees, but here, for example, is what I saw at the juice shop.
The front of the shop was covered in posters with photos of fruit and lists of different prices for drinks, all in Bulgarian. It had a sliding door that was open and I could see a pale-skinned older woman waiting for customers at the tall green counter. The entry had one step and I stepped up and into the shop. The price list at the side of the counter caught my eye; while I cannot read Cyrillic (much as I wished I did), I was able to point to the picture of a mango and a price of 3.50 leva. The woman came around the counter, looked at the mango thing, and nodded. She went around behind the counter and began feeding fresh mangos through a juicer.
While the juicer roared loudly, a second woman, much darker and unsmiling, came in carrying a box of grapefruit. She ignored me, placed the box on a shelf, and left. A co-worker? A farm worker making a delivery? Who knows. The first woman loaded my juice into a bottle and returned to the counter to ring it up and add in two bottles of water I also asked for.
As she bagged the items, I saw that her hands were very heavily callused, and her fingers had very deep scars from being cut. These scars were so deep flesh was actually missing from her fingers. They were unlike the hands of anyone I know, but resembled the hands of migrant farm workers in the U.S. They were clearly not the hands of someone with an easy life. She looked up, and I gave her my leva. She provided the change. I murmured "blagodaryuh" (thank you in Bulgarian) and she smiled. Probably just polite, but because I tend to want people to like me, it was a small pleasure. The juice was delicious.
As a person curious about people, I wondered about her name, her family, where she lived. What does something like Wine Day mean to her? What does she think of her customers? What does she think of Bulgaria?
After I returned to the hotel, I worked on this blog and later met the rest of my group to walk to dinner at a restaurant called Before & After. Emil had arranged a long dinner table for our group, complete with wine, of course. To the side was a dance floor which over the course of the night was populated with tango dancers, several of whom were very skilled. Some of our new Bulgarian friends went out on the dance floor, which we applauded. The room was beautiful with a fountain in the middle and a Valentine's decoration hung from the ceiling. Kristen and I had a terrific time getting to know our group better. At the end of the evening it was easy to say: Bulgaria is a wonderful place and Bulgarians are lovely people.
And yet the same starry Balkan night hung over our party, that hung over the homes of the women in the juice shop. As in every country many realities exist at once and we see first one, and then the other. Sometimes they mask each other, but they are held together by time and place. Wine and love.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Bulgaria 101
Today my group officially began the work of learning about the complexities of Bulgarian history and the realities facing people who want to strengthen and empower their communities around the country.
As a kickoff, as we waited at our hotel to gather in the morning, we learned that our coordinator Emil Metodiev had been late for meeting us at dinner the previous evening due to a march of right-wing sympathizers through the capitol. Roads had been blocked and police presence was escalated; the march is illegal but this group has conducted it for thirteen years on an annual basis to honor someone they consider a nationalist hero. The issue of far right activity is a major concern to those trying to build a tolerant and open Europe.
With Emil leading the way, we walked to his offices at the CEGA Foundation, where we were met by Vladislav Petkov, better known as Vladi, also a staffer at CEGA. After Emil went over our schedule for the week, Vladi gave us a basic rundown on Bulgarian history.
To start with, Vladi pointed out that while official Bulgarian history makes much of the country's ancient roots and some periods of independence, the reality is that Bulgaria was under Ottoman rule for about 500 years, until 1878. In 1944, the Soviets invaded Bulgaria and it became a Communist state belonging to the Eastern Bloc until 1989. Many buildings and factories in Sofia, including apartment blocks, date from that era.
1989 did not however signal an instantaneous capitalist transformation. During the Communist period, the secret police played a major role in state affairs and continue to do so today, although they are no longer in state police roles. Major change in Bulgaria tends to be an insider business and is paired with lack of real access to politicians by the regular Bulgarian people. Privatization has made a few people very rich.
Politics of course is a complicated subject, but generally the Bulgarian people tend to hold more politically conservative views. A small minority identify as leftist, but bad memories from Communist times make many shun leftism. In youth movements, the movement for far-right nationalism is very strong. The media do not have standards of ethics they must adhere to, so they are susceptible to control, distortion, and sometimes fabrication.
Bulgaria has some seriously beautiful churches, but the role of the church in the lives of everyday people is not significant. It is worth noting that after the fall of Communism, some members of the state police chose to enter the Eastern Orthodox Church and retain some control through that venue.
Bulgaria is highly aware of the "hybrid war" being waged in/on the Ukraine by President Putin of Russia, and the complications that Putin's presence has on political and economic views. If you say that you are against capitalism, the reaction here will be that you are pro-Putin. I asked if, given these pressures, Bulgarians kept their opinions to themselves, but the response is that Bulgarians do say what they think, especially on Facebook...even if the information they are discussing or sharing may not be true, which happens when the media do not have standards.
The question of anti-Semitism was raised, and Vladi's response was that compared to other religious groups, there are very few Jews in Bulgaria, many having left for Israel. During World War II, Bulgaria was actually one of the few countries that stood against deporting Jews to the concentration camps. Today however Jews are very few in number.
Vladi noted that Bulgarian's view of the U.S. in an economic sense was very positive. These days, Bulgaria is trending towards a service economy. Labor unions exist but are largely silent and not used as a vehicle to mobilize people. Fewer people work in agriculture than did during the Communist era, but today many Roma people work in agriculture without contract, which means no documentation, no health benefits, less pay.
As we began talking about Roma people, Emil led the conversation because he is himself Roma. He noted that right now, around 800,000 to one million Roma live in Bulgaria, most in the country, and most in segregation from non-Roma neighborhoods. CEGA is beginning work to look at the root causes of the cultural isolation and rampant discrimination faced by the Roma people. Vladi pointed out that the Roma people of Bulgaria actually have several groups within the overall population, so to speak of Roma is not to refer to one homogenous group.
The Roma used to be a mobile people, setting up homes and then moving them all over Europe, until in 1944 the Soviets invaded and forced every child, Bulgarian and Roma, to attend school. This was part of the plan to "tame" the Roma. Some had already developed permanent housing, but the Soviets required that they must all settle in buildings like everyone else. While the schools are very beautiful, the Roma children do not in general have the same quality of education that non-Roma do. And, Roma can vote, but they are often bribed by politicians to secure the vote. Tenn pregnancy is high, and the Roma communities tend to have the very poorest of the poor in Bulgaria.
Bias against Roma is often overt, with Bulgarians remarking on the darkness of their skin or their inability to speak "correct" Bulgarian, or to read. The oppression of the Roma people is one of the biggest social issues facing Bulgaria, but it is not well known in the United States.
We asked Emil if he faced this type of discrimination personally. He responded that he is often treated as a foreigner, and strangers will speak to him in English because they assume that he cannot speak Bulgarian well.
He grew up in a town that had a greater mixing of the Roma and non-Roma Bulgarians, but attended a high school where he was the only Roma student in a group of about 500 non-Roma students. He faced many negative comments from his peers and also his teacher on being Roma. He coped by becoming one of the "cool kids" with cigarettes and a bit of spare cash. His parents gave him money for doing well in school.
He decided to pursue higher education because his father worked in roofing and he did not want to go into construction. Thus he did a year of army service (required at the time) and then went to college. He became involved in NGO management and leadership development, and participated in the Professional Fellows group of 2012. His U.S. host group was National People's action. He began local initiative groups to build community in his hometown.
As a relatively privileged and educated Roma person, Emil faces the kinds of challenges faced by leaders in oppressed and undereducated communities---he is the go to person when people have questions or need help for any reason. We from the U.S. were very privileged to hear his story.
We turned then to planning. On Monday we will be running a workshop for Bulgarians in the Professional Fellows program, so as organizers do, we discussed what would be relevant and who would do what. The last two members of our cohort, Mike Griffin and Anthony Shields arrived at midday and joined us for lunch on boulevard Vitosha.
After lunch, we spent a couple of hours discussing the projects being run by Bulgarian members of the Professional Fellows group. I could not help thinking as people described their efforts to improve education, refugee work, and other areas, that these are the type of people who are treasures to their nation---who seek nothing but a better chance and fairness for their communities, and need support, encouragement and understanding. And yet the complexities of Bulgaria and its people are real. Tomorrow will be another day of discussing the hard topics in community building.
For tonight, we are off to celebrate Wine and Love!
As a kickoff, as we waited at our hotel to gather in the morning, we learned that our coordinator Emil Metodiev had been late for meeting us at dinner the previous evening due to a march of right-wing sympathizers through the capitol. Roads had been blocked and police presence was escalated; the march is illegal but this group has conducted it for thirteen years on an annual basis to honor someone they consider a nationalist hero. The issue of far right activity is a major concern to those trying to build a tolerant and open Europe.
With Emil leading the way, we walked to his offices at the CEGA Foundation, where we were met by Vladislav Petkov, better known as Vladi, also a staffer at CEGA. After Emil went over our schedule for the week, Vladi gave us a basic rundown on Bulgarian history.
To start with, Vladi pointed out that while official Bulgarian history makes much of the country's ancient roots and some periods of independence, the reality is that Bulgaria was under Ottoman rule for about 500 years, until 1878. In 1944, the Soviets invaded Bulgaria and it became a Communist state belonging to the Eastern Bloc until 1989. Many buildings and factories in Sofia, including apartment blocks, date from that era.
1989 did not however signal an instantaneous capitalist transformation. During the Communist period, the secret police played a major role in state affairs and continue to do so today, although they are no longer in state police roles. Major change in Bulgaria tends to be an insider business and is paired with lack of real access to politicians by the regular Bulgarian people. Privatization has made a few people very rich.
Politics of course is a complicated subject, but generally the Bulgarian people tend to hold more politically conservative views. A small minority identify as leftist, but bad memories from Communist times make many shun leftism. In youth movements, the movement for far-right nationalism is very strong. The media do not have standards of ethics they must adhere to, so they are susceptible to control, distortion, and sometimes fabrication.
Bulgaria has some seriously beautiful churches, but the role of the church in the lives of everyday people is not significant. It is worth noting that after the fall of Communism, some members of the state police chose to enter the Eastern Orthodox Church and retain some control through that venue.
Bulgaria is highly aware of the "hybrid war" being waged in/on the Ukraine by President Putin of Russia, and the complications that Putin's presence has on political and economic views. If you say that you are against capitalism, the reaction here will be that you are pro-Putin. I asked if, given these pressures, Bulgarians kept their opinions to themselves, but the response is that Bulgarians do say what they think, especially on Facebook...even if the information they are discussing or sharing may not be true, which happens when the media do not have standards.
The question of anti-Semitism was raised, and Vladi's response was that compared to other religious groups, there are very few Jews in Bulgaria, many having left for Israel. During World War II, Bulgaria was actually one of the few countries that stood against deporting Jews to the concentration camps. Today however Jews are very few in number.
Vladi noted that Bulgarian's view of the U.S. in an economic sense was very positive. These days, Bulgaria is trending towards a service economy. Labor unions exist but are largely silent and not used as a vehicle to mobilize people. Fewer people work in agriculture than did during the Communist era, but today many Roma people work in agriculture without contract, which means no documentation, no health benefits, less pay.
As we began talking about Roma people, Emil led the conversation because he is himself Roma. He noted that right now, around 800,000 to one million Roma live in Bulgaria, most in the country, and most in segregation from non-Roma neighborhoods. CEGA is beginning work to look at the root causes of the cultural isolation and rampant discrimination faced by the Roma people. Vladi pointed out that the Roma people of Bulgaria actually have several groups within the overall population, so to speak of Roma is not to refer to one homogenous group.
The Roma used to be a mobile people, setting up homes and then moving them all over Europe, until in 1944 the Soviets invaded and forced every child, Bulgarian and Roma, to attend school. This was part of the plan to "tame" the Roma. Some had already developed permanent housing, but the Soviets required that they must all settle in buildings like everyone else. While the schools are very beautiful, the Roma children do not in general have the same quality of education that non-Roma do. And, Roma can vote, but they are often bribed by politicians to secure the vote. Tenn pregnancy is high, and the Roma communities tend to have the very poorest of the poor in Bulgaria.
Bias against Roma is often overt, with Bulgarians remarking on the darkness of their skin or their inability to speak "correct" Bulgarian, or to read. The oppression of the Roma people is one of the biggest social issues facing Bulgaria, but it is not well known in the United States.
We asked Emil if he faced this type of discrimination personally. He responded that he is often treated as a foreigner, and strangers will speak to him in English because they assume that he cannot speak Bulgarian well.
He grew up in a town that had a greater mixing of the Roma and non-Roma Bulgarians, but attended a high school where he was the only Roma student in a group of about 500 non-Roma students. He faced many negative comments from his peers and also his teacher on being Roma. He coped by becoming one of the "cool kids" with cigarettes and a bit of spare cash. His parents gave him money for doing well in school.
He decided to pursue higher education because his father worked in roofing and he did not want to go into construction. Thus he did a year of army service (required at the time) and then went to college. He became involved in NGO management and leadership development, and participated in the Professional Fellows group of 2012. His U.S. host group was National People's action. He began local initiative groups to build community in his hometown.
As a relatively privileged and educated Roma person, Emil faces the kinds of challenges faced by leaders in oppressed and undereducated communities---he is the go to person when people have questions or need help for any reason. We from the U.S. were very privileged to hear his story.
We turned then to planning. On Monday we will be running a workshop for Bulgarians in the Professional Fellows program, so as organizers do, we discussed what would be relevant and who would do what. The last two members of our cohort, Mike Griffin and Anthony Shields arrived at midday and joined us for lunch on boulevard Vitosha.
After lunch, we spent a couple of hours discussing the projects being run by Bulgarian members of the Professional Fellows group. I could not help thinking as people described their efforts to improve education, refugee work, and other areas, that these are the type of people who are treasures to their nation---who seek nothing but a better chance and fairness for their communities, and need support, encouragement and understanding. And yet the complexities of Bulgaria and its people are real. Tomorrow will be another day of discussing the hard topics in community building.
For tonight, we are off to celebrate Wine and Love!
Good afternoon, Sofia!
We made it! Kristen calculated that we had been traveling for 17 hours, including waiting and the layover in Amsterdam. We flew in on a Bulgarian Air plane that, as it landed, encountered some serious turbulence due to the Balkan mountains. On descending further we could see the sharply defined Balkans and the mountain valleys, and then Mt. Vitosha and a great view of the central city, including the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.
After going through the passport control area and baggage claim (where one of my bags lost a wheel), we were greeted by the Professional Fellows' Country Director for Bulgaria, Emil Metodiev, and some of our Bulgarian mentees. Kristen and I rode to the hotel with Emil in a taxi to check in. Our hotel is the Best Western Art Plaza Hotel on Hristo Belchov Street in the central Sofia area. The city of Sofia is in an area that has been inhabited since at least 7,000 BCE. The buildings in the area are quite old, built in brick covered with plaster and roofed with red clay tiles. The streets are narrow and paved with cobblestones.
On arriving at the hotel, Kristen and I got settled and then decided to go for a walk even though it was raining. The man at the front desk pointed us in the direction of Boulevard Vitosha, one block away. This is the big main shopping district in Sofia, with the boulevard actually being a wide pedestrian-only street lined with lots of shops and cafes. As we walked along, the rain lifted and the sunset lit the buildings to reveal soft rainbow colors. Very beautiful.
We walked all the way down to the church of Sveta Nedelya, where a church has existed on that site since the 10th century. In 1925 it was almost completely destroyed but then rebuilt to preserve what was left. Then we headed back, pausing to look at the stores...shopping may be in order and the Bulgarian lev is 1.7 to the U.S. dollar.
At the hotel, we met back with Regina, Joanna, and Leah, and were joined by Emil who is our country coordinator, plus Regina's Bulgarian mentee, Ani. After discussing the dinner plans it was decided that we needed to find an ATM to withdraw some money. Field trip to the ATM! The machine had an English option and I was able to hold the first of my Bulgarian money in my hands.
Then we were off to an Italian style place for a wonderful group dinner, which included some Bulgarian style dishes. Some of my tablemates had shopska salad, the national salad of Bulgaria with shredded sirene cheese on top of lettuce, tomato and cucumber (with a green pepper on the side). Emil and Susana discussed the situation for community organizing work in Bulgaria with some fantastic insights on funding problems and educational issues. Among other things we will be meeting with Roma people this week to discuss the issues facing their community.
Emil also let us know that tomorrow will be focused on planning the community workshops we will be expected to facilitate on Monday. In the afternoon we will discuss community organizing work with Professional Fellows alumni, followed by a break. It will be Valentine's Day, and while that is definitely being celebrated in Bulgaria, February 14 is Wine Day in Bulgaria and our hosts will treat us to a special "Wine and Love" dinner in the evening.
We headed home to the hotel when jet lag began to overcome us...after all of that travel this was not unexpected, but I was certainly glad to get into my bed and just rest.
PS: For the extra curious and those not on Facebook, please keep an eye on this link for photos. I have also included the link at the right hand side of the blog for easy access. While I am posting some photos on Facebook, I know that some are not on Facebook, so I wanted to make photos easier to share. Enjoy! Just a few photos are posted now but I will post more.
After going through the passport control area and baggage claim (where one of my bags lost a wheel), we were greeted by the Professional Fellows' Country Director for Bulgaria, Emil Metodiev, and some of our Bulgarian mentees. Kristen and I rode to the hotel with Emil in a taxi to check in. Our hotel is the Best Western Art Plaza Hotel on Hristo Belchov Street in the central Sofia area. The city of Sofia is in an area that has been inhabited since at least 7,000 BCE. The buildings in the area are quite old, built in brick covered with plaster and roofed with red clay tiles. The streets are narrow and paved with cobblestones.
On arriving at the hotel, Kristen and I got settled and then decided to go for a walk even though it was raining. The man at the front desk pointed us in the direction of Boulevard Vitosha, one block away. This is the big main shopping district in Sofia, with the boulevard actually being a wide pedestrian-only street lined with lots of shops and cafes. As we walked along, the rain lifted and the sunset lit the buildings to reveal soft rainbow colors. Very beautiful.
We walked all the way down to the church of Sveta Nedelya, where a church has existed on that site since the 10th century. In 1925 it was almost completely destroyed but then rebuilt to preserve what was left. Then we headed back, pausing to look at the stores...shopping may be in order and the Bulgarian lev is 1.7 to the U.S. dollar.
At the hotel, we met back with Regina, Joanna, and Leah, and were joined by Emil who is our country coordinator, plus Regina's Bulgarian mentee, Ani. After discussing the dinner plans it was decided that we needed to find an ATM to withdraw some money. Field trip to the ATM! The machine had an English option and I was able to hold the first of my Bulgarian money in my hands.
Then we were off to an Italian style place for a wonderful group dinner, which included some Bulgarian style dishes. Some of my tablemates had shopska salad, the national salad of Bulgaria with shredded sirene cheese on top of lettuce, tomato and cucumber (with a green pepper on the side). Emil and Susana discussed the situation for community organizing work in Bulgaria with some fantastic insights on funding problems and educational issues. Among other things we will be meeting with Roma people this week to discuss the issues facing their community.
Emil also let us know that tomorrow will be focused on planning the community workshops we will be expected to facilitate on Monday. In the afternoon we will discuss community organizing work with Professional Fellows alumni, followed by a break. It will be Valentine's Day, and while that is definitely being celebrated in Bulgaria, February 14 is Wine Day in Bulgaria and our hosts will treat us to a special "Wine and Love" dinner in the evening.
We headed home to the hotel when jet lag began to overcome us...after all of that travel this was not unexpected, but I was certainly glad to get into my bed and just rest.
PS: For the extra curious and those not on Facebook, please keep an eye on this link for photos. I have also included the link at the right hand side of the blog for easy access. While I am posting some photos on Facebook, I know that some are not on Facebook, so I wanted to make photos easier to share. Enjoy! Just a few photos are posted now but I will post more.
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