Dynamic Developments
So, I was gone only a few weeks and still some things have changed in Sofia. It almost amazes me. I went to see my grandmother yesterday (she lives in the city center) and part of the park next to her building (already quite small) is now a construction site. (There was not a single sign of this before I left.) Apparently, they are building an underground garage, day bar and night club (I am quoting the posting I saw at the construction site)...as if that street wasn't crowded enough already. I just don't understand why they have to get rid of every piece of greenery and all the children's playgrounds in order to build more buildings... In my eyes, this is a negative development.
But there was also a positive one I noticed. I went to pick up my renewed driver's license and where 4 weeks ago there were huge crowds and disorderly lines, now chairs lined the space inside. Everyone had to pick up a numbered ticket upon entering, then sit down and wait their turn. (As is the case in the central post office and some DSK Bank branches, probably among other places.) We are now doing things the civilized way, so it's impossible for people to skip the line, and no-one gets upset. Only this morning some people were ready to attack me at the municipality when they thought I was trying to squeeze past them and go in first. Numbers take care of this problem... to some degree. Because the chaos that ensues when the machine that prints the numbers runs out of paper, and before it is replenished, is of significant proportions, as I witnessed once. Regardless, we are moving in the right direction, and that is commendable, really.
5 comments:
It is alarming to me that it was five years ago that I was last in Sofia and I've been wondering just how much has changed since then. On the one hand, reading the news tells me there has been a construction boom and that more and more people are discovering Bulgaria and visiting for various reasons. On the other hand, anecdotes that I have read on your blog (typewriters!), and on Petya's blog (visa troubles!), and news that I read about the apparently stubborn problem of corruption make me wonder: will I be very much surprised by Sofia when I finally get back for a visit?
sonyphone
KAT - Sofia discovered numbers...that's one giant step forward for driverkind. :)
Ohh, blogs are so addictive. One must admit, ie. Facebook is great fun, you ran into people you haven t seen for ever and trying to make out in the little pics how they look like now and all...but Blogger, oh that s an addiction.
I have browsed through your blog yesterday and today. Every other post, I was thinking oh how much do I relate to this or that. Funny, I had a similar idea, when I returned from my studies back to Greece, and in my little town, I started the blog so I would document the ..hmmm.. transition. Soon, of course, it became a place to spill out everything -thoughts about life, even very personal stuff, amazing what writing can do. Of course we had different experiences too. You did stay in the US to work, I only studied there and these are two very different things.
But thoughts like 'to which side of the ocean do I belong' or 'I have to figure out if i could live in Bulgaria/Greece/wherever'...ohh they seem to be constantly in the head.
Life twists, I ended up going to grad school in the Netherlands, before coming back to Greece, and yay, then I was torn among more places. And instead of making it more clear as to what i like, places kept adding up. And i loved all of them. And never content in one place alone. And always excited for the new place, yet semi-excited some times and missing something else.
Can go on for ever. Decided one has to be content wherever they are.
And coming back to 'home' country, seeing all the changes that take place, running into old friends, etc. also SO interesting and kept nodding when you were writing how you decided to take time off to see if you like BG, before going to grad school. Exactly what I did. Parents got a little worried I would never go back to school cause they saw me being happy to be in GR, but I really needed my time here to decided if I like the place.
Then when you are writing about grad school. Oh, be absolutely excited about it and enjoy it. You are going to a nice school and grad school is great, people are (excuse the cliche in my line of thought here) more mature, but they are also taking time off work, are more open to fun, more open to learning, it is just a great experience. I m happy for you, it will be a good time, wish I could go back at some point.
And so many other things...even your description of your flight to Helsinki and people ordering wine AND beer. SO funny, it was like seeing myself in that airplane when I went there.
Ok this started as a small comment and of course I went on and on...somebody is bored at work I guess :-)
Great you have a blog, keep it up :-) I found it of course when I was browsing profiles in facebook. Sorry, mine is in greek, oh I so much regret not doing it in English all along.
Take care!! And guess who!! hehe
Some things have changed here in Slovakia, too... Wait, I can't think of any right now, outside of the town square in Stara Tura having been recently remodeled... Maybe I'm getting used to this coming and going and don't notice changes so much anymore. Or maybe it's the knowing that I am not leaving that makes me stop comparing...
One of the biggest changes that I noticed both in the Czech Republic and Slovakia is that it's not so cheap here anymore. Food, rent, bottled water - it's all slowly reaching American prices, which is slightly disturbing.
But some things never change.
I know I'm home when I smell the...B.O. When the familiar whiff of rancid body odor and stale cigarette smoke in unwashed clothes hits my nose on the bus or in a grocery store - or just about anywhere! It's really amazing that despite all the development, advertizing and fancy stores, so many Slovaks still haven't learnt about the existence of deodorants and detergents. I hope that this is not something we'll hold on to as part of our cultural identity...
nada
Everyone: Apologies for the delayed response...I was away from cyberspace for a while :).
sonyphone: You are right to point this phenomenon out...some things change and some things just don't seem to at all. I guess I have come to the conclusion that anything that involves making money or "business" so to speak changes more rapidly...everything else is just left to wallow--bureaucracy, infrastructural problems that involve the spending of money by the central and local governments, etc. Then there are the non-tangible things...like people's attitude for example. I have found some improvement in that, albeit incremental.
concerned: Haha, that really cracked me up... driverkind...:)
trol: I would guess Nadia? I'm glad you enjoy reading my blog, and I would say ditto to the phenomenon of just adding more and more places where you feel fine to live in. Too much choice, I guess is the "problem" we face :)
Nada: Haha, the B.O. hmmm, don't think that is a pervasive problem we have here, or perhaps I just haven't noticed. For me, I would say I know I am home when I see frowning faces and complaints at every corner... even as soon as you get on the connecting flight from somewhere in Western Europe... you can immediately single out the Bulgarians at the airport. Actually when I was coming back this last time, this couple behind me and their son really pissed me off. The guy kept saying in a VERY loud voice how Belgians are so stupid (I was flying from Brussels)... (with the little boy, probably 4 yrs old, repeating every word). Then as soon as we got to Sofia, the father started criticizing everything he came in contact with... the bus that took us to the terminal, the new terminal itself...geeeez, I just don't get it. Don't people tire themselves out by complaining all the time??
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