Bulgarian life
30. Spirit of Burgas Festival 2011
Rob and I are planning to go to this festival in Bulgaria. It’s on the 12th, 13th and 14th of August, which just so happens to be my birthday weekend. We really loved the city of Burgas – it’s right on the Black Sea coast and has a lovely laid-back,...
29. Don’t fear the taxman
Picture the scene: it’s 8.30 on a Friday morning. I have just arrived at work and am checking my emails. I have a friendly email from Costa offering me a free coffee – hurrah, what a lovely start to the day. But what’s this next email? Our Bulgarian tax...
28. Ken Lee
I had a dream last night that we unearthed an ancient burial ground littered with clay pots next to our house. And the house was very, very damp. Cheery! I Googled it and apparently clay pots in dreams are a sign of healing. But folks, don’t EVER put ‘damp’...
27. January: The month in a nutshell
I know, I know. I didn’t write anything for the whole of January. Bad blogger! I blame January sloth, pure and simple. It is a month where I can barely muster the energy to go to work. There just isn’t anything left in the brain tank when I get home....
22. Learning to speak the beautiful language of Bulgarian
So we have a Teach Yourself Bulgarian book and CD comprised of 20 units. So far, we’re on unit 2. We have been on unit 2 since September. This is not exactly lightning fast progress on our part. Clearly we’re struggling, which is not helping our motivation....
19. Things we’ll miss about home
Of course the main thing we’ll miss is our family and friends. I hope we’ll have lots of visitors. In fact I’m sure we’ll have lots of visitors – if only to satisfy people’s morbid curiosity at first! But hopefully people will continue to come back after...
18. Why Bulgaria?
A lazy, list-based post today. Reasons to move to Bulgaria: Property is very cheap. Seriously, check out property prices on http://www.offbeatbulgaria.eu/. It’s a really beautiful country with the Black Sea coast and dramatic mountains. Less time working and...
17. The Plan
People are always asking about the plan. What will you do for work out there? Will you live there all year round? What will you do in the winter? Will you get a donkey? The house sale should go through before Christmas, but we won’t be going out to Bulgaria...
15. Sightseeing in Sofia
A post about Sofia, the capital city, in case anyone fancies a visit. As the plane comes in to land at Sofia airport, the city looks ugly indeed – many a crumbly tower block. But, once you get passed the outskirts, the centre is rather pleasing. Small enough...
14. This is a man’s world (but it wouldn’t mean nothing without a good Bulgarian woman)
Socialising in parks, according to gender. As far as I can tell, feminism is yet to make its mark in Bulgaria, and I'm mystified by some of the more sexist aspects of Bulgarian society. Men hang out with men. Women hang out with women. Presumably at some...
12. Claire dresses native
Clothing in Bulgaria is a funny thing. Something really rather special. For women, there are two main styles of dressing: village style (crocs, sweats or skirt, jumper, maybe a headscarf) or Russian footballer’s wife. The former is simple and makes perfect sense. I...
10. Me man. Me make fire.
What is it about fire that fascinates man? By man I mean specifically the male of the species, not mankind in general. Women (or is it just me?) want to keep warm but aren’t too fussed on how. For men, tending a good fire is a symbol of their masculinity. In...