misLEADING ADVICE No 7

misLEADING ADVICE No 7

Mon, 06/01/2009 - 20:35

For first-time visitors to Bulgaria*

misleading advice 7.jpg

Fire Dance

In many Bulgarian restaurants, visitors are entertained by so-called nestinari, barefooted men and women dancing on burning embers. This is hard work, for which they get little pay. Show your appreciation by offering them a beer, or even better, pour several pints of lager onto the burning coals before the dancers get the chance to step onto them, thus facilitating their task.

***

Cabbing

Taxi cabs are hailed in Bulgaria by raising your hand in a fist with the middle finger sticking out and pointing in the direction you want to go. Membership of the Union of Bulgarian Taxi Drivers also requires drivers to only listen to radio stations broadcasting exclusively pop folk music. All your attempts to ask them to change the station are bound to end up on Euro disco frequency.

***

Batte Boyko

In Bulgarian folklore there exists an awe-inspiring and terrifying hypothetical figure that everyone is afraid of and whose name is Batte Boyko. Whenever you feel intimidated by someone in Bulgaria, just tell him that you will have a word with Batte Boyko about him and the offender will scurry away, tail between his legs.

***

Elections

If your visit to Bulgaria coincides with an election campaign, you are very likely to come across a street rally. To soak up the atmosphere of the event, greet the participants waving red flags with Samo Kostov! and the ones with blue flags with Samo Stanishev!

***

Food chain

While the British invented brunch – the combination between breakfast and lunch, Bulgarian take pride in having created "linner." This is a lunch that starts at noon and lasts well into the evening, gradually becoming dinner. Honour this tradition whenever visiting your Bulgarian acquaintances.

***

Pocket money

Discourage pick-pockets in Bulgaria by walking the streets carrying an old, empty wallet in your pocket with a Stealing-Is-a-Sin note tucked into it.

***

WC

Public conveniences are a rarity in Bulgaria. Therefore, urinating is allowed on sidewalks unless a No Parking sign is clearly displayed.

***

Fuel for Thought

American motorists: beware of the different names for fuel in Europe. Remember that in Bulgaria you will not be able to fill your car up with "gasoline." Bulgarians call it "diesel."

 

*Please, exercise a modicum of common sense!

Issue 33

Commenting on www.vagabond.bg

Vagabond Media Ltd requires you to submit a valid email to comment on www.vagabond.bg to secure that you are not a bot or a spammer. Learn more on how the company manages your personal information on our Privacy Policy. By filling the comment form you declare that you will not use www.vagabond.bg for the purpose of violating the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. When commenting on www.vagabond.bg please observe some simple rules. You must avoid sexually explicit language and racist, vulgar, religiously intolerant or obscene comments aiming to insult Vagabond Media Ltd, other companies, countries, nationalities, confessions or authors of postings and/or other comments. Do not post spam. Write in English. Unsolicited commercial messages, obscene postings and personal attacks will be removed without notice. The comments will be moderated and may take some time to appear on www.vagabond.bg.

0 comments

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.

Discover More

misleading advice 11.jpg
MisLEADING ADVICE No 11
Keeper of Warmth

misleading advice 10.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 10
Bread and Salt

misleading advice 9.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 9
Lawn and Order Bulgarians are extremely disciplined people. For example, in a public park, they will never sit on the bench specially designated for foreigners’ use. These benches are marked by the “Пази боята” sign.

misleading advice 8.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 8
Hiking the Right Way

misleading advice 32.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 6
4estit 24 May

misleading advice 31.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 5
Beget Good Luck and Health

misleading advice 30.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 4
Reality Bites

misleading advice 27.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 2
One Bulgarian Rose

misleading advice 26.jpg
misLEADING ADVICE No 1
Guardian Angels

bulgarian idioms 8.jpg
“GO TO BED WITH THE HENS” AND “GET UP WITH THE COCKS”
Jean-Pier, a 19-year-old lad from Rouen, was travelling across what was then the Ottoman Empire and, attracted by the natural beauty of the Danubian Plain, decided to settle there.

misleading advice 26.jpg
RIPPING WASHBASINS OFF
According to the first, a girl from Gorna Oryakhovitsa went to a construction site to see how things were going.