Beglika Fest 2014

Golyam Beglik is a lake in the Rodopi mountains that didn't exist before 1951.

Since 2008 it's also been a gathering place for people who believe in change and new possibilities and who want to have a good time surrounded by beautiful nature. Enter Beglika Fest, which has become one of Bulgaria's biggest and most important summer festivals.

We hitch-hiked to Beglika and back and camped there for a few days with Maria, Zanda, Miro and Daphne. Apart from a couple of stormy nights we (and our 20lv tents with the water resistance of my towel) had to endure, and the fact all the interesting workshops they had going there were almost exclusively in Bulgarian, we had an unforgettable time. Plus, it felt like we were part of something important, something ground-breaking.

I mean, dry toilets, hammocks, seed exchange, Suggestopedia, sailing, astronomy, kung fu, yoga and tasty vegetarian/vegan food all in one place - I will never forget that chocolate pancake and the vegan kyuftechta, never! What more can a person ask or hope for?

We didn't get a chance to listen to all of the bands because of the bad weather during most of the nights, but also because the spacial and temporal layout of the stages made it difficult, at least for me, to follow everything. One band in particular, though, made an impression on me. Traditional Balkan sounds together with beatboxing and dubstep, you say?!



The following is a video I made out of all the videos I took from Beglika. It's small and humble, there mostly to give you a small taste of what the Beglika experience was for our small international group.




As you might've been able to tell from the video, however, I'm definitely happier with our selection of photographs. Credits go to Daphne, Zanda, Maria and yours truly - can't bother to do it for each one separately:

Hammocks over water.

Signs to where the find the good stuff.

I love this picture

Weird thing about Beglika: at night they had the "chill" music and during the day
they had all the pumping beats, especially at the chill station.

Miro introduced us to the concept of dendrophile and nothing was the same again...

Looks interesting doesn't it? Само на български!

BEGLIKARTA

At the MMUUZZAA tent.

...all kinds of crazy things...

Maria and Zanda got their henna tattoos.

Sharing is caring.

Занда и кончето

ВЕДЖИ КЮФТЕТААА

"At night it can get cold", they said...

Tent City

Foggy mornings.

Kung Fu for dummies at sunset.

Where we got most of out sunburns.

Ghetto water resistance!

Haide, next time in Beglika let us be volunteers with perfect knowledge of Bulgarian! Or we could be the ones with the game corner...

Moving Gallery

Snips of a moving photo gallery we did in July with our EVSer friends. Featuring Anna, Kuba, Florian, Gabi, Miro, Maria, Zanda, Vicente and myself.

 I'm not going to explain anything related to our performance, in order to more closely simulate our complete shut-off of communication with the outside world during the exhibition.

 Perhaps Zanda's assessment about the whole thing was correct: "more pictures, less video"!

Moving books from Portuguese to Spanish Reading Room

The Portuguese reading room is soon going to become the Korean reading room. For that reason, all of the books kept therein had to be moved to the Spanish reading room and section which from now on will likely be the Iberian section! Meanwhile, we got some videos from the procedure and we thought they looked fun and representative of the good time we have in the library even when doing "manual work" like this, so I decided to up them.

Green Library 2014

We made this video with all our love for the event that was made of love. Library's a giving tree. Enjoy!

We were also on Bulgarian National TV. Unfortunately, I can't embed the video, so you'll have to click on the link and watch it there. Here's another reportage done by TV Evropa - I speak Bulgarian on that one! :D

The theme song:

Download .mp3

Again, many thanks to Zanda, Maria, Valya and Boryana. You should write something about it too, girls! Post it on the comments and I'll make it part of the post.

Green Library 2014 Promo and Bulgarian National Radio Interview

This video was an exercise in spontaneity: we came up with the idea for it, wrote the lyrics and the music, shot it, cut it and uploaded it within 6-7 hours. Extra footage is from our first Green Library event at Lyulin, which took place last Saturday, and, apart from the rain, which spoiled our plans a little bit, it was quite successful.

I mean, we even went to the Bulgarian National Radio for an interview. Valya, Boryana and Zanda were the ones who spoke the most, presenting our activities and inviting the listeners to our event in Lyulin, but it's no small thing getting to speak in Bulgarian on the freakin' national radio, if only just for 15 seconds! The people were kind enough to share the interview with us. Valya starts speaking at 0:25, Boryana at 2:00, Zanda at 4:00, Maria at 4:20, Vicente at 6:55 and myself at 07:10. Here it is:

Many thanks to Maria and Zanda, who had the original idea, and everyone else who helped make this a reality. See you next Saturday!

One Minotaur, one Labyrinth and One Ball of String

In English...

...and in Bulgarian!

Two of the five visiting Greek girls - Lena, Lenio, Konstantina, Efi and Dimitra - have already left. It always breaks my heart bonding with people over such small periods of time and then having to say goodbye, or at least "see you later", so soon. Anyway, it was an absolutely great experience taking part in these workshops, escaping in the process our own collective labyrinth and bringing to life something valuable for children and adults alike. All of the countless hours of Skype calls between us paid off in the end! And there's more to come.

I took more than 20GB of video yesterday, and it might take me a while to edit together and upload something worthwhile; when I do, however, I'll place it in this post.

These workshops took place under the action of the Greek N.G.O ''Εμείς και ο Κόσμος/ Nuestro Mundo'' (www.nuestromundo.gr) in collaboration with the Central Library of Sofia/ Sofia City Library, on the occasion of their collaboration within the framework of realization of the Project of European Voluntary Service (EVS) Web Culture in the Library. The workshops are included in the broader activities developed by ''Nuestro Mundo'' in collaboration with European Educational Institutions concerning the theme of Stereotypes in Genders and of Children's Literature. This project, is funded with private resources of the NGO ''Nuestro Mundo'' and it is supported by the Project European Voluntary Service (EVS) Web Culture in the Library.

July Summer Reading at the American Corner

This is the schedule of the July Summer Reading at the American Corner. This year's theme is Planet Earth. We'll be happy to see you!

July 4, 17:00
Movie: Earth-creation of a planet
4 юли, 17:00 ч. Филм: Земята-създаването на една планета

July 5, 11:00 to 13:00
Children's activity: Water
5 юли, 11:00-13:00 ч.
Детско занимание: Water

July 7, 17:30
Read aloud in English
7 юли, 17:30 ч.
Четене на глас на английски език

July 8, 13:00 to 17:00
Making presentations / Programming with Scratch
8 юли, 13:00-17:00 ч.
Изработване на презентации/Програмиране със Scratch

July 9, 11:00 to 12:00 am
Children's film: Until the Arctic
9 юли, 11:00-12:00 ч.
Детски филм: До Арктика

July 10, 11:00 to 13:00
Children's activity: Plants
 10 юли, 11:00-13:00 ч.
Детско занимание: Plants

July 11, 17:00
Movie: The wonders of the ocean
Диана/Камелия 11 юли 17:00 ч.
Филм: Чудесата на океана

July 12, 11:00 to 13:00
Children's activity: Ice / Snow
12 юли, 11:00-13:00 ч.
Детско занимание:Ice/Snow

July 14, 17:30
Reading aloud in English
14 юли, 17:30 ч.
Четене на глас на английски език

July 15, 13:00 to 17:00
Making presentations / Programming with Scratch
15 юли, 13:00-17:00 ч.
Изработване на презентации /Програмиране със Scratch

July 16, 11:00 to 12:00
Children's film: Animation
16 юли, 11:00-12:00 ч.
Детски филм: Анимация

July 17, 11:00 to 13:00
Children's activity: Volcanoes
17 юли, 11:00-13:00 ч.
Детско занимание: Volcanoes

July 18, 17:00
Movie: Life
18 юли, 17:00 ч.
Филм: Зараждането на живота

July 19, 11:00 to 13:00
Children's activity: Moon
19 юли, 11:00-13:00 ч.
Детско занимание: Moon

July 21, 17:30
Reading aloud in English
21 юли, 17:30 ч.
Четене на глас на английски език

July 22, 13:00 to 17:00
Making presentations / Programming with Scratch
22 юли, 13:00-17:00 ч.
 Изработване на презентации /Програмиране със Scratch

July 23, 11:00 to 12:00
Children's film: Animation
 23 юли, 11:00-12:00 ч.
Детски филм: Анимация

July 24, 11:00 to 13:00
Children's activity: Animals
24 юли, 11:00-13:00 ч.
Детско занимание: Animals

July 25, 17:00
Movie: The great secret of water
25 юли,17:00 ч.
Филм: Великата тайна на водата

July 26, 11:00 to 13:00
Children's activity: Oceans Висенте
26 юли, 11:00-13:00 ч.
Детско занимание: Oceans

July 28, 17:30
Reading aloud in English
28 юли, 17:30 ч.
Четене на глас на английски език

July 29, 13:00 to 17:00
Making presentations / Programming with Scratch 
29 юли, 13:00-17:00 ч.
Изработване на презентации /Програмиране със Scratch

30 July, 11:00 to 12:00
Children's movie: Timon and Pumba Safety Smart
30 юли, 11:00-12:00 ч.
Детски филм: Timon and Pumba Safety Smart

July 31, 11:00 to 13:00
Children's activity: Earth Structure
31 юли, 11:00-13:00 ч.
Детско занимание: Earth Structure

August 2, 11:00 to 13:00
FINAL
2 август, 11:00-13:00 ч.
ФИНАЛ