Week 3 - Barefoot dancing in the Bulgarian wilderness

June 26, 2021

Week 3 - Barefoot dancing in the Bulgarian wilderness

On Week three, we headed out to a festival :D

We have decided, quite spontaneously, that we wanted to visit the Wake Up Festival in the beautiful hills of Bulgaria, not too far from Shipka.

And when I say spontaneously, I do really mean that.

We packed all the essentials in the two hours before leaving, and looking at the huge piles of things we had packed, it seemed obvious to us that at least half of it won't fit.

There was two big boxes of food and kitchen supplies, there were big backpacks and huge bags with cover and pillows in them... We also packed way to many sleeping bags and mats.

And then there were also our tents.

And shoes.

And 10 bottles of water.

And some cider.

Somehow, Marcus was able to fit absolutely everything in the car, which I still find hard to believe.

And how did he manage?

He took all the blankets, covers, sleeping bags and pillows out of their bags and then he spread them across the bottom of the trunk, and across the car seats. Pretty smart I would say :D

The car was packed full and we were ready to go.

It only took us two hours to reach the festival and I am pretty sure we were among the first who made it there.

That meant we were able to choose a nice camping ground to put up our tents.

We let our eyes take the lead and looking back now, I am pretty sure that the rain and the long , tiring walk, carrying all of our things, from the car to a good camping spot, was what made a beautiful open meadow seem like a perfect spot.

It turned out that it maybe wasn't the best idea to put our tents up in the high grass with no surrounding trees.

By the end of the festival our skin was burnt, our tents were overheating and our bodies were full of ticks.. Or mine was at least :P

However, We couldn't let this bring us down. The truth is, that despite the placing of our tents, the festival was an amazing experience and we loved it.

The scenery was dreamy and beyond words.

The weather was great for the majority of time and the food was absolutely delicious.

And then there were dances, and songs, and yoga and taiji and shamanic drums and tabacco ceremonies, and all these amazing things going on.

It really was a place to be.

Something else happened!!!

Our group got bigger by another member, when Fanny from France finally joined us at the festival :D She started the project a little bit later than the rest of us, but that's not a problem, as she will be able to extend it into December.

So happy to have you with us Fanny ! <3

Rushar on the left, Fanny in the middle, and Ruxandra on the right !

Although there was more of us now, we still felt like something was missing. Sophie stayed at home and took care of the gardens, but we are going to insist that she joins us at the next festival!

Our Sophie

Another awesome thing is that we were offered the possibility to present our own project at the festival.

Because the decision to visit the festival was made so spontaneously and fast, we didn't have much time to prepare our presentation. Thanks to Ruxandra and her artistic skills, we were able to come up with this beautiful board, that you can see below:

The presentation was an opportunity for us to present the European Solidarity Corps project to young people, that might be interested in participating, volunteering and being a part of a similar project.

European Solidarity Corpse offers amazing opportunity to people from 18 to 30 years of age, who are interested in broadening their horizons, taking on new responsibilities and learning new skills, helping European communities, bringing a positive change to the world and learning a new language.

They offer opportunities in as many different fields as you can imagine. There is something for everyone. Learn more about it here and find an opportunity that feels right for you: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity_en

ESC will take are of your travel costs, your language lessons, your accommodation, food and your wellbeing. Yes !!! they will take care of everything, so that you can work, learn, enjoy and grow without a worry in the world!

Our dear Misha, who is our ESC coordinator, permaculture teacher and was accompanying us at the festival, made sure that everything is taken care of. She and her partner Philip took great care of us and made sure we felt warm, safe, informed and happy.

Philip and Misha

The festival went on until Sunday, and it took us five days to finally loosen up and try ourselves in the traditional Bulgarian dances. I must say it was amazing and we all agreed that the last night was our favorite in that regard. On the other hand, our last night was also the night Ruxandra had to take a short break from our project and We were sad to see her leave, but she will be right back :D