First topic message reminder :

So! All you would be Bulgaria bound people!
Do you really want your Bulgarian Dream to be a dream? If you do,then stay in the UK and just do that! The reality of this place beggars belief in so many ways. NOW,before someone jumps on me from a great height,let me say i have been a resident here for nearly 5 years,and to a great extent can speak with honesty about this Country.
The main problem here is the majority of the ethnic population. They cannot lie straight in bed! So if you insist on joining us over here,please be prepared to be conned,robbed and deceived like you wouldn`t believe. And as for animal cruelty,a lot of them have it down to a fine art. Especially in the villages,where most of you would like to realise your dreams. Yes,i do live in a village! Yes,i do know what i am talking about too. My work with poor creatures over here bears witness to my words.
So,if you do get here,please remember to get yourself a really big and nasty dog first. This i assure you should be a priority,to protect your property from all the thieving chappies that abound here. The chances of you being done over bigtime is very very good! Being English/British makes you a target from day one.
Now,as for the driving around,well thats gonna really do your head.In my opinion,they are one of the worst drivers ever. Once again,i speak from experience. In my life,i have been to over 80 different Countries,so can speak with authority on this one. I swear that in Varna,there must be a Driving Licence shop. It works like this. A BG goes into the shop,exchanges his/her brain for a Licence,and roars off in a 100mph car with a 10mph mind! Simple eh? 20miles down the road,they join the pile of bodies in the morgue in Varna.
As for the local Bobbies,well thats a laugh too.Make sure you carry some 20lv notes with you.This is their wages dont you know! Like most things here,corruption is rife.Sorry,i mean corruption is life.
Builders! what can i say? They dont exist! Jobbers do!
Real Estate Agents? 99% are as crooked as they are in the UK.
For God`s sake folks,dont come here and get a "
Builder"
to work on your property while your in the UK. And NEVER pay up front. Cos when you return,the job aint been done,the "
Builder has done a runner with your hard earned cash. Ah! i hear you say,"
I have a contract"
,well just remember this, people. The word Contract starts Con,as does the word Conman! A bit similar actually to the word Builder. That starts with Bu, as in Bull****.
Oh you poor people over there in good old Blighty,your Bulgarian Dream is waiting for you.
Dave Smith

PS. Dont forget to pick up your big and nasty dog from the nice honest man at Varna Airport.

Hi Darrel I thought I would come onto this topic and just add that my post about pig killing wasn't meant to be a negative one but merely to show the differences between the Bulgarian culture and the British I have lived in Bulgaria and still have a lovely hose out there and its only because of my health that I find myself back in this S88T hole sorry for that word but that's how I feel, my routes are in Bangladesh although I was born in the uk and I have seen so many different things in Bangladesh that would scare most people but again its culture its not wrong just because we don't understand it but if anyone was going to Bangladesh to live I would tell them how it is and also what a beautiful place it is just as it is in Bulgaria so if I have offended you with my post again I am sorry for how you may have read it but its life in Bulgaria as I seen it and to be honest I didn't have a problem with it but I do know of Brits who have left Bulgaria because they couldn't cope with what they saw but this was I believe down to that fact that no one ever talks about this on the other forums and why is that ? well its simple just as in the same way that all the TV programs who were trying to sell Bulgaria only ever showed you the nice bits so as to encourage you to buy with your eyes closed I'm sorry if this sounds wrong to you or others but lets be honest no body would buy a house in the Uk without checking out as much as possible first so why do it in Bulgaria? I always think that when some of the buyers come to Bulgaria they leave their brains in the UK and then they wonder why it all went wrong as for me I did loads of research and I still maintain that I made the right decision [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] and one day I will live my dream and accept Bulgaria for what it is good and bad but I will do it with my eyes wide open and what I did learn while I was there is to always expect the unexpected and you won't have any problems.

Cheers [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hi again Darrell. I think your post bears out my theory that people read posts in different ways. I don't think any of my posts are ever negative about Bulgaria. Maybe just the opposite. However, its becoming apparent on forums that not everyone finds the life here as good as I do and I try hard to put both points of view. I do not need to defend all the things we do and like about our particular village. When I have made enough posts on this new forum you will understand. However, there are some very disappointed people around who have not been so enchanted with Bulgaria and maybe they did leave their brains at the aiport so its good to get all opinions on life here. I fail to see how this thread is in anyway negative without any of the positives. Your post is one of the positives which is great but there have been many of these over the years but less of the negative and that is what is being discussed now.

Wow, that was a long read. Is there anywhere that is perfect, without crime, without prejudice or malice. Didn't think so.

We have lived here for over 3 years now, during that time I was diagnosed with throat cancer, treated and operated on in 10 days, been burgled twice, first time the burglers were caught by local children and the second time they got away with it. However, I now have an alarm system, 2 rotwielers and a 9MM pistol. What made the event so memorable was the old couple next door, both on pensions and both very frail, came to the house with a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, some jars of food and 10 leva to help us get over the theft.

The country is poor but what the lack in monetary values they more than make up for with kindness, generousity and humour. There are still the devout communists, one of them lives opposite me and there is nothing better than winding him up. Most of the villagers do this every day. 3 months ago he was watching a digger, digging a hole in my garden, I told him it was for my helicopter to land, later that day I told a couple of my Bulgarian friends the story,and they continued with the wind up.

We help at the local school, only a few hours a week, we are teaching the kids how to fly power kites, a great sport by the way, and helping with English. The kids like it and it helps to integrate into village life.

The local bar is probably not the best place to try to make friends or get on with the locals, in your own country would you go to the pub to meet your neighbour, no, probably just look over the wall or walk across the street so why not here.

Yes there are some traditions that are hard to accept but this has been thier way for many years, why should foriegners or the EU for that matter make them change thier ways, just a shame some other countries don't adopt the same policies, could you imagine in the UK one of our not so dark skinned Immigrants being asked not to wear that yashmac on her face.

I have lived in many countries during my time in the Royal Navy but here is a different kind of life, It is like when I was a child playing on the street, riding a bike, no perverts hiding in playgrounds ready to pounce on a child and you had to go out to have fun not find it on an xbox.

I am sure many of us who live here have some horror stories to tell and I bet there are a lot more with happier tales than horrors, yes we will sometimes pay more than a Bulgarian for something but only if you accept it. Top tips for success. Learn the language, be polite, don't blame others for your shortcomings, don't be flash with the cash, make friends outside the Brit community and most of all have fun.

Might have gone on and off track there a bit but hey ho, lifes too short.

Hi all,
I'll add my 2 pence worth as well.

Yes there are problems, but BG is a wonderfu;
country with wonderful future and we, us brits can help to make the dream we have as brits a dream come true for BG's. You'll find most of them have the same dream as us and they can't do much about it.

BG is for me my country and I love it, will never live anywhere else. I'll fight as hard as I can to help make this as good a country as it can be.

But all must realize, as much as many of us love this country, we face the problems and sort them as they come. BG's are like we were in the 50's, life here now, is much as it was for us then, almost exactly. We grew from that in the UK and look what it is like now.

Do we all want BG to be like the Uk is now. Some how I dont think so.

But we do have to look at living here as it is and not as it seems to be from the TV reports. This is a great country with a fantastic future, we have the chance to help shape it for it's future and that means seeing all the warts and trying to help sort them out.

The best bits don't need anything, only to be left as they are and not destroyed like it has been in the UK. I love Bg and all that goes with it, I'm lucky in as much as I can work with the problems here, I only talk about them on here so everyone will know what is under the surface.

BG is for me a better place to live than the UK, which is why I am here and I have found a happiness I never had in the UK.

Best wishes all,

Great topic this and I for one appreciate all the trouble that you all go to in showing us all what life if like for those who live in Bulgaria its easy to be a visitor and make comments after a couple of weeks holiday but that isn't the real story so keep it all coming I love this thread

Another 'absolutely'.

By the way,

Aneta got arrested today, for momentarily forgetting something and has been upset by it all, all day. What happened was not meant and just a momentary slip up, silly , but hey don't we all do these things.

I had to pay a blackmail fine just to make sure she did not go to the police station for the night. She now says she hates BG's and prefers Brits as we are much kinder and friendly than Bg's.

Aneta is a new member here, but cant read and write in English. But if anyone would like to talk to her and ask her themselves, feel free and call us on the phone.

00359 6167 2469, Aneta will be happy to tell anyone how shes feels and how dirty it has made her feel.

So you'll see Bg's are not happy with how life here is as well, it is not just my opinion.

Best to all,

Hi Tony, sorry for your troubles.

We too, would have happily paid the UK police 20 lv not to be prosecuted or have points on our licence, as I think many would do so, be they in Britain or elsewhere :)

I'm not certain anyone is kindlier nor more friendly in any country: you take as you find: and we have found here that people are much more natural, far less pc and thus more open to helping and assisting.

Perhaps you have chosen the wrong village, like opting for a bad town or street in England - or anywhere else?? I don't know and I'm sorry if you have, it sounds horrid.

Certainly, I don't feel the need to post threads about how many 'mm' or whatever, or even what they will do: nor do I feel the I need for a *****, in order to 'repel borders'. I'd be more likely to take the pellets which give them a shot of ecstasy, than a real slug which can go through armoured plate.

I can imagine many in Britain (and westernised Europe) would wish they could buy such items given the life there and have a complete threat of violence all the time, let alone when even going about your daily business.

Our life is good here, no need for weapons, no guns... 600 euros a month in our hand sees us right and in a good lifestyle. Neighbours are fine. Town is improving all the time. Things might be slow to progress, it might take a long while, you might struggle to learn the language... but hey, life is pretty good nonetheless.

Hello FlorryB I can't comment on life in Bulgaria but I do hear what you say and yes your right that its the same anywhere you go you will always find good and bad but to be honest here in the uk we just get on with our life and make the best of it and if its that unbearable then we move to a better place [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] I couldn't stay somewhere if I was so unhappy or continually felt intimidated either and to have to go to such extremes as Tony has well I would be moving sharply I know we all make mistakes in life about this and that but if that's the case with some people who move to Bulgaria then maybe they should either move to where they can be happy or question why they went there in the first place? I'm sorry if this sounds a bit harsh but to me its common sense [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] and carrying pistols is not the answer either as my mum always said to me 2 wrongs don't make a right? and its very true. I do feel sorry for you Tony that you are having such problems and the only thing I can say to you is maybe to move to a nicer place ? as it seems from what you have said that things for you wont get any better, it maybe that they just don't like you and if it were another Brit they may have accepted them who knows ? and to be honest if you get pulled by the police here in the uk well you just accept it and that's the end of it, I wouldn't dream of telling anyone on here as its got nothing to do with the forum or its members? since you were very vague about why she was stopped? but anyway my point there is unless it has something to do with what this forum is about then why mention it? I am glad that you are both happy and maybe Anetta does prefer you to a Bulgarian but again maybe she chose the wrong Bulgarian just as anyone in the uk could choose the wrong partner but they are not all the same either here in the uk or anywhere else in the world for that matter anyway I hope all works out for you both and wish you all the best

sarah

Good reply Sarah

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Yes indeed Well done Sarah!!!

Oddy

In a couple of months we will be coming up to our 14th year here in Bulgaria. We were sitting thinking of all the changes that have happened over these years, we have become grandparents twice a new additition only 4 weeks ago. When we first moved here how we could not buy anything in the shops, milk what was milk now still drink my coffee black. The road that went through our village the old Varna to Burgas road had no traffic, cars were a luxury and just not seen in our village. As you would drive back from Sunny Beach it was black no villages visable . |To fly in and out of Bulgaria was almost impossible in the winter and only slightly better in the summer if you could get a Balkan Holidays flight. To get a renewal to stay every year was a major operation and you never knew if you would be thrown out of the country. To do repairs to a house was also very difficult, to buy materials etc. No other British people, in fact we were the first to buy in the Nessebar region. We both said that we had not really realised how things have changed as they change around you. When we drive back at night now from Sunny Beach the road up past Tankovo has developments now built on, Sunny Days 5 and Sunny Days 6 which is enomous and will be completed this winter. Kosharitsa has now extened under the mountain almost as far as our village with Sunset Resort being built at the end of the village, you can see the villages all around the lake now lite up and to look from our village down to Sunny Beach it looks like Burgas at night, in fact Sunny Beach now has city status not by number of people who live in it but by number of beds. The cars now that drive around are worth 1,000s of pounds, and I also now sit in traffic jams in the hight of the season. I can fly in and out of Burgas all year round very easily. We both agreed that we have never lived anywhere that has changed so much in such a short time. Our actual village has not changed that much except for street lights, and village looking much smarter than it used to. I have noticed the change in the village with how when we first came here how the children played in the streets with nothing really, just played. Now they have mobile phones, bikes etc but they dont play out now, parents say they dont like them to play out as its dangerous, this is probably where computers TV and newspapers bring in the fear element, 14 years ago all of this was not available to the average village Bulgarian. Whether this is good or bad I am not getting into a debate about as this is only a reflection on how things have changed in my time here. About 5 years ago we got in our village an internet cafe, it was always packed out, but alass last week it closed as most people now have computers in there houses. The only phone was in the post office and you had to ask them to dial the number and then they put it through to the phone that sat on a desk, the post office is still there and the phone but its not used now. Its very strange how in some areas it has changed beyond believe and in others it has not changed at all, the goats still go passed everyday at the same time, and on a Sunday all the men meet by the goat compound at the end of our road before they go off to graze and put the world the right. But the younger people in our village are now starting to rush around going to work or off to Burgas to shop and dont have the time to talk. Anyway just a little of the time that I have spent here.

Nice one Fletch ... great story!

We've only lived here five years, but have seen a few changes.

I've been visiting Bulgaria since the late 80's and can remember being able to walk from the middle of (the then quite small) Sunny Beach to Nessebur through open fields and the cliff tops!

Having been back more recently (although not for a few years I admit), I was amazed that Sunny Beach now stretches just about all the way to Nessebur, now covering all the open fields that used to be there.

Here in the old town of Kotel we have a real mixed bag ... we now have an internet cafe, three mobile telephone shops, an Office1 superstore, a small Technopolis and a Cable TV provider (none of these existed five years ago), however, if I go to the local DIY store and order any sand or gravel, etc., then this is still delivered by horse and cart!

Cheers
Chris

Hi Fletch


Well done you have both done brilliant over the years and how things have changed. Sounds like you have well and truly settled in now, really delighted for you both [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Excellent story well done!!!

Oddy

Hi Fletch, I have so much admiration for you. I cannot imagine how brave you had to be way back then and I know you had a very good reason for coming to live here other than the usual investment or getting away from bad old Britain! Maybe now that your life might be getting a bit easier for personal reasons, but your workload increasing, you are thinking of making another brave move. I always think on reading your posts and then reading the replies that people give, they don't really grasp the enormity of what you did those 14 years ago. In a similar vein I left my beautiful Greek island and came to Bulgaria because of the changes that occurred over a similar length of time of living and working there. To my romantic mind it was not for the betterment of the island's beauty but for the islander's greed. Does this strike a chord? It is the usual discord about Capitalism and progress. There doesn't seem to be much we can do about it except to make changes ourselves. I sense you have the same feelings as myself Fletch although at the same time realising that we can't stop it happening.