Mission Team Introduction to Bulgaria
Hello! Welcome to an introduction to Bulgaria to prepare you for your mission adventure!
Background information on the missionaries at:
Culture
Bulgaria is an amazing country and it is filled with wonderful people. The history of Bulgaria goes back to Thracian times (around 2500 BC) and Thracian, Roman, and Turkish artifacts surround us. Just the other day they were doing road construction south of Sofia and Thracian artifacts were found and the President had to get involved and shut things down. (For more history on the Thracians you may check this website and others if you google “Thracian history in Bulgaria”.)
Bulgaria is a cross road between Europe and the Middle east and so many cultures have had an influence on the culture here. You will hear that influence in many of the words that have come and integrated here in Bulgaria (i.e. merci for thank you from the French and chao for goodbye from the Italians). The culture that has influenced Bulgaria the most is Russia. Russia has come in and helped Bulgaria many times in war, especially to help them gain independence from the Turks that ruled here for almost 500 years 1396-1878 A.D. (Bulgarians still refer to it as the “Turkish yoke”), and during the communist era, Russian leaders would come down and rule here. During these times, that just ended officially 21 years ago, many statues were made of these leaders, and you will see them scattered still all around the country. School children were taken to these statues many times throughout the year during communist times to learn about these men, bring flowers, and made to bow on the ground to them, as well as march uniformly to the songs of the day. (This is information from our Bulgarian friends here that grew up during these times.)
Christianity was not allowed during Communism, any many church leaders were put into prison or killed for their faith. Small pockets of hidden Christians existed during that time.
Geography
The land is flat on either side of the Balkan mountain range that runs horizontally across the middle of Bulgaria (it splits it between north and south Bulgaria). This land is very fertile, black and great for vegetable and fruit growing. Bulgaria is only about the size of Tennessee in the US. It has Greece and Turkey on its southern border, Macedonia and Serbia to the west, the Black Sea on the eastern border, and Romania to the north (separated by the Danube River). There are 2 main mountain ranges here and you most definitely will see at least a little glimpse of both of them. When you fly into Sofia you will see the Balkan mountain range that is just north of Sofia. The other range wishbones off of the Balkans diagonally from western Bulgaria to the south called the Rhodope mountain range. It begins in the western part of Bulgaria where we live and stretches down across to the south central part of Bulgaria near the Greek border where Al and Diane Mellinger (the other FM missionaries) live (in a town called Petrich). Purin is a small range in the southwestern corner of the country. As you drive throughout Bulgaria, the mountain ranges off in the distance are very beautiful. The tallest is Rila mountain measuring at 2975m or 9760 ft. and is not only the tallest in Bulgaria, but also the tallest in all the Balkan Peninsula. Osogovo is the range that is nearest to our house (only 13 km away) and measures in at nearly 7000 ft. This is the one we will most likely visit. Google this nearby fortress from the 4th century that is only a 30 min. walk from our house: Hisarlaka ruins
This website is helpful for more on the geography of Bulgaria:
Our town dates back to Thracian times and its name was Pautalia. This website gives history of our town that was, and still is, known for its hot spring baths.
**Bring a bathing suit and flip flops if you would like to go to the historic Turkish bath. It is right across the street from your hotel.
This is a great map of the old Roman borders. If you click on Macedonia, you will see Pautalia. We are in Biblical Macedonia as it was in Paul’s day. Serdica, otherwise known as Sofia (the capital) of Bulgaria was referred to as “Constantine’s Rome” and houses St. George which is the oldest currently active church in Europe. It dates from the 4th century.
Religion
By culture, if you are Bulgarian ,you are Eastern Orthodox. They are very loyal to the Orthodox Church because they have kept the Muslim faith away. This faith is here mainly in culture and for holidays. The people of Bulgaria are very superstitious and have things that must be done and done a certain way. They are very afraid of evil and try their best in many pagan traditional ways to dispel it.
Gypsies
Gypsies have a long history here in Europe and rather than type it all out, I would strongly recommend reading from a website that I have found very informative. These are the people you will be working mostly with while you are here. This information comes from an article called Gypsies: A Persecuted Race by William A. Duna
I would highly recommend the entire team read this article before coming to better understand the country, the culture, and the people to whom you are coming to love on and serve.
If you are interested in familiarizing yourself with the language before you come, below is a helpful quick guide to the alphabet and the sounds.
Language
Bulgarian/Cyrillic Alphabet
As follows:
Capital letter-lower case letter-English sound equivalent-sound
А / а / : / a / sound in fatherБ / б / : / b / sound in bat
В / в / : / v / sound in van
Г / г / : / g / sound in gig
Д / д / : / d / sound in dog
Е / е / : / e / sound in red
Ж / ж / : / zh / sound like 's'in treasure
З / з / : / z / sound in zip
И / и / : / i / sound in fit or
: / ee / sound in fee at end of word
Й / й / : / i / sound like 'y'in yes
К / к / : / k / sound in kit
Л / л / : / l / sound in leg
М / м / : / m / sound in mat
Н / н / : / n / sound in nut
О / о / : / o / sound in hot
П / п / : / p / sound in pin
Р / р / : / r / sound in rat
С / с / : / s / sound in sun
Т / т / : / t / sound in top
У / у / : / u / sound in rule
Ф / ф / : / f / sound in fan
Х / х / : / h / sound in loch (aspirated)
Ц / ц / : / ts / sound in bits
Ч / ч / : / ch / sound in chat
Ш / ш / : / sh / sound in ship
Щ / щ / : / sht / sound like end of rushed
Ъ / ъ / : / â / sound like 'u'in run
Ь / ь / : / softens the preceding consonant
Ю / ю / : / yu / sound in you
Я / я / : / ya / sound in yard
The good thing about the Bulgarian alphabet is that once you learn the sound each letter makes, it pretty much always stays that way.
ВO Д A =translates to VO DA (stressing the a) meaning water.
Common phrases: (written in Latin letters)
Dobro utro = good morning
Dober den= good day (most greet this way)
Zdrasti= hi
Zdravete= hello (formal or plural)
Dobre vecher= good evening
Leka nosht= good night
Molya= please and you’re welcome
Ciz ur lou vrum= I’m sorry
Slavna na Boga = Praise God (most Roma will greet you with this)
Slavna na gospoldi= Praise the Lord
Blago da rya= thank you (or many say Merci as the French)
Dovezdane= Good bye (or many say chao as the Italians)
Da= yes (shake head left to right)
Ne= no (shake head up and down and scrunch nose)
Kak si?= How are you/you all?
Dobre=good
Mnogo dobre= very good
Da tochno taka= yes, that is correct
Eskeem= I want
Ne eskeem= no, I don’t want
Verbs
I am= az cumwe are= nee a sme
You are= tee ceeyou are= vee a ste
He is = toy athey are= te sa
She is = tya a
It is = to a
Question words?
Who?= Koy
What? =Kakvo
When?=koga
Where?=kade
Why?=zashto
How? = Kak?
Sega=now
What is your name? Kak ci kazvash?
My name is ______. Kazvam se ______.
I speak English. I don’t understand. Gavoriya angliski. Ne respiram.
What time is it? Kolko e chu sa?
You can also go to youtube and search Bulgarian language for pronunciation. I use this website a lot and you can click to hear pronunciation also: then click on alphabet.
Food
for great information on Bulgarian food.
**Also, please let me know of any on your team with food allergies.
Current events
is a great news organization to keep you up to date of information going on in and around Bulgaria.
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!!
Reminders and things to know and/or bring:
Accomodation: Salmina Hotel (link on Booking)
For the hotel:
Bring a light robe (for going back and forth from shower)
Bring a towel and washcloth (if you want one larger than the hand towel-sized one the hotel provides)
Bring slippers/shower shoes/flip flops (or inside shoes of some kind, slippers are very common here…outside shoes are for outside and inside shoes are for inside)
Wet wipes and tissues (individual packs) Most bathrooms around Bulgaria don’t have toilets (only holes in the ground) especially in the villages, nor do they provide paper in many of them. Also, toilet paper ALWAYS gets put in the trash bins and never down the toilet. The sewage system is very poor.
Bring Bible (of course)
Money:
The two best ways to get access to your money here in order to purchase souvenirs is:
1)through an ATM machine. They are located just about on every street corner. Check with your bank on exchange rates and fees and just notify your bank that you plan to be in Bulgaria for these dates. We use our ATM machine here a couple of times a week and then pay cash for everything. Please do not fool with traveller’s checks.
2)cash (American dollar, British Pound, or Euro) can be exchanged here at the Western Union for a small fee and is very convenient.
For American travelers:
If you bring electronics (iPod, iPad, laptops, etc.) just check your wattage (many have a transformer box in the charger, but it’s better to check than be sorry. If you bring hair dryers, straighteners you will need a transformer to change the watts and an adapter to change the plug to European.
DO NOT at any time drink the tap water here from the faucet (unless you want to spend your week in the toiletna (toilet)!! The natural spring water is fine, and we will direct you to these water sources around the city.
DO NOT go anywhere without a partner. Kyustendil is a safe city and we feel very safe here, however, especially with girls and the risks of human trafficking in this region, please always have a buddy or stay with the group.
Please keep your belongings in a safe place. I would recommend a passport holder that stays on your body. Please don’t bring jewelry or valuables. If you bring electronics they will need to stay at the hotel during our visits to the village. Gypsies are known for theft (not in the church area) and there is no reason to take things there.
We look forward to meeting your team! A well informed team allows for much less “informational time” here on the ground. We look forward to meeting you and getting to know you. We will be praying and preparing here on the ground before your arrival. We are excited that God has put on your heart to come to love on the people of Bulgaria!
In His Grace,
Chance and Dee Dee Galloway
+359 89 530 6552 European cell
706 391 4122 American telephone that rings here in Bulgaria