Greetings from Bulgaria

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Eric Helms and I am currently serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bratsigovo, Bulgaria. I was born in Denver, Colorado and graduated from the University of Colorado in 2006. I have been living here in Bulgaria for just over a year now and will be here until September of 2008.

Bulgaria is a small country (about the size of Tennessee) located in Eastern Europe on the Black Sea. Although it is a poor country, it has a rich history, fascinating culture and some of the nicest people I have ever known.

The town which I am living and working in, Bratsigovo, is located at the base of the Rhodope Mountains in southwest Bulgaria. The town is quite small by American standards (only 4,000 people) and is surrounded by hills, mountains, and lakes. The town has two elementary schools, one high school, a large church and two orphanages.

What do I do here? Well, I help out whenever and wherever I can. This includes writing and managing projects, working with youth, cleaning up the environment, tutoring children at the orphanages, working with minority groups, teaching English to my colleagues and much more. In my free time I enjoy going hiking, jogging, playing soccer, reading on my balcony and going to the café with friends.

As you can probably imagine, things in Bulgaria at times are much different than in America. The most obvious difference is the language. In Bulgaria they speak Bulgarian, which actually uses a different alphabet than in English. Here are a few words spelled in the Cyrillic alphabet:

Eric Helms = Ерик Хелмс
Colorado = Колорадо
Bulgaria = България

As you can see, there are some letters which are similar in both languages but others that are completely different. This alphabet was created by two Bulgarians, Kiril and Metodi, in 940 AD and is used in many other countries including Russia, Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine. In my little town there is nobody who speaks English so I have had to learn the how to speak, read, and write Bulgarian in order to communicate with the people here. Although it was difficult at first, it became easier as time went on and now I am able to have conversations with people, teach business classes to students, write projects, and give speeches, all in Bulgarian!

Well, it is almost lunch time so I must go but I hope you enjoy the first of many posts here on my blog. I will try to post new stories, pictures, and information every Monday. Although this is just an introductory post, I would love to hear from and get to know you all as well. I am also more than willing to answer any questions you have about me, Bulgaria, the Peace Corps, or any other things you are interested in. You can do this by either clicking the “comment” button at the bottom of each post, or by e-mailing me at ericphelms@gmail.com.

Bulgarian Phrase of the Week: “Dobur Den!” (Добър Ден) = Good Day!