(click on the image for a larger view) DORA PANAYOTOVA'S HOMEPAGE

Shortly about me I was born in Silistra, a nice city in north-western Bulgaria. I'm not the first famous person born there: Flavius Aetius, the eminent Roman general who defeated Attila in 451 AD., was born circa 390 AD in municipia Durostorum (the ancient name of Silistra), provincia Dacia Ripensis, diocesis Thracia, praefectura Oriens.

Afterwards I mainly lived in Varna, on the Black Sea coast, where my parents still live.

When I finished school (Ist English Language School, Varna, Bulgaria) in 1992 I decided to continue my education in the same humanitarian direction.  At the admission exams I managed to be one of the first 40 female candidates to win a place at the Sofia University "St. Climent Ochridski" as a student of English.

In 1995 I and many others applied for an international scholarship. It was one of the first possibilities after the fall of the Berlin wall to get an education abroad and it was accompanied by crazy competitions and KGB-like interviews. So in April 1995 I landed successfully in Germany as a "Tempus" student.

Well, after almost four years of studying and working, I at last received my MA degree in English Language and Literature in November 1999. Currently I am attending the University of California at Santa Cruz as a graduate student of Education.<>