Karen's Blog about her move to Bulgaria

Archive for the ‘Life in Bulgaria’ Category

Ice Storm Day

20th December 2009

We woke to a clear but drizzly day.  The temperature was well beow freezing.  We decided to walk up the the village bar to buy some fresh bread and have a coffee.

As we stepped outside we were greeted by an amazing sight.  Everything was coated in a 1/2” thick ayer of ice. The car, the fence the walls the trees everything looked as though it had been dipped in some kind of plastic coating.

Tree branches were encased in ice and with the sun shining on the ice it looked for all the world as if the trees had been dressed in thousands of fairylights, all in colours of the rainbow reflected like tiny diamonds.  We have never seen a sight like this before.  It was like being in a grotto of crystal ornamental trees and plants.  Even humble weeds and bare branches were transformed into the most beautiful of sights.  We could hardly conceal our delight as we walked along the road marvelling at the transformation of ordinary structures like powercables which now resembled a string of diamonds.

We hurried back home for the camera and took some stunning shots.  Later in the afternoon we ventured out again in -10 temperatures to take more photographs.  The effect of the light from the setting sun on the ice covered trees and plants was indeed magical.  The weight of the ice had caused some of the tree branches to break and our neighbour lost one of his oldest fruit trees.

We have never seen such a spectacle, and we don’t expect to see this again as it took a series of weather conditions to create this phenomenon.

First few months

Month 1 onwards

Began to build a garage / wood store.

We had 10 cubic metres of wood delivered for the fires.  It came in tree trunk sized logs.  Our neighbour Rumen cut it into slices with his chain saw, then a young local man came along with his axe and cut it up further into pieces that would fit into our wood burning stove.  It was all stacked very neatly, and the cutting and stacking took nearly a day.

We now want to keep the wood dry so we began construction of a garage.

Our friend John came to help and between them Ron and John dug out foundations.  The trenches then had to be filled with cement for the foundations.  As we didn’t have a cement mixer we had to mix the sand and cement by hand.  In one day we shovelled 2 ½ tons of sand and cement.

The garage /wood store is hand made by Ron & John from wood.  They even made the large double doors themselves.  The roof had to be felted which involved rolling on a layer of thick black material and then heating it with a flame thrower to melt the tar. 

The neighbours were horrified that I was on the roof helping with this – it’s not a job that females are usually seen tackling, but I enjoyed it.  We all had a great sense of achievement when it was finally finishes and varnished.

They were long hard days, but eventually it was finished, and I thought that I had seen the last spade full of cement.  How wrong I was!!!!!

Ron decided that a patio at the side and back of the house would be good.

This time I suggested buying a load of pre mix cement, but I was over ruled and so the mixing of another 3 tons of cement began.

Cement gets everywhere.  It made a mess in the road outside the house where we mixed it so every night the road had to be washed down, and all the equipment cleaned before the cement could dry on solid.  My clothes and shoes were splattered with dry cement and my hair looked like candyfloss at the end of the day.

We now have a lovely patio at the back of the house so next summer we can have a BBQ and a couple of tables.  Might even get myself a hammock – I deserve it after the hard work, and I now have a great aversion to concrete!

Bought a car………..and had it stolen

We had been renting a car from some friends who have a car hire business and they had done us a very good deal, but we thought it was time to buy a car of our own.

These friends have a Bulgarian friend who owns a car sales garage, and so we asked him to look out for a good car for us.  Left hand drive cars in Bulgaria are very expensive, and a second hand car costing £1000 in England would be double here.

The salesman has a secretary (who is also a close friend of his) the secretary’s brother-in-law wanted to sell his car we were told that he had serious financial difficulties and needed to raise some cash.  The car was a 2002 Passat estate nice condition and within the price range we were looking at (14000lev or about £6000).

We bought the car and the salesman’s secretary went with Ron to register it.  As with everything else in Bulgaria buying a car is not straightforward, and they had to re register it for Dobrich area as it was originally registered in Varna and cars must be registered locally.  This involves lots of paperwork a visit to the police station and new number plates with a Dobrich number made and fitted.  There were visits to other offices and a bank to pay the taxes due etc.  The secretary was meant to be sorting out the car insurance, but only insured it for the necessary legal purpose which allows the car to be driven on the roads, but does not insure for fire and theft (in effect 3^rd party only)

We were going to go and see to the proper insurance ourselves, but discovered there was no valid MOT.  We arranged to have this done.

The same day we got the car, the electricity was connected!!! We were so happy!  We decided to go to the local bar to celebrate.  It was the bar owner’s granddaughters birthday and we were invited to the party.  We don’t stay out beyond 9 or 10 pm usually, but the party lasted until about 11pm, then we went across the road to our friend’s house for a nightcap and some music.

We arrived home at 2am to find to our horror that our new car which we had never even driven had gone. Our friends called the police, our next door neighbour came to see what all the fuss was about – by this time it was 5am.

‘There has never been a car stolen from this village’ everyone would say, but ours was well and truly gone.  Because we had only had the car for 2 days, very few people knew that we had it, and because of the area we live in it is very unlikely that it was an opportunist theft.

I spoke to the Passat engineers via email, and they say that it is extremely difficult to steal that type of car without either a key or specialist equipment in experienced hands.   They said that these experts would be more likely to use their skills to steal a Farrari rather than a 7 year old Passat.  As we were only given one key when we bought the car, it is assumed by virtually all that there was a second key perhaps sold to a third party along with our details of our address.

  It does sometimes happen in parts of Bulgaria that cars are stolen then a few weeks arer the owner is called to say that they can have the car back for a certain amount of monet (essentially ransom money) We waited a couple of weeks but no news, so we had no choice but to look for another car.

This time we went to a garage in Dobrich and the poor salesman was given the third degree. Luckily he spoke English and could understand our caution when buying another car when we had just lost ours (without insurance)  It would not have been so bad if the thief had waited until we had the opportunity to insure it, but as it is we lost all the money including most annoying a full tank of fuel.

The car we bought is a Pergeot 405 a nice looking car blue/grey metallic immaculate on the inside and hardly a mark in the outside, but it is not as good as the Passat, and it has none of the gadgets including the 6^th gear which Ron was so excited about.

So, here we were once again – back to the police station re register the car call to the bank to pay the tax, have the plates fitted….  The salesman was very helpful.  He came with us to arrange all the paperwork and even arranged full insurance cover before we drove it away.

HEATING

We have had a large wood burning fire with a back boiler fitted.  Our friend Graham plumbed it in, then professional fireplace fitters came and measured up for a fireplace.  It took a day to install the fireplace in a corner of the kitchen and it looks lovely.  It has a set of granite for the base and top which extends to the side as a little seat with shelving above for ornaments.  I was worried that it would look cumbersome in the kitchen / diner but it is such a large room that the fire fits in perfectly.  We bought a little leather sofa (very similar to the one we had to leave behind in Dover), and it is really cosy sitting there watching the flames dance as the wood and coal burn.  

The house is so large and open plan that we decided to have a second smaller log burning in our smaller living room where we watch T.V.  It isn’t as elegant as the one in the kitchen, and we will take it out in spring until next winter, but it gives out a lot of heat, and it’s good to boil a pan of water for a ‘free’ cup of tea!

CAT

The night the car was stolen we adopted a 5 month old kitten from the friends we were with. He is all black – even his paw pads- and his name is Harry Potter.  We didn’t name him but we were asked not to change his name, and ‘Harry’ does suit him.

He didn’t choose a good day to come and live with us as he was trying his best to bond with us doing all that ‘kneeding’ that cats do.  I am ashamed to say that I didn’t have much patience with him and as he was very clingy I was beginning to have second thoughts about keeping him.  We had to keep him in for 2 weeks so that if he went out he would come back to us and not to his previous home.

I am so pleased now that we kept him as he is a joy.  He has his own little ways and each meow means something different.  He is a truly expert climber as Ron discovered when he was putting up the fairy lights on the apex of the roof ready for Christmas.  Suddenly a little black paw appeared over the edge of the roof playing with the hammer as Ron nailed on the wire holder.  I think he nearly dropped the hammer in shock as the last thing he was expecting to see was Harry’s paw taking a swipe at the hammer.

His expert climbing can be a bit of a pain as he has discovered which bedroom we sleep in and he regularly appears at 3 in the morning on the balcony crying to come in.  Trouble is he then wants feeding and won’t rest until he has eaten and had a cuddle.

He acts like a proper cat and loves to sleep in his basket (complete with his own furry hot water bottle) by the fire.  If he is staying in at night he sleeps in a basket outside our bedroom door and just waits there until we get up.

He is a great mouser and he has brought us ‘presents’ of dead mice and one nearly dead.  It is difficult to believe he is a killer when he is so cute and gentle in the house.  The first time he did it we were shocked, and for a while we saw him in a different light – our baby murdering things.  Then we got a grip – he is a cat and that’s what cats do.

We bought him a pretend mouse on an elastic thread which he loves paying with, and he is ace at catching flies – we just wish that he wouldn’t eat them after he has caught them!!

When I was ill he seemed to know, and came to sit on my knees doing his Kneeding thing and purring loudly.

Can’t imagine life without him now.

Our first month in Bulgaria

Our first month in Bulgaria

 

We certainly had a very warm welcome – besides the weather being hot and sunny – our Bulgarian neighbours ran out to greet us with hugs and kisses bunches of grapes, fresh bread, and offers of help if we needed it.

Our British friends sent ‘welcome home’ texts and invitations to meet up for a drink whenever we felt up to going out.

We spent the first few days showing Karl (son) around the houses and gardens, and we spent a day at the beach for a little R&R.

Bought a petrol Generator as in Bulgaria the electricity supply can be interrupted for a few seconds, minutes or even hours in the winter when the snow is 3 metres deep and the lines are down.

Also bought a petrol strimmer as we have acres of land to look after with the 3 houses each with massive gardens.

All too soon it was time for Ron and Karl to head back to the U.K. with the empty (and underweight!) van.

I followed their progress as they travelled back through Europe and then again as Ron returned.

When Ron arrived back we spent a few days just chilling out seeing friends and getting used to the house.

We were invited t a BBQ in a nearby village.  We have quite a few friends here now, and we arrived at the BBQ courtesy of our friends and neighbours Anne and Julian who own amongst many other things a mini bus.  As eight of us piled out of the mini bus, the host of the party plated the theme from ‘The ‘A’ Team’, which got the evening off to a great start.  Had a fantastic evening and met lots of people – British and Bulgarian.

We have been practicing our Bulgarian language skills and we do know lots of words.  We still struggle with the masculine and feminine verbs, but this usually causes great hilarity rather than embarrassment.

We called our builder ‘wealthy woman’ when we meant to say ‘wealthy man’.  This caused much laughter and teasing by his workers as the builder has a rather large pot belly and his colleagues were saying things like ‘he is a wealthy woman – look he is expecting a baby!’

Things like this break the ice and having a laugh is as important as getting the language  perfect all the time, and the Bulgarian people really appreciate that we are trying.

The most important thing for us was to get a good internet connection.  Ron had limited internet via his phone but it was not ideal, so we went to the nearest large town General Toshevo to speak to the Toshevo Net people.  Ron had been in touch with them several times beginning when we were still in the U.K. so they knew our requirements already.

Internet was arranged and the engineers came out within a couple of days to fit the equipment.

We were now on line and could contact everyone at home via SKYPE.

Our Grandchildren already used to seeing us on TV (SKYPE) as we had practiced at home for a couple of months first, so they were comfortable chatting to us and we could show them around our house and gardens.

The next thing was to arrange T.V. reception.  We were shopping for a hoover in Technopilis (a shop similar to a massive U.K. ‘Comet’ or ‘Dixons’ store– lots of choice) when we came across a salesman who could supply a satellite receiver to access  T.V. channels from Bulgaria and the rest of the world.  We were there at 3 in the afternoon and he said he would come to our house at 7pm to install the service.  He did!!! 

We are always amazed at the efficiency of the Bulgarian workforce.  If they say that they will arrive same day / next day they actually do.

In general we have found people to be kind and helpful.  We were in Mr Bricolage (a large store similar to B&Q). We didn’t really need any assistance, we were just looking at curtain tracks and trying to work out what we needed.  An assistant asked if she could help, and because her English – and our Bulgarian – is pretty basic, she sent for an English speaking colleague to help. 

Having bought the curtain tracks and Hoover, we thought that we had better put then to some use so we spent a hot day hanging curtains and cleaning the house.  In retrospect we should have been sitting in the garden with a cold beer, but work ethic habits are hard to break.  I expect we will learn to adapt very soon !!

The worst thing at the moment is looking for things that we think are in the house or in one of the packing boxes only to realise that it was one of the things we had to leave behind in Dover.

Last night (Sunday) we had a spectacular thunder and lightening storm.  It began as we were sitting in the courtyard of the village bar.  We saw both sheet and fork lightening, but no rain.

We decided to stroll home and sit on our bedroom balcony to watch the lightening show.

We have a big sky here in Malina with views for miles so watching the lightening light up the whole of the sky was something that we had seldom seen before.  The thunder came next and we sat watching and listening for about an hour until it began to rain. 

The storm lasted from about 8pm until 4 or 5 the next morning.  Storms do seem to go on for many hours here unlike in the U.K. when they are usually over within a couple of hours at most.

Speaking of big sky here, star gazing here is incredible.  Because we are well away from industrial areas the air is very clean and clear, and there is no light pollution.

We can easily see the milky way with the naked eye, and I have never in my life seen as many stars!

We often see shooting stars and sometimes we can make out the international space station or satellites overhead

After we had been here a few days I noticed a rash on my upper arm.  It started as a small red flat mark, like a spot.  Then suddenly it expanded and formed a perfect circle with a small ‘dot’ in the centre.  Because it did not hurt or itch I ignored it until a Bulgarian friend spotted it and told me it was a bite.  I looked it up on the internet, and discovered that this was a erytherma migrans or bullseye rash which is a sign of infection by a tich which causes Lyme disease.  I wish I had taken a photograph of it at the time, but as I didn’t realise that it could be serious I didn’t do that.  I did feel quite tyred and lethargic when we arrived, but I put that down to stress and the long journey.