Стобски пирамиди (Stob's Pyramids)

I started the month of July substituting for another volunteer at an educational high school camp at the American University in Bulgaria. The camp had been recommended by other volunteers who described it as one of the best things they had done during their Peace Corps service. Initially, I wasn’t too excited about the camp because I didn’t see how it furthered the Peace Corps’ mission in Bulgaria. But having worked the camp, I changed my mind. The camp was attended by 170 teenagers from fourteen different countries, and the Bulgarian kids who were lucky enough to attend got to meet new friends from places outside Bulgaria, learn about different cultures, and see how the Americans who ran and taught at the camp embraced it all. It definitely was a cool thing to participate in, and I’m glad I went and got to meet and teach kids from so many places I’ve never been (e.g., Montenegro, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Kosovo).

The last day in which I was involved in the camp we took a field trip to Стобски пирамиди (Stob’s Pyramids), a strange formation of rocks located near the village of Stob. The pyramids were on the way to the Rila Monastery and were a short walk from a small church on the outskirts of the village. It was hardly the most interesting place I’ve been in Bulgaria, but it was worth the hour or so detour we took exploring the area.