dear bulgaria

dear bulgaria,

i have thought often of writing this letter to you. i hadn't planned to draft it and then post it this morning but, sigh, the time is right to say what really needs to be said.

i don't understand you.

i wandered out into your beautiful blue, spring skies this morning to buy bread, strawberries, and yoghurt. in the store, one of your women screamed at me while i was standing in line because i had taken my container of yoghurt out of the refrigerator machine on my own, as i have done hundreds of times this year. when finally it was my turn to check out, i asked for bread, which the same clerk had to get for me, and she pretended (or actually) she did not understand my request. i asked for bread three times in front of the line of 10 people before i told her to forget it, thank you, i'd just take the yoghurt.

in the bazaar, i found myself again the receiving end of another person's wrath. this time, though, i wasn't buying enough strawberries to satisfy her demands and she refused to sell me strawberries. this is not the first time this has happened in pernik or in sofia. had there been a sign saying i needed to buy at least a kilo of strawberries, or the equivalent of TWO plastic containers, i would have happily found another vendor to buy from.

it's been an interesting two years, bulgaria. but i have to tell ya, i am ready to go home. our lives are too short to live with so little love and kindness going around. and i choose kindness, not matter how superficial, over your bitter glares and cold shoulders any day.



ciao ciao,
amanda