Family

I grew up in Bulgaria, and I came to the United States to pursue university studies in year 2000. My home town, Smolyan, is situated in the lush green hills of the Rhodopa mountains in southern Bulgaria. Not surprisingly, I love outdoor activities, hiking and camping in the summer, and skiing in the winter. My parents who are electrical engineers still live in Smolyan, and my brother is pursuing a graduate degree in Nuclear Physics at Sofia University, Bulgaria.

Travel

The fascination with traveling was conceived earlier but the experience started when I was 9, and my parents took me on a trip around a part of Eastern Europe. This added a lot of countries to my list of foreign travel experience: Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, former Yugoslavia. The trip must have made a strong impression on me because I remember many parts of it. Amongst my favorite memories are the zoo in Prague, especially seeing penguins and a pregnant gorilla who loved chocolates and clasped her hands when you gave her one; the view on Danube in Budapest; the old world maps in Dresden's Zwinger Palace.

Then it was Ukraine. As a part of a children's Bulgarian folk dancing group, I participated in an international festival in Kirovograd, Ukraine. I was 13, and spoke good enough Russian to get by, and even be interviewed for the Ukranian TV as a participant in the event.

Before I came to the United States and during my holiday visits, I traveled a lot around Bulgaria. There is a famous Bulgarian proverb/slogan "Get to know your country in order to love it," and I have followed it by visiting as many places in Bulgaria as I could. Or so I thought until I saw this website: Photos from Bulgaria which shows some incredible places I've never been to... During the first years of my university studies, I lived in Sofia for two and a half years, and I loved everything it has to offer, its liveliness and culture.

The United States has incredible national and state parks, and I have hiked and camped in a few of them: Yellowstone (ID, WY, MT), Grand Tetons (WY), Glacier (MT), Grand Canyon (AZ), Zion (UT), Arches (UT), Yosemite (CA), Acadia (ME), Niagara Falls (NY), Greenbelt (MD), Shenandoah (VA), Great Smoky Mountains (TN, NC). I have also visited Seattle (WA), San Francisco (CA), San Jose (CA), Los Angeles (CA), San Diego (CA), Salt Lake City (UT), Las Vegas (NV), New York City (NY), Washington (DC), Baltimore (MD), Boston (MA), Chicago (IL). During my undergraduate years, luck took me to two more countries - France and Spain. While living in Burlington, Vermont, I also strolled down the streets of vibrant Montreal, Canada, which is within some 1.5 hours driving distance. During the winter of 2004-2005, I took a trip to Costa Rica, Central America, and in summer 2006, I explored Kusadasi (Aegean coast) and Pamukkale, Turkey.

Dance

I am a part of Zharava, a performing Bulgarian folk-dance ensemble in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan area.