Some damn silly thing in the Balkans
Of all of the places that I thought would have caught my interest, the Balkans were never a strong contender. I have no family connections there the way I do in Ireland and Germany, they were never in the heart of Europe (most of the Balkan states are still not in the EU), and other than Greece and Romania I never had any real interest in any of these countries. To a certain extent, while I’ve memorized the cities and the shifting borders, it all has seemed somewhat to be one fairly undifferentiated mass. However, I do now see that there are some differences (going to the countries certainly helps to see that). But these differences are not exactly what I expected. I’ll also be quite frank with you, my thoughts and reflections on these two countries (Serbia and Bulgaria) reflect the time that I’ve spent in both countries, not anyone else’s. It is certainly limited in scope and may not entirely reflect the whole society of these countries.
While I have been to Bulgaria more often and for longer periods of time, I was much more surprised and impressed with Serbia overall. There are a number of reasons for this: My expectations for Serbia were very negative, I was there on vacation instead of business and, therefore, was able to spend more time with friends, and the group of people that I mostly met and stayed with were probably not the average Serbians.
Why were my expectations so negative? I’m not going to go into the rights and wrongs of the Kosovo conflict, but just 10 years ago, America was bombing Serbia. Being bombed is certainly something that stays with you, and most of the people that I know who lived in Serbia at that time have problems with what happened. I don’t blame them. The average Serbian person was not to blame for the war. Because of that I felt that, as an American, I would be looked down on if not worse. I would be the enemy.
However, I had no problems in Serbia. Everyone I met was incredibly nice and warm. It was more than obvious that I was an American (I can only say 4 or 5 heavily accented words in Serbian). But, in spite of that, people were not only friendly, they went out of their way to help me. For instance, I was at a bus station with Jeja, trying to get a bus from Novi Sad to Belgrade. We asked for student tickets (which were far cheaper) and she wanted to see our IDs. When I gave her mine *my student ID is still valid in the US*, she asked if I was American. I said yes. In Hungary you need to be an EU student to get any discount (so nothing for me). But this woman just smiled at me and said “If you’re a student anywhere in the world, you’re a student in Serbia!” Serbia certainly killed me with kindness. I only wish that Serbians in America would be treated so well. I’m embarrassed to know that they are not.
It was also great to be on vacation. Although I had no money (as my bank card had been deactivated and I had no access to money), we found cheap ways of having fun and had free places to stay in both Belgrade and Novi Sad. Jeja showed me her old neighborhood. We walked around. I got the Serbian history tour of Belgrade. It was amazing. There was never a “down” moment. The entire time we were drinking with friends, meeting friends, exploring the city. I was never just alone in a foreign place.
However, I know that the people I hung out with were maybe not entirely representative of the whole country. Some of them consider themselves “Yugoslavs” not “Serbians”. All of them want to travel; most have done a lot of traveling. Most of them didn’t really care about Kosovo at all. Most were pro-western, but they wanted to see a strong and independent Serbia. They were all well educated. I can’t say how widespread this is in Serbia. I didn’t speak with everyone or even with people from all walks of life (I think most of the people I spoke with were architects… no seriously).
While the Serbia I found on my last trip may not have all of the aspects of the “real” Serbia, I did have a fantastic time there. Belgrade is not the most beautiful city I have ever been in, but the old town is very nice and clean. The infrastructure was impressive (especially compared to other Balkan countries…). It was certainly cheaper than Budapest, but more expensive than Sofia. One thing that kept sticking out in my head is that, in terms of the standard of living, Serbia reminded me much more of Hungary and the EU 10 than it reminded me of Bulgaria (which is also now in the EU). It is very clear that Serbia’s exclusion from the EU is because of its political differences with the main EU member states, not because of its poor economy. In fact, it is quite possible that if Yugoslavia had not broken up, or not broken up violently, all of the states of the former Yugoslavia would already be in the EU.
Bulgaria is very different from Serbia. I have spent more time there and can be more authoritative on it as a country. I’ve met a lot of Bulgarians, from many different backgrounds, both in Sofia and in the US. In fact, it is now my job to meet Bulgarians. So… I’ve met quite a few. To be fair, I have had a good time overall in Bulgaria. Especially if you take out my first trip to Sofia (which was miserable), things were really good. But, taking all things into consideration, my time in Bulgaria has really not met up to my expectations. There are a couple reasons for this as well: firstly, I had really high expectations for going to Bulgaria, secondly, I work most of the time that I’m there, and finally I just have not felt the same level of welcome that I did in Serbia.
Before I jump into all that, I just wanted to explain more about Bulgaria itself. Bulgaria is not a country that many Americans would be familiar with, and certainly not in the same way that they might know about Serbia. Bulgaria is at the eastern end of the Balkan region, just above Greece. It also borders the Black Sea. It spent several hundred years under Ottoman rule through the middle ages. It joined the EU in 2007, but is having issues with the EU institutions over endemic corruption and improving its communist era infrastuture. The country is much more beautiful than I would have, at first, thought. It has everything from white, sandy beaches on the Black Sea to ski resorts on mountains and beautiful forests. There’s a lot of locally grown food that is generally good… but has some quirks (DON’T TRY TRIPE SOUP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD). It is also very cheap. 1 dollar is roughly 1.5 Bulgarian Lev. But that goes pretty far. Most of the dinners I had in Bulgaria were really good and were at or under 8 Lev ($5.5). Taxis from the airport to downtown? 12 Lev (8 bucks). Not too bad at all.
However, Bulgaria also does not really have the same level of infrastructure that Hungary or even Serbia has, and that is not to mention entirely better infrastructure in Western Europe at all. I feel that environmental regulations are certainly still slack and there is a very strong apathy towards changing any of that. Bulgaria also has the issue of Macedonia. While it is not at all like the Serbia/Kosovo issue (the Bulgarian government recognizes Macedonia as a separate state), there is a nearly unanimous public opinion in Bulgaria than Macedonians are just Bulgarians and that Macedonia should be part of Bulgaria. Certainly, there are those who just don’t care; there are some that don’t want to ruffle any feathers and want the status quo. That said, I have not met one single Bulgarian who has said that the Macedonians are clearly and distinctly another, separate ethnic group. I don’t have an opinion on the matter, but it is certainly a very widely held belief. Also the government in Bulgaria considers Macedonians to be “Ethno-politically confused Bulgarians”, and they can apply to be Bulgarian citizens. Weird, no?
As for my personal experiences in Bulgaria, I have had a very good time in Bulgaria. Certainly, when I went there in February, I didn’t expect that things could be patched up between me and a good friend. Honestly, a lot of my good opinion of Bulgaria came from that working out and I met a lot of cool people through hanging out with him. Climbing Vitosha and his birthday party were really good times (although my lower back spasming while trying to hike was not so fun). Also the “bowling with Bulgarians” (see pictures) was also a great time and I got to hang out with a lot of new poeple. But the expectations I had for the country were much higher than for Serbia. I had hung out with a lot of Bulgarians in Pittsburgh and I really wanted to see where they were all from. They all certainly missed their homeland. I guess a bit of that rubbed off on me.
Also working in Sofia on business made things different. Instead of hanging out with people and going places when I wanted to, I had a fairly strict schedule to keep. Then in the evenings, I pretty much just went back to my empty hostel, hung out for a bit (maybe watched a movie), and then went to bed for an early evening. The Thursday I was there was really the first time I ever had a “lost in translation” experience. I got off fairly early but, I had all of my plans for that night fall through. Instead of going to this cool party or going to this dinner, I ended up eating by myself in a restaurant where the staff didn’t speak English. And there was no Scarlet Johansen to make it all better. The space of time in between the weekends just dragged on a way that they don’t ever drag in Budapest. And I really, really missed being in Budapest.
On a related note: I don’t think I’ll have as long of a business trip in the future. I’ll certainly go to Bulgaria over a weekend, but I’ll see if I can arrange my schedule there so that I can just be there for 2 or 3 days. That way I can hopefully avoid that dragging feeling. Problematically, my next trip will probably be to both Greece AND Bulgaria. I can’t imagine that being a short trip; it will probably be just as long as my last trip to Bulgaria. I’d like to go with someone, but I talked to a bunch of people about it and it seems like no one has the time or the money to be able to make it. So… we’ll just have to see how that works out. I have around 2 months to find someone. Anyone interested? :)
Finally, for Bulgaria, there were certainly times when I didn’t feel as welcome as when I was in Serbia. And there are different reasons for this. I never had the sort of experience in Bulgaria that I had with the ticket woman in Serbia. With the exception of the friends that I had or made, no one really went out of their way to be helpful. I certainly went out of my way to help some people (even with small things) like when a woman spilled her groceries all over Hristo Belchev or when a woman’s lighter wasn’t working. But people seemed bewildered at first, and then came a grudging “mersi” (thanks). Even more intimidating is that people don’t necessarily try to incorporate you into a conversation by using English. Now, while you might think “stupid John, English is not their first or best language!” (and I would agree with you), this is not the case in other cultures.
In Serbia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, etc. people have always either spoken in English or someone would tell me what was going on, even if it was just something trivial. I assume that not doing that is a Bulgarian thing, because when this has happened to me outside of Bulgaria, people were explicitly being rude. However, that's the way it has been in many of the different groups of people I’ve met in Bulgaria and also with Bulgarians I’ve met in the states (and really… if you live in the US, you’re English is pretty damn good). It’s also frustrating when you ask someone what’s going on, and they just skip over it, saying “it doesn’t matter”, “it’s just a thing”, “don’t worry about it”. Well… I just want to know what’s going on. No big deal. I also think that it must be a Bulgarian thing because a few weeks ago a woman from Croatia got into a fight with another woman from Bulgaria and called her, and I quote, “just plain rude” for excluding her from the conversation. Now, I certainly don’t think that there is any rudeness intended. But it can be frustrating. The flip side of this, though, is that I have never had that happen in a business interaction. I went out to dinner with two Bulgarians who continued speaking to each other in English, even when I went to the bathroom.
As this has now gotten much longer than I intended, I’ll stop in a moment. Just reading over this, it sounds like “Serbia is awesome, Buglaria sucks” and that is absolutely not the case. I’ve really had some of the best times I’ve had since coming to Europe in Bulgaria, and I look forward to having more of them the next trip I take there (I’m sure Vitosha is even better when you don’t have to trudge through the snow). I think maybe the largest problem is with expectations, and I will do my best to keep them in check for Greece. And part of it will also be building up the kind of social network that I have in Budapest or in Belgrade. At least there is a sort of game plan…. right?
Well, if you've managed to get through all of this... I think you deserve some pictures!:
Serbia:
Jeja:
Belgrade at night:
Marta and Jeja:
Snow:
Snow Family:
Communism:
This man is not slavic. Clearly Irish-German
Hmmm... Serbian foooooood:
What is an orthodox capital WITHOUT A GIANT ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL?!?!:
This is called "Caesaropapism":
That means "Church and State together":
Now for Bulgaria!
Russian Chruch:
Horse man of blinding death:
Alexander Nevski is bad ass... also? WE MUST HAVE ORTHODOX CHURCH:
Alexander Nevski is a badass cathedral:
Partisans:
Bowling with Bulgarians
Sometimes… these things happen
Me:
I was at least this far behind Todor most of the way up Vitosha
Chalga parties generally involve napkins… wtf:
These guys know the ship is coming:
The Birthday Kid:
The sign of a good birthday:
Also here is an article written on March 6th from an expat that is actually a client of mine. It gives another view of Bulgaria:
Until advertisements for cheap real estate flooded the British press in recent years, I suspect that I was not alone in making an association with umbrellas when hearing about Bulgaria. I’m told that Waterloo Bridge remains on the itinerary of many Bulgarians visiting London for the first time.
Quite apart from the significant formal milestones that have passed since I began working in the country in 2002, such as the joining of Nato and the EU, Bulgaria has experienced a rapid rise in the living standards of many people, the entry of international companies, and the opening of hundreds of small businesses.
One of the many enjoyable aspects of living here is experiencing the entrepreneurial nature of its people. Sometimes it seems that everyone has a new scheme, idea or solution to make or save money. In Sofia, this is shown off in a confident display of expensive cars, bold architecture, and fashionable bars and nightclubs.
For my firm, Wolf Theiss, the confidence of the current generation of Bulgarian lawyers with good contacts in business and politics and who want to work internationally has been a key part of our success in the country.
Bulgaria has a strong history of technical expertise and international trade. As one of the leading law firms in Eastern Europe, the Bulgarian team at my company regularly leads transactions in Bulgaria, Macedonia and elsewhere in the region, acting both for international firms and some of the largest local companies.
While Sofia and the large cities are benefitting from economic growth, elsewhere there is still a long road that needs to be travelled - and in some cases, built. Standing as a testament to this journey are the Trakiya and Hemus highways, which were intended to cross northern and southern Bulgaria, but which, after beginning construction in 1976, remain uncompleted.
My father worked in Eastern Europe and Russia over many years and, growing up, I listened to his descriptions about life under communism, which crafted my impression of the region. For Bulgarians, any modern conversation about social history begins at the latest with the Thracian period, around the 5th century BCE. Yet, it is the more recent impact of socialism that continues to have a noticeable and profound effect on many people.
With the changes in 1989, the sense of security that socialism provided disappeared overnight, leaving many of the older generations disenfranchised. When I joined the executive management team of Bulgaria Telecom shortly after its privatisation, I was privileged to meet several generations of the same family working in a switch site and to meet teams who had worked together for decades on remote mountain top transmission stations. I was also acutely aware of their nervousness about the future under private ownership.
As with the Trakiya and Hemus highways, there is much development still to do, particularly in utilities and infrastructure. Outside of the largest cities, the Black Sea area and the ski resorts, life can seem little changed from how it might have been generations ago: horse-drawn carts carry vegetables for domestic cooking, farmed by hand; the elderly collect water from the nearest well or stream; and the smell of wood from stoves and open fires fills the air. In the summer, the villages are an idyllic rest for the Sofiyantsi escaping the city. In the winter, when temperatures fall below -20degrees Celsius and the snow is several metres deep, it is a harsh life.
At the moment, a wry smile passes the faces of many in Bulgaria about the financial crisis. "What crisis? We’ve been in a constant crisis for the past 20 years."
There is a warmth and stoicism in people when dealing with difficulties. Bulgaria receives 100 per cent of its gas from Russia and gas supplies were completely shut off for more than a week in January this year. Yet there was little shouting about the problems, only help and concern. Even in Sofia, neighbours popped in to see whether they could help with wood and fuel.
It is this strong social warmth of people that makes living in Bulgaria most enjoyable. Clients have become friends over home-cooked Sunday lunches; hand-picked flowers are regularly presented by a retired neighbour; and in my wife’s family village, the selection and preparation of local dishes begins days ahead in anticipation of a visit.
On this last point, I should perhaps note that, before he would agree to my marrying his daughter, my Bulgarian father-in-law presented me with a rifle and instructed me to shoot a firework. Luckily (very luckily) I hit and extinguished it with the first shot. Being able to feed the family in a crisis is an important condition of Bulgarian marriage!
I had always anticipated that one day I would live internationally and I am fortunate to have been presented with the circumstances that have allowed me to do it. When I left London, a number of people asked me how I could move from such a vibrant city. As I made my way to Heathrow past Waterloo Bridge on a mild and light snowy Monday morning a couple of weeks ago, I remember thinking that I had never seen Sofia being quite as deserted and quiet.
While I have been to Bulgaria more often and for longer periods of time, I was much more surprised and impressed with Serbia overall. There are a number of reasons for this: My expectations for Serbia were very negative, I was there on vacation instead of business and, therefore, was able to spend more time with friends, and the group of people that I mostly met and stayed with were probably not the average Serbians.
Why were my expectations so negative? I’m not going to go into the rights and wrongs of the Kosovo conflict, but just 10 years ago, America was bombing Serbia. Being bombed is certainly something that stays with you, and most of the people that I know who lived in Serbia at that time have problems with what happened. I don’t blame them. The average Serbian person was not to blame for the war. Because of that I felt that, as an American, I would be looked down on if not worse. I would be the enemy.
However, I had no problems in Serbia. Everyone I met was incredibly nice and warm. It was more than obvious that I was an American (I can only say 4 or 5 heavily accented words in Serbian). But, in spite of that, people were not only friendly, they went out of their way to help me. For instance, I was at a bus station with Jeja, trying to get a bus from Novi Sad to Belgrade. We asked for student tickets (which were far cheaper) and she wanted to see our IDs. When I gave her mine *my student ID is still valid in the US*, she asked if I was American. I said yes. In Hungary you need to be an EU student to get any discount (so nothing for me). But this woman just smiled at me and said “If you’re a student anywhere in the world, you’re a student in Serbia!” Serbia certainly killed me with kindness. I only wish that Serbians in America would be treated so well. I’m embarrassed to know that they are not.
It was also great to be on vacation. Although I had no money (as my bank card had been deactivated and I had no access to money), we found cheap ways of having fun and had free places to stay in both Belgrade and Novi Sad. Jeja showed me her old neighborhood. We walked around. I got the Serbian history tour of Belgrade. It was amazing. There was never a “down” moment. The entire time we were drinking with friends, meeting friends, exploring the city. I was never just alone in a foreign place.
However, I know that the people I hung out with were maybe not entirely representative of the whole country. Some of them consider themselves “Yugoslavs” not “Serbians”. All of them want to travel; most have done a lot of traveling. Most of them didn’t really care about Kosovo at all. Most were pro-western, but they wanted to see a strong and independent Serbia. They were all well educated. I can’t say how widespread this is in Serbia. I didn’t speak with everyone or even with people from all walks of life (I think most of the people I spoke with were architects… no seriously).
While the Serbia I found on my last trip may not have all of the aspects of the “real” Serbia, I did have a fantastic time there. Belgrade is not the most beautiful city I have ever been in, but the old town is very nice and clean. The infrastructure was impressive (especially compared to other Balkan countries…). It was certainly cheaper than Budapest, but more expensive than Sofia. One thing that kept sticking out in my head is that, in terms of the standard of living, Serbia reminded me much more of Hungary and the EU 10 than it reminded me of Bulgaria (which is also now in the EU). It is very clear that Serbia’s exclusion from the EU is because of its political differences with the main EU member states, not because of its poor economy. In fact, it is quite possible that if Yugoslavia had not broken up, or not broken up violently, all of the states of the former Yugoslavia would already be in the EU.
Bulgaria is very different from Serbia. I have spent more time there and can be more authoritative on it as a country. I’ve met a lot of Bulgarians, from many different backgrounds, both in Sofia and in the US. In fact, it is now my job to meet Bulgarians. So… I’ve met quite a few. To be fair, I have had a good time overall in Bulgaria. Especially if you take out my first trip to Sofia (which was miserable), things were really good. But, taking all things into consideration, my time in Bulgaria has really not met up to my expectations. There are a couple reasons for this as well: firstly, I had really high expectations for going to Bulgaria, secondly, I work most of the time that I’m there, and finally I just have not felt the same level of welcome that I did in Serbia.
Before I jump into all that, I just wanted to explain more about Bulgaria itself. Bulgaria is not a country that many Americans would be familiar with, and certainly not in the same way that they might know about Serbia. Bulgaria is at the eastern end of the Balkan region, just above Greece. It also borders the Black Sea. It spent several hundred years under Ottoman rule through the middle ages. It joined the EU in 2007, but is having issues with the EU institutions over endemic corruption and improving its communist era infrastuture. The country is much more beautiful than I would have, at first, thought. It has everything from white, sandy beaches on the Black Sea to ski resorts on mountains and beautiful forests. There’s a lot of locally grown food that is generally good… but has some quirks (DON’T TRY TRIPE SOUP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD). It is also very cheap. 1 dollar is roughly 1.5 Bulgarian Lev. But that goes pretty far. Most of the dinners I had in Bulgaria were really good and were at or under 8 Lev ($5.5). Taxis from the airport to downtown? 12 Lev (8 bucks). Not too bad at all.
However, Bulgaria also does not really have the same level of infrastructure that Hungary or even Serbia has, and that is not to mention entirely better infrastructure in Western Europe at all. I feel that environmental regulations are certainly still slack and there is a very strong apathy towards changing any of that. Bulgaria also has the issue of Macedonia. While it is not at all like the Serbia/Kosovo issue (the Bulgarian government recognizes Macedonia as a separate state), there is a nearly unanimous public opinion in Bulgaria than Macedonians are just Bulgarians and that Macedonia should be part of Bulgaria. Certainly, there are those who just don’t care; there are some that don’t want to ruffle any feathers and want the status quo. That said, I have not met one single Bulgarian who has said that the Macedonians are clearly and distinctly another, separate ethnic group. I don’t have an opinion on the matter, but it is certainly a very widely held belief. Also the government in Bulgaria considers Macedonians to be “Ethno-politically confused Bulgarians”, and they can apply to be Bulgarian citizens. Weird, no?
As for my personal experiences in Bulgaria, I have had a very good time in Bulgaria. Certainly, when I went there in February, I didn’t expect that things could be patched up between me and a good friend. Honestly, a lot of my good opinion of Bulgaria came from that working out and I met a lot of cool people through hanging out with him. Climbing Vitosha and his birthday party were really good times (although my lower back spasming while trying to hike was not so fun). Also the “bowling with Bulgarians” (see pictures) was also a great time and I got to hang out with a lot of new poeple. But the expectations I had for the country were much higher than for Serbia. I had hung out with a lot of Bulgarians in Pittsburgh and I really wanted to see where they were all from. They all certainly missed their homeland. I guess a bit of that rubbed off on me.
Also working in Sofia on business made things different. Instead of hanging out with people and going places when I wanted to, I had a fairly strict schedule to keep. Then in the evenings, I pretty much just went back to my empty hostel, hung out for a bit (maybe watched a movie), and then went to bed for an early evening. The Thursday I was there was really the first time I ever had a “lost in translation” experience. I got off fairly early but, I had all of my plans for that night fall through. Instead of going to this cool party or going to this dinner, I ended up eating by myself in a restaurant where the staff didn’t speak English. And there was no Scarlet Johansen to make it all better. The space of time in between the weekends just dragged on a way that they don’t ever drag in Budapest. And I really, really missed being in Budapest.
On a related note: I don’t think I’ll have as long of a business trip in the future. I’ll certainly go to Bulgaria over a weekend, but I’ll see if I can arrange my schedule there so that I can just be there for 2 or 3 days. That way I can hopefully avoid that dragging feeling. Problematically, my next trip will probably be to both Greece AND Bulgaria. I can’t imagine that being a short trip; it will probably be just as long as my last trip to Bulgaria. I’d like to go with someone, but I talked to a bunch of people about it and it seems like no one has the time or the money to be able to make it. So… we’ll just have to see how that works out. I have around 2 months to find someone. Anyone interested? :)
Finally, for Bulgaria, there were certainly times when I didn’t feel as welcome as when I was in Serbia. And there are different reasons for this. I never had the sort of experience in Bulgaria that I had with the ticket woman in Serbia. With the exception of the friends that I had or made, no one really went out of their way to be helpful. I certainly went out of my way to help some people (even with small things) like when a woman spilled her groceries all over Hristo Belchev or when a woman’s lighter wasn’t working. But people seemed bewildered at first, and then came a grudging “mersi” (thanks). Even more intimidating is that people don’t necessarily try to incorporate you into a conversation by using English. Now, while you might think “stupid John, English is not their first or best language!” (and I would agree with you), this is not the case in other cultures.
In Serbia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, etc. people have always either spoken in English or someone would tell me what was going on, even if it was just something trivial. I assume that not doing that is a Bulgarian thing, because when this has happened to me outside of Bulgaria, people were explicitly being rude. However, that's the way it has been in many of the different groups of people I’ve met in Bulgaria and also with Bulgarians I’ve met in the states (and really… if you live in the US, you’re English is pretty damn good). It’s also frustrating when you ask someone what’s going on, and they just skip over it, saying “it doesn’t matter”, “it’s just a thing”, “don’t worry about it”. Well… I just want to know what’s going on. No big deal. I also think that it must be a Bulgarian thing because a few weeks ago a woman from Croatia got into a fight with another woman from Bulgaria and called her, and I quote, “just plain rude” for excluding her from the conversation. Now, I certainly don’t think that there is any rudeness intended. But it can be frustrating. The flip side of this, though, is that I have never had that happen in a business interaction. I went out to dinner with two Bulgarians who continued speaking to each other in English, even when I went to the bathroom.
As this has now gotten much longer than I intended, I’ll stop in a moment. Just reading over this, it sounds like “Serbia is awesome, Buglaria sucks” and that is absolutely not the case. I’ve really had some of the best times I’ve had since coming to Europe in Bulgaria, and I look forward to having more of them the next trip I take there (I’m sure Vitosha is even better when you don’t have to trudge through the snow). I think maybe the largest problem is with expectations, and I will do my best to keep them in check for Greece. And part of it will also be building up the kind of social network that I have in Budapest or in Belgrade. At least there is a sort of game plan…. right?
Well, if you've managed to get through all of this... I think you deserve some pictures!:
Serbia:
Jeja:
Belgrade at night:
Marta and Jeja:
Snow:
Snow Family:
Communism:
This man is not slavic. Clearly Irish-German
Hmmm... Serbian foooooood:
What is an orthodox capital WITHOUT A GIANT ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL?!?!:
This is called "Caesaropapism":
That means "Church and State together":
Now for Bulgaria!
Russian Chruch:
Horse man of blinding death:
Alexander Nevski is bad ass... also? WE MUST HAVE ORTHODOX CHURCH:
Alexander Nevski is a badass cathedral:
Partisans:
Bowling with Bulgarians
Sometimes… these things happen
Me:
I was at least this far behind Todor most of the way up Vitosha
Chalga parties generally involve napkins… wtf:
These guys know the ship is coming:
The Birthday Kid:
The sign of a good birthday:
Also here is an article written on March 6th from an expat that is actually a client of mine. It gives another view of Bulgaria:
Until advertisements for cheap real estate flooded the British press in recent years, I suspect that I was not alone in making an association with umbrellas when hearing about Bulgaria. I’m told that Waterloo Bridge remains on the itinerary of many Bulgarians visiting London for the first time.
Quite apart from the significant formal milestones that have passed since I began working in the country in 2002, such as the joining of Nato and the EU, Bulgaria has experienced a rapid rise in the living standards of many people, the entry of international companies, and the opening of hundreds of small businesses.
One of the many enjoyable aspects of living here is experiencing the entrepreneurial nature of its people. Sometimes it seems that everyone has a new scheme, idea or solution to make or save money. In Sofia, this is shown off in a confident display of expensive cars, bold architecture, and fashionable bars and nightclubs.
For my firm, Wolf Theiss, the confidence of the current generation of Bulgarian lawyers with good contacts in business and politics and who want to work internationally has been a key part of our success in the country.
Bulgaria has a strong history of technical expertise and international trade. As one of the leading law firms in Eastern Europe, the Bulgarian team at my company regularly leads transactions in Bulgaria, Macedonia and elsewhere in the region, acting both for international firms and some of the largest local companies.
While Sofia and the large cities are benefitting from economic growth, elsewhere there is still a long road that needs to be travelled - and in some cases, built. Standing as a testament to this journey are the Trakiya and Hemus highways, which were intended to cross northern and southern Bulgaria, but which, after beginning construction in 1976, remain uncompleted.
My father worked in Eastern Europe and Russia over many years and, growing up, I listened to his descriptions about life under communism, which crafted my impression of the region. For Bulgarians, any modern conversation about social history begins at the latest with the Thracian period, around the 5th century BCE. Yet, it is the more recent impact of socialism that continues to have a noticeable and profound effect on many people.
With the changes in 1989, the sense of security that socialism provided disappeared overnight, leaving many of the older generations disenfranchised. When I joined the executive management team of Bulgaria Telecom shortly after its privatisation, I was privileged to meet several generations of the same family working in a switch site and to meet teams who had worked together for decades on remote mountain top transmission stations. I was also acutely aware of their nervousness about the future under private ownership.
As with the Trakiya and Hemus highways, there is much development still to do, particularly in utilities and infrastructure. Outside of the largest cities, the Black Sea area and the ski resorts, life can seem little changed from how it might have been generations ago: horse-drawn carts carry vegetables for domestic cooking, farmed by hand; the elderly collect water from the nearest well or stream; and the smell of wood from stoves and open fires fills the air. In the summer, the villages are an idyllic rest for the Sofiyantsi escaping the city. In the winter, when temperatures fall below -20degrees Celsius and the snow is several metres deep, it is a harsh life.
At the moment, a wry smile passes the faces of many in Bulgaria about the financial crisis. "What crisis? We’ve been in a constant crisis for the past 20 years."
There is a warmth and stoicism in people when dealing with difficulties. Bulgaria receives 100 per cent of its gas from Russia and gas supplies were completely shut off for more than a week in January this year. Yet there was little shouting about the problems, only help and concern. Even in Sofia, neighbours popped in to see whether they could help with wood and fuel.
It is this strong social warmth of people that makes living in Bulgaria most enjoyable. Clients have become friends over home-cooked Sunday lunches; hand-picked flowers are regularly presented by a retired neighbour; and in my wife’s family village, the selection and preparation of local dishes begins days ahead in anticipation of a visit.
On this last point, I should perhaps note that, before he would agree to my marrying his daughter, my Bulgarian father-in-law presented me with a rifle and instructed me to shoot a firework. Luckily (very luckily) I hit and extinguished it with the first shot. Being able to feed the family in a crisis is an important condition of Bulgarian marriage!
I had always anticipated that one day I would live internationally and I am fortunate to have been presented with the circumstances that have allowed me to do it. When I left London, a number of people asked me how I could move from such a vibrant city. As I made my way to Heathrow past Waterloo Bridge on a mild and light snowy Monday morning a couple of weeks ago, I remember thinking that I had never seen Sofia being quite as deserted and quiet.