Life in Bulgaria

Hello everyone! It has been almost two full weeks now that we have been in Bulgaria and we just wanted to give an update and offer some information about what living here has been like so far.

This last week was the first full week of real work at ACS. We had meetings aplenty, met the remaining portion of the staff, and finally obtained a working phone! I also had the opportunity to see my classroom and begin to organize it. There is still much to do before the beginning of the year to have the room ready, but it will indeed be ready for the 15th! This week will contain more of the same, meetings, work time, and further developments as we seek to situate ourselves here in Sofia.

As it is, unfortunately not a country that many people know of until they hear about it on the news (if then even) little is known about Bulgaria in the US. Often times then, the assumption is, "I've never heard of this place, so it cannot possibly have everything that we do here in the US." Nevertheless, we can find almost everything that we could possibly need here. There are plenty of malls, cell phone services, and technology stores, so much so that Bulgaria is one of the EU leaders in technology. The bountiful markets are filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats and while the product names may be different we can find everything that we need. The biggest difference between Bulgaria and the United States is the prices and general cost of living.

The total price for everything in the picture above was 33lv, which roughly approximates to $20. It is not just these items that are ridiculously cheap. Phone plans are much lower here as well. You can get a 12GB data plan and 300 min of calls (including unlimited in Bulgaria) for around 35-40 lv (once again right around $20-22.)

Finally, public transportation, much like throughout the rest of Europe is cheap and efficient. Sofia has a beautiful metro system that operates at most hours of the day, and there are also buses, trams, and taxis to help people travel throughout the city. It truly is an excellent system that Sofia has set up with access points throughout the city, several very near to our residence.

So yes, life may be different here, but different is only bad when it is made such. The language barrier is still something that causes issues quite often (we hope to ease that barrier soon), but much is also the same or similar to home. I'm sure that as our time here increases, we will find that to remain true no matter what we do or where we go.

Chris