{"id":2190,"date":"2021-12-19T10:56:29","date_gmt":"2021-12-19T10:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yan.wcu.edu\/bulgaria\/?p=2190"},"modified":"2022-01-06T03:29:48","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T03:29:48","slug":"bulgarian-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yan.wcu.edu\/bulgaria\/bulgarian-pride\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulgarian pride"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n

The project topic in a project-based learning (PBL) course is important as it determines what skills are needed, if the students will be inspired to work on them, and what equipment should be prepared.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed seeing what the students have done for the touch-less candy dispenser<\/a> project for Halloween in Fall 2020 at WCU, and I wished to find another culture-inspired project topic at TU-Sofia. My colleague at TU-Sofia helped me to go through the holidays in the fall semester in Bulgaria, which were not necessarily inducing actions like what people would do on Halloween. However, there are many cultural symbols<\/a>, patterns, and music that are unique in Bulgaria. That colleague suggested me to do something related to souvenirs, and another colleague at WCU suggested me to combine both Bulgarian and American culture elements together since we were talking about student collaboration between universities then, and both groups could learn from each other. We also wanted to potentially include some nice sound effect to enrich the design, and I used to use the Touchboard in our Connections exhibit<\/a> for both engineering and art projects, so we managed to get some Fulbright grant to order a few Touchboard kits, too. Even though later on, the WCU students couldn’t be included on our project as the timing simply wouldn’t match up, the Bulgarian students could include the American cultural elements that they perceived to be representative. We also invited some American friends in Sofia to provide more suggestions on what cultural elements are representative and how both cultural elements could be paired up. Then our project topic, “Super Duper Souvenir<\/a>“, came into being.<\/p>\n

Super Duper Souvenir<\/strong>
\nThe most-often asked question that Dr. Yan gets while she\u2019s in Bulgaria is \u201cWhat do you think of Bulgaria?\u201d Similarly, Dr. Yan is wondering \u201cWhat do you think of the U.S.A.?\u201d Dr. Yan wants to tell the stories of both Bulgaria and U.S.A. to everyone she knows who may come from either country or even from other countries. However, it is complicated as one can imagine. Can you help her to design a super duper souvenir that tells the stories of both cultures in the most entertaining and interactive way?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The students are tasked to create projects that tell the stories of both Bulgaria and the U.S.A. Such stories can be at the national level or the regional level, to encourage the audience to explore further. The projects should be safe and entertaining. They can use the Arduino kits, the Touchboard kits, 3D prints, and anything else that they need and could gather, as long as they don’t use the store-bought souvenirs as is.<\/p>\n

When the students did brainstorming to generate ideas, I was impressed by their Bulgarian pride again and again, and there are many things that they can be very proud of. Our American friends in Sofia also offered many ideas and pointed out the counterparts for an element in one culture to another element in another culture. Many of the ideas would not materialize in the students\u2019 projects given the limited project time and resources, but I’d like to record them below, as a summary of what we could explore further.<\/p>\n

Water<\/h1>\n

One team wanted to work with water, representing nature such as Niagara Falls in the U.S. and the many thermal mineral spring water sources in Bulgaria. Working with water requires water pump, reservoir, and pipes, and the water pump needs a relatively bigger current to drive it than what a pin on an Arduino board could provide, so a relay using an external battery is needed. All in fall, getting the water to flow in a cycle is already quite a bit of work, so even though the final waterfall they made is not as grand as the Niagara Falls (not that we expected to do so), but more like a water fountain along the hiking trails (the singular form is “cheshma (\u0427\u0435\u0448\u043c\u0430)” and the plural form is “cheshmi (\u0427\u0435\u0448\u043c\u0438)”), it is a good prototype of their design, and it could scale up with more resources.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n

Speaking of Niagara Falls, it was made famous in Bulgaria by a Bulgarian author, Aleko Konstantinov, who wrote the book “To Chicago and Back” in 1894, describing his visit to the United States in order to see the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. His very famous fictional character, Bai Ganyo (or Bay Ganyo), appeared in the book briefly then. The character was believed to be modeled off a real person that Aleko met during his U.S. trip. Aleko published satirical short stories in a collection entitled “Bay Ganyo Goes to Europe” in 1895 describing a peddler selling rose oil and rugs through Western Europe. This book was considered by some scholars to be a mirror for a modernizing Bulgaria. Aleko’s books were also believed to spark the Bulgarians’ interest in tourism. Aleko was assassinated in 1897 at the young age of 34 (1863-1897), which could be because he was mis-targeted as a politician friend who switched seats with him, or his work angered the social class of the Bai Ganyo’s, or some other reasons. This post “Bay Ganyo of the Balkans<\/span><\/a>” by Sylvia Choleva is an interesting read for me to know the many nuances about this character. Bai Ganyo was lack of manners and conscience, but quirky and funny. His complexity was what made people laugh and think. When I mentioned “Bai Ganyo” to the students, their response was a mixture of emotions, too. They said that for me to appreciate the humor in that book, I’ve got to learn Bulgarian to read it in its original writing (That is some aspiration!). Aleko was such a famous writer that the 100-Lev bill used his portrait on the front and the back sides, and his work on Bai Ganyo was depicted on the back side of the bill, too.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n

History<\/h1>\n

Year 681 was when the First Bulgarian Empire was founded by Khan Asparukh, and Bulgaria is the only country in Europe that has not changed its name since it was first established.<\/span><\/span> The territory of Bulgaria has been morphing in history through wars, negotiations, and power transitions. The motto on the coat of arm is “\u0421\u044a\u0435\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435\u0442\u043e \u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0438 \u0441\u0438\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0430”, “Saedinenieto pravi silata”, or “Strength through Unity”.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n

Mountains<\/h1>\n

The mountains in Bulgaria are gorgeous and mystical. According to this post The Most Mystical Places in Bulgaria<\/a>, “At the beginning of the 20th-century, a movement combining esoteric cults, meditation, breathing exercises and bits of Christianity was created by a Bulgarian called Peter Deunov, also known by his spiritual name Beinsa Douno. The Universal White Brotherhood exists until today and every year its followers gather in the middle of August at the Seven Rila Lakes<\/a> in Rila Mountains, at more than 2,000 m (6,500 ft), to perform their spiritual Paneurhythmy<\/a> Dance in big circles. They believe the area around the lakes is a source of powerful natural energy.”<\/p>\n

The word “Paneurhythmy” was derived from three roots.<\/p>\n