My second week in Sofia started off with great weather and sunshine days. I had more free time to finally settle down in the new lifestyle and explore the city in tranquility on a daily basis. I love the cobblestone streets of Sofias old town and its quiet neighborhoods and parks, such as the Borisov Garden. When it comes to the project a lot of the work has been online on our laptops and on phones. I had some phone calls with possible destinations to visit in early April like the tiny rodopi village of Kosovo, where I will be interviewing someone very interesting. Stay tuned…. Also I got to make some local bread by following the following Recipe: Firstly I mixed two types of sesame seeds in a blender and after that added some spices like pepper and самардала (Bulgarian Honey Garlic), a typical bulgarian spice similar to garlic. Next water was added and linseed in order to create a similar effect like the egg has, combining everything to a mashy substance, ready to bake.
It was a super interesting process and after a couple of hours of baking I was finally able to taste it. The Sofia maps were of great assistance this week as we are slowly getting to know the city more and more. On the weekend we are planning a visit to Plovdiv in order to see the amazing old town that many Bulgarians have been talking about. Another very important task I was able to solve was the translation of the project’s latest YouTube video where Misha interviewed an English permaculture gardener. It was a very lengthy process as the video is 20 minutes long but I managed to have fun whilst working, always keeping a sense of humor and ease despite long hours on the laptop. The decision to join as volunteers has been paying off and the value of our cultural learnings are immeasurable. I am extremely excited to start travelling around the country in the next couple of weeks and starting our language course next week.
