Students from Varna Free University visit Russian sailing ship
Among the first impressions of the students and lecturers who visited the Russian sailing ship Nadezhda, which landed at Varna Port in order to take part in the Tall Ships Regatta 2014, is the exceptionally warm welcome they were given. The hosts gave the visitors a tour of the ship, and to told them about her history.
Nadezhda is a training three-mast sailing ship, owned by the G. I. Nevelski Moscow State University. The ship was built in Poland, in the Gdansk shipyard in 1991, and is an exact replica of the ships from the beginning of the century. On 5th June 1992 the Russian Federation flag was raised alongside her mast, and on 25th August 2011 the first Russian Maritime Centre was established onboard the ship, funded by the Russkiy Mir Foundation.
The cadets welcomed the visitors with a military salute and songs, and in turn, were given a Bulgarian rose each, as a sign of respect and gratitude. In the training hall of the magnificent 109-metre long ship, the Bulgarian guests watched a short film about the ship’s daily routine, and about the celebrities who had visited it. Among the names of politicians such as Putin and Medvedev, the cadets boasted a visit from the film star Jackie Chan.
The Director of the Foreign Language Teaching Department and the Russian Centre at VFU, Assoc. Prof. Galina Shamonina, PhD, presented Varna Free University and talked about the establishment of the first Russian Centre on the Balkan Peninsula, and about its work.
The Russian Centre at VFU “Chernorizets Hrabar” and all guests, lecturers and students, were presented with badges and medals by Elena Devyatova, Head of the Russian Maritime Centre and Captain’s mate of the ship. The special badges and medals are typically awarded to the most outstanding cadets, but this time an exception was made, and the guests from Varna Free University received them for their excellent performance onboard.
Detelin Tsetsov, a student majoring in International Relations and a scholarship holder of the Russian Centre, presented the hosts with flowers and a special gift on behalf of the academic management of Varna Free University, and a student from the Russian Language School in Varna recited a poem by the Russian genius poet Aleksander Sergeevich Pushkin.
