Associate Professor from Western Carolina University

visiting Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria

as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar

This video made by Rick Steve has captured quite a few key characteristics of Bulgaria. If you have the time, it might be worthwhile to watch it at the youtube site and read the comments, too.

Quote from Rick: “Bulgaria, so mysterious to most Americans, has a vivid identity as a crossroads of the Balkans. We’ll trace the country’s complex history, from ancient Thracian tombs to medieval Orthodox Christian monasteries to Soviet monuments. And we’ll enjoy an intimate taste of contemporary culture: the yellow brick road of Sofia; the gregarious craftspeople of the medieval capital, Veliko Tarnovo; and the thriving pedestrian zones of cosmopolitan Plovdiv.”

Edit on 11/6/2021: When I first posted this video, even though I went through it, I didn’t really remember much of it. But now I could relate to almost everything that was mentioned in the video, and we’ve been to many places shown in this video. It again shows that although videos are useful and helpful, an in-person immersion experience would be so much more valuable and memorable. That’s why I plan a faculty-led trip to lead our WCU students to visit Bulgaria when it is safe to do so. We have submitted our course application and we’ll wait to see if/when it is approved, how many students would enroll to make it happen, and if the pandemic situation would be much better when we need to make reservations and during our travel.