Step 3, SAT, Accepted. (pt1)

 Step 3! Having no clue of math and definitely not being ready to face the SAT I entered the classroom and was happy to see the same instructor. I was feeling proud being there and for the last moment could not believe my presence in the classroom as a student of Step 3. There was A Huge Bunch Of Work ahead, a VERY Huge.
My very first impressions coming back:

•  A FREEEEEZING ROOM. ELI's aka the champions were the first to enter their rooms, emptiness, darkness and frreeeeeezing very freezing cold in the room.  Sleeping with two blankets for the rest of the time.
• Shopping. The first thing was shopping at the grocery, bunch of coffee for the biggest semester of hardworking needed and a couple of tea boxes, I guess.
• The next morning classes began at my favourite 8.30 AM I am there! 8.30 a m for the rest of the semester tannndandan. ELI!
• Coincidence, surprise, destiny? One of my closest friends lives in Svishtov, Bulgaria whom I also got acquainted with being in the AUBG camp and coincidence the new student in our classroom, whom also I first got acquainted with and was sitting sharing the same desk in the classroom was also from that city from Svishtov! It felt creepy. Svishtov is not among the biggest cities so seeing anyone from there was really surprising. Love coincidences! 
• The question bothered me on the 1st class was what would happen to me as I did not pay the tuition yet because I had not been told to do so.  When one of the ELI's heads entered yeah my question followed. But still it was so good sitting in the same classroom, felt I was back home. The answer was : " You should already have done it" - was not inspiring. But everything turned out very well because no one really paid for the tuition so Okay!

Mostly my routine was consisted of fun  studying.   Hence nothing extraordinary happened during my living surviving.    But some things DID happen.
I was invited to the American b-day party after some rushing we went to the local cafe. Actually, this was my very first time being at the American b-day I don't know how much american it was but some stuff I noticed. 

After everyone ordered food and me from moment to moment translating cheese into bulgarian we sang a happy b-day song and ate a cake at the end. And here comes the interesting part was it supposed to be so or  I was just out of the world but everyone paid for themselves. In my country, when it's smn's birthday the guests don't pay for anything as usually pays the person invited everyone. Different customs it may be. But believe it was surprising expecting nothing of this kind ordering food, coffee and tandan you pay. I was a little surprised but it's totally okay, it was just different. 

That night was long and full of obstacles___ Firstly, there was no light on the campus at all and me disastrously and ponderously afraid of the darkness and dogs. Then I was saying the word "borshch" all the time I saw a dog on the street coming toward. Haha guys had a great time observing me saying borshch to a dog. I was  just afraid of dogs and borshch was the first thing popped into my head which eventually kept me calm! Afterwards, we were back on the campus, which was filled with complete darkness _ after sooome obstacles I spent time with my Latvian friend. Finally, I know someone from Balkans Baltics personally. Viva Latvia^^ 

Whoops, 5 am and too much  text. Will tell you more of my experience in ELI  later! Some party stories coming soon ;)

Back in Ukraine. Winter holidays.

Being accustomed to do everything by myself I was astonished being helped by a Ukrainian guy to place my Huge luggage on the customs' machine. There it was, Ukraine. The first thing I needed was ..no, not salo..coffee! Still feeling drowsy after any flight so a cup of good coffee always cheers me up. After my luggage was picked up my family and I destinated to the small cafe which was adviced by our friend. And there my soul felt happy eating only ukrainian stuff: borshch with pampushki, pickles, mini pies with cherry jam, salo with garlic and black bread!

Afterwards, I felt compulsion in going at the main square where Maydan was and there I saw a well organized living system, the Ukrainian language speakers,  performers singing ukrainian songs wearing our national clothing, tents for helping English speakers. After a while I spent the New Year at this square where the crowd welcomed the New Year singing the Ukrainian anthem. It was great being a part of really patriotic activity.  Never forget when a huge crowd went downstairs in the metropolitan and continued singing the anthem. Many people of different backgrounds but were so tied up with the coherent target and mind.

In January, I could not skip a chance to stop by and to see the teachers of  my ex school. The first visit to the school was with my exclassmates and there were talks on where everybody is studying. What I liked was seeing our classteacher and school. A little bit later I lured my friend tostop by a school principal and we definitely didn't regret coming by. The principal was so happy seeing and hearing how we were doing. Definitely, I am lucky with most of my school teachers whom I like visiting and talking to after my graduation. After a while, I stopped by the school again and that time I spent 3-4 hours chatting to my teachers and drinking coffee. Felt so happy seeing some of them but more happy were them seeing me. Totally the best memories left after visiting.

All in all, I had only 2 weeks to spend in Ukraine so the rest of my holidays I was at home eating and accumulating the energy for the hardest  and sleepless course coming soon.

Svishtov or Bulgarian London?

 As far as I have not been posting anything at all for a long time I have decided to catch up on these  margins beginning with my Christmas trip to Svishtov or as I call it mini-London.

I was impressed by the huge amount of fog there. Clearly, due to my fascination of London and the UK I preferred to imagine that I was in London. Never have I seen so much fog in my entire life! Hardly could I see what was towards me!  No people due to holidays and so much fog recalled me of the city nearby Chornobyl.

Shortly, the city is so small that my Bulgarian friend and I were able to cross the whole city within 2 hours.

I loved the archaic architecture in the city and people estranged by our talks in English. There it was aka celebrity life, meh not fascinating though.

The city may not have anything in common with old London but my will and imagination made it similar to it.


I observed Dunay river (or Danube, nah Danube?) and Romanian border from the bridge. Plus a one point to Europe, surveillance cameras were everywhere even on the bridge.

Next day I visited my friends' both grandmas' houses and yeaahhh food and customs. I do not know why but due to my observations Bulgarians usually eat meat, fish, salads etc without a garnish. As far as I understand,  garnish ( like mashed potatoes) with fried meat is too heavy for stomach. Many times I saw people eating fried meat without even rice.  Oh these Ukrainians with their food habits :)

Anyway, I tried a lot of new stuff in Svishtov like Pitka ( baked huge bread with my faaaavorite sirene) those rolls made of grape leaves with minced meat inside and much more other food .

BUT food was very good and tasty so I liked it. Also, I just love my friends' family as they bought SAALO (lard) for me. My gosh, I was crying of happiness, it was soo nice of them. Have no idea where they got it but it tasted kinda in a Bulgarian way ( chubriiza) but it was still salo, I ate it whole day by day.  Typical me.

I liked everything in my trip:  the weather, the people, the architecture, salo and hospitality.

Also, there was a very small cute cafe with cakes and coffee. I loved that place.

All in all, I liked my trip and yeaa Christmas in Svishtov. I would definitely love to come there again.
Coffee and fog must be at the place where I want to be.

And Turkish channels on a TV made my trip.

Coming soon

Here are some posts that are coming soon:
1. My trip to Svishtov (Bulgarian London), Bulgarian Christmas.
2. The celebration of the New Year in Ukraine at Maydan.
3. I'm back. Bulgaria - the new differences\ similarities.
4. I'm growing, I know. How big my views have changed, my new aims\dreams\misunderstandings.  Naivity.
5. The SAT. Final.
6. Plans for the summer. Volunteering\festivals...
And much more to come...

I am here!

 For those of you who's  still reading me, I have not forgotten about my blog. Every single day I am full of tests preparing for the SAT I am on my final way. So keep updated!

Love.

4 months in AUBG\Meeting the Bulgarian President

Despite studying in ELI  many unbelievable things occured during my surviving.

First of all, I was lucky but surprised to meet the actual President of Bulgaria. Accidentally did  I meet him. I was surprised by the fact that no huge-preparations were done. Nobody was obliged to wear uniform or follow only a particular path. The day seemed completely the same as the any other day. I did not even know the President was coming although there were some ads but I didn't pay any attention on them. Rosen Plevneliev gave a speech at the university, which I didn't manage to attend because I was making varenyky. In fact, I  was surprised how the atmosphere was so  relaxed and unpretentious. I faced with the President of Bulgaria on the  first floor of the campus I lived on. Basically, everything happened all of a sudden. I was giving back an iron when the  President came. Unbelievable it may seem. The President shook hand with the students, who were there at that moment. Someone said : "Guys, if you don't speak Bulgarian say "hi" in English". I did not expect to meet the President and I've been in shock for a long time since then. I'm really impressed there were no huge  preparations; nobody stopped the traffic or blocked the road ; in my country when the president even a mediocre politician  comes all roads are closed and the traffic is stopped. Surprise.

Secondly, we had a Christmas Bazzar in AUBG and we raised over 100 euro. The money will be spent on shoes and clothes for the local kids house. I'm happy being involved in charity and  volunteering. I spent the whole day selling food  albeit I had been tired couple days before but I enjoyed selling and serving.

The most interesting part of these 4 months was making  varenyky. To begin with, I had spent 3 hours cooking them and 5 mins cleaning the kitchen from dough-mess because  I was run out of time. Everybody liked varenyky. I was so happy to bring a piece of the ukrainian culture on campus!  Later, I was teaching how to make varenyky to Americans and not only to them. I must say we managed to make a huge number of varenyky for 1.5 h. Amazing! Varenyky a little bit  resemble dumplings but can be made with both sweet and salty inside.

Also, I was taught to do CPR.
These 4 months were significant with Ukrainian meetings. We  cooked  Ukrainian dishes only such as : borshch, mlynzi ( pancakes), salo with bread, crabstick salad and kiev's cotelettes. I'm happy that  Ukrainians are gathering on campus time to time. So  we spent hours  talking in Ukrainian. Also, the day before leaving we gathered again and ate salo. Although we were happy eating salo we also watched movies and on the 3rd movie we dropped off. It was so unusual but sweet to sleep in a coat sharing a bed with 3 other people. It was pointless to leave a room because most of us had to wake up at 7am.

 I passed my finals successfully so Step 3 is waiting for me. These 4 months were full of changes but full of obstacles. Step 3, here I go.

Bulgaria. What is it like? The useful words, the differences.

I’ve been living in Bulgaria for 2 months already hence I noticed some differences. In other words, what is so special in Bulgaria? Here is the list of my first impressions.

1. Greetings. Politeness? Mostly sales assistants  greet with customers and wish a good day. It’s unusual for me either because they speak Bulgarian or I forgot how it was back in my hometown. In a grocery I'm not asked whether I need a bag with me or not I'm wished a good day.

2. Zavkyshte is the most useful word in a café which means – to go. Almost in any cafe, even the smallest one, it's possible to order food to go.

3. Huge portions. Here for a cheap price I can eat 600gr of pasta with meat or 400gr of salad despite the usual 150\200. Impressive!

4. Most of the cafes here are open 24\7. It’s okay to go to the cafe at 2am. Some of bistros pizza places  opens at 12 or 2 am!

5. Mayo, ketchup, chili pepper, vinegar, oil are in the usual kit on your table in any café for free.

6. Crazy drivers. Always be very careful while passing the road here, sometimes cars don’t stop. They just make a lower speed, slow down for a while and as soon as you 1 cm forward, a car will very fast run out behind your back. Watch out !

7. Police. Here is the law that forbids listening to loud music from 2pm-4 pm. While we were shooting Lip-Dub in AUBG someone called to the police because we were playing the music. The campuses are pretty far from ordinary houses and not many people walk by dorms. Uhm.

8. Tradition. I don’t know if this is a tradition or not but I’ve noticed  “posters” with a picture of a person that died and these “signs” ask you to pray for him\her. This is creepy.

9. Roads. Roads here are mostly good. There used to be huge hole on the way to the university but after a month, maybe,the road was repaired but not perfectly.

10. It’s almost clean here. There's no "doggy stuff" on your way.

11. Horses. Sometimes you see horses on a road  ridden by  Romans. By the way, there are many romans around the area.

12. A large amount of European food and even the water from South Korea can easily be  found in shops here .

13. Usually, at 8 am there are no empty tables in cafes. Bulgarians like to have a cup of coffee chatting with colleagues on the way to work. Unusual, to see crowds of people sitting in a cafe at 8 AM!

14. Sirene. Bulgarians adore putting sirene (white salty cheese) everywhere. Very popular here are banitzas ( baked filo pastry with sirene).

To be continued…