Two things about Bulgaria.
I asked twitter if I'd ever written about these things, and apparently I didn't. So I thought I would amuse you with these two wacky aspects of Bulgarski zhivot (Bulgarian life).
1. Techenie. Techenie means, literally, current or flow, but in daily parlance, it usually refers to crossbreezes. If you open two facing windows on a hot day, or a window and a door, thereby creating a crossbreeze, what you have actually done is made techenie. Which means it is
TIME TO DIE!!!!!!!!!
Bulgarians believe that techenie will, at best, make you really sick, and very probably kill you. It's not a superstition, where you don't actually believe that breaking a mirror will give you seven years bad luck (or, if you're Bulgarian, cause you to marry a gypsy), it is a legitimate, serious belief. Educated people believe in techenie. Young, old, everyone knows about techenie. Do not suggest to a Bulgarian that techenie is not real. TECHENIE IS SCIENCE.
2. nodding. Bulgarians nod oppositely from everyone else. Up and down nodding means no, and side to side nodding means yes. It took me about four months of living in Bulgaria to get used to it, and I screwed it up for about four months after returning to the US. It can lead to some confusing situation.
1. Techenie. Techenie means, literally, current or flow, but in daily parlance, it usually refers to crossbreezes. If you open two facing windows on a hot day, or a window and a door, thereby creating a crossbreeze, what you have actually done is made techenie. Which means it is
TIME TO DIE!!!!!!!!!
Bulgarians believe that techenie will, at best, make you really sick, and very probably kill you. It's not a superstition, where you don't actually believe that breaking a mirror will give you seven years bad luck (or, if you're Bulgarian, cause you to marry a gypsy), it is a legitimate, serious belief. Educated people believe in techenie. Young, old, everyone knows about techenie. Do not suggest to a Bulgarian that techenie is not real. TECHENIE IS SCIENCE.
2. nodding. Bulgarians nod oppositely from everyone else. Up and down nodding means no, and side to side nodding means yes. It took me about four months of living in Bulgaria to get used to it, and I screwed it up for about four months after returning to the US. It can lead to some confusing situation.