01 December 2014 08 December 2014

Contact Making Seminar

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Dear participants,
On behalf of Alternativi team we would like to welcome you as a part of our project. We will
be pleased to have you here. We hope all together to make a great project. We hope this info
pack will be useful for you and help your preparation period.




General information about Bulgara

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 15th largest city in the European Union with a
population of 1.2 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and
approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula. In the next few pictures you will see some famous
sights of Sofia.







Martenitza- On March 1, Bulgarians give martenitsi to their family, friends and neighbours. This may
be in the form of a simple bracelet of entwined red and white wool or a brooch of red and white wool
tassels. Front doors are decorated with enormous red and white pompoms or with woolen dolls called
Pizho and Penda. Pizho is the male doll and is usually crafted from white wool. Penda is the female, red
doll and is distinguished by her skirt.






Kukeri - is a traditional Bulgarian ritual to scare away evil spirits, with costumed men performing the
ritual. The costumes cover most of the body and include decorated wooden masks of animals (sometimes
double-faced) and large bells attached to the belt. Around New Year and before Lent, the kukeri walk and
dance through the village to scare evil spirits away with the costumes and the sound of the bells, as well
as to provide a good harvest, health, and happiness to the village during the year.












Nestinarstvo -It involves a barefooted dance on smouldering embers (, zharava) performed by
nestinari (). It is usually performed on the square of the village in front of the whole population
on the day of Sts. Constantine and Helen or the day of the village's patron saint. The ritual is a unique
mixture of Eastern Orthodox beliefs and older pagan traditions from the Strandzha Mountains.
Traditionally, the right to perform the ritual would be hereditary and the head nestinar may be succeeded
only by his or her son or daughter, and only when he or she is too old or ill to continue performing it. The
head nestinar's house is sacred, because it houses the stolnina () a small chapel where icons of
several saints are arranged, as well as a sacred drum used specifically for the ritual and believed to cure
the drummer if he is ill.






The name koledari comes from the Church Slavonic word for Christmas i.e. Koleda. The carolers
traditionally start their rounds at midnight on Christmas Eve. They visit the houses of their relatives,
neighbours and other people in the village. The caroling is usually performed by young men, which are
accompanied by an elder one called stanenik. Each caroler carries a stick called gega. They wish the
people from the village health, wealth and happiness.














The speaking language in Bulgaria is Bulgarian. Also English, German, French and Russian is spoken in
the country's resorts, hotels and restaurants. Most of the young people are also able to communicate on
one of those languages. The Bulgarian alphabet is Cyrillic, but on Signs along international motorways, at
the airports and resorts are also spelled in Roman letters Below you can see how the Bulgarian letters
looks like.












Tarator is a cold soup made of yoghurt and cucumber (dill, garlic, walnuts and sunflower oil are
sometimes added) and is popular in Bulgaria.










Lyutenitsa or Lutenica is a national relish of Bulgaria. The ingredients include tomatoes, peppers, onion,
garlic, black pepper, vegetable oil, sugar and salt.






Banitsa is a traditional Bulgarian food prepared by layering a mixture of whisked eggs and pieces of
cheese between filo pastry and then baking it in an oven. Banitsa is served for breakfast with plain yogurt,
ayran, or boza. It can be eaten hot or cold.






Kofte is a Middle Eastern and South Asian meatball or meatloaf. In the simplest form, koftas consist of
balls of minced or ground meatusually beef or lambmixed with spices and/or onions













Pulnena piperka/Pulnena chuska(stuffed peppers) is an Eastern European dish consisting of peppers
filled with minced meat and rice.





Shopska salad-It is made from tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, raw or roasted peppers (preferably roasted),
sirene (white brine cheese).






Musaka-made by potatoes, mash meat, eggs and milk on the top. Baked in oven.



















The Bulgarian currency is called ,,Lev and its approximately 0.51 euro. The official rate of the
European commission is : 1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian leva. In the town of Blagoevgrad the best rate that
you can find and change EURO to Bulgarian lev is 1.950. On the pictures below you can see who the
Bulgarian money looks like.










On the diagram below you can see the average minimum and the maximum temperatures in Celsius for
each month. Also you can use http://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:00000.2.13598 to check the
weather.



8
-2
-10
-15 -15
-1
5
10 10
20
10
2 0 0
18
20
25
35
17
7
0
-10 -10
10
17
22
30
The temperatures in Celsius per months
Minimum Maximum Average









General information about Blagoevgrad

Blagoevgrad is city in southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Province, with a
population of 70,881 inhabitants. It lies on the banks of the Blagoevgradska Bistritsa River.The city is the
economic and cultural centre of southwestern Bulgaria. It is located in the valley of the Struma River at
the foot of the Rila and Pirin Mountains, 101 km south of Sofia, close to the Greek, Serbian and Republic
of Macedonia borders. Blagoevgrad features a pedestrian downtown with preserved 19th century
architecture and numerous restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, and boutiques.Blagoevgrad is home to two
universities, the South-West University "Neofit Rilski" and the American University in Bulgaria.















Alternativi International

Association Alternativi International is youth non-governmental, non-profit making organization working
in the territory of Blagoevgrad region. The main objective is to encourage personal and professional
development of young people through non formal education and also the building up and development of
active citizenship among them. The organization is an alternative for young people in the region to realize

their potential and become an active part of the society. "Alternativi International is founded by people
seeking the positive change for young people in Bulgaria. For that reason the main target group is
youngsters aged between 17 and 30 years old. We also aim at providing equal possibilities for youth with
fewer opportunities. The organization gives them the opportunity to develop their selves by participating
in various initiatives and events at local, national and international level. The association organizes
information days and campaigns, cultural events, discussions and debates on different issues, etc. The
organization, in partnership with students from the city, issues and youth newspaper, to inform young
people about career opportunities, trainings, work placements, internships, cultural happenings and so on.
The organization is working with the aim to develop intercultural dialogue and understanding between
young people from whole Europe crossing all the differences. We are developing initiatives fighting the
racism and xenophobia among youth from different religious, ethnic, cultural, geographical or economical
background.
Here you can see the pictures of our office:


































The project East&West connected by EVS is a contact making seminar for exchanging experience and
good practices among youth workers from 5 EU and 5 non-EU/partner countries and will take place in
Razlog between 1th and 8th of December 2014. This project will give opportunity to experienced youth
workers to meet, to get to know their organization`s activities, to match up, to discuss important elements
of EVS projects and hot to increase their quality, to exchange experience and good practices, to establish
partnership among each other and plan future projects together. The main aim of the project proposal is
building partnerships and network of organizations working with EVS among EU and partner countries.
Specific objectives are: exchange of experience and good practices among the organizations in order to
develop more quality and effective projects; promoting cooperation and increasing the number of projects
between program and partner countries; promoting volunteering and EVS in particular. The project will
involve youth workers, leaders and coordinators of volunteers from EU and partner countries which
would like to develop quality projects and effective and long-lasting results. The aims will be reached
trough different non formal methods and suitable activities in order all partners to be involved in all
project stages. As a result of the project cooperation there will be developed a book of good practices
from EVS projects which we will distribute among our partners and other youth organizations working
with volunteers in order to have international dimension and effect of the project. A blog will be created
for the project which will encourage the cooperation from the two regions-to exchange experience and
good practices, to show the project results and make the project more visible and effective. The project
will also have effect on other Bulgarian organizations and youth who are interested in volunteering trough
an open forum of the participating organizations.

Organization Number of
participants
From To Type of
transportation
Travel
costs in
euro/per
person
Alternativi
International
2 pax
Blagoevgrad Razlog - -
Youth
association
,,DRONI
3 pax
Tbilisi Sofia Bus/Train/Plane 275
Educational
initiative
centre
3 pax
Lviv Sofia Bus/Train/Plane 175
ASIST 2 pax Chisinau
Sofia Bus/Train/Plane 175



NAYORA 3 pax
Baku Sofia Bus/Train/Plane 275
HODINA H 3 pax
Pelhrimov Sofia Bus/Train/Plane 275
ARGONAUTA 2 pax
Murter Sofia Bus/Train 275
Asociatia
Millenium
Center Arad
3 pax
Arad Sofia Bus/Train 80
Asociation
Juvenil Inter
2 pax
Andalucia Sofia Plane/Bus/Train 180
Armenian
progressive
youth
3 pax
Yerevan Sofia Plane/Bus/Train 275


!!!Participation fee of 15 euro will be deducted from each participant!!!












The hotel we will accommodate the participants will be one of the nicest in the area. Its located in the
biggest ski/ golf resort on Balkans. The hosting organization will cover accommodation + all inclusive
meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner + coffee breaks + pool/ sauna and Jacuzzi





































PLEASE REMEMBER YOU SHOULD NOT BUY THE TICKETS BEFORE YOU GET
CONFIRMATION FROM US!
PLEASE SEND THE YOUR TRAVEL INFORMATION TO THE FOLLOWING EMAIL:
alternativi.international@gmail.com and wait for confirmation from our side.















Your arrival point will be Sofia airport and from there we will manage to provide you with
transportation to venue or you will receive a detailed info pack how to get from the airport to the
project venue.



NB!! Please make sure your passport (not ID card) is valid at least 6 months after your
departure from Bulgaria.
Also for those of you who need visa official letter will be sent from our association to
you and your sending organization. Please also contact them for support with you
documents.



Association ,,Alternativi International
Official address; 9A ,,Kara kioi
2760 Razlog
Bulgaria

Office address: Youth House of Blagoevgrad-1st Floor
1 "Bistritsa" str
2700Blagoevgrad
Bulgaria

Email: alternativi.international@gmail.com
Phone: 00359883499125 / 00359895180486
Facebook: Alternativi International
Web: www.alternativi-bg.org