After a prolonged wait due to the pandemic, on its patrons day - the International Pi Day - FPMG officially began its hosting for the international Health for Body project - a product of Erasmus+.

Filled with excitement we welcomed our partner schools from Romania, Turkey, Italy, Latvia and Lithuania.

The official opening ceremony began with an old Bulgarian tradition - offering bread and salt for good health.

The owner of FPMG, Ms. Antonia Vlachkova , personally greeted our guests.

Two of our students: Dimitar Hristov from the 10th grade and Iva Kambitova from the 11th grade, presented Bulgaria’s fascinating beauty in a video. Together with their schoolmates they expressed their love and devotion for our country.

This was followed by a series of presentations by the representatives of each participant country, showing emblematic places, traditional dishes and cultural landmarks in their countries and hometowns.

As hosts, the Bulgarian students greeted their guests with the song “Dilmano, Dilbero” preformed by the school’s choir, led by their artistic director Silvi Andonova.

The guests were impressed by the dance ensemble’s traditional folklore dance, choreographed by Tsvetelina Ivanova.

As a token of respect the participants in Health for Body project exchanged symbolical gifts.

We ended the over an hour long program by treating our guests with traditional Bulgarian dishes prepared personally by our students.

The informal environment provided the opportunity to make acquaintance and set a friendly tone for the eventful days that followed.

After we walked through the past it was time for the relevant topics - how to be healthy and live an active life.

Albena and Plamena from the 10th grade presented FPMG’s annual project “Healthy food, living good” in which the 6th graders take part.

Honorable guests were Vanya Zhelyazkova from Lunchbox, whose support helped this initiative come to life and Ivanka Mihaylova, head expert in the Human Resources Center.

This project inspires our students and interactively teaches them how to eat healthily, read the food labels and live an active lifestyle.

The initiative ends with a sports competition which is awaited with unmatched anticipation.

This year our international guests also took part.

The outcome was exciting moments, countless smiles and showcasing of our sportsmanship and competitiveness.

Despite the busy schedule we couldn’t miss the celebration of a birthday. Marta from Lithuania, who turned 18, enjoyed a cake and a symbolical present - souvenirs form Bulgaria to remind her of the unforgettable experiences in our country.

During the 4th day of the Bulgarian mobility we took care of our mental and physical health with the help of dancing, sports and an innovative method of sharing opinions.

Our students Ivana and Nikola Tsachev from the 11th grade hosted an activity inspired by the strategy “World Cafe” - a simple, but effective method of encouraging debates and exchange of ideas between groups of people.

The inspiration are the old cafes, historically known as places for calm conversations, where people could communicate freely, and therefore generate new ideas and decisions.

The main topic of our seminar was stress - an important problem for every teenager.

The student were divided into 4 groups and had to propose solutions for the following topics: “Factors, symptoms and sources of stress”; “Ways to deal with stress”; “The stress we ourselves are responsible for”; “Long-term stress prevention”.

After a certain amount of time the groups switched places. This was repeated until every group had discussed every topic.

This way the participants were active and shared their opinions which were then summarized by the hosts of each group.

Through the method “World cafe” we were able to further get to know our guests. The participants agreed that everyone should find their own way of dealing with stress, that includes sport and a healthy diet.

First Private Mathematical Gymnasium's hosting of the international Health for Body project ended with a trip to the small mountenous town of Bansko, filled with plenty of adventures and visits to emblematic cultural landmarks. Our first stop was the old church “St. Theodor Tiron and Theodor Stratilat” in Dobarsko village. The temple’s striking murals and authentic architecture make it one of the most valuable examples of Bulgarian medieval art and it is currently amongst the cultural monuments under the protection of UNESCO. The most exciting part of the trip was meeting Baba Deshka (Grandma Deshka) from Dragalishte village, where the students of FPMG and our guests from Turkey, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia got to stand face to face with the cultural tradition of our ancestors. With a lot of love Baba Deshka demonstrated the way homemade banitsa is made. Following her lead, we were able to make this deliciousness ourselves. Our guests were pleasantly surprised by the taste of this traditional dish. We then immersed ourselves in the uniqueness of local crafts and knitted colorful bracelets ourselves, which we kept as a token of our joint experiences.

Changing into traditional clothes and performed Bulgarian dances surely was an unforgettable moment as well.

The local grandmas - Yana, Lenche and Rayna, greeted us with folklore songs. The visit was being discussed by our amused guests even after we left. At the end of our cultural adventure we paid a visit to one of the most significant Bulgarian cultural treasure harbors - The Rila Monastery, which we learned a lot about with the help of a tour guide.

To close thing up every international participant in the project was handed a certificate for the successful completion of the Bulgarian mobility.

This marked the end of our hosting, but the start of new friendships and future meetings. In just one week we felt many emotions and made a lot of beautiful memories, which we had previously missed out on due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We can’t wait to meet again and take part in even more adventures.