That's it. Winter is no longer my favorite season. The junta in my head was extraodinarily successful over the weekend and a vote will soon be held to elect a more legitimate favorite season. The events were really only slightly unexpected as the revolution has been building for some time.
It started Friday, when--in early March--a small snowstorm blanketed Northeast Bulgaria in a thin sheet of snow and ice. Can't be concerned with snow though. It's a force of nature, it happens, it must be dealt with. But here in small-town Bulgaria, snow means the double whammy of wood-burning stoves and, more inexplicably, burning garbage bins.
Burning garbage bins are something a person comes to expect in Bulgaria. People burn trash to get rid of it when collectors ddon't and at night to keep warm. The worst part of all this is that it doesn't seem to matter what gets burnt. And this applies to all stoves, fire places and garbage bins in Bulgaria. When people are drunk, they throw plastic and glass bottles into the wood-burning stoves at bars and cafes. And everybody has to put trash somewhere, so the burning garbage bins always have the wonderful chemical mix of everything you've ever been told shouldn't be burned.
All this has given me allergies, something I've never really had before. My throat itches, I get a headache, and my eyes water on days when it's particularly dry, stuffy, and cold. These moderate allergies seem to lead to cold after cold, the last one I picked up this past weekend while on a trip to Isperih. So now I have a heavily stuffed nose again, and I'm not a bit drowsy. Early to bed tonight and lots of water and Vitamin C and things should be better, but the endless parade of colds has gotten to be too much.
Winter has to go. I'm tired of it and I'm doing anything short of human sacrifice to make sure it speeds away. You'd better believe that I'm wearing my martenitsi 24-7. I'm not normally a superstitious person, but some things require extra measures and winter in Bulgaria, even the moderate one that people are calling this one, is just one of those things
Posted by Rob at March 8, 2004 06:47 PMNo snow today in Sofia. Just snow on the ground. It was raining, with some sunshine, with snow on the ground, and a cold wind. Viva la Revolution. Let's get to Spring.
Posted by: jkrank at March 9, 2004 02:01 PMAww, Rob, I hope you feel better soon.
Posted by: Christine at March 9, 2004 04:54 AMHi Rob:
I've been reading your blog for a while now and have really enjoyed it! I was a B-10 teacher in Pazardjik from 2000-2002. You're right--winter in BG sucks! It's not so much the cold outside, but trying to keep warm inside that's the problem. Hang in there: you'll soon be rewarded with the most beautiful season in BG: spring!
I think people don't set the dumpsters afire intentionally. I think the problem is they dump their coals in the dumpster while they're still smoldering--they don't wait for the coals to go out. It's too bad, because it truly is a health hazard. (I went through the same cold-after-cold cycle my first December-March, too. The second winter was much better, health-wise.)
Drink some rakiya for me, and keep your eyes peeled for that stork!
Posted by: Julie at March 8, 2004 07:04 PM