Another Accidental Offensive Bulgarian Misunderstanding

NOTE:

Before you read this I must point out that there is the use of a rude word, so if you feel you would be offended please stop here. (Done in all innocence I might add.)

Sometimes people say things here that shock you and in many cases I put down to maybe not understanding the gravity and intensity of the language. I must admit it also works the other way around and I say things that shock Bulgarians as sometimes I take a Bulgarian word literally and use it in completely the wrong context. This week is was the turn of Galia's Son Anton who came to visit us. Which was a prime example of  misunderstandings that in this case caused some stress on both sides of the contextual language barrier. Let me explain....

Now my favourite football team is Arsenal, I have been following them for over 50 years through good and bad times. Anton knows this full well and we often argue the case of who is best - his favourite English team Liverpool or my Arsenal. Well this evening it was a semi-final League Cup match between Arsenal and Chelsea which I planned to watch live on TV that evening. By the way, the Cup is not called the League Cup but is known by a sponsor's name, but I refer to the original Cup's name as a little protest in retaliation to business over tradition.

The subject of football inevitably came up with the match this evening and Anton went on to say it going to be a 'Fuck Up for Arsenal!' This shocked me for a few reasons. Having known Anton for over 11 years there has never been an occasion where this kind of language was used. On top of this he cannot speak hardly any English. I straight away said this is very bad language to use. I went on to explain why, he obviously didn't realise how bad that those words were that made me feel very uncomfortable. He replied saying there is nothing wrong in what he said again, 'Tonight is Fuck Up for Arsenal! What's wrong with that?' 

We begged to differ for a few hours on the phrase until the match was just about to begin. Anton them said again, 'Look Fuck Up for Arsenal soon!' This time I was quite angry and basically told him I didn't want to hear this again. The fact that I had a feeling Arsenal were going to win tonight fell into deep insignificance as a argument with Anton this evening after this. Anton too was getting irate with my complaints and stance on his words, he just couldn't for the life of him understand why I was so mad.

The match prelude had begun as we both eyed up the team announcements. Art this point there was shown the list of players on screen under the title of the Cup. Anton chose this moment to point to the word Cup printed on the screen and said, 'Fuck Up!' The penny suddenly dropped in my head and I thought this was very funny and bust out laughing. Anton just didn't know what was going on Have you guessed the misunderstandings as this point?

Quite clearly Anton in all his innocence had misunderstood which Cup match was being played tonight, He thought it was the F.A. Cup not the League Cup (as explained earlier). The biggest misunderstanding however was his version of the Cup. to Anton the F.A.Cup was one word namely, 'Facup'. Phonically it sounded exactly the same as 'Fuck Up!'

Mistified why I was in tears laughing, Anton took some convincing that the F. A. Cup was not one word but three, (Football Association Cup). Also I explained the fact that is wasn't the F. A. Cup we were playing for tonight but another cup, which to me made it even funnier. When he finally did understand my explanations, he didn't think it was funny at all! Guess his Bulgarian mindset on this particular event which I thought would have been a universal accepted humoured tainted event just didn't turn on.

My guess now is that when we do mention the F. A. Cup, he will continue to use his one word version, not because he thinks it is funny, probably because still he thinks he is right!

Arsenal did win that evening and are now in the Final of the League Cup, but I will certainly look back on this match and clearly remember it for other reasons.

A Yambol Hairdresser Trying to Rip Off a Brit

A simple trip to a hairdresser in Yambol evokes such a conundrum of incidents since I have been living in Bulgaria. Each time there is a story to tell, this one has a funny ending or in a strange way proving that crime doesn't pay. 

There is a hairdresser I regularly go to which is run by a Turkish couple, most clients opt for he man and often wait until he is free. This is not because he is a better hairdresser, it is just that men prefer men cutting their hair in Bulgaria. Is this sexist? I find ti refreshing that there is still choice that exists. Is it any different from picking one of two men at then end of the day. If there where two women would the hairdressing business close, it is not a hairdressing saloon just a plain barber shop? Nevertheless The woman is usually always free in view of this and I use her as I'm not too fussed about whether a man or woman cuts my hear.

Every time I visit I am accompanied by Galia and the routine is exactly the same each time. this is namely to have the cut short on the left and right side as well as the back but only a little trimmed on the top. I explain this each time in Bulgarian and it is understood and implemented.

When the work is finished I hand over 4 leva and thank you to the woman. All is fine and everyone happy.. No issues, simple transaction of service for cash which incidentally is clearly advertised on the wall in the shop. I do know that because Galia is there there will be no issues anyway. Often I do wander what would happen if she wasn't present with me. Actually I have been to other local hairdressers many time on my own and there is a prejudice on many occasions, so would the same thing happen?

Today, I went to this particular hairdressers on my own for the first time since have been back here in Bulgaria in April this year. My gut feeling was it wouldn't be the same without Galia. The woman was free and a little queue waiting for the man, normal as mentioned earlier. I was invited to take the woman's chair ready for the work to begin. I explained yet again in Bulgarian what I wanted. This was understood and the work commenced.

All completed and dusted down, I rose and fetched a 10 lev noted from my wallet handing it over. The woman gingerly felt into her pouch on her apron and slowly raised up a brownish pink coloured 5 lev note. My mind was thinking is there a 1 lev coin held and hidden on the back of the note being handed to me? I looked her in the eye and it was a slightly nervy look she held on her face. With this expression and body language I knew it was a sole 5 leva note being passed over. She was trying it on, and who can blame her for trying as I imagine most would just accept that as it is the British way to just complain after they have left the scene.

Against my British cultured ways, I questioned why the cost was 5 lev and not 4 lev and also pointed and referred to the price list on the wall. She explained that she did a little extra work with my hair on the top. Now I know what she did, and it was exactly the same as all the other times I came here with Galia and was charged the normal going rate of 4 lev.

All said and done she was trying to rip me off for an extra 1 lev and the only reason this was the case that I can think of is that I was not Bulgarian. As stated before, you can't blame her, 1 lev would buy a loaf of bread and give change with it.

The Haircut

If Galia was there this would not be the case. I more than assume that most think that I am lined with money being a Brit, well that is not the case and I asked for that extra one lev to be handed over. I was expecting some form of protest or argument with that demand. She showed no hesitation in revisiting her apron pouch and drew up a shiny 1 lev coin which she handed over. There was a sense of guilt by the way it exchanged hands. Directly the 1 lev left her hand she turned away to another chore which wasn't there as if she needed a distraction to end the interaction. As I said thank you and goodbye with her back to me, there no reaction from her; and she did hear me. It felt like she had her tail between her legs as she wondered off into a small cabinet to get away from me.

Will I go there again? Of course I will because now she knows I will not be tried to be ripped off again. I'm sure she will remember me. The question is, will she lower the standard of cut in retaliation? Only time will tell. If she does, then I think I will do like so many other there and wait for the man to do the cut.

The funniest thing about this event is if she hadn't had tried to rip me off I would have probably given here a 1 lev tip in anycase.

Rakia Making Day Arrives in Bulgaria

Every year during the end of October to December the air around Bulgaria is filled with the distinctive smell of rakia. I don't need reminding as I've been waiting patiently for this time of year as I'm part of the enormous Bulgarian gangs of rakia makers responsible for this.

In case you didn't know rakia is a spirit normally of around 43-45% distilled from fermented grapes this time of year. Earlier in the year, rakia is made from other fruits that ripened in late Spring to early Autumn such as cherries, plums, apples, pears, etc.

Rakia made in previous years

The grape version is by far the most popular with the majority of rakia made from this product as it doesn't need too much added sugar to top up the alcohol content on the initial fermentation. It also provided an avenue for grapes that are not fit for wine, no grapes are wasted in Bulgaria.

This year I had to buy my grapes, I had a good source in a local village which supplied me with around 80 kg of mature grapes at a good price. These were put in two big 120 litre barrels, crushed then mixed with 15 kg of sugar diluted with water. this was to get more alcohol content in the final must before distilling.

The barrels were stored in my garage and visited every day for the next 6 weeks to be stirred until fermented out. It actually took 7- 8 weeks for the gravity level on my hydrometer to read no more sugar was left in the must. This now was ready for taking to the village rakia house. There are around 6000 of these in Bulgaria, but being Bulgaria only around 1500-2000 are registered which is a legal requirement now. I booked one up in the village of Kukorevo some 5 kilometers from Yambol. I've been to various other rakia houses but this one was by far the cleanest, most well organised and of course legally registered. They provide transport for the barrels which were an issue for me with such a small car. The service they offer also included making the rakia so you didn't have to be there while the process was being done. This was something I didn't want as one of the reasons I make rakia was being part of the process and a product that is made from my own hands. Without this it was being close to just buying a product, so I just chose the transportation option.

Moving the barrels in pouring rain

Along with the two barrels of grape must, fuel was needed, namely wood for the stove that heats the boiler (kazan). This was kindly given to me as a present from one of Galia's family. It was made up of lots of laminated MDF board offcuts from a renovated apartment. Nothing is wasted in Bulgaria and gratefully received. Added to the must was some old rakia that was leftover from a batch made in 2009. This was the last of the distilled must which read less than 40 percent proof and not good enough for drinking so it is saved for the next round of distilling albeit 8 years later. This was alongside old wine and leftover rakia and liquor from parties form a bygone age. Basically, anything that contained alcohol was mixed with the must, nothing wasted, all recycled. this is another reason I fell in love with the culture here. In addition to this was 1 kilogram of salt, 150 grams of bicarbonate of soda and the optional 100 grams of coriander seeds. These are to be added to the must just prior to heating up in the kazan.

The reservation was made for 7:00 on 28th November and the excited anticipation of that day was very much still there as it was on my first time back in 2006. It was agreed that the barrels and wood would be picked up the day before and be ready for the early morning process.

The kazan house van duly turned up at the garage at 7:30 pm in the pouring rain as we hauled the barrel up into the van leaving me with a wrenched wrist form the efforts(another story). The wood alongside and now in the hands of a Rakia Maestro and on their merry way to the village of Kukoreva to be greeted again early next morning. And in the midst of an injured wrist in the cold night and now soaked through from the rain, the excitement of the occasion to come builds further and overcame any pain and discomfort.

I rose the next morning before the alarm set for 05:00, the day had arrived and I was more than ready for it, despite not being able to use my left hand. Breakfast and bathroom served and I was off. Driving no problem, all the controls are on the right as had mustered the thoughts of managing the day single-handedly so to speak.

Arrived at he rakia house though the now mud laden road with my car that had been cleaned to perfection yesterday morning dead on 07:00, oh that's so English! It is funny how you can't avoid the disciplines of time that had been even more exaggerated by working in the bus industry in London for 6 years!

The kazan being fuelled up

My barrels waiting for a clean kazan

As I entered the house, my barrels were by the kazan which was being cleaned by one of the workers there. The wood was outside so I gathered them up and transferred them into the purposely placed plastic basket in readiness. These kazan had temperature gauges for the must in the kazan and the steam that exits the kazan. This was something I hadn't had before when processing. Also, there was a design on the final exit of the rakia that cools the finished product off by means of extra traveling through a little maze of copper routes. Prior to this have to use jam jars on the final exit so to cool the rakia that frequently comes out hot. Also on this system, after the condensing was a place for the alcohol to be measured, a great design saving having to extract rakia in a jar away from the kazan to be measure as I did on many other occasions. Somehow though, it felt like I this was cheating and the chore of constantly checking of the level of alcohol by taking samples was all part of the hands-on tradition of rakia making. Getting more practically and physically involved rather than passively just watching just adds to the occasion and fulfillment of achievement. Guess most would say just why add to your workload when there is no need to? I can answer that but is would probably turn into a chapter of deep personal historical psychology.

The distilling has started

So, back to the kazan that is now filled with the fermented grape must plus salt, bicarbonate of soda and coriander, then the lid sealed. Again this lid sealing is different from my past experiences. It used to be seal with the rims cemented with flour which seals once heated. Again, this screwed lid is more secure and practical than the old method, but do miss the old fashion process with the flour. Harder work and not foolproof? Yes, but it was at one time the only way and part of the rakia making process culture.

Because I was the first there it meant that the stoves were cold and it took a good hour or so for the temperature to rise to 100 degrees and the steam to travel to be condensed. this takes up a lot of wood. More than I had anticipated and had to use up local wood with an extra 2 leva levy for this. I was asked if buying the wood at this price was a problem. My reply was yes, no wood was a bigger problem.

End of the journey for the Rakia

The first trickle of rakia journeyed into the bucket after 90 minutes. I measured the alcohol from that first batch to be 80% proof. quite happy with that. But then didn't expect anything less as I knew the grape fermentation was made effectively. Throughout the process, the alcohol level was monitored not just with my rakia but four other parties who had it going at the same time. The conversation was solely based on rakia and many tips and tricks in the process. Funny how you can spend hours talking about one subject. There was a big screen TV in the house but that basically got ignored in the main as the focus was on rakia production. Another big plus in my books that!

After another three hours, the alcohol level fell to 40% proof and that was the end of the promised 23 litres of drinkable rakia at just under 70% proof. The distilling continued for another 5 litres weaker rakia put in another container in readiness for recycling in the next visit.

All done, barrels washed out one-handed and put in my car, they just fit horizontally. Then last but not least the results achieved by midday. There was a very happy man driving back in the rain to Yambol stinking of alcohol, must have got a little high by the time I landed home!

Galia who was kept updated on progress greeted me at the front door with the rakia to hand saying we will have a great Christmas and New Year now this is in stock. And of course, it compliments all the other products we have preserved over the last few months to see us through winter. It felt like winter was no just around the corner and were well prepared.

Apples in tights

Apples in tights in rakia

One indoors the rakia was put into a big plastic container and submerged pair of tights stuffed with bitter apples peeled and sliced. I was going to add some mulberry wood to give it a dark colour, but then I've been doing this in the past and wanted something a bit different this time so omitted it this time. I should get a slight colouring as well as a subtle flavouring from the apples anyway. It has to be left open without the lid for two to mature. Then it can be diluted to the required strength for drinking although a longer maturing time would give it time to develop its character. Many store it in wooden casks made especially for maturing rakia, but I don't have that facility much I'd like to.

What did it cost I hear you ask? Besides the fact that it will be ten times better than anything you can buy in the supermarket along with the pride factor which you can't buy. Well, total expenses amount to around 130 leva. This includes everything including my own petrol costs. Once the rakia has been diluted to bring it down to around 43% proof I should end up with around 32 litres of rakia. this equates to just over 4 Lev per litre. Yes, 4 Bulgarian Lev! You can see why millions of Bulgarian do this and have their own kazan built on their property. With homegrown grapes and their own kazan the cost would be next to nothing!

So. another rakia making day drew to an end and Im still buzzing with that day every time I monitor the results and my wrist, well I've suffered for my rakia and that makes it even more memorable and special somehow. Ask the local hospital and they will bear witness to this, (like I said earlier, another story).

Having made rakia on many occasions this was a process I knew about and with this knowledge and experience, I have been running a blog over the years dedicated to Rakia. If you are more curious about rakia please visit my site:The Rakia Site

Why Back to the UK?

It has been quite few years now back in the UK working, but that's all I do here. The question as to why I came back is something that is quite difficult to answer, although many may suspect it is to do with money.

With life in Bulgaria is was really a quest for survival. There was never going to be any time when the worry about where the money was going to come for the next electric bill or repairs to the home let alone anything else considered a luxury. Let me stress though, this is how most Bulgarians live and you can totally understand why the draw to places that pay decent wages for work appeals so much. After all, it is a sense of dignity to try and do something proactive to find work and build for the future to many Bulgarians. When the walls of red tape went down for freedom to work anywhere in Europe look what has happened. It is still very difficult just to go to a foreign country and find work and even harder if you don't speak that language, but many have.

The question still runs through my mind on why I left Bulgaria. Part of that was with the same ideals as why Bulgarians leave. I have a duty to my family both in Bulgaria and the UK to find work and pay for basics and that was not happening in Bulgaria despite my best efforts. I of course had a head start, I was a qualified teacher with lots of work experience in many fields.

Well the decision was made and I left heading towards London where the streets are paved with gold but was never going to be my new home. The story unfolds.

Back to the UK and London? Not my home, hasn't been for nearly a decade!

Finally Got A Job In Bulgaria Again

Thank you all for all your comments regarding my last post. There is a burning inside me that wants to spill all that happens here but it is being held back by time. It is something that I thought I would have lots of here - this is not the case right now. Far from being a rat race, things just take far longer to do here than in my previous life and trying to acclimatise with this is still something I am trying to fight, although never as much as I used to.

After being made redundant here back in 2007, it is with relief that I have now found local work here at the minimum Bulgarian wage (around 18 BG Leva a day.) I am now otherwise occupied for over 40 hours a week sweating out with other labouring non-English speaking Bulgarians. I am very lucky indeed, as many people here do not have any work at all here. It was found through the family grapevine and social connections, without this I would now probably be on a plane to the UK with borrowed money for the flight and find myself homeless and jobless there.

So as it stands now I am working as a labourer full time. It is physically demanding and I’m totally knackered at the end of the day, (which I really love for some strange reason,) but now have a living here where a contribution to the family budget can be made. I certainly feel less guilty eating the food that is constantly laid on the table. After work it is working on the farm, even in the dark and weekends still at the village of Skalitsa maintaining the farm there (without Internet connections.)

The time spent blogging now is maybe an hour or two at the most prior to hitting the pillow for some well earned sleep. Somehow the pressure to fit things in this time is making blogging stressful trying to cram everything in. For now all I can do is keep things ticking over and that’s what I will try and do. This is being written in a rush at 6:00 am prior to setting off to work at 7:00 whilst eating a banitsa and drinking Ayran.

Bulgarian Graduation Party - A Family Affair

I have just caught my breath from this last weekend where another celebration took place. The 24th May each year is a National celebration of Bulgaria’s education, culture and Slav letters (Cyrillic).

During this day all graduates of high schools around the country have an ‘American type’ ball where they join up with a partner and parade through a funnel of onlookers in every town and city centre on the way to a restaurant or function room for the graduation ball. This tradition has been around for many years, Galia remembers her day quite a few years ago; I’ve seen the pictures.

It all started a few weeks ago where Galia’s cousin was one of the graduates to parade on the day and she needed a ball dress. Needless to say this was women’s work so I left them to get on with the purchase, alterations and adjustments needed to make it perfect. It was a bit like she was getting married and this was the wedding dress what with all the fuss and commotion.

There was a party planned the Friday before Sunday and the big day, so to cut the cost a small area was borrowed from friend who owns one of the Internet Cafes in Yambol. All the food and drink was homemade including much produce from the factory farm and brought in to the caterpillar style table that was made up of a number of round tables. A laptop and hi-fi was brought in from home and turned into a DIY DJ system. The area that we sat in was on a first floor balcony overlooking the Tundzha River and an ideal setting on this particular warm balmy evening as the homemade Rakia and beer that was brought in began to flow. By the way the Rakia was very special, it was made by Galia’s brother was 17 years old and saved especially for this occasion.

The whole evening was a family celebration for the graduate who now was to go to University for five years after working through the summer break. Flowers were given to her from all the family guests arriving along with little money or jewellery pieces to those who could afford it.
Then later that evening a speech and a composed peom recited from various family senior members complimenting the graduate giving a history of her excellent education and all wishing her good health, wealth happiness and luck for the future, oh and love of course!

Then to top the evening off, a big decorated cake was presented sliced and eaten, very much like a single storey wedding cake. The graduate and a couple of other contemporary members of the family then left the party here to go to another party to meet friends somewhere else in the town centre and left the older family members to carry on where they left off - Eating, drinking, dancing, singing and of course talking. The younger family members were put in the Internet café and play computer games unit the early hours of the morning. Everyone was happy and it didn’t cost much to set up!

My hangover was soon over the next day as an aspirin was taken and a drive to the village where there was two days of haymaking waiting for me. Then the trip back to Yambol for the 24th May celebrations and the city centre parade.

A New Idea For Catching Bulgarian Rats

Bulgarian rats are like all other rats around the world, a pest and unwanted guests in many homes. There are many alternative to getting rid of them, too man to mention in fact, but yesterday another method was learnt as we still has to contend with the elusive rat in the garage that continues to eat our hard earned potato stocks.

We were watching football with family guests with many beers to accompany when the subject of rats came about. I think it was the mention of Wayne Rooney that got the subject going. Rooney apart, catching rats was being discussed. Poison, caged contraptions, cats, dogs, and baited lures in other places to draw them away just didn’t work or were not practical in our situation and the rat has had the upper hand over the last six weeks and this continues right now.

The idea of getting a bucket, filling two thirds of it with water and placing some sunflower seeds that would float on the top seemed a strange ploy to take when I first heard this being discussed. Added to this a little path was placed leading up to the rim of the bucket where once at the top the sunflower seeds could be seen but not the water. This began to make good sense to me at this point. The rat would see the sunflower seeds and of course it is too low to eat, as it is a third of they distance down in the bucket. The rat would have to jump in thinking that the bucket was full of sunflower seeds and pass through the top layer of sunflowers seeds into the looming water beneath which was deep enough to drown it with the vertical walls of the bucket.

A master plan had been born and we all looked forward to drowned rats as we set the system up slightly drunk after the feast of Sunday football and beer.

Monday morning and it wasn’t an early visit to the garage to check for drowned rats. When we did it was as it was the night before, but then no more potatoes have been nibbled either, no ratty visitors last night other than the half ratted trappers. Time is the essence, not only for catching that rat but for getting rid of hangovers!

Rooney Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Live Football on Bulgarian Televison

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Bulgarians love their football and here especially they love the English Premiership football. If you watch the sport news the premiership football updates feature high on priority in relation to other Bulgarian sports news. In the few shop that sell sportswear, the English premiership team shirts and novelties are mainly based around the English league teams. And of course the other main interest is the Bulgarian footballers that are exported to the English teams.

In the main Bulgarians support a team in their own country, not always local teams either. Here out family support CSKA football club this is a Sofia based team some 300 kilometres away. from Yambol. They also have their favourite English football team, usually Manchester United or Liverpool. This is the norm as these teams have featured in European Championships quite often and have a large world following in any case.

My previous experiences with Bulgarians and football was rather low key, watching a live match where the Bulgarian National team were playing, there was more interest in talking drinking and eating than watching the match. It's funny, but if I watch football match I watch it intensely, never missing a moment of action or non action as it turns out. Here they just tend to ignore the game for the most part. They just focus on the match when the crowd noise increases and this is the attention grabber. Then they know something exciting is about to happen, it happens and they turn off again unless it's a goal, a penalty or a sending off.

This Saturday afternoon I was back in Yambol as farm work had been rained off. Ivo, Galia's son called me into his bedroom. He wanted to show me a full crate of bottled beer he had just brought in. Not being in Yambol most Saturdays I had forgotten what happens here. CSKA and Manchester United were playing today and were live on television. Ivo is a fan of both of these teams. As well as CSKA and Manchester United playing, directly afterwards it was Newcastle Utd. against Arsenal. Anton his brother who supports Liverpool was expected here later along with another football mad friend. The beer was for us all as he had decided to treat us with booze and live football in his television.

Well how could I refuse what was on offer here with Bulgarian beer, live football from Arsenal and great company?

So seven hours later after much talk, jumping up every few moments and then groans when Manchester united lost, the Skalitsa banitsa I had made in the village that morning were warmed up and eaten between matches - It doesn't get better than that or does it? It does, then the Arsenal won and the all the beers had some how evaporated by the end of the match. An extended, but totally exhilarating late afternoon and evening with the Bulgarian boys was had. This was topped up afterwards with home produced chicken and cabbage stew made and served from Baba to soak up not only the pool of beer that had accumulated in our stomachs, but the results Ivo's sorrow and my joy.

It will be back to the village next weekend, hopefully with Galia who should be another week into recovering from her operation. At the same time, if I feel like a feast of beer and football there is always that option in Yambol every Saturday during the football season. How fortunate that watching your favourite football team live on television in Bulgaria doesn't involved getting a mortgage to pay for the view!

Successful Operation - Now The Waiting Game

I must admit it has been a great worry when I had said goodbye to Galia two days ago before her operation. We both don’t like hospitals and it is usually us visiting others there not the other way around. Two days on and the operation was a success and the period of recovery is now on, the waiting game in pain. It is a great relief that things went well, but then she was in good hands with her cousin, who personally spent one and half hours operating on her.

We are so, so lucky that we had free VIP treatment in this brand new private hospital that stands by the River Tundzha and the beautiful Diana Park. The vast majority of Bulgarians attend the big main hospital on the other side of town, it is in very poor state of repair. Ask any expatriate who has been there and taken on the culture shock; they will take a big deep breath before they recall the experience. Without family working in this new hospital Galia would probably not had the operation and carry on with the suffering that had plagued her for twenty years. It is the other sick and suffering Bulgarians that we feel for, they aren’t in a privileged position to afford and receive such care as Galia had.

Galia is due back home tomorrow where I can pamper her to the hilt. It will be some two months before she can go back to work, but I know she will ignore Doctor’s advice and go back early – That’s Galia for you.

Finally, it is with sincere thanks Galia has asked me to thank everyone who sent get-well wishes and a speedy recovery. She was rather overwhelmed when I told her she had people thinking and praying for her all over the world. I am quite sure this had a positive affect on her mental strength to get through the last few days.

Thank you all again.

The Tattoo Returns For Love

Tattoos are now the subject to talk about again. Many Bulgarians have them. A visit to the Black Sea Coast in the summer will verify the popularity of tattoos on many Bulgarian olive tanned skins and in the most discreet places. They are just as popular on women as men and on the increase. Many shops are closing down due to lack of business, but the tattoo studios continue to thrive as I saw for myself last Friday.

Galia and I have completely different ways of showing our love for each other. I am very open, my heart is worn on my sleeve and I am not afraid show my love for her anywhere and everywhere, that's me. There is a lot of love I have to give Galia and sometimes it's quite overpowering for her. On the other hand Galia is very reserved with her emotions, she chooses odd moments of affection, but for the most doesn't make any exhibition of it. Sometimes the lack of returning the 'happy skippy love' that give fills me with a little sense of insecurity. I know there is nothing wrong with our relationship, but the different ways we show it are I'm sure mainly cultural differences.

I got one of these insecure feels last Friday and there and then decided to get Galia's name tattoos on my forearm. The whole process from the first thought in my head to having the tattoo pierced into my skin took two hours. 10:00 that morning the thought of having it done and before 12:00 I was back in the house with the competed tattoo in place. Well that's me all over, no messing go for it while the iron is hot. If I had thought too much about it, it probably wouldn't have happened. One thing is for sure, as long as there is love in this world tattoo studios will be safe from the effects of a recession.

I decided not to tell Galia until we were alone in the village farmhouse later that evening. I find it quite hard to keep secrets, but managed to keep my mouth shut until we had the table prepared with shopska salad accompanied with homemade rakia sitting next to each other with dimmed lighting and a roaring wood burner. It was at that moment that the secret was unfolded to Galia. She was gob-smacked and shocked as tears ran down her cheek. We embraced and at that point I knew that all my insecurities that were just stupid fabrications in my mind, they were there for no reason at all.

She is Bulgarian, I am English and we show our love for each other in different ways, that's all. We talked about it and knew that it wasn't only the tattoos that will last forever, but our different cultural loving relationship.

Big Rock - Big Snake?

This was the second evening in a row that we were in a Yambol apartment with song, dance, food and drink, the hangover from the night before still hanging we started off at around 5:00 with today the 1st March being the Baba Marta Den (Grandmother Marta Day) and the name day of those whose name has attributes to the name Marta, so it was my name day today as well (Martin). The whole of Bulgaria celebrate this day with song, dance, food and drink, well actually just a bit more than normal working days.

There were Bulgarian friends here tonight who we hadn't met before - all men! Silva, the hostess could be called middle aged, single, free and remains a very attractive proposition to many men who cross her path. Even though she has to care for her Baba which is a full time job, she is living life to the full right now, and deservedly so as she has worked very hard abroad over the last few years. She has been married twice before, but the Bulgarian men never lived up to here expectations. She was the life and soul of the party yesterday night and kicked off again this evening with more of the same.

There was no Dimco and Poliya tonight, but instead local neighbours mainly from the same block apartment. Dimco had left his guitar behind and this was taken up and used this evening from another Bulgarian guitar playing talent in the room. Three hefty Bulgarian men took up most of the bed sofa space. Like typical Bulgarian men they were all short and stocky, built like weightlifters. All I kept thinking of was three Humpty Dumpties sat on the wall!

It is normal that Bulgarians look deadly serious when you first meet them, but as you get to know them they start melting and become very warm and friendly after a while. This was exactly what happened this evening. A slightly nervy start, which was based on taking these guys at face value - They would scare the s*** out of most people if you met them in a dark alley! In fact a great deal of the evening was spent talking about why they look like they do.

Their names were Yordan, Avram and Nikolai respectively, all gradually warmed up with rakia and great Bulgarian food they found out that I jog 4 km everyday. All three couldn't understand why I jog to lose weight. Explaining that it was good for your heart not to be 'fat' was laughed at as they stood up and compared stomachs with each other, then their philosophy came out. Being slight in build equates to being weak, it is the Bulgarian way to be large so people are scared of you when you walk the streets. Being large is being strong and confident so yo can hold you head up high and not be scared of anything that comes your way. They believe that fitness is important, but alongside the big build. They asked who would win if I picked a fight with any one of them - I was no contest for them I agree.

As I thought about what they were saying. I explained that I have a different build that their Bulgarian bodies and that if I was to work on being as large as they were I would be in an early grave. Their argument was to do fitness in the gym or which they all do based around lifting weights.

Well the argument whether a big or athletic build is better went on most of the evening. I suppose the past and fighting for you country has something to do with it, it wasn't that long ago, two or three generations that Bulgaria was a land of warriors fighting for their Independence, there was no need for athletically built Bulgarian in hand to hand combat. But then on the other hand coming from a health conscious background myself, it is an inbuilt goal of mine to be fit and not overweight.

The other argument they had, but wasn't proved this particular evening was that you find bigger snakes where there are bigger rocks!

What and who is Trifon?

The days are growing longer, but the cold is still rolling along each day as we wear our winter clothes and start to count on to the month of April, spring and work again on the land. There are a tough plant that needs attention, the vine. It is the first task of the agricultural calendar - it has a name and a special day, a celebration day as always in Bulgaria. Trifon Zarezan, pushes itself forward as the day of the grower and wine this falls on February 14.

In Skalitsa the celebration of the first cutting of the vine took place a week earlier, but officially 14th February is the allocated day Nationally. Going back many years it used to be the first day of February, but somehow it now has arrived in modern times two weeks later - I don't think it is to do with global warming, more from a date of convenience.

Back to the poetic tale of Trifon; Bulgarian land goes back from time immemorial and with that sacred land people here have been taught to grow vines and make wine from its grapes,. It is not only taught but celebrated before during and after the labours on the land. There is no end to joy and celebration in Bulgaria with the wine that is worn throughout the year.

In past centuries, the feast of the vine and wine in Thracian lands remain to this day. There are folk festivals and customs in Bulgaria with the old pagan traditions remaining, even before the arrival of Slavs and Bulgarians took hold in the Balkan Peninsula.

Zarezan Trifon has always been regarded as just a folklore representation. He was Christianised with attachment to a young patron Saint Trifon who moving into a village called Komsada Maloaziyskata on February 14. The Bulgarians that were involved with this, not shy of fun invented the legend of Trifon and how you cut the nose of the vineyard with kosera (Bulgarian secateurs) and therefore become embedded a ritual from these moments on tagged with the name Trifon.

It is vital that each year vines are well trimmed to make good grapes and good grapes subsequently make good wine and if the wine is not up to standard, further down the line good Rakia is the safety net. A good wine raises Bulgarians good thoughts and leads to good deeds, that's what makes it so good here.

No Chemist Queue, No Waiting, But Never Easy

A simple trip to the chemist to get some medication for Baba should have been plain sailing, but this is Bulgaria and things like that just don't happen.

The day before I had dropped off Baba's personal medication booklet in which all prescribed medication is recorded. The chemist didn't have stock of one type of tablet and this was due to be picked up the next day (today) with payment. The book was left with the chemist so it could be recorded signed and stamped ready for collection. - Simple so far isn't it.

On turning up to the chemist shop there was no waiting as there were no queues. this makes a change from many shopping and bill paying chores I'd done recently in Yambol. I also saw the same person who served me the previous day. She told me that there was no medication booklet for Baba here and I was to try another chemist 100 metres down the road! I told here that I saw here yesterday and personally handed over the booklet to her, but she still insisted the book wasn't there and again to go the neighbouring chemist.

I was completely mystified initially by this complete lapse of memory of this middle aged chemist assistant, added to which an ever growing suspicion that perhaps my Bulgarian wasn't fully understood and this was quite depressing.

So off I tramp to the next chemist knowing fully well that the booklet wasn't there and I would be wasting their time and my time when I get there. Time isn't important here, so I carried on regardless to practice my Bulgarian if nothing else.

Again, no queues no waiting as I asked it there was Baba's medication booklet in their hands. A couple of women assistants who deal with me in tandem understood me completely and started searching for the booklet. A few minutes later they came back an told me what I expected to hear, there was no booklet. They then went away to get a man in the chemist office who spoke a little English. This was a complete waste of time as I told him the story in Bulgarian and he confirmed back to me in very bad English that he understood completely, but there is no booklet here.

It was back to the original chemist, yet again, no queues, no waiting and saw the same assistant once again. I explained that the book must be here and for her to look for it again. She went away to return a moment later with the booklet along with the prescribed tablets that were delivered today and rubberbanded to the booklet. Bulgarians in the main don't normally apologise from my experience, well according to most they are never wrong and this was the case here. No apology just a comment saying, "Sitchko dobre," or "Everything is okay."

So Baba finally got her medication and I got my speaking Bulgarian confidence back. It is funny how on so many occasions that a simple task is never really a simple task in Bulgaria.

New Year's Celebratons x 3

New Year celebrations somehow didn't seem as important as we attended three parties on three consecutive evenings in three different Bulgarian homes. The highlight was on New Year Eve, but not because it was New Year Eve, but because of the people we were with.

This particular New Year's Eve was not according to what we had originally intended, a last minute change of plan saw us in a village with a Bulgarian couple we'd not had a chance to see for many months, needless to say the talking took priority for the best part of 11 hours.

The countdown to midnight didn't really happen although we did know as the TV was on throughout the evening with non-stop Bulgarian traditional music and pop folk in the background. Sporadic dancing took hold of us on many occasions; somehow we just couldn’t help ourselves.

A quick mention on food - "Top Notch" (Deserves a blog on it's own.)

It was bed at 3:00 in the morning and a walk just before midday in the glorious winter sunshine which was enhance with a sprinkle of snow in the village due to it's elevated position some 1000 metres about sea level.

No chance to rest as we returned to our village of Skalitsa where another party in the evening was held on our behalf as we'd missed the previous evening with our neighbours - And tonight? We are due another party, but being of old age and feeling quite infirm with all this partying we had to decline do to exhaustion and heavy snow outside right now.

Stressing Out Over Garden Roses

For the last 5 weeks all I can think about is pruning the roses in the farmhouse garden. There are a few reasons for this; the first is going back two winters ago. I was living full time in the farmhouse then and in the winter the roses were pruned and buried well in time for the cold winter ahead. This is the Bulgarian way and it works very well. The following spring right though to December there was a single rose picked for Galia every single morning we were there.

Then there was last winter, I was working away from the farmhouse and didn't get to prepared the roses for winter, no pruning no covering them up with earth as they are left to face the elements throughout winter. This spring and all through the year right up to now the roses were very poor, in fact hardly any worthy of picking for a Bulgarian princess.

The thought of going through three Bulgarian seasons without vibrant perfumed Bulgarian roses in the garden is something that I never want to happen again. It was my intention to prune and bury some five weeks ago, but we had guest in the farmhouse and for the last week I have slipped a disc in my back, so it still hasn’t been done. We have been very lucky there has only been one or two night that the temperatures have fallen below zero, so no damage done so far. There is however the forecast of a cold break in the weather and snow on its way for Christmas Day. We do not plan to go to the farmhouse initial after Christmas what with family festivities and my bad back.

Throughout Christmas the roses will be playing on my mind and frustration not being able to physically do what needs to be done. We just hope that there is a speedy recovery and this garden chore can be done within the next week, even is it means clearing the snow out of the way to do it.

Does anyone else have such a strong urge to do garden to the point of getting stressed out about it?

Google Translator - Very Funny Sometimes

We have discovered Google translator and now I can write to my Bulgarian partner Galia in Bulgarian and Galia in turn can write to me in English and fully understand each other better than ever before - it is like an instant miracle or getting a sixth-sense. We have been writing to each other for the last few days through Skype using the Google translator before posting our messages, fantastic, but extremely funny sometimes.

As with all non-human translators, the meaning and phrasing don't always make a logical statement and such was the case on many occasions over the last couple of days.

I have given a few of these funny moments for you to see. My short explanation of the intended meaning is bracketed underneath.

tonight I will hire some food
(Tonight I will buy some food)

you breakfast?
(Have you had breakfast)

increase the degree of air conditioning and let your oven
(Turn the air-conditioner up and light the gas fire)

a man who lives for us will lead me
(a neighbour will drive me (home))

You sit on your ass
(Can you sit down on your bottom yet? - referring to my slipped disc injury)

after work I go drink in a brandy plum and salad
(I'm going for a Salad and Rakia after work - she was teasing me as I am confined in bed)

No doubt there will be many more of these in the future

The Answer is Always Food in Bulgaria

Thanks to all those who sent get well messages.

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Whenever I am ill, for whatever reason, unless suffering form malnutrition of course, I lose my appetite. Either I don’t eat at all of very little; it’s just the way I am illness just make me lose my appetite. Being ill is rare for me anyway so the abstaining of food doesn’t happen that often, well actually it is never allowed to happen here in Bulgaria with the food driven society, in a country called the bread bucket of Europe. Every couple of hours there is food pile driven your way by Baba, it has been well documented since I have been here.

So with my slipped disc, there is another move along the Bulgarian learning curve. Whatever your disposition, food is the answer. Whether your fit or ill you have to eat and eat lots and often if you are a man. It is a constant battle fighting off food every minute of the day. The longer I go without food the more intense the food fight becomes, how ironic that this continuous food being making me mentally ill!

This morning two or three times an hour, every hour, I get approached with food on a plate that I had already said I don’t want and then there is a little sulk as it gets taken away again. Later in the morning another tactic, I get a peeled and sliced apple handed to me.

I say, “Thanks you very much, but I don’t feel like food right now.”

The comment replied was, “It’s not food it’s an apple!” I laugh and it hurts.

It is almost like being force fed but not quite there; it gets to the point where I get angry as the effort it takes to keep refusing is immense and with back pain always there my temper rises slightly into a nervous laughter just like after the apple comment and laughter really hurts when you have a slipped disc.

Surely it would be better to just accept the food and be done with it is what I sometimes think. The pressure to take this route is tremendous and would solve everyone’s frustrations expect mine, after all, it is my choice whether to eat or not. Or is it?

The whole idea by trying to get me to eat, I know, is to try and get me better They firmly believe that eating lots of food is the best route to take when you are ill, evenif you are overweight. This is understandable and I know that they are 100% behind trying to the best they possibly can for me, unfortunately they don’t just have a difficult patient, but an English one.

Shock Waves Throughout Bulgaria from Student's Death

Bulgaria as whole is a non-violent society and away from cities and big towns criminal activity is very rare. Even in the urban and built up areas it is relatively safe to walk the streets in most places. So when a unprovoked beating took place leading the death of the victim, this was big news in Bulgaria, solely because it is a rare incident.

A Bulgarian student was beaten to death by a group of drunken lads during a Disco event in Studentski Grad on the 5th December. Studentski Grad is an area close to the capital with over 50,000 purpose built and affordable apartments for students who attend colleges and universities in Sofia. The attack, which was also made on his friend, was without warning and for no apparent reason.

The Studentski student community has been in a state of shock for over a week now and on Friday 11th December over 1,000 Bulgarian students alongside respected professors formed a peaceful rally protesting against the murder of the pharmacy student who was only 20 years old. The protest demanded tougher security measures on the campus and threatened if not met further rallies and protests will continue indefinitely.

Like many crimes in Bulgaria, when it happens most people know who did it. There were five suspects detained and remain either on bail of in custody, which back up this fact.

This is a major shock to the student community and the country as a whole. Many feel that 'yobs' and unprovoked drunken violence from youngsters is now embedded in young Bulgarian culture and is here along with the American rap music (well actually not music just gross and foul language) This helps fuel everything that is bad about a bad and permissive society. Not good news for Bulgaria, but this is still rare here right now.

Just a note to go alongside:
Most drunk related crime and deaths for that matter come from summer tourists at the other end of the country drinking it up on the Black Sea Coast. Bulgarians I know look at this and just can't understand why people are so anti-social and act like this.

Bulgarian Pasta for Breakfast

This morning I dropping off my partner to work as usual, only to find something was different when I got back home. On the kitchen table was a plate of steaming hot pasta. The word 'Zakooska' was thrown at me from Baba who was folding up the bedsheets in the living room. This word means breakfast. Baba had taken it upon herself to prepare me a traditional Bulgarian breakfast this morning. She came into the kitchen to explain that see had seen that I hadn't any cornflakes left and we were totally out of home baked banitsas, which is what I normally eat for breakfast.

Well how can I refuse this specially cooked breakfast lying on my place on the kitchen table. The thought of pasta 7:30 in the morning didn't really appeal at this point. It wasn't normal in my previous UK life to have such things this early the morning. I did occur that this was probably the most healthy eating option of all breakfasts, it did made sense to eat food like this first thing on a regular basis to give a steady energy level to lunchtime. Right now though I wasn't looking forward to eating it, but didn't want to upset Baba who had gone to so much trouble.

As I sat down, then Baba fetched and put by the plate of pasta some sirene (white goats cheese) and some sugar. She urged me to put some on the pasta dish before I start eating it. Adding sirene to the pasta wasnt' a problem, I didn't need much persuasion with this. The sugar addition was a different story, I just couldn't bring myself to add it to the dish. Pasta to me should be a savoury dish. The addition sugar to the sour taste of sirene would just confuse my taste buds which hadn't even had a chance to wake up yet.

So pasta and serene was my zakooska at this moment. The first few mouthfuls felt quite alien as the slimy pasta slipped and slide down into the empty depths of my stomach. I've had warmed up curry for breakfast before now in my student days, but that was a long time ago, this is different. By the time the pasta had been half eaten, my taste buds got a second wind. This food was great! Pasta and sirene, without sugar, I now couldn't get enough of it. The combination of bland tasting pasta and sirene which just brings many meals alive worked wonders with this dish. It reminded me of a simple boiled potato and sirene dish we sometimes have here.

Baba never makes food for one, its not economical to do that, she had made enough for three days. This will see us through to the weekend she said. It looks like pastas for breakfast is here to stay and with winter upon us what better way to start the day. Another revelation in the simplest of foods discovered today.

Revolution to Come in Bulgaria?

There was a recent article made in the "Economist" magazine. It reported that Bulgarian and Romania have the worst economies in Eastern Europe. Now you don't have to be a mastermind to work that one out, it just confirms the obvious.

It claims that the current financial crisis on a global scale with have a negative affect in Bulgaria and Romania. Again, it could be said that the global financial meltdown will have a negative affect on every country in the world not just the poorest in the EU.

It goes further to state that Bulgarians have their Bulgarian Leva currency tied with the Euro and with no devaluation option to improve export competitiveness should be a major concern. And alongside the loss of millions of Euros from EU funding to Bulgaria due to corruption should sudden more shudders to the economy and concludes that both Bulgaria and Romania will face bleak times ahead.

Dealing with increasing poverty here is normal, this has been happening before any such global financial meltdown cam into play. Bulgarians put up with and deal with that in their own way. The only problem I see is for those here who have now been given a materialistic upbringing (especially the new westernised generation Bulgarians) and now will find that this may be taken away. This will be the cause of national unrest and to the extreme, revolution! This should be the greatest fear.

• Would this news put you off from investing in Bulgaria?

• Does anyone else fear this in their own country?

• If you already an expatriate, would this make you think about returning to your homeland?