Thoughts on Bulgaria and Bulgarians

The stereotype of the Bulgarian weightlifter that we see from the Olympics and such is true. The men here are very stocky and swarthy. Most have heavy beards and are very dark, though some are less so. The women tend to be very pretty in younger age but don't necessarily age too well! Of course, life is a bit harder here than at home. It is interesting, too, that most of the younger women very thin but most of the middle age and older women are heavy.

Having eaten the food here for the past three days, it's a wonder that everyone doesn't weigh three hundred pounds. The food is a lot of meat (of all kinds) and potatoes with heavy sauces and cheese. Meat is typically served either in the form of skewers or in patties with cheese and bacon/ham pressed in. The main cheese is much like feta but slightly different. It is creamier and little sharper. Of course, I really like it. It's cheese, isn't it?!

Sofia and Plovdiv are very busy big cities--much like other European capitals and cities back home. In Sofia, however, the traffic and flow of things seems much more orderly than we saw in Bucharest last year. That was pure chaos. Right now, I'm writing from Plovdiv where we have only just arrived within the hour. So far, it is a little more disorderly on the streets.

A few more thoughts:

* - Lots of underground passageways in the center of Sofia with shops, archaeological markers, etc.
* - Loads of advertising on everything, most very sensual
* - Many casinos in Sofia. Theodore explained that they are popular for money laundering.
* - Most municipal signs are written in Bulgarian (Cyrillic alphabet) and English (Latin alphabet).
* - Very little mineral water with gas, most is without.
* - Not quite as much juice as in Belarus but still very plentiful and popular.
* - Many of the women are very short and petite.
* - Bulgarians are extremely proud of their country and concerned about the Islamic influx.
* - On the whole, things seem much wealthier here than in Romania (even in the small rural towns we drove through), though on average they are statistically not.
* - Not as many Russian-style skin-tight jeans with spike heels on the women.
* - Many people wear shorts--the first time I've seen that in Europe!

It's going to be a busy couple of days in Plovdiv. More to come...