I'm back from BaLDS!!!

It was awesome: even more than I expected.
First, I travelled by bus with Sevi and Megan. It was really exciting to see the mountains again: I love watching outside the window when I'm passing through the Vitiniya pass.
We arrived and met there Ira, and then the great conference moments began. One by one, people I haven't met for a long time were coming in and joining our table. It was great seeing Sve, Plami, Leni... And few minutes later everyone else at the plenary.
The only session I attended was the one with the past MCPs of AIESEC in Bulgaria. The attending MCPs in chronological order: Yanko Ignatiev (95/96), Krasimir Ivanov (97/98), Iva Hadjiyska (99/00), Pavel Panov (01/02), Konstantin Grigorov (02/03), Viktor Kehayov (03/04), Svetla Stoyanova (o5/06), the current MCP Emil Ivanov (06/07) and the MCP elect: Ivaylo Dimov (07/08).
It was really interesting to see and hear those people. What was most noticeable was the difference in way of thinking and even way of speaking of the MCPs from different moments of the past. You could see the huge difference just in two years time. The background and the external environment surrounding each one of them has left a deep mark on their characters and, of course, on their leadership style. Each one of them is really unique and I hope that the youngest members of AIESEC could feel that as well.
The single exact phrase that remained in my mind was what Yanko Ignatov said: "Never have any regrets".
I couldn't talk to any of them, but I managed to talk to many other alumni of AIESEC in Bulgaria, and also with current members I haven't seen for ages. I had a nice chat with the elected VPF of LC Svishtov...hmm,...mostly about finance. :-D It was a really pleasant surprise to see people passing by and hearing me talk about finance and smiling: "Tsveti, you haven't changed".
The official dinner included the Alumni Oscars: t-shirts given by the alumni to the members who have contributed the most to the achievements of their LCs.
The party was in the same hall where the official dinner was. You could see people with formal wear dancing AIESEC dances or chatting everywhere around. At one moment I stood and I watched, and I thought how could this be possible? We don't even pay attention that good friends work for competing companies. And remain loyal both to their company and to their friends. That's so common to see here... I'm so happy about that fact! :)
I went to sleep at 3:30, almost crawing in the corridors...not because of drinking but because of the exhaustion from the excitement. :) The next morning (today actually) I woke up late and just had enough time to say goodbye to my friends and take the bus back to Sofia.



Whoud should I say? I felt like home there. I'm on the other side now but I really have no more regrets of my past actions. I saw that my actions have triggered something positive and I truly believe that I have remained in the minds of my closest people there as a real friend.
It was the best gift I could have had for my name day! :)

More photos here:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tsvetanar/BaLDS2007