Sir
Situated in the north-east corner of Sofia and diagonally opposite to Mladost, Lyulin is another monument to socialist architecture, but it has its benefits. Working in a large office with young Bulgarians, there is a friendly rivalry between those of us from Lyulin and those from Mladost. Obviously I might be a little biased, but Lyulin wins out every time! We have the metro, tram and the advantages of proper town planning, by which I mean wide, straight streets, lots of open, green areas (try finding either of those in a certain area being developed between Bulgaria Boulevard and the ring road!), every kind of shop and service that you could imagine, and of  course, very friendly people.

I’ve lived for the past few years in Ivan Vazov and Krasno Selo, so I was used to getting suspicious looks from old ladies in the stairwells and not knowing the names of my neighbours, even after almost a year or having to avoid being run over by a speeding, blacked out Mercedes when crossing the street, but in Lyulin it has been totally the opposite. Our neighbours have gone out of their way to be polite and in helping my wife, our baby daughter and me.  My favourite example of this was when a neighbour from the top floor of our block was standing on her balcony and saw my wife struggling to get the pushchair into our entrance on the ground floor. Without even being asked, the neighbour came downstairs in her slippers to help with the push chair. At this time of year, there are always people in the cafes that are on every corner, or just sitting chatting in little groups on the benches in the (overgrown) gardens.

As for being an Englishman in Lyulin, Bulgarians are always intrigued to know why a foreigner would choose to live here, in a place that many of them wouldn’t even dream of visting themselves. It has also seems to work wonders when dealing with certain officials, to drop into the conversation where I live!

Once you see past the drab, grey blocks (which actually house some very nice and well looked after apartments), Luylin really does have it all, it’s almost like a separate town where you can do everything without venturing into the centre at all. So next time you’re leaving the Arena cinema on Pirotski Boulevard, turn right towards the tunnel, and see what you’ve been missing!

Andrew Willis

Sir
Reading Mr (Peter) Knight in issue 25 (Letter to the Editor, ‘Cross-Cultures and Sub-Cultures’) left me in a good mood, in contrast to most of the contributions in this column describing life in Bulgaria.

Apart from the occasional letter praising the country’s natural beauty and pleasant climate, the column contains a depressing stream of contributions describing unfortunate encounters with Bulgarian authorities.

Mr Knight’s article doesn’t deny the the problems, but instead of complaining of unfair treatment, he makes the effort of trying to understand why the problems exist and points to possible solutions.

I know that dealing with Bulgarian officials can be trying, since many of them seemingly have not grasped the fact that times changed 17 years ago, and that whipping people around is no longer part of their job description. So the complaining is valid and understandable, besides sharing unpleasant experiences can have a temporarily cathartic effect.The only problem is that the problem is still there and will show its ugly frustrated head by next encounter, and trust me, there will always be a next one

Personally I try to tackle difficult situations with the bureaucracy by taking a philosophical perspective. Besides, it helps to think about how privileged I am compared with the locals. Should it all be too much for me, I can just leave. Bulgarians don’t have this option. So far this has kept me from going bananas, though I must admit I have not met Maria Lousia yet.

Geir Thomassen
Lovetch