Continuing my late winter of exotic travel.....I joined a collection of acquaintances and strangers for a week in Bulgaria. It was organized by the University of Texas expat group who I've been kicking around with since I moved here.
I have to start with a mind boggling strange culture story provided by our British chalet host. This will give you a window into a bit of life in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is conveniently just north of Greece with only some small mountains in between. But Bulgaria has it's own interesting language (sorta like Russian) and expressions. For example, the Bulgarian word for no is pronounced "ne." And the gesture is a nod of the head up and down. However, just to the south, the Greek word for yes is "ne," and the gesture for no is a shake of the head right and left. So that means that the same word and gesture that in Bulgaria means no -- in Greece means yes. Imagine how many people fights have started when someone shook their head and said "ne" in response to "You lookin at my wife?"
I have to start with a mind boggling strange culture story provided by our British chalet host. This will give you a window into a bit of life in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is conveniently just north of Greece with only some small mountains in between. But Bulgaria has it's own interesting language (sorta like Russian) and expressions. For example, the Bulgarian word for no is pronounced "ne." And the gesture is a nod of the head up and down. However, just to the south, the Greek word for yes is "ne," and the gesture for no is a shake of the head right and left. So that means that the same word and gesture that in Bulgaria means no -- in Greece means yes. Imagine how many people fights have started when someone shook their head and said "ne" in response to "You lookin at my wife?"
After learning that fun fact on the four hour bus trip to our chalet, I was ready to experience everything Bulgaria had to offer. Turns out that's not much. At least of the types of "activities" I'm looking for. But what is there is lovely.
Bansko, the mountain town we stayed in, appears to be one of the fastest growing places in the world. From a place that looked basically like what you see above plus a few broken frames of houses, it is now a mountain uber-village with fancy Doppelmayer ski lifts and bars with 5-7pm happy hours.
And all this in just two years. How is this amazing post-communism recovery happening? Bulgaria joined the EU.
This trip was my first introduction to what the expansion of the EU to the Eastern European countries is really doing. The "net debtor" countries (like Bulgaria and Italy) get LOTS of money for building infrastructure projects (roads, houses, strip clubs, etc) from the "net contributor" countries like Britain and Germany. Just like in America where California pays a lot of federal taxes, but a larger proportion of the big federal pool ends up helping fishermen in Louisiana and farmers in Indiana.
In the case of Bulgaria, they looked at where they might get outside money to come into the country, and the obvious choice was the super cheap ski destination of Bansko. And - poof! - instant ski resort. Rumor has it that the mafia helps with security and making sure there are no strikes, while charging huge sums for cement. (sound familiar?)
Either way, a nice ski resort has appeared and I had a great time kicking around with my friends for a week. Our chalet was built by hand by our fantastic British hosts Matt and Jenny. The mountain was pretty small, so it didn't take long to cover it, but that left plenty of time for lessons, beers, and massages. Don't worry, there was plenty of skiing too. Only problem is that all of Europe seems to be getting warmer, so it seems likely that in 10 years all this ski resort will be having trouble because there will be no snow! Don't tell all the Brits and Germans buying "investment" properties like it's going out of style.
Anyway, I love skiing. It's great. Here's some pics:
Anyway, I love skiing. It's great. Here's some pics:
Towards the end of our trip, my friend Jon and I were sitting at a cool bar in the main square in town and an older couple came over and asked to sit with us because the rest of the tables were full. The sun was shining strong into the late afternoon so it was a great time to be out in the historic square. The Bulgaria couple were thrilled to hear we were from America and living in the UK. Turns out he was a doctor up on the mountain and had done some training outside of London.
During our conversation, the lady brings out a few small red and white pieces of cloth and gives them to us as gifts. They are called martinitsi bracelets and are a Bulgarian tradition in Spring. Women can only give them to men, and everyone is supposed to wear them until they see a stork! Then when they do, tie them to a tree for luck. How cool.
This lady tells the story better than me...
http://www.ducts.org/06_06/html/columns/fortin.html
Cheers,
Dan
P.S. The title "Looking for Lev in All the Wrong Places" is a bad joke -- the Bulgarian currency is called the Lev.
1 comment:
Telling me the URL of your blog was a terrible idea. I have ceased to write you emails because I no longer need to wonder what you are up to, I can just check in here. Bad Dan. No donut.
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