Life in Bulgaria

Life in Bulgaria

My life in Bulgaria is quite different from what I’ve known in Montreal.

First of all: my work. While in Montreal, I was working for a f***ing good music festival with a lovely boss (my dear Raquel, special thoughts for you!), here I’m working for a French cultural organization called ‘Alliance française’. While it could seem to be interesting, I’m just basically writing articles for its next magazine which is about…gastronomy. Just to let U know: I barely know how to cook properly. You can imagine the result! Well, it’s going pretty well so far so I can’t really complain but it’s becoming quite boring. I’m kind of fed up because the last magazine was about Europe and the next one is about fashion….I’d have loved to do it! I’ll just be preparing some of the articles of the next issue. My boss is ok…even if he’s in holidays right now which is sooooo damned practical when you want to know whether you’re doing what is waiting from you or whether you’re writing some stupid articles. Well, seemingly, I’m writing good stuff but too “serious” according to my colleagues. “You’re supposed to write for Bulgarians who barely know French…”. Ok! Basically, I have to write something for dummies. Great…

My roommates (which are also my work colleagues BTW) are ok. But as I barely know them, it’s quite hard to share what I used to share with my previous roommates of Montreal. Anyway, except one guy who is a total freak, the 3 girls I’m living and working with are nice. We’ve already gone to several places such as Varna and Sozopol, some place along the Black Sea.

The life here is so cheap, it’s almost weird. A pack of 20 cigarettes is 0.80€ while in France it’s worth 5€! It’s amazing! And the clothes are all cheap as well: a T-shirt Versace is 17€. Of course it’s a false one but, whatever!, I’m becoming crazy when I see that!

Bulgarian boys are not really good-looking (euphemism). They have a sort of problem… They have strong faces in the bad way. They look rude in fact, not the kind of people to whom you’d say “hello I love your hair cut”. They are all dressed in Diesel or Energie but they are wearing this kind of clothes with summer shoes and socks…We name this kind of people rednecks I think…

I think I’m going to enjoy myself…before my return in France and the 40 fucking hours of bus I have to undergo before that.

Email from Bulgaria

As soon as I arrived, I emailed this to all my friends so that they could know what happened to me. Sorry for those who do not understand French:

"Salut tout le monde,

Je suis bien arrivé en Bulgarie après un voyage de 40 heures en bus
bien galère grâce à mes charmants amis d'Eurolines.
Je suis donc parti de Paris à 8h30 du matin à bord d'un bus avec des
chauffeurs ne parlant ni francais ni anglais mais seulement bulgare...
autant dire que ca se présentait bien...n'ayant ni argent mais
seulement trois paquets de biscuits et de bars de céréales j'ai dû
entamer une grève de la faim bien involontaire. Arrivé en Allemagne le
bus s'est rempli de Bulgares et j'étais donc le seul Francais du bus!
Par chance j'ai réussi à rencontrer des Bulgares parlant français.
Après donc un voyage de 40 heurs avec un voisin bulgare ronflant comme
un moteur hors bord et un passage par lq Slovénie, la Croatie et la
Serbie, je suis arrivé à Sofia puis j'ai pris un bus vaille que vaille
vers Plovdiv; la destination finale.

Arrivé; il n'y avait personne pour m'attenre vu que j'étais en avance.
Au bord de la dépression nerveuse j'ai donc pris un taxi jusqu'à
l'hotel le plus proche où j'ai passé ma soirée à fumer et à regarder
la fete de la musique. Pour une fois j'étais même content de regarder
les pires artistes français s'égosiller! J'ai bien dormi...

N'hésiter pas à m'écrire depuis que je suis arrivé sain et sauf en Bulgarie!!!!

Je vous aime, don't leave me alone; I'm begging you!!!!!!

Lovexxx

Boris"

Welcome to France...isn't it depressing?

Of course, it's not a surprise to write that the arrival in France was kind of harsh.

The first challenge was to make the passport controler smile...no way! He was desesperatly stupid. I was already missing my dear Montrealers. Then, sijeka and me had to undergo a loooooong time so as to get our luggages at the airport of Paris (Roissy-CDG). People were as nice as only Frencg people could be. That is...not! Anyway, as soon as we get out of the airport in order to smoke some 5 or 6 cigarettes, we stopped as several French policemen were arresting a Black guy at his arrival from whatever-country. No doubt! We were indeed in France, the country where everybody is your friend....HELP!

I spent the next month eating French food, drinking French wine and seeing family and friends. I felt good but also surprised and quite disapointed when I realized that, despite the fact that one year has passed since the last time I had seen them, I found them almost in the exact same situations I had left them before. I was feeling bad for them because, even if they evolved during the time I didn't see them, we had almost the same conversations as before. Like...like I wasn't gone. Maybe it's the fact that their "stayed-exactly-the-same" situation made me feel bad because it was, well! in my mind, a sort of denial of my year in Montreal.

Anyway, I stayed only a month. It was enough!

And, then, I left for Bulgaria and another trip (less important however) was beginning...

Good bye Montreal!

It's been quite a while since I have written my last post. Well, I've been very busy both mentally and physically speaking.

My departure from Montreal, which happened at the end of May 2005, was one of the hardest time I had to undergo in my entire life... Fortunately, I was with my best friend, sijeka and it helped a lot!

To say 'good bye' to all the people you've known during 9 months is quite a hard stuff to go through. Of course, you say you're going to come back and see them. But you know that it's not true for all of them. Of course, the most precious fiends you've met, you'll see them again. But it's far from being true for everybody...

I'm going to miss (actually, I'm already missing) Montreal, its atmosphere, its way of life, the life I had there, what I've learned during these times, and my friends there. Nadia, Linda, Thu-Anh, Marie-Eve, Erik (my Catalan friend who is planning to stay in Montreal), I'm going to miss you all!

Anyway, I suppose Montreal will stay in me as long as I breathe (poetic, isn't it?). I'm going to try to avoid the pictures I've taken during the year. The last time I've watched them, I couldn't avoid to be badly depressed for the next 2 hours.

I'll try to come back ASAP but I've to go to Italy before! It's quite ridiculous: I pretend that it's my favourite country and I've never been there...But let's be reassured: the French who were in Montreal with me (my beloved roommates) are planning something. And I'll try to be in their plane when they'll take off.