I think it is safe to say that Bulgaria is not the most popular travel destination in France, where I am from. My friends and relatives all looked stupefied when I told them I would be a volunteer in Blagoevgrad ("but why??").

Why ? Well, when I came across the call for volunteering from the ABS on the ESC portal, I was already looking for opportunities in the Balkans - a geographical area I had never been to and that was shrouded in mystery to me. I’m not familiar with the region’s history and political intricacies, and wanted to know more about those.
Last but not least, as I graduated a couple months ago and had my first professional experiences, I felt like taking a break before re-entering the merciless French labor market. Applying to the Active Bulgarian Society as a 23-year-old volunteer therefore looked like the best option, as I wanted to gain more practical experience in project management (artsy stuff, for me) and learn a slavic language, all the while having a positive impact on the community.

Me (on the right lol) and the other volunteers celebrating this cute woman's birthday at the social kitchen in Blago

After a week, I can already say that my tastebuds are very happy to be here in Blagoevgrad. I love food - I love cooking, eating, learning local recipes. I pretty much travel to eat. And I mean… Come on. Bulgarian food looks and smells delicious. I haven’t tried 2% of the food I want to eat, only gyuvetch, lyutivka, lyutenitsa, yoghurt, gevrek...

But dear lord, the smell of the freshly baked bread in the morning, the exquisiteness of the locally grown vegetables bought at the farmer’s market, the spiciness of the lyutivka, the sourness and creaminess of the famous Bulgarian yogurt, the crispness of the simits… Not to mention the international dinner parties we organize with the ABS with the other volunteers, coming from all over the world. Bulgaria is the foodie's heaven.

I already had one of the best experiences of the stay Merel already talked about in her article. On Saturdays, in the morning, we go to a little church on the outskirts of the city to help prepare some food for about 200 people in need. While chopping tons of carrots - more than I can count, and I can count pretty high - I had my first conversations in Bulgarian and met amazing people. One of the women celebrated her birthday with us and offered us cake, some decadent soup, homemade Bulgarian wine and freshly baked banitsa. Honestly, this was the best lunch I’ve had here so far and I will never forget this special morning.

Of course, I’m still very bad at understanding and speaking Bulgarian. But I’m trying my best everyday to study, although I don’t really need it because all the volunteers speak English. I can’t wait to see what my level will be in the next few months. The language barrier does make it hard to talk to the locals, but the most annoying thing is the “nodding/shaking head” thing. I still think people say yes when they nod, so that led to some awkward situations.
Sofia is just 2hours away

In short, Blago is small, but lively, with little street food stalls everywhere, beautiful mountains all around, stray cats, nice people with exciting ideas to organize events in the city. It’s also pretty close to Sofia and other famous cities, so we’re not exactly in the middle of nowhere :)

I can’t wait to travel, eat, learn Bulgarian, and to see my artistic projects come to fruition here!

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, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

This article is created by Lou - participant in the ESC Project 2022-1-BG01-ESC51-VTJ-000056331 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, co-funded by the Bulgarian National Agency of Erasmus+ Program Human Resource Development Centre.

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