Hi All,

What have us as Brits contributed to the villages or towns we live in.

And I don't mean money!!!

I would like to think that as guests in this fantastic country we give something back or add to the culture and the people.

Maybe you teach them how to cook English food? Or teach their children in someway? Or have you introduced new farming techniques that makes life easier and yields more crops?

so come on lets hear what you have given back

Well I have to confess to nothing at the moment but I will once I get there I just hope that whatever I try to give back is accepted in thew same way as I will receive from the Bulgarians

sarah

Cheekychops.

I have learned my Bulgarian from one of my neighbors and in return she has picked up some English and the villagers have a few words in English too - so good progress

We get involved with the community the villagers and even surrounding villages. We do what we can to help and get the Bulgarians to help themselves too. We get along with the people. We seem to be well liked, not only because of the work we do etc - the Bulgarians genuine like us.

Oddy

our village is very quiet with little activity. our elderly bulgarian neighbours have been keen to show us how they live, very friendly and generous with gifts of fruit and vegatables all home grown. i have got a grasp of the bulgarian language so we can communicate, but the lady talks non stop and too fast for me, they just enjoy company. I use a bulgarian language programme on my computer, so i took it round to the neighbours, could not understand how it worked without electricity and were fascinated with the computer. when the programme reached body parts with a sumo wrestler as the model, they just fell apart with laughter. a lovely couple with a simple way of life ( a hard life ) , we share our different lifestyles with respect and non judgemental, in some ways it is a shame that our village is losing its traditional ways to make way for the modern changes of capitalism, but the uk was no different 50 years ago, bulgaria is moving on, but this lovely couple enjoy seeing the changes that others bring to the village, but they will never change their lifestyle and why should they. anchor and paycho are two of the most lovely people you would ever wish to meet. I feel rather privalaged to have known them.

Hi to All,It is very hard to blow your own trumpet wouldn't it be nice to hear from the native Bulgarian people as to what we have brought to them, The things that would come to mind for me are where we give the neighbours the use of the gardens in a couple of villages houses that we have as they would be run down only for them working the ground,
The most important thing is bringing a new modern type of building system and teaching the skills of my trade and of course creating employment.

A smiling face

nice one

Don't forget all that lovely iron work you do too. The villages will look 100% better with your creations

Oddy

I was going to do a Village sign and my girl friend who is Bulgarian said dont do it as someone will nick it .

fab!!

Oddy

Someone who is mostly happy and of course Bread Pud

The Bulgarians in our village are all very friendly.
We have helped our neighbors when they have had to repair their roofs, or when. putting new roofs on new buildings. When we built our garage they all helped us do the roof.It seems to be the done thing here to help one another out,it cuts the cost of employing people.

We have gone to a school in the town to speak to the children,who are learning English.The teacher thinks it's good for the children to hear English spoken by English people. We had a great time, and now some of the children chat to us on the internet,so hopefully it is helping them.

When I made jam and lemon curd last year,I gave some away for the villagers to try. Also some sloe gin the men said Rakia was better but some of the women liked it.
I've also let them try my soups,as they all insist I taste their bop soup.They like it but always say it needs more salt,as I don't use as much as them. One of my friends couldn't understand why I made pea and lettuce soup,she said we only have lettuce as salad, then said it needed more salt and a bit of vinegar.I find they tell you exactly what they think, where English people are more tactful.
They seemed to like my bread and butter pudding.

We had some old barrells which we cut in half, filled them and put flowers and small shrubs in. Some of the villagers are now doing the same,instead of just using them for firewood.

It's nice to share, and the Bulgarians love company.We help friends cut their grapes and we have fun helping then later it's usually a meal and a few drinks,with super weather what more can you ask for.

Darrel. You are right, as we have the same relationship with the Bulgarians in our Village.

We recently bought 40 Chickens between all the FAMILY yes we are regarded as part of a Bulgarian family and I am known as my friends Anglichan Brat and Jacqui is know as their Sistery. They have been growing quite nicely and we will, in the next few days be getting the chickens ready for the freezer. One does the slaughter, another the plucking and usually me who does the gutting. You might say ah how could you, but it is part of village life. This is the same humane process carried out throughout Bulgaria and there will be enough chickens to last the cold winter months. We will also enjoy a few beers whilst doing the deed .

Tony

We bought the animal charity BSAAP (Bulgarian Society for Animal Protection and Preservation) their very first PC, scanner and printer.

I also designed a logo and built them a website for free.

Whilst this may not seem much, since that time (around five years ago), they have grown tenfold and are now one of the most successful animal charities in Bulgaria.

Congratulations Dr. Stoyanov and the volunteers!

More information:
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And congrats to you as well Chris for that kind donation which must have meant an awful lot to them at the time.

As we have quite a lot of new members I just thought I would raise this topic again.