Katie Van Natta

Dancing Among Cultures:

Katie VanNatta’s Time in Garmen, Bulgaria (2010-2012)

As groups from countries around Eastern Europe showcased their various traditions, Katie VanNatta and her fellow volunteers prepared for their big moment. They stepped in front of the crowd and began a performance full of true American pride as they line-danced to the classic Cotton-Eyed Joe. They stepped, kicked and slid to country twang, and they needed no translation of the silly country lyrics for the audience to understand the joy on their faces.

The annual celebration, hosted by Garmen, Bulgaria, brought people together to exchange and embrace the diversity of the local cultures.

“Dancing is a big part of Bulgarian culture, so we did a lot of that,” VanNatta said.

In her last year as a volunteer, VanNatta’s Peace Corps group decided to present a little bit of their American culture in a way that only “Cotton-Eyed Joe” and “Copperhead Road” could.

She also recalled dancing at the wedding of two other volunteers from a smaller village. The couple decided to follow the local Muslim marital traditions in a big village celebration.

“It was fun to see the two different cultures coming together,” VanNatta said.

Although she wasn’t a dancer, VanNatta decided to embrace the Bulgarian love for the art by joining the village dance group. They met every Monday night to learn traditional dances and even performed around the village.

None of this would have been possible if she had not decided to pursue her desire to travel abroad through the Peace Corps. Shortly after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Business from Seattle Pacific University, she began her two-years of volunteer service and made the big move to Garmen, Bulgaria.

As she adjusted to the slower pace of life and worked on learning Bulgarian, VanNatta learned to set her own schedule and be open to brand new experiences that got her out of her comfort zone. She recalls going to coffee with people from the village or accepting dinner invitations to their houses without even knowing what her new friends were discussing in Bulgarian.

“There wasn’t anyone telling me what I needed to do when, so it was on me to create that,” VanNatta said. “I don’t like to not be productive, so it was definitely a struggle.”

As part of the Community Economic Development Sector, VanNatta began her work in the Municipality Building, writing grants to fund different programs because the European Union required them to be in English, and Bulgaria had recently joined. However, the EU lifted that qualification shortly after she began her service. It was up to her to find new ways to serve. Without any prior teaching experience, she began instructing English lessons for small children all the way up to adults. She also volunteered with after-school programs that helped students with their homework and allowed them a space to play.

During breaks in the school year, VanNatta found a place in engaging young students with themed extra curricular camps. “I did a space one and environment one—stuff like that kind of trying to help them step outside of the box and learn different things that they wouldn’t be exposed to,” VanNatta said.

Although she continued to write a grant for the Garmen library, VanNatta found that her expectations were different than the reality of service in many ways.

“I went in and I really wanted to be in Africa,” VanNatta said, laughing. “I wanted to live in a little village where [the service] was where I was going to make such a huge impact.”

VanNatta ended up residing in a crumbling apartment inside of an old communist hospital. She described her group as the “Posh Corps” because they had a washing machine, power and a toilet. Although she wasn’t living a life of luxury, she felt distant from the people she wanted to help.

“I didn’t know everything—I didn’t know their country, their culture, so lowering my expectations of like, what service meant and what helping those people meant—that was the hardest part for me.”

Instead, VanNatta felt she accomplished two of the fundamental goals of the Peace Corps: bringing her culture to Bulgaria, and Bulgaria’s culture back home. Her family and close friends visited her in Garmen, and she was able to introduce the two sides of her cultural knowledge.

“That was the best part about being there— I learned so much about them, life, and myself, and then I got to share that,” VanNatta said.

During her time in Bulgaria, VanNatta built relationships that allowed her to learn more abut the culture. After service, she traveled with her Bulgarian best friend, Kostadinka to Paris for a few days. It was a dream trip for Kostadinka.

“[Kostadinka] helped me a lot with learning Bulgarian and helping me with the kids and stuff like that,” VanNatta said. “She was my best friend there, so I wanted to kind of treat her because she had never really been out of the country.”

VanNatta still keeps in touch with Kostadinka to this day. That friendship is one of the many ways VanNatta’s time in service still affects her life.

“It’s hard to think of how it didn’t impact me—because that’s two years of your life that are majorly different,” VanNatta said.

In addition to teaching her a deeper appreciation for understanding people, she believes it has made her a better human being overall. She encourages student who are considering the Peace Corps to go for it and take advantage of all the program has to offer.

“There’s not a lot of opportunities that pay to go live abroad,” VanNatta said. “They lay it all out there for you—it’s so easy, [county directors and staff] are so supportive.”

Now, VanNatta works as an administrative coordinator in the Department of Chemistry at UNT, and, she says, continues to embrace the “grandma mode of life” that she learned from the babas in Bulgaria.