Festival : ON

Only pictures in this post 

(the festival started last Sunday. So we're starting to work for real now, and it's quite nice).

"Look at the ants, here! They are much less organised than the French ones, don't you think?" Manu, a few days ago.

"Hey police woman! Where is my ketchup?", Robin to a Croatian volunteer, today.

"Julie, tu viens jouer ?" "Non, je parle anglais, là !"

This was just to let you know the kind of atmosphere we are in at the moment. 

Anyway, it's been a while since I last posted something here...
But so to be short, we actually started working about 2 weeks ago, breaking walls, painting chairs and carrying bags of bricks. We all went to this breathtaking villa with a magnificent view over the sea and the town and worked in groups there.

We had a training last week which involved team building activities, film-making and oscar ceremony...

Getting to work

Time is starting to get ridiculously distorted. But according to many sources, we've been here for about a week now.

We finally met The Big Boss of the festival a few days ago. We had been told to be at 10:00 sharp at the Palace and not to be late. Too bad, though, some of us volunteers were. So we were greeted with a nice speach in Bulgarian by The Big Boss, who, when we asked him if he could please speak English, said "Yes, but I don't want to", which pretty much translates as "In your face, you whining brats". 

However we found out what we were going to do in the coming days: We had to form 4 groups and come up with ideas for 8 "secret parties" during the festival. Each group had to think about the concept, the way to promote it, the location... all of this with absolutely no budget. Challenge's on.

Melting-poting

Ice was broken last night. And by broken, I mean, seriously broken.

We all went into the city center and settled in a bar on the wharf. Everybody was just being shy at first (=drinking), but then the atmosphere starting heating up (=people were tipsy) ((=people were hammered)), and we all started to dance. It was great because each nationality put on their own dances, and made a little demonstration. So we had Arabic dance from Jordania (and France), traditional Georgian dance, not-so traditional-but-still-awesome French dance on Magic system's Ambiance à l'Africaine, and then just international songs of Rihanna and the like. It was a good night.

Obviously we still have problems with the food, but we found out that the French weren't the only ones. So either it's not the best restaurant in Bulgaria or we're just a bunch of spoiled people. 

We also went visitin the town of Balchik today, and we were shown really nice, snake-less beaches. We, the French, are all starting to improve our English. Before, Fahd used to say : "Ben... c'est sympa, quoi!". But now, after only one day, he says "Ben... it's good, quoi!", which shows real and great potential. Besides, since we started melting all together, we're starting to learn words in every language. Arabic, Georgian, Croatian, Bulgarian... A great thing about meeting people from these countries, is that they tell you how great their country really is and why you should definitely come and visit them. So in the end it does contribute to the world's peace, no matter how few people are involved!

Travelling-elling

Thomas, Fahd, Robin, Gaspard (hiding behind Robin) and Manu in Marseille, at the airport, waiting for our plane to Prague.

When we arrived at the Sofia Airport at 01:00am, Jerry and his minibus were waiting for us. We were delighted to see that we had our own vehicle - how classy -, but less so when, as we took a break after a 4-hour-long journey, Jerry told us: "We're about halfway now". All right then!

Julia, Cécile and I sunbathing at the hotel, looking incredibly good after our night in the bus and a not-so-filling breakfast.

On the coast of Balchik, looking at a jelly fish.

How to catch a sea snake in 5 steps, by Robin. Step 1: Stand above the water and spot a little snake. Step 2: Attract a local's attention so that he wants to get into the water, with his shoes and pants on, as close to the snake as possible. Step 3: Let the local throw his hand in the water at the speed of sound and catch the little bastard. Step 4: With his free hand, let the local catch a second little bastard, still at the speed of sound - though it's less impressive the second time. Step 5: Get one of the snakes from him, say thanks and smile at the camera. 

Things that will need a little improvement: 

- Not much contact with the non-French since we arrived - but we've only been here for a few hours and everybody (desesperately) needed some rest 

- The breakfast we ate had obviously been stolen from a Bulgarian airline company, and Thomas nearly suffocated when he read the amount of E232 and other conservatives contained in every biscuit (we also nearly stuffed things in his mouth so he'd stop reading, but he was just too amazed to quit).

The lunch was also a tiny bit light, but we managed to get full by stealing in each other's plate - you have to eat fast or die. However, since we are French, complaining about food is not really something anybody should worry about.

Things that make us think it's gonna be a great month:

- We, the French, seem to get on well with each other and we're all willing to learn from each other's passion for guitar, Arab, English and soccer injuries.

- The place is really nice and the weather is warm

Leaving soon...

Two days from now, an association called Eurocircle will have me sent on a European Voluntary Service (EVS) in Bulgaria. That is to say, I am about to spend one month in a country I don't know at all with a bunch of presumably crazy people coming from all over Europe.

For those of you who might not know what an EVS is, here is a quick explanation: it's something you do when you're either out of work/sick of work/not ready yet to work, but still willing to use your body and mind in a useful manner, in a field you might never ever have a chance to work in anymore. 

In my case, it's not really that I am not ready yet to work, it's more that work is not ready for me. So when I got offered, one month ago, to go on a one-month trip to Bulgaria to be a volunteer on a short-film festival, my answer was a clear yes. YES, I am totally fine with giving my life some perspective and purpose. 

I love travelling because I love to have expectations on unknown situations, find myself in this unknown situation and see how much I was wrong. I have a very positive feeling about this trip, since my last experience with Eurocircle was a great one. I picture myself getting real close to the people over there, having fun, eating well, meeting musicians every night and maybe singing along/learning to play Bulgarian guitar, watching surprising films, travelling around the place... and working, also, of course. The sun will be shining all the time, we will be speaking English all the time, surrounded by open-minded, curious people all the time. I'll probably be completely out of time and space, not sure how I was ever connected with the real world and its real people.

Basically, in my head, this EVS will be like living in a pink bubble with rainbow-coloured people, speaking their own common language and discussing about how well these beautiful flowers would match these nice-smelling butterflies.

What? How is this cheesy?