Bulgarian National Pride Insulted - Action Taken

Pride for your country and standing up for the protection of that is something that has fast disappeared from where I come from. So when I read about this story in Yambol where I now live, work and fell like this is now home, it is a pride that was felt for Yambol and Bulgaria as a whole.

There has been legal proceedings being taken against five Gypsy citizens who were witnessed tearing down the national flag of Bulgaria. This incident happened in a school in back in February 2008.

A 19 year old teenager (whose name was published) has had added charges of resisting arrest.

It took place is a local village school, but originally was prime news as the policeman who arrested the five was accused of beating them up. He was completely acquitted of the accusations a few weeks ago. The said policeman now confirmed that he would testify in the trial against the youngsters who as well as insulting the Bulgarian flag, now they had been found to have made up the story about being beat up.

There is strong support from Bulgarians across the country, as well as civil organizations and political figures publically in favour of the proceedings going ahead.

Talking to Bulgarians locally about this, they all agree that the degrading not only Bulgaria's national emblem (the flag) but the emblem of any country that looks after you, educates you and feeds you is blatant anarchy and should not be tolerated. They went on to say that it was an insult to the Bulgarian people.

Many gypsies in Bulgaria don't conform to Bulgarian law, segregate themselves away from Bulgarian society and many don't even consider themselves to be Bulgarian. This is an ongoing problem here with no resolution in sight. Bulgaria is seen now to be making a stand in this case namely that no one, regardless of their religion or other 'beliefs' is above the law and indeed the spirit of law.

Bulgaria has many faults, but on this my view I say "Good on you Bulgaria!"

One Night's Statistics On Bulgarian Roads

Driving a car in Bulgaria is a nightmare. The conditions of the roads are one thing but the road sense of Bulgarians is the main contention and cause of so many problems. It is worse at night and the advice from an expatriate here who has been driving for a number of years here, to others who aren't familiar with Bulgarian roads is simply - Don't drive at night!

Everyday I see many near misses and on occasion crashes. It is no wonder there isn't more fatalities and serious injuries on the roads from the evidence see. Many driver just have this crazy selfish death wish, not just for themselves but others on the road (and on the pavements for that matter.) So when I looked at some statistics today that were given out for accidents and fatalities for one given night on Bulgarian roads, I was quite surprised at the figures that were given.

There was only one fatality this particular night. I was staggered that this statistic was so low. Other statistics revealed that there were 23 people injured from 20 heavy car crashes. Still, I feel that this particular night Bulgarian drivers have got off lightly from their proven bad driving habits. It could be seen as a misleading statement though. They reported injuries for only heavy crashes, how many were injured from light crashes I asked myself? Perhaps the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport are painting a purposeful false picture (well actually I know they must be with my expatriate eyes driving in Bulgaria.)

There was one more statistic that sounded a bit more realistic, and if you have ever driven in Sofia you will understand why. The number of traffic accidents during this particular night in Sofia alone was 154. I assume this included light and heavy crashes. This is more like the figure I expect, but even these may have been watered down and plainly wouldn't include those accidents that weren't reported.

Driving in Bulgaria and Sofia in particular and even more so at night is a massive risk you take here. I'd be far more happy going back to my donkey and cart in my village, mind you I've nearly killed myself a couple of times doing that as well!

Statistics and picture taken from:

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.