Sofia, an Introduction

My home city is Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. From my experience abroad I have learned that people don’t know much about Sofia, nor Bulgaria. My country is a small one, just right next to Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Romania, and Macedonia. We have a seaside and lots of mountains.

Living in Sofia could be a lot of fun. Here are some useful tips for those of you who plan to visit the city or who are going to do exchange in any of the universities.

• Language: In Bulgaria we speak Bulgarian. It’s a Slavonic language and the alphabet is the Cyrillic one (e. g. А, Б, В, Г... ). You might have a difficult time reading signs on the street. Young people often speak English, but older ones don’t.
• “Yes and No”: In Bulgaria we nod our heads in the completely opposite way than the rest of the world in order to say “yes” or “no”. “Yes” is denominated by shaking your head from left to right, whereas, “no” is moving your head up and down.
• Currency: The local currency is the lev. There are levs (leva is the plural in Bulgarian) and stotinki, (these are the equivalent of the euro or dollar cents). The abbreviation of the word “lev” is LV (ЛВ in Bulgarian). You will see this abbreviation a lot around the city. The smallest coin in 1 stotinka. 1 Euro = 1. 95 Levs. 1 USD = 1. 60 Levs. 1 GBP = 2. 50 Levs. Be careful where you exchange your money. The best way is to go to a bank.

• 00; Ж; WC: If you are looking for a toilet you should look for the following signs: WC, Ж (Ladies), М (Gentelmen), or 00.
• Nekrolog: Now this one is weird. “Nekrologs” are notices that inform about someone’s death. You could see them on the street or in newspapers. Their purpose is to serve as information for relatives and friends who were not informed for a person’s death.
• Flowers: When you decide to bring flowers to a girl or to someone you are visiting, be careful! The number of the flowers should be an odd number. Even numbers are for funerals.
• Blue/Green Zone: In Sofia and some other cities, there is a “Blue Zone” for cars. In other words, you have to pay in order to park your car in certain parts of the city. In Sofia’s plain centre, there is the Blue Zone that costs 2 Levs per hour. The Green Zone covers the districts near the centre and it costs 1 Lev per hour.
• Cigarettes: The price for a pack of cigarettes is between 4-6 Leva, whereas the price for tobacco is about 7-9 Leva.
• Marshrutka: Marshrutka is something between public transport and a taxi. It’s a small bus that circulates around the city. You could stop it by waving your hand. The price is 1. 50 Leva.

• Mineral water: There are many many thermal water springs both in Sofia and the entire country. You will see them even in the center. Usually, there are elderly people with bottles waiting in lines to fetch water.

• Klek Shop: This is a small shop that offers a little bit of anything (cigarettes, candy, alcohol, caffee, etc. ). It literary means "bend shop" because it is situated near the ground and you have to bend in order to buy anyhting.