So, we take it you are the adventurous type, aren’t you? *wink-wink* Okay, trolling aside for the next three rows. 😀

We want to challenge you! If you are already living in Bulgaria or coming for a visit, our greatest hope is, that you are either already loving it here, or that you are about to fall in love!

Bulgaria’s a tough candy, we all know that, but we believe that’s part of our country’s unique charm. That’s why, we’ve decided to challenge you to like it!

#ChallengeBulgaria is about the good & the bad stuff Bulgaria can offer, which from  а foreigner’s perspective may seem a little odd, “kind of charming”, “fucking awesome”, “sh*t a*s crazy”, or just like a big pain in the ass!

So, who’s up for a challenge? We are ready to get you all warmed up with the first 10!

1. Learn how to dance horo…

…and still be able to dance it after drinking 3 rakii! Cus’… that’s when we usually dance horo! 😀

What is more, if you opt for celebrating New Year’s Eve in Bulgaria you are basically obliged to dance horo at midnight. Right after we have listened to the president’s speech, Bulgaria’s national anthem, popped the champagne, greeted & kissed with everyone (meaning your closest family and friends, not literally everyone), right after that, we start dancicng horo!

Even if you somehow manage to hide from the horo-dancing on News Year’s Eve, there are plenty of other occasions when there will be some passionate Bulgarian horo-dancer to grab your hand and take you to dance floor (and dance floor is everywhere, where there’s a ground to step on).

Check out that cool video of people danicng “graovsko horo” during a big Christmas celebration.

2. When a Bulgarian baba (grandma) offers you more food…

…tell her you don’t want more! Someone please shoot with the camera.

Actually, when our fellow Bulgarian bloggers from the Travelling Buzz asked us what advice we would give to someone coming to Bulgaria, what we said was:

FOR GOD’S SAKE JUST EAT IT!!!

If I had to give you just the one advise I would say: If a Bulgarian “baba” (grandma) invites you to eat (cooks for you; offers you food; welcomes you into her home; etc.), never, NEVER say no. There’s no such thing as “Oh no, I am too full to eat” or “I don’t eat that or that” FOR GOD’S SAKE JUST EAT IT!!! Anything else wоuld upset the “baba” or could even make her mad… You don’t want to take that risk, I’m telling you!

In this case, we challenge you TO NOT follow our tip and to do the UNTHINKABLE – say “no” to a Bulgarian baba! 😉

If you would like to check out more useful tips, here’s the link to the full post by Travelling Buzz:

Things You Need to Know Before Visiting Bulgaria

3. Learn to drink an espresso for 2 hours

Oh well, we do enjoy a nice cup of coffee and we love to take our time to drink it. It’s like a ritual for us and it includes some good gossiping, flirting with the waiter/waitress, reading the news on our phone, chilling, staring at the people around or at the ceiling… you’ve got to try it!

Italians, I know this may sound like some crazy talk to you, but we challenge you to SIT and try to enjoy your coffee… for at least 2 hours! Tell us how it was after. #challengeBGcoffee

4. Drink hot rakia

Drinking cold rakia is for amateurs. Are you one? If you are, cheers! 😀

If you are not, what you have to do is heat up the rakia in a small pot on the oven/fire (ha) and serve it hot. That’s how we traditionally drink it in Bulgaria. Remember – do not boil the rakia! Cheers mates!

5. Describe the taste of boza with one word – #BozaChallenge

We have already challenged you on this one! Boza is a popular fermented beverage on the Balkans. In Bulgaria it is usually produced of wheat or millet.

The tricky part about boza is that it is really hard to describe it’s flavour. So, here’s your challenge. Buy one boza, drink it and try to describe it’s taste with one word. Awful or awesome don’t count.

6. Learn to read the Cyrillic alphabet

That’s only if you want to survive with all the signs in Cyrillic. 😉

You are probably thinking: “Yeah, right. As if it’s that easy.” Well, it is! A friend of mine from Portugal came to visit a few years ago. On the first day of her visit, she asked me to write her the Bulgarian alphabet on a peace of paper. She learned how to read each letter and then she started trying to read every single sign, that she would see on the street. On the forth or fifth day we were traveling by car to the city of Plovdiv and she was already reading the road signs! You see?? It’s quite doable!

7. Learn to say “Sheiset i shest shisheta se sushat na shoseto”…

…and do it fast! Шейсет и шест шишета се сушат на шосето or translated into English: “Sixty six bottles are drying up on the road”.

Not only will this improve your mastery over Bulgarian language, but it will also give you a good laughter (& a proper belly workout).

8. Okay, just learn some basic Bulgarian. Здрасти! Как си? К’во става? Една наливна Загорка моля! But no accent, dear friend!

7 advantages of speaking Bulgarian

9. Describe this monument with one world…

…and no, it was not intended to look like that!

Believe it or not, THIS on the photo is actually the monument “1300 Years Bulgaria”.The monument was built for eight months in 1981 and it is situated near the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. It is supposed to commemorate 1300 years of Bulgarian history.

10. Humor, humor, humor! Have it, love it, enjoy it!

It is essential that you love to joke around, that you can laugh at yourself and that you can laugh even on your darkest days. Because that’s how we the Bulgarians survive! There’s a lot of sh*t going around, but as you know – life is too serious to be taken seriously. 😉

#LoveBG

❤

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Cheers!