Sandanski 2010 (BYF and YES)
What is a Drum Circle?
Feb 15th
Oh, yeah! Enjoy the video I finally got to process from Balkan Youth Fest, Sandanski, Bulgaria. ![]()
Drum Circle – Balkan Youth Fest 2010
Passing through Sandanski, Bulgaria
Nov 24th
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!
I forgot myself there and came back with a new me
Sep 16th
There are gonna be a few posts in English from now on, since I went to Sandanski in Bulgaria with the YES Project and Balkan Youth Festival. So here goes the first one.
I remembered how children think and started to do so myself. I started to feel real feelings and smile real smiles. I left my frustations at home and learned how to live for the moment. I started to be proud of my country ( new thing!). I learned how to communicate to people who don’t speak the same language as I do.
I fell in love. With the warmest hug and his breath in my hair. I fell in love with the lack of a kiss rather than the presence of one. I fell in love with the most silent conversation: no words, just his presence.
I sang a song that said: “I’ve never know where I wanted to go, who I wanted to be. All I know is that I wanna be happy (…)”. I know now who I am and what to do with my life. I know how high I want to get and where to search for my happiness. And for that I thank you, K.
It might sound mooshy and it might sound stupid. It doesn’t sound like the Mironeasca you got used to reading on this blog. It’s the dark, shielded little part of her most of you had no idea about
.
So keep tooned, I’ll write some stuff and show you some videos and photos on how I saw the whole trip to Sandanski.




































