Your neighbours in Bulgaria

Our village neighbours are wonderful! So generous and welcoming. Sometimes overwhelmingly so, mine tends to give me far more food than I can possibly eat even in a month's visit, let alone when I can only be there for a week at a time. I'm sure she thinks I don't eat -- if you could see me, you'd know how ridiculous that idea is! But the food is always delicious.

She's introduced me to many other people in the village, generally made me feel very welcome, and invited me to numerous community events. The village is small but has an active cultural centre with many events there or at the school. She and her husband have helped me find the tradespeople to renovate my house and, both using Google Translate, enabled me to better communicate with them. Her husband has helped many times, letting the builders use his tractor to move materials, supervising work, driving me to Praktiker to order building supplies, welcoming my husband when he visited.

This neighbour also hosts frequent coffee mornings for the other neighbour women, and always invites me. I can't really join in the conversation but just by listening to the others speak, I'm learning a little more Bulgarian.

The part that feels awkward is that because my house is a building site still, I can't return their hospitality. Once the house is in a condition to entertain, I can't possibly match her superb cooking! And what do you take as a gift for people who grow and cook amazing food, make their own wine and rakia and other liqueurs? Chocolates and flowers or potted plants seem to be appreciated.

The other thing I learned for politeness - to take off my outdoor shoes when visiting someone's home. I soon learned to carry a pair of flat slippers in my bag (the sort given away free in nice hotels) to pop on, as I think bare feet are also seen as disrespectful, though socks are okay.

The neighbour on the other side, an older widow, has also been friendly and welcoming. I've only met Bulgarians in my village, as far as I know though there are a few expat-owned homes there are no full-time expats there at present.

My main need when it comes to my neighbours is to learn more Bulgarian!

Wash hands before food

Remove shoes

My Bulgarian neigjbours are friendly nice people. Only problems are the foreigners arguing each other.

I bring ibuprofen and oriental balm for my neighbours husband who has gout in one of his feet. I was shocked when I was with her in the village chemist that ibuprofen worked out at over a pound a packet when I can buy it in Lidl in the UK for around 39p. Been besties ever since.

In Bulgaria, I have the friendliest and most welcoming neighbours I've ever had, anywhere I've ever lived (which is a lot of countries).

Like others, I am embarrassed at my lack of reciprocation... But what can ya do?! :-)

Now, I just go with the flow... And try to remember to give them a little prezzie at christmas.

    I bring ibuprofen and oriental balm for my neighbours husband who has gout in one of his feet. I was shocked when I was with her in the village chemist that ibuprofen worked out at over a pound a packet when I can buy it in Lidl in the UK for around 39p. Been besties ever since.
   

    -@kath9483

Thats the same case across mainland Europe.

@gwynj Same here . I have the friendliest neighbours anyone could wish for . Thanks to all of them I am the recipient of free home made wine , rakija , fruits and vegetables and most important they all keep an eye open on my property when I return back home .

Our Bulgarian neighbours welcomed us with open arms from our very first visit, before we renovated our place, and just used it as a holiday home.

Fast forward to us living here for the past eleven years and our relationship has just blossomed further. We have had many an evening/ night at theirs, joined by & been introduced to their family, some of whom speak a little English  (the grandchildren).  It's a great way to improve ones Bulgarian, we always took our dictionary, before they had WiFi and Google translate, that is! Homemade wine, rakia, overflowing so always keep a little in your glass, as soon as it becomes empty, it is quickly refilled! Plentiful food and homemade deserts.

We were able to reciprocate once our house renovations were complete, and I had a kitchen! I gave them their first home made tikka masala 😆 and also introduced them to a Sunday roast, they adored home made Yorkshire puddings! They often asked for the recipe of some of the cakes I made and it was good to share different food experiences.

Unfortunately my neighbours husband passed away a few years ago, and it's a little difficult to have that same experience now, as it feels awkward with her not having him to chat to when we are a couple. He spoke a little English as he had relatives in America & wanted to learn. However, saying that, we are probably more involved in other ways now. If she has a problem with her car, she calls my husband to help, if there's a slipped roof tile etc moving furniture around, checking her blood pressure etc etc It gives her a lot of comfort to know we are just next door. And of course, we share our home grown produce and swap cuttings with one another 😊. It feels like, what having a neighbour used to feel like in the UK many many years ago, before my time!

@Jules999

Mine welcomed me by stealing 500lv of electric while we were in UK lol .. cut into the cable to the house and used clamps .. had to have steel welded round the cable .  Mind you the electric company made him have his meter outside after that ..   apparently it's common up in the mountains  for electric to be stolen

    @Jules999
Mine welcomed me by stealing 500lv of electric while we were in UK lol .. cut into the cable to the house and used clamps .. had to have steel welded round the cable .  Mind you the electric company made him have his meter outside after that ..   apparently it's common up in the mountains  for electric to be stolen
   

    -@philip Mckay

There are bad apples in every country sadly.

@philip Mckay

See you and raise you a house.

We had a whole house  stolen in the NW, took every single tile, brick, fixtures and fittings.

All that was left was the vehicle pit where the garage was and the well in the garden.

@grahamstark1 Oh my! I doubt anyone will be able to top that!

Was the house very isolated? Where my houses are the neighbours would be straight over to see what is going on. Removing all that stuff would have taken a lot of coming and going with a large vehicle.

Definitely at my the main house, there's no way anyone could steal as much as a single brick without my neighbours knowing, as they're the ones who've helped me get builders in so they know what I have planned for the place doesn't include demolition! With the older house that's semi-derelict in a different part of the village, the neighbours there would notice, too, but I guess if they were told I'd asked the thieves to demolish it and remove all the building materials, they'd believe it.

@janemulberry

It was on the edge of a very big village. Unfortunately it was left unchecked for 11yrs due to different circumstances.

That's sad.

@grahamstark1

oh my god really!  The house i bought up in the mountains was just a shell , 4 stories and all the electric cable had been ripped out  of the walls lol

you must have been horrified.  down in Byala they were going to build a tall ship port and this company bought land near it and started to build about 6 houses stranch 1 i suppose, then 2008 crash happened and killed the market and the port and many others projects like super borovets ski resort expantion,,, after that the houses were slowely stolen just like you your house

My neighbours were very friendly when we first moved in and we had a good relationship. We would regularly exchange bottles of whiskey and have dinner with them and they helped us when we had problems such as hornets nests. We felt very happy until this year.  as we have not visited our house in 9 1/2 years. The son has claimed the property and had the deeds put in his name so stolen the whole plot and house. Beware this is a law that was brought back into existence in December 22, where someone can claim to have had use of your property for 10 years and then they can have the deeds put in their name apparently - we are seeking legal advice about this. I would be grateful for any advice if anyone has had the same situation. we paid the taxes every year but did not pay the water in electric as we were not able to get there and thought that nobody was using our house.

@mrogers3

Yes it is law but there is Good Faith and Malafide Possession, also if the posessor  breaks the law to gain entry you can seek to have it overturned.

Thank you i will invesigate this

Good grief that sounds awful

What a horrible shock that must have been for you! Unfortunately the same thing can also happen in the UK. I hope getting a lawyer involved can sort things out.

I believe if we do let anyone use our property, for example letting someone graze animals or grow corn on a spare piece of land, there needs to be a written agreement and some sort of peppercorn rent to ensure they can't claim possession.

I believe if we do let anyone use our property, for example letting someone graze animals or grow corn on a spare piece of land, there needs to be a written agreement and some sort of peppercorn rent to ensure they can't claim possession.
   

    -@janemulberry

Yes, it is just like renting out a property, or room. You need a contract written up.

@janemulberry what if there was no permission given and no agreement surely someone can just take up occupancy on your land and then claim it. Especially if you have no knowledge of this.

apart from the sadness and joy on here regarding interactions there are some very good and informative comments on here.  many thanks to all ,  got something to do in the summer regarding fence posts and chain link fence lol 

@mrogers3 I'm not a legal expert. You really need to talk to a lawyer about this who understands Bulgarian law. It's possible that what they've done is legal, but I would think the fact you kept paying the council tax shows you hadn't simply abandoned the property and will count in your favour. I'm very sorry this has happened to you.

Thank you

@mrogers3

That's the difference between "Good Faith" and "Malafide". Good faith is if someone believes a property to be abandoned and there is open posession. "Malafide" is taking posession by breaking any law, however there is a limit of claim back of 5 yrs in some cases, so a property law specialist is the answer I'm afraid.

@mrogers3 It's exactly the same in the UK - a squatter can claim adverse possession of land or property in certain circumstances after they've been using it for 10 years..

@Cheryl Neighbours can be negative anywhere in the world. In spite of reluctance to relive my experience with negative neighbors, I can also allege that one member of the SOT ... Management (Security). Property- Bansko were part of the problem. I met with the SOT management who asked me to put in writing and send to manager. I did this twice   but never received response!!

Neighbours -Bulgarian and one Irish alcoholic (who dries his clothes on the inside stairway, stores his alcohol on the public window ledge, has painted his balcony Irish green and taken authority of the rear public area by marking the "his" taken territory with the same green paint splashed onto surrounding rocks! Plus his threatening behaviour. Police were called many times.

This Irish alcoholic joined forces with the BG neighbours and stole items and articles that I had stored just overnight outside my door whilst I moved out. I had been a good neighbour doing minor maintenance work and re-doing Irish botched handiwork. He also completely ignored the Bansko covid lockdown by getting the train to Razlog Lidl for his alcohol!

My vehicle was scratched/damaged many times, my front door lock superglued, my electricity turned off from meter during evening. I could go on, but it's too depressing. One outstanding memory with Bansko Police was when I went to report the main ringleader of mischief, not Irish, I was told before they would question him, I had to sign an order that stated that I will not make contact with the individual. Unbelievable, and they never got back to me either!

iu888888544,.mIt's certainly not unheard-of for COT to be part of the problem rather than the solution. 

Obviously, there are two sides to every story, but it sounds as though Orgone is well out of that situation.  Neighbour disputes are always bad news, wherever one lives.  Here in BG there's the "village mentality", which basically covers every bit of anti-social behaviour/annoyance that gets up the speaker's nose; this usually manifests itself in towns/cities and in apartment blocks, with people deciding that a part of the communal area is "their" personal property and guarding it zealously. 

Living in a detached house is always preferable, but no guarantee of a quiet life!  Living in a village exposes you to light-fingered neighbours, with some sectors of village society being, allegedly, more wont to regard all property as fair game.  Bulgarians are always careful to ask questions about just who lives in any given village, or quarter of a town/city, before buying property there.  I found myself in the ridiculous situation of being asked not to upset the jolly granny who lives further down the street from our village house, by telling her that her grandson and his druggie mates had burgled my house (causing a lot of damage in the process) and stolen thousands of euros of property. He's so stupid that the police even found my hi-fi and TV in his bedroom.....