Sandanski 2010 (BYF and YES)

I know that there are almost three months since I came back, but I really want to show everybody what I have been through at the beggining of september.

So I decided on the 3rd of september that I was going the next day to YES Project and BYF (Balkan Youth Festival) in Sandanski, Bulgaria. So I bearly managed to sort things out and pack my bags and meet Beri, Deedee and Diana at the train station. We went from Cluj-Napoca to Bucharest, where Robert, Sebi, Criss and Răzvan. From there, another train took us to Sofia, and then another train from Sofia to Sandanski. Overall, it took us 27 hours by train just to get there, and so we missed the first day from the project.

We a found a really different Bulgaria than we thought we would. It reminded me of the communist stories I heared, and the landscape from old romanian movies. All their cars are exactly like the ones we had 15 years ago. Only we don’t have them anymore. They do.

We had to teach ourselves how to read all over again, because they use the chyrillic alphabet. I forgot all about that since the last time I crossed trough this country! So, we did. Roughly, but we managed to read a little, even if just for the last days we stood there.

Another interesting thing is that they don’t like their buldings… finnished. What I mean is that you can actually see the inside structure from the walls. I saw a house made out of 5 or 6 different types of bricks! They almost look like the Lego houses I used to build when I was little: no plans, just start building and then build some more. They’re never finished!

Another thing I found interesting is that they post their loved ones funerals and commemorations on walls, on poles, on trees, on fences, so all of these are filled with photos of deceased people. Creepy.

Ok, enough with the bad things. The landscapes are pretty awesome. It was 35ºC and I could see snow on top of the mountains, really far away. Alcohol is cheaper than back home . Especially Baileys. And some sort of apple flavoured vodka the turks tought us to drink. ) Also, they have big, wide parks, a lot of vegetation, and a lot of pedestrian streets.

Bulgaria is a country where kids use skates as sleighs and rush down the streets, where other kids rent little motorcycles with 2 extra wheels, where old people don’t just stare, but smile back.

This is just one of the many posts I thought about writing, just didn’t have the time to.

I kind of mixed up all the photos I got from everybody, so sorry for that. If you recognise your photos, just tell me and I’ll add your names (and links if you have any!) here The ones I do remember are: Migle, Beri, Deedee.

Next article is on YES Project. Coming soon!