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Are you thinking of moving to Bulgaria and wondering if it will be a good fit for you?

Are you a foreigner living in Bulgaria who needs some insider tips on how to deal with everyday situations, such as going to the doctor, paying your bills, getting a taxi, etc.?

Are you interested to know what life is like in the small Balkan country of Bulgaria?

Everything You Need to Know about Living in Bulgaria is a detailed practical guide for foreigners living in Bulgaria and an honest overview of Bulgarian lifestyle and culture for anyone looking to understand why things work the way they do (or don’t) in this country.

Get the book here, or read a free excerpt here.

The Book

Complete Guide to Living in Bulgaria

Moving to a new country is like entering a new world where different rules apply, and it takes a while before you can fully understand them. Not knowing the language and not having any close friends, it may be quite frustrating to handle even simple daily tasks, let alone sort out the basics – how to get a job, a place to live and a residence permit.

Everything You Need to Know about Living in Bulgaria is a handbook for expats in Bulgaria covering all important aspects of modern-day life in this country without hiding its various problems. It can give you a general overview of Bulgarian culture, history and economy, as well as lots of practical advice on learning the language, where to go, how to register a business, enroll in a Bulgarian university, etc.

Living in Bulgaria can be unimaginably crazy, challenging and rewarding. You are welcome to experience it for yourself! I just want to share with you my Bulgarian perspective, give you some detailed practical information, and, hopefully, inspire you to take the leap and discover the beauty off the beaten track of Europe.

The Author

My name is Liliana Chernin, and I am a writer, reader, teacher, learner, but most importantly – a life explorer.

I have a passion for languages and travel, and occasionally I share my excitement about these topics with the readers of Beyond the Language Barrier and Lily Can’t Stand Still.

Even though I enjoy traveling to distant places, I am always thrilled to go back home. Bulgaria is like that crazy lover you want to leave but something always draws you back there.

As a native Bulgarian, I wanted to show my perspective on life in this little-known country. This is how Everything You Need to Know About Living in Bulgaria was born.

Bulgarian Language

Cyrillic characters

Bulgarian is a Slavic language, and it’s similar to other Slavic languages, such as Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Serbo-Croatian, and Macedonian.

Bulgarian language and its own alphabet

What makes it different from most other languages is its alphabet. We use Cyrillic characters (instead of Latin ones), so this is usually a challenge for Bulgarian language learners. However, it’s not that hard to learn as there are a lot of common characters that Cyrillic and Latin alphabet share. In this regard, Bulgarian alphabet is easier to comprehend than Chinese one, for example, but still, it takes some effort.

Bulgarian alphabet
This is the Bulgarian alphabet in all its glory!

Here is one Youtube video which can help you learn the alphabet. It’s part of my Basic Bulgarian language course which you can take on Udemy.

How to read in Bulgarian

The video below is part of the same course, and it can help you understand how we pronounce all these letters. I have used as examples some international words, such as ‘pizza’, ‘party’, and ‘internet’, so you can focus on the Bulgarian letters rather than on memorizing the words.

Bulgarian Language 101: How to say … in Bulgarian?

Hello in Bulgarian is Здравей (Zdravei) .

If you’re talking to more than one person, it’s Здравейте (Zdraveite).

Thank you in Bulgarian is Благодаря (Blagodarya), or you can also use the French word Мерси (Mersi).

Good morning in Bulgarian is Добро утро (Dobro utro).

Happy birthday in Bulgarian is Честит рожден ден (Chestit rojden den).

If you want to learn more Bulgarian phrases, check this list of 18 Bulgarian survival phrases.

Your new best friend: English – Bulgarian dictionary

English-Bulgarian dictionary

There are many English-Bulgarian (and vice versa) dictionaries available online, but I like PONS for its thorough explanations.

Of course, you already know about Google Translate, and you’re probably already using it. While it’s still not perfect when it comes to translating complete sentences, it does a pretty good job with separate words. Also, the voice options can be particularly useful when you don’t know how to spell a word.

Travel

Are you planning to travel to Bulgaria? You can find plenty of information about recommended activities and places to visit all around the country in the travel section of Everything You Need To Know About Living In Bulgaria.

Image by: Evgeni Dinev @ Flickr

Travel blogs about Bulgaria

Travel blogs are another great source of tips from fellow travelers. Here is a list of blogs which will inspire you to travel to Bulgaria:

Eat Stay Love Bulgaria is a website dedicated to helping visitors to Bulgaria. There is loads of information not only on things to do but also on life and culture in this country. You can also read some expat stories to get an even better idea of what to expect.

Bulgarian on the Go is a Bulgarian girl’s blog with articles about many European countries. The Bulgarian section has just a few posts (as of 2020), but they are quite interesting and have some amazing photos.

Winter in Bulgaria
Winter in Bulgaria

Travelling Buzz will show you hidden gems to discover when you travel to Bulgaria. This blog section has everything you may need – from recommendations for places to inspiring reasons to visit this country.

Chasing the Donkey is a travel blog focused on this incredible corner of the world known as the Balkans. The Bulgarian section will give you plenty of ideas on things to do. This may be the start of a longer journey around some of the neighboring countries.

Andrey Andreev’s website will give you a glimpse of the most beautiful places in Bulgaria seen through a professional photographer’s lens. The stories and photos of small historical towns and impressive natural landmarks will have you want to pack your bags and travel to Bulgaria immediately!

And before you leave for Bulgaria, be sure to learn more about local food and some basic phrases.

Bulgarian Food

Introduction to Bulgarian Food

Bulgarian food is rich in distinctive flavors. It tastes like sun-kissed veggies, deliciously salty, firm cheese and lean meat slowly cooked in a wood oven.

Bulgarian food

Trying traditional cuisine is a must when visiting a foreign country, and Bulgaria has a lot to offer. Prepare yourself for surprising combinations which may quickly become your new favorites, and use every chance to taste local dishes.

Follow this link to read a free excerpt from the Food section of the book Everything You Need To Know About Living In Bulgaria. This should be a good start of your journey of exploring Bulgarian food. Also, you will probably get some ideas of dishes you definitely want to try.

Traditional Bulgarian food

Recipes

Many of these dishes can be found on most traditional Bulgarian restaurants’ menus. However, if you feel adventurous enough, why not try to prepare them yourself? It will be easier if you do it while in Bulgaria, or at least somewhere where Bulgarian food products are available. It’s just that you can’t get a truly authentic flavor with non-Bulgarian ingredient substitutes, especially when cheese and yogurt are concerned. Yet, if you really want to get a sense of what to expect or just feel like experimenting with foreign cuisine, do give it a try regardless of where you are!

Let’s start with a starter: Shopska Salad (recipe). It’s very simple to make and surprisingly delicious. You need high-quality tomatoes (aka tomatoes that don’t taste like plastic) to get why Bulgarians adore this salad.

Shopska Salad
Shopska salad: the queen of Bulgarian salads

Banitsa is another extremely popular Bulgarian food classic. Think of it as lasagna with egg and cheese filling and filo pastry instead of lasagna sheets. Also, it’s not a main dish but rather a snack or a breakfast meal. Check the recipe here.

Moving on to soups, tarator is a traditional cold soup. It’s really easy to make as long as you have Bulgarian yoghurt. Here is the full recipe. Just keep in mind you can skip the garlic, walnuts or dill if you don’t like any of these. The only mandatory ingredients are yoghurt and cucumber.

Tarator
Tarator, traditional Bulgarian cold soup

When it comes to preparing traditional Bulgarian food, my personal favorite is mish-mash. It is super quick and easy to make, and it’s also very nutritious. You can use fresh tomatoes and bell peppers in summer when they’re readily available and canned ones in winter; both options are equally delicious. Follow this link for the full recipe.

Panagyurski eggs is another really quick vegetarian meal. It’s basically poached eggs with cheese in yoghurt sauce. Still, don’t forget the paprika cooked in melted butter (or sunflower oil). This dish wouldn’t be complete without it. Here is the recipe.

Moussaka is a popular dish in many different countries but each one has its own version. The Bulgarian one has two main ingredients: potatoes and minced meat. This is why it’s easy to make even when you don’t have access to traditional Bulgarian food items. Check the recipe on this link.

Bulgarian moussaka
Bulgarian moussaka dish

Another classical Bulgarian dish which doesn’t require local products is kavarma. It can be made with chicken or pork, here is the chicken version recipe.

And the last recipe I want to share with you is sirene po shopski, or shopski style cheese (recipe). The tricky part is you need a special clay pot (called ‘gyuveche’) to make this dish. These are easy to find everywhere in Bulgaria, I’m not so sure about other countries. You can try using another baking dish, but if you’ll miss some of the authentic flavor of this Bulgarian classic.