Back in Scotland after a Wonderful Holiday in Bulgaria

Greetings Friends -

Happy New Years!! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy holiday season!

After a 2 ½ week vacation in Bulgaria, it’s great to be back “home” in Scotland. The trip was truly an eye opening and once-in-a-lifetime experience. My roommate, Nick, and his family were such amazing hosts, and I’m sincerely grateful to them for their hospitality. In a relatively short time span, we explored the nation’s capital (Sofia), skied at Vitosha Mountain, spent Christmas with Nick’s mom in Haskovo, visited ancient ruins in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains, off-roaded around countryside in a 4x4, spent New Years at a villa in the mountains between Bulgaria and Greece, and returned to Sofia to fly back to Scotland.

The Republic of Bulgaria is located in Eastern Europe, so its culture still reflects quite a bit of Soviet-era influence. Today, Bulgaria functions as a parliamentary democracy under a unitary constitutional republic. The country has joined the European Union and NATO. It has a population of approximately 7.7 million, with Sofia as its capital and largest city. The country is currently undergoing tremendous economic growth and is experiencing one of the largest real-estate booms in the world. If any of you are interested, more information on Bulgaria is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria.

It was quite a shocking experience to spend nearly three weeks in a country where few people speak English. The Bulgarian language is based on the Cyrillic alphabet, which meant that I couldn’t read or pronounce most things that I saw in writing. Adjusting to this different alphabet served as a particularly challenging element of this trip. Yet, by the end of the trip I discovered that I was able to read and understand the occasional road signs. If any of you are interested, more information on the Cyrillic alphabet is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_alphabet.

I managed to pick up several everyday words in Bulgarian, but I largely depended on Nick and his English-speaking friends to translate for me throughout the vacation. It was quite a fascinating challenge to constantly discover new ways to communicate with people. The way of life in Bulgaria varies significantly from most Western cultures, and it was fascinating to encounter cultural differences that I could never have previously imagined.

During the visit I also managed to reach the Haskovo Rotary Club, which is located in District 2482. The Bulgarian Rotarians were quite welcoming, and it was great to experience two of their Rotary functions. In addition to attending a meeting and exchanging banners, it was a pleasure to speak briefly about my purpose as an ambassadorial scholar and about my experiences in Bulgaria. Of course, my roommate (Nick) translated for me.

Overall, the visit was quite a rewarding experience. To share the experience with all of you back home, pictures from the holiday in Bulgaria are posted in separate entries below. Hope you enjoy!!

Wishing you all the best in 2008 -

Nick