Winter Comes To Bulgaria At Last

Well winter has come with vengeance in Bulgaria as I look out of my Yambol window and see half a metre of snow surrounding us and the finely balanced wedges of white fluffy stuff settled on the bare vine trellis that gave us the wine and rakia this year. I it has been a very warm and unreal over the last few months and it was a worry that the normal extreme cold spell would not kill off all the pests for the crops later this year. Even the bears had come out of hibernation due to this winter heat wave. Well they can go back to sleep now for sure at it was –10C last night and due for a drop to –22C overnight at the weekend.

Not that I have to worry, last Thursday night I injured my back and have been cooped up in bed for the last 5 days. The injury was a reoccurrence of back trouble I had not so long ago last winter. Trying to work with a bad back was murder Friday, physical work is not what the Doctor ordered so I have had to take a week off! Galia still struggles into work and back in taxis everyday and I feel quite hopeless and a burden right now. Rest assured I would return to work on Monday, as injections, rakia/aspirin and cream rubs and the prescribed tablets are well on course for the cure.

Needless to say our plan not to go to the farm in Skalitsa last weekend needn’t have been planned at all now with me on my back and unable to drive; it made it a bit easier to accept funnily enough. Baba, who has had a bad back for years yet never complains is currently nursing me throughout with rakia/aspirin massages, banquets of home made foods and attention. I feel so guilty about not working, being tended to with from someone who needs attention herself. Then of course there’s Galia facing the winter elements as well as working like a Trojan at the factory with me in the warm ‘home hotel!’ Strangely enough it was only a week ago when said to her that I felt guilty about me being healthy all the time and Galia having all the niggling illnesses! I wish I hadn’t tempted fate now.

So it remains that I have to sit out (or lie out) the next few days and look forward to meeting my work colleagues again on Monday. I just hate being non-active!

ps No pictures I'm afraid - for obvious reasons

Bulgarians Ill in Winter

Everyone seems to be ill in Bulgaria during the winter, colds, flu, headaches, you name it they've all come down with something recently. This happens every winter here, I think I know why.

In the winter many just stay indoor unless it is essential that a trip has to be made. Going to work the buses are crowded with all the windows shut. In the work places, the air-conditioning circulates the germs in a air trapped environment. In the Post Offices, Banks and other utility payment places, the waiting in queues with virus filled people seems never ending. These queues are tightly packed, you will often get someone breathing down your neck wherever you queue here. It is no wonder that sickness is at its prime during the winter.

The amount of money spend on drugs is almost on par with the cost of food. I often wonder why there are so many chemists in Yambol, perhaps this is the reason, to cope with the demands that are set upon them in the winter months. Aspirin, paracetamol, throat lozenges, cough syrups, but none as popular than the rakia which is frequently being dipped into as a winter medicine. The 46 litres of 42% proof rakia that was made a few months ago is now down to 30 litres and counting. I dread to think how people cope without rakia. Certainly not making your own would add substantially to the chemists' profits and the increased poverty stricken communities here.

So why haven't I been ill every winter? I can't remember having anytime when I have had a virus, cold or flu since being here. Everyone else around me is dropping like ninepins and the Englishman seems to be immune from all the bugs that are going around. It's not as if I do anything different from anyone else apart from recently taking up jogging again. I'm indoors all day, I queue for hours and use the sardine buses and I also am subjected to air-conditioning environments all day. So why am I in perfect health each winter?

It's a mystery, I don't have an answer and neither do the coughing and spluttering people around me. Galia and Baba both have picked up colds over the last couple of days, Ivo is expected to fall with it any day now and there's me off jogging for an hour. I feel quite guilty about my good health, but then not going jogging wouldn't help matters either.

Spring is only a few weeks away now, the 1st March should just about have seen us through this Bulgarian winter and the illnesses that go with it. March 1st of course is another big day, it's another Imen Den (Name Day), the biggest name day of the year. Have you guessed what it is yet?

Freezing Weather? Village 1 - Town 0

The problem sub-zero temperatures create is something that is more than an inconvenience and it is quite amazing how quickly one forgets how is was in years past. I looked back over my diaries from three years ago and found that dealing with the extremes cold isn't that difficult if your heating energy is not from a third party.

Last year, we missed the winter here, the year before that we were in the village all winter and although more difficult that in other months the fact we had a wood burner solved most of our problems. Even without water, gas or electric on occasions the wood burner dealt with most of these problems. A wood burner provided heat for the house and for cooking. It melted the snow from the garden and when on to boil the water. It gave light, much more than any candles could give and of course kept us warm all through the night as we lived, ate and slept in the same room. It wasn’t noisy like air-conditioning systems (klimatik) and bottled gas fires. We also like the romantic side of it as well.

In the town it is much more difficult. We don’t have a wood burner just bottled gas fires and an air conditioning system for the main room, which is on all the time at the moment as Baba sleeps in that main room. The two bottled gas fires are for Ivo’s bedroom (which is a living room) and our bedroom. These are used just 20 minutes to warm the room up before going to bed. Our bedroom is well below zero at 6:30 in the morning when we wake. My glass of water that sits on the chair by our bed had ice crystals in it the last three mornings. The number and the weight of blankets we use to combat the cold at nights gives us a work out everytime we want to turn over. We are of course fully clothed, pyjamas just aren't warm enough. This is not needed in the village with the wood burner!

For the last three days we have had no water and no gas in the Yambol City home, and ithe snow in the City, unlike the village, is not edible. The advice that stands of don’t eat yellow snow is the best advice right now. With Yambol City being snow-covered for the last two weeks, the toiletry habits of Bulgarians show up quite clearly. Toiletry footprints are all over the place which backs up the theory that Bulgarians prefer to use the outside toilets and public places rather than inside toilets!

It has been more than difficult to get water, which has had to be bought. Washing in freezing cold water rationed to a margarine tub each first thing in the morning is tough for our family. I quite like roughing it, that is partly why I am living here, but I feel sorry for the rest of the Bulgarian household having to go through this. I commented on a friend's site who had a interesting article about 'Weather talk in Thailand', it was mentioned that is wasn't only Brits talking about weather, but Bulgarians love to talk about the weather just as much as the Brits. Well it's not surprising as the weather really does affect the way of life here right now.

With temperatures not getting about freezing point both day and night for the last 10 days or so and set to continue, we cannot see us getting any running water for quite a while to come. As for the gas, we will have to wait and see?

There are many other things that are affected, but this is a blog not a novel.

Charity Doesn't Start at Home in Bulgaria

I have been following a more than interesting story about a kind-hearted Canadian woman and the support of an English Estate Agent in Yambol, who had the idea of exporting hot water bottles from Canada to Bulgaria. The reason for this was because she had seen the poverty of the old folk who suffer terribly from the severe cold of winter in Bulgaria. This was started many months ago with the plan to get them to Bulgaria before the start of winter.

The idea of hot water bottles was a very good one and on paper it was a simple exercise of collecting donations of hot water bottles and sending them on.

It is now mid winter here, it was –10 C last night and even more snow fell. We have no gas being pumped into Bulgaria from Russia and it is a very big struggle right now for everyone to combat the cold let alone the elderly. Never has there been a greater need for hot water bottles for the old and infirm in recent times. The hot water bottles are still not here, but tucked away in a storage point in Sofia Airport with customs officials refusing to release them on a ridicules Bulgarian bureaucratic whim, which basically involved trying to get as much money out of a charitable gesture.

There are two sites I'd like to you visit, one is Our Bulgarian World where the whole saga is logged on their forum. The other is www.novanite.com where a journalist has reported on the story. By the way, the journalist apparently know nothing about Bulgaria and it was alleged he didn't even know where it was on the world map!

Fishing for Nothing In the Cold

It was forecast a cold weekend in Bulgaria, but most of us had fogotten what cold was as winter was such a long time ago. We have had a hot or very warm six or seven months and it was with that in mind we decided to go fishing for a few hours.

The journey to the next village of Ovchi Kladinets, which means sheep well was our destination as we were told that there was good fishing in this village. It lies 7 km west of our farmhouse in Skalitsa, but as we were to find out that was only half the trip.

We had been given instructions on how to get to this reservoir which was meant to hold very large carp. Although the place is technically in Ovchi Kladinets there was a further 4 or 5 km to travel over rough ground to reach the fishing area.

After reaching the village we turned onto the initially stone track which is designed for horse and car not ladas and made out way, slowly and carefully. With pot holed and subsidence ridden tracks it was an exciting route to take in this wild area of Bulgaria.

3 or 4 km later we entered into a deeply wooded area and followed this through, it was magical ovoiding trees as we made out way to the sight of a little clearing about another kilometre on. As this was reached we could see this massive expanse of water and wandered how many people knew of this place. It would be hard if not impossible to reach after rain as the track to the reservoir would be a mud pit and the rises and fall of the tracks far too steep to negotiate for any motor driven vehicle; even tractors would find this hard to reach on this track with rain.

We had arrived as the car was parked right next to a sandy shore with much wildlife around from the floral and fauna kingdom. We still had to walk a little way beyond some rocks that sttod in the way of the 'beach' type shoreline. It was while waliing through swamped brush that most of the thistly seeds decided to come with us as we swept past! Removing these was a very painful process without gloves and we were without gloves!

The fishing postion setup and we cast our lines and waited. There was a strong wind coming off the water, often whipping up a little wave or two, so repositioning out lines was frequently done with the floats wandering quickly out of place. It was hard work as the first half and hour wnet by and no bites made. It was now cold as the wind was consistently blowing in this open position we had taken up. All the time in our heads were the thought of just one big fish for dinner tonight on the barbecue, the cold was a minor inconvenience with this in mind.

We endured another hour or so and still not one bite was made. The cold now was becoming unbearable as we shivered our way through each regular casting; time and time again we had the same result; Nothing!

Finally, the fanstastic views, the massive variety of waterfowl that shared our environment and our love of fishing was no match for the cold. We packed up and made out way back to the windcheating inners of the Lada. That was a lovely moment when we sat down out of the wind, but not before another rich picking of thistle type seeds off out trouser and socks (ouch!)

The journey across the open countriside track was enjoyed to the full in the warmth of the car as we all relaxed knowing that there was a wood burner and rakia waiting for us at home to warm us up even further, but no barbecued fish today.

I must add that this is the first time I have been fishing in Bulgaria where I ended up with absolutely nothing!

Weather in Bulgaria

Since coming to Bulgaria in 2005 the weather here has been a series of extremes - why is this happening?

The winter of 2005/2006 saw temperatures dip to minus 24 C something not seen for 40 years in Bulgaria breaking records along the way. Snow fall was here as expected but Bulgaria didn't stop working, just a few more bits of clothing put on with the wood-burners still not having to work to their limit as they are so effective in radiating heat.

Although water was frozen for much of the time, not just outside but inside, there was never a danger of being without water as the clean Bulgaria snow could be melted and used in place of piped and high level well water. In fact in Skalitsa no well water froze up as it lays 23 metres below ground level, even at minus 24 C the system pumped out bullets of ice that have formed in the higher level standing water in the pipes.

The following summer was normal by Bulgarian standards and although there was extended periods without rain the growing season was fantastic and everything thrived in the sub-med conditions waving around 30-35 C for most of the year. In fact from April to November the only real change in temperatures were in the evening when the sun went down ranging from chilly to cold.

The there was last winter, the mildest anyone can remember in Bulgaria, perhaps a couple of days of snow but just a sprinkle this time. Below freezing temperatures throughout this season was quite rare and even then, at best it only dropped to around minus 8 degrees. Of course the winter resorts being high up will alway get the perfect conditions for snow but on the Thracian plain just above seas level something just didn't feel right about the whole weather system.

You just know that a mild winter leads to all sorts of problems in the following summer, not least an invasion of pests and bugs that should have been killed off by the cold. And so it was, but that's another blog subject but you might be interested to read: Indoor Cricket in Bulgaria

So this year and summer where again record breaking temperatures reaching 48 C were not only reached but sustained over a few days in June. Without any real rainfall before this has now caused a total crop failure but not purely from the lack of rain but from the crops not being able to survive the intense heat from what the Bulgarians called African weather.

We are now just over midway through summer right now and temperatures continue to raise concern and today at the end of August 38 C was recorded.

Bulgaria like many other countries worldwide is experiencing extremes of weather but life in Bulgaria will adapt to whatever is thrown at it, it is that kind of country. They will deal with the crop failures and inevitable rise in prices of food from it. They will deal in in other ways with the lack of preserved food for the winter being the most resourceful people I have ever known.

Weather in Bulgaria happens and when in extremes there is no other place I know that I would rather be with the people who know how to deal with crisis situations. The Bulgarians have a history of dealing with these situations after all.

One last point - A friend of mine who was on duty in Iraq with the Bulgarian Army had to endure 67 C during the day and below freezing conditions during the night - I may add that is normal for Iraq! Now thats something to put into perspective.

www.self-catering-breaks.com/Properties/Prop42149.htm

Frozen pipes in Bulgaria

The 2005-6 was the coldest winter in Bulgaria for twenty years! How do you cope dealing with the potential of frozen pipes in your home?

Keeping the taps dripping 24 hours a day is one suggestion that works quite well. Throw in a haystack or two into the shaft over the water meter access if located outside as in many Bulgarian homes is another that is effective. Turning the water off and drain off the pipes is probably the best if you aren't there for long periods is another good tip. The suggestion that you put antifreeze in the toilets overnight was another tip that someone gave to me, not a Bulgarian tip, but this doesn't really appeal to me. Anything involving chemicals just doesn't fit into Bulgaria ways here unless a last resort. Any more tips that can be taken on would be useful, before the cold weather hits preferably

This method was tried out recently and worked a treat:

Turn the mains water tap off, leave the taps open and then flush the toilet. This obviously applies to those not staying in their house, perhaps away for the winter to warmer climates. It works as the amount of air in the piping system copes with the expanding water that turns to ice leaving no fractures! Again, this worked as it has been tried and tested.

www.ourbulgarianworld.com

www.self-catering-breaks.com/Properties/Prop42149.htm