VAGABOND FEATURES

The CIA claims that there are 0.92 men for every woman in Bulgaria. Yet, despite the unequal odds, you can still catch occasional glimpses of the endangered species known as the Bulgarian man.

The global information network covers the whole world and is theoretically blind to national borders. However, domestic markets inevitably have unique quirks. This means you can't approach all local markets in the same way. Bulgarian cyberspace is no exception – you'll find a few big players, as well as many smaller fry fighting for a cut of the tempting profits from online advertising. And the battle has just begun – experts estimate that online advertising income will only increase in the coming months and years.

Rejoice all you oldies who pine for the atmosphere of Communist Bulgaria. It is alive and well (despite a few cosmetic alterations) in a now private, formerly stated-owned, bank in Burgas. There is no need to sit at home dabbing Kleenex to the eye as you watch your seventh re-run of Goodbye Lenin. Hurry on down to re-experience the thrill of being put in your proper place.

SUCCESSES AND SCANDALS

Paved with red sandstone and grey granite cobbles, the path to a particular building on Sofia's Kozyak Street is reminiscent of antique pavements around Aleksandr Nevskiy Square. The edifice in question is the American Embassy in Bulgaria - one of the Balkans' true pioneering green projects. Designed by US Virginia Beach-based CMSS Architects, the complex incorporates modern US design whilst simultaneously blending with surrounding buildings thanks to the contemporary and traditional Bulgarian influences.

Whether it's true or not, Bulgarians frequently describe themselves as a nation with a pessimistic streak. Still, as long as we're pulling out cultural stereotypes, what about Americans? Incorrigible optimists, some may say, who believe that anything is possible with hard work and determination.

Vute was strolling around the centre of Sofia, when he suddenly caught sight of his friend, Nane, on Eagles Bridge holding a bouquet of flowers. "Who are you waiting for?" Vute asked. "The Americans!" replied Nane. Socialism was at its peak. "Are you out of your mind?" said Vute. "Didn't you wait here for the Russians on 9 September too?" "Well, they showed up, didn't they?" answered Nane.

Sometimes just a sentence, a word said in passing, can evoke a powerful image that endures forever. Consider this: Two people are talking - about pain and an horrible odour. One of them is bound to die unless help arrives. You don't know the peoples' names, nor the time or the place; nor do you have any background information about them. You know only that something is terribly wrong with the male character, causing a potent stench, and that three big birds squat “obscenely” close by: vultures. The woman's first comment – “Don't!

They arrived in Bulgaria in 1991, at the beginning of the country's transition to democracy. During the 17 years of their mission in Bulgaria, the Peace Corps have grown from 26 to 141 volunteers working in 132 towns within English language primary and secondary education, community and organisational development and youth development programmes. The path to acceptance in Bulgaria hasn't always run smoothly, but gradually Americans won the respect and love of Bulgarians by being consistently friendly and trying to help with whatever they can.

It is impossible to go to Bulgaria and not encounter Bay Ganyo. Born as a fictional character in a series of satirical short stories by writer Aleko Konstantinov in the 1890s, he has been living a life of his own for nearly a hundred years. During this time he has become a byword for a Bulgarian and when saying “Ganyo” in fact people often mean “Bulgar”.

“There is no bluefish, the bonito is imported from Turkey and was frozen two years ago. We don't serve sprat!” No matter what restaurant you go to on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, this is what you'll hear. Talk to a fisherman and you'll get even more depressed. “There's no fish in the sea this year, apart from some lucky scad,” he'll say. Freshwater trout and North Sea salmon are now the standard in a country that has a sea of its own.

"We are not all lonely nerds and train-spotters". That is what most birdwatchers feel they need to add in defence of themselves when confessing to their secret passion for finding and following their feathered friends. Birders have often been labelled as compulsive "list tickers" or "twitchers" whose love for avian wildlife comes second to their desire to accumulate an ever increasing number of bird sightings. With over 10,000 species of birds worldwide there is plenty of scope for those with this obsession, but the range of people interested in this pastime is wide and varied.

Stalin managed to force the Bulgarians to do something even Hitler couldn't make them do. After the Communist coup on 9 September 1944 the Bulgarian army did enter the Second World War. The Bulgarian Army stopped the German withdrawal from Greece, and in December it helped beat back the German counteroffensive near the Drau River. Bulgarian soldiers celebrated the end of the war on 9 May 1945 in Austria.

When the first British expatriates arrived in Bulgaria, the Bulgarians were kind of surprised. Immigration (as opposed to emigration) was something new for them. Being a nation that lives at the crossroads of civilisations, they were used to foreigners passing through rather than wanting to stay, even though in history many had opted for the latter. Some had been refugees running away from persecution (like the Jews), massacres (like the Armenians) or civil war (like the White Russians).

Remember that initial move to Bulgaria: the excitement of a new life in the sun, that fresh lease of life, the endless round of lounging on the beach, drinking rakiya, making friends and living in permanent holiday mode? Many expats claim their move to Bulgaria is to get away from the drab British climate or to escape rising prices, crime rates and increasing debt, yet few will admit that the underlying reason is the hope that a new start will resolve fundamental marital problems. Indeed, for many it is a last ditch attempt to avoid a break up.

Truck Driver Turned Kennel Owner Dave Smith, 68, moved to Bulgaria from Grimsby in May 2005. Although he had visited over 80 different countries as a continental truck driver, the lure of cheap property in Bulgaria was his deciding factor for settling in Klimentevo, a quiet village populated by pensioners.

In Bulgaria they hang dead people on trees, not to mention walls, doors and, in particular, on the gate of their former home. Not literally, you understand, although my five-year-old daughter is inclined to believe otherwise. These necrologs are sheets of paper each depicting the deceased and mostly set out in a standard format. The word is derived from the Greek necro meaning dead or death. Uniquely, the first of these paeans to the dead to be posted does not include a photograph, there being a set period of 40 days before it is deemed correct to include one.

Today someone tried to kill me. Three times. As I crossed the street at a zebra crossing, a sports car shot through a red light and miraculously missed me. A plumber saved me from falling into a gaping manhole by sticking his head out of it just before I was about to step in. A chunk of plaster the size of a small dog came crashing down off a building as I passed by. And this was on a good day - the pack of stray dogs that usually prowls the pavements on my way to work must have had the day off.

Bulgarians are very conservative at heart. They crave the quiet life. They don't want fuss. They don't like hassle. This attitude has many positive sides. In Bulgaria, respectable folk don't have to put up with mouthy teenagers on public transport, as in Britain. You can walk around after dark in relative safety. There are no brawls in the street at pub closing time. The dominant philosophy is “live and let live”. Touch wood.

THE TREATY OF NEUILLY

When news of the 27 November 1919 treaty signed in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine reached Bulgaria, there was not a dry eye to be found. The victors in the First World War forced the defeated nation to accept a peace deal that Bulgarians to this day consider a national catastrophe.