Week 2

This week...

It was the first week of classes. All classes at AUBG meet only twice per week instead of three times per week, and there are no classes that start before 9 a.m. which is very nice. Three of my five courses are strictly online while one is hybrid and one is in person. Some of my professors aren't even in Bulgaria. There are professors teaching us from Lebanon, Russia, Ireland, and elsewhere across the world.

I Learned...

I am taking only one course relevant to my major because I wanted to use this semester to explore topics outside of computer science and mathematics. Besides Computer Architecture, I am taking Communication Media and Society, Civilizations at the Crossroads: The Bulgarian Case, Bulgarian Language and Culture, and Management in a Global Environment. 

This is the first time I've been eager to take a history course. On the first day of The Bulgarian Case, the professor asked us why we were taking the course. I responded that I had only ever been taught history from a western perspective. It's only been since I arrived here that I realized how far back the history of Bulgaria and the Balkans goes. And in secondary school, we take one year's worth of World History, then we move into US history and put most of our focus on the latter.

It's neat being one of the only Americans in most of my classes. The Management in a Global Environment class has about 25 students, and we are from at least 10 different countries; it can't get more global than that. It will be interesting hearing perspectives of business and management from cultures across the world.

One the first day of the Language and Culture class, we were asked for our first impressions of Bulgaria or any culture shocks we'd experienced thus far. Here are some of the things that were mentioned:

• People do not smile out in the public. If you make eye contact with someone while you're walking down the street and you smile at them, they will probably give you a nasty look and assume you're drunk. 
• This one is definitely an adjustment from Arkansas where strangers smile and talk to you everyday. I've already been given several unpleasant looks from strangers.
• Nodding your head up and down means "no," and shaking your head left to right means "yes."
• I said previously that this is dying with the younger generations, but I've already had at least two mix ups with this. Yesterday I asked one of the gym faculty members if she needed help moving the basketball goals, and she nodded her head and started walking. I followed her to help. She realized I was following her, turned around, put her hands on my shoulders to stop me, and said, "I'm sorry. I mean 'no.' I do not need help."
• There are a lot of stray cats and dogs. Our professor said we would learn some of the reasoning for this later.
• A Canadian added there are no homeless people here in the city. Abundant stray animals, but no homeless people. It's the opposite in the States.
• You cannot stand on the sidewalk by the cross walk and expect the cars to stop for you. You have to step out into the road for them to stop. 
• Everyone smokes inside.
• You can't "technically" smoke indoors, but, by word of mouth, if three of the four walls in the establishment are windowed, it is considered a terrace, not indoors. Therefore you can smoke. So most of the restaurants and bars are "terraces."
• Nothing is resealable.
• Packaged meat, yogurt, tortillas, cookies, crackers, none of it is resealable. This is probably the most aggravating thing so far, so I guess we're doing pretty well.

I Ate...

At a conversion rate of about 1.70 Bulgarian leva to 1 USD, things are pretty cheap here. There is a quick meal called a дюнер ("doner") which is a Turkish kebab wrap in a sort of pita bread with chicken or pork, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, french fries, and garlic dressing. You can get one of these big wraps for about 5 leva. The pizzas, a vegetarian one pictured below, are fresh, wood fired, and delicious, and you can get a large one for only about 13 leva.

We have been getting delicious homestyle meals at a menu-less restaurant near campus called При Ники ("Pri Niki"). For appetizer I had a shopska salad, Bulgaria's famous salad made up of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, and white cheese. The red, green, and white in the salad resemble the colors of the national flag. For entrée I had pork with gravy, mashed potatoes, and rice and a local flavored soda. It was probably the best dish I've had so far. And for dessert I had crème caramel which is very similar to flan. This three course meal, pictured below, with a drink cost 12.80 leva, about $7.50. 

Restaurant При Ники

I Experienced...

In the States, the student/young person social events mostly consist of house parties or bar hopping. Here, it is disco. Disco is going to the local club that all the students go to and dancing to the pop-folk chalga music. It's a very upbeat genre that the Bulgarian students go crazy about. 

While learning about all the figures on the leva bills, I found out Bulgaria is going to begin fully adopting the Euro in two years, meaning that by about 2026, there will be no leva circulating anymore. It'll be even more meaningful to hang on to some leva now.

Also...

I have slowly discovered athletics in college are not too common in Europe, and definitely not nearly as common or intense as they are in the States. While AUBG has some athletics clubs, there aren't really any organized competitive leagues of football (soccer), especially for females. I've asked orientation leaders, resident assistants, and professors if there was any possibility I could join some team and play, explaining that I play collegiately back home and would like to remain in practice, but everyone I asked was either clueless in any answer or told me I would not be able to play.

Now I know you are all so disappointed, but let me put you on the edge of your seat. This week, I assisted in organizing an intramural football team made up of nearly entirely exchange students... Hahaha

Julia Dick