My First Three Months in Blagoevgrad: A Journey to Remember!

Time has flown since my first article, and these past three months have been anything but dull! So much has happened, and I’m excited to share it all with you here like a personal travel diary!

I arrived in Blagoevgrad on September 15th, and since then, alongside my fellow ABS volunteers, we’ve been organizing a variety of events for the local youth. From sustainability and improv theater to dance, human rights, and art, our weekly activities cover a wide range of interests.

Our workweek typically starts on Tuesday with brainstorming sessions fueled by our passions and creativity, where we plan events. Once we’ve locked in our ideas, we dive into promotion, posting on Instagram, sharing TikTok stories, and creating teaser videos to spread the word and invite people to join us. These events are always free and open to everyone, taking place at the ABS space in Blagoevgrad Mall.

Snacks, conversations, and laughter are always guaranteed!

Over the past months, we’ve not only built a loyal community of attendees but also welcomed many Erasmus students from across Europe. They’ve become our friends, and together we’ve embraced the shared experience of living far from home here in Bulgaria.

Life here has been enriched by new routines and traditions shared with other volunteers.

We go to the gym, cook meals together, explore the area, read, watch movies, and visit museums. It’s amazing how people who were strangers just three months ago have become such close friends!

The holiday season has added even more magic to our time here. Blagoevgrad and Sofia are aglow with festive lights, delicious treats, Christmas markets, and ice-skating rinks. While we’re excited to reunite with our families and friends for Christmas, there’s also a tinge of sadness as we temporarily leave behind what now feels like home. Over time, we’ve grown into a real team, enriched by new volunteers who’ve joined us and brought fresh energy to the group.

In addition to our shared activities, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a personal project that I’m incredibly passionate about: a newsletter about the European Union! It might not sound thrilling at first, but trust me, it’s fascinating! In eight episodes, written with a lighthearted tone and free from boring jargon, I aim to explain what I know about the EU: how it works, what it does for us, and how it came to be. I’ve poured a lot of energy and enthusiasm into this project, and I hope the result is both enjoyable and informative. Stay tuned for the first episodes in January, I can’t wait to share them with you!

Here is the link to subscribe to my newsletter: https://forms.gle/GezfcErSdKEtW4dh8

And that’s a brief summary of my first three months here halfway through this journey, and it still feels unreal!

Stay tuned to discover the adventures yet to come.

Bye for now!

Vittoria

This article was written by Vittoria Pesenti, a participant in the ESC Project ESC 2023-1-BG01-ESC51VTJ-000131842 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, co-funded by the Bulgarian National Agency of the Erasmus+ Program Human Resource Development Centre.

Disclaimer: The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors. The Commission cannot be held responsible for any use made of the information contained herein.

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