Bits ‘n’ Pieces: Camas teen expands horizons in Bulgaria

While Elizabeth Gibson thinks her decision to move from Camas to Bulgaria for college was a spontaneous one, she knew going in there would be plenty of benefits.

“I realized the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that lay before me: international experience and a higher education for an economical cost,” Gibson wrote in an email.

“Had I initially attended a college in the U.S., the resulting tens of thousands of dollars in student debt would have hindered my ability to travel to Europe for at least 10 years,” she wrote. “But guess what? I’m 18, freshly out of high school, and I’m living on my own in Bulgaria, and affordably traveling to surrounding countries, including Greece, Germany and France.”

Her interest in politics started after watching the first season of “House of Cards.” After that she enrolled in an Advanced Placement U.S. government and politics class at Camas High School, which she called “one of the most fascinating classes I’ve ever had the privilege to delve into.” After graduating from Camas, Gibson was accepted into American University in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.

She’s not just traveling around Europe and attending classes while in Bulgaria, though. She’s putting her interest in politics to use by better getting to know the diverse student body at American, which boasts members from 40-plus countries, according to Gibson.

On her blog, found at www.allthewayfromwashington.com, Gibson recently started a project where she will interview classmates from different parts of the world. The first two entries are part of a lengthy discussion with a classmate from Kazan, Russia, Benjamin, who also spent time in Moscow and a year in America teaching. Their conversation opens with a lot discussion about the LGBT community in Russia, with Benjamin telling Gibson about two of his friends in the community who were walking in Moscow and were beaten up by eight people. Benjamin also discussed verbal and physical assault he faced in Moscow as a member of the LGBT community.

In the interview, he told Gibson about an incident where he was walking with a friend when a man started yelling slurs at them, so Benjamin walked away. The man followed him and shoved him, but Benjamin avoided further confrontation.

“I had everything in Moscow,” Benjamin told Gibson. “I had a job, I was able to travel, I didn’t live with my parents. I had enough money to live on my own and save up for college. I had friends. I had my partner in Moscow. But after the incident with the guy who pushed me and kind of hit me, I really considered moving out of the country. And now I’m out of the country despite the fact that I had everything in Moscow. And now I’m starting my life from scratch.”

In the second part of their talk, the two discuss Russia’s military presence in Syria. Gibson also has interviews lined up with classmates from other neighboring Slavic countries and Syrians directly involved in the conflict between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and oppositionist forces.

Gibson hopes people from back home will read her interviews to learn a bit about what’s going on in the world, and get outside of their personal bubbles. She got the idea for the project shortly after arriving on campus.

“My eyes were opened to the gold mine of personal experiences, stories and knowledge that exists within this university’s student body,” she wrote. “Every one of us is involved, and has a different part, in some global conflict, and each of us has a unique tale to tell in regards to the role we play on the world stage. That’s always been important to me, the story that exists behind each human being. What is history, or legend, comprised of, if not the experiences of individuals?”

Gibson is also picking up on plenty of differences between home and Bulgaria.

“(In America,) strangers smile at each other, cashiers ask how your day is, waiters/waitresses are expected to deliver your meal with the charisma of Oprah Winfrey, and, in general, if you don’t exit your home with a cheery demeanor, you are considered an outcast, a pessimist,” she wrote in an email. “Bulgarians, and Europeans in general, are much more straightforward, which was, certainly, unnerving at first. So, as you can imagine — during my first week, anyway — people walking down the street were a little aghast at this bubbly American girl flashing smiles like lasers in every direction.”

Still, she also see plenty of similarities.

“No matter where people hail from, they are, truly, the same,” she wrote in an email. “Cheesy-romantic? Perhaps. True? Yes. Each one of us is finding our way in life amongst difficult circumstances, and each one of us is seeking a meaning amongst the confusion and pressure that encompasses our lives, much of which is the result of a calamitous world that was created by human greed and ignorance.”

Bits ‘n’ Pieces appears Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a story you’d like to share, email bits@columbian.com.