Historical Bulgarian of the Week - Veselin Topalov:
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Welcome back to Historical Bulgarian of the Week. My selection for this week is a young chess player by the name of Veselin Topalov ("Веселин Топалов"). He was born in the lovely city of Ruse, Bulgaria on this very day 33 years ago (15 March 1975).
Честит рожден ден Веселин! Това e еден чалга клип зa българите 'Честит рожден ден' песен ("Happy Birthday Veselin! This is one Chalga Clip for the Bulgarian 'Happy Birthday' song").
I myself am not a very good chess player but I respect the skill required to be one and among chess players Veselin is one of if not the best in the world. In 2005 he in fact won the World Chess Championship Tournament!
He was a chess prodigy. He started playing at the age of 8 and in 1989 he won the World Under 14 Championship in Puerto Rico. By 17 he was awarded the title of a Grandmaster of Chess! (Side note1- This is not to be mistaken for the old school rapper "Grandmaster Flash", who is pictured below- End side note1)
In 2005, like I mentioned before, he won the World Championships:
In 2006 he was voted to best chess player in the world:
He is still playing and traveling the world playing chess. In fact the most recent FIDE rankng list put out last January he was listed as the third best player in the world! And according to he has the highest "Elo score" ever recorded at 2813!
Now, I have no idea what an "Elo score" is but it sounds impressive to me! If you care to learn more about the "Elo scoring system" feel free to click here.
In closing Veselin, if you are reading this, congratulations on all your accomplishments and I hope that you have a healthy, happy and safe Birthday and I wish you success.
Tyler.Keith.Wasson.
Posted byPavel at 3:24 PM 1 comments
Labels: Bulgarian History
Smells of Bulgaria: Something’s Burning (and it’s not my cooking)
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The B22’s moved to site on October 18th right when the winter was really starting to set in. There were a few things that I remember about that time including the coldness of our cement apartment, the excitement of being able to cook on our own again (not without mistakes), and the ever constant smell outside of something burning. It made its way everywhere really, not even the city center was immune to the cloud.
Or this:
But when it is plastic and burnt down it looks something like this:
This is the residue left over from a burnt trash can after someone had cleaned it up!
Posted byUnknown at 11:13 PM 0 comments
Vafla of the Week: Borovets Chocolate-covered Vafla
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Before I begin my heartfelt explanation of the sensory explosion that is chocolate-covered Borovets vafla, I'd like to begin with an introduction to the broader topic of Vafli.
Vafli are a common treat here in Bulgaria, however there is no comparable snack item in the U.S.A. The closest thing that comes to mind are sugar wafers, but really this comparison applies only to structure and not at all taste. For you see, Vafli, in its most basic form is layers of wafers, chocolate and heaven.
Although I am a raving fan of Vafli, I wasn't aware of this tasty treat until sometime around my 2nd or 3rd month in Bulgaria. Other volunteers were fortunate enough to be force-fed Vafli by their host families. I was not so lucky. Since having fully embraced Vafli and integrating it into my diet, I consider those beginning months a tragic waste of time. So be it.
Some of you may be wondering why I alternate between Vafla and Vafli. If you are wondering, this is because you don't speak Bulgarian. Vafla is the singular form, and, as it is a "feminine" word, the plural is Vafli. ВАФЛА - This is how Vafla looks in Bulgarian script. I find it much more commanding and representative of the epic nature of Vafli.
Bulgarian language lessons aside, time to get down to business. As one of the (currently) 7 B22-Blogstars, I have decided to make my weekly entries about Vafli. This is because I love Vafli and because it leads to awesome stories. Since the Vafli market has thoroughly embraced capitalism, there are many different brands and types of this wonderful treat. I intend to sample one each week and write about it in excessive detail here. I eat Vafli all the time, but usually stick to the same brand, so my entries will be a fresh and exciting journey for all of us. In the event that I run out of brands to sample, I will try to start visiting factories or take other extreme measures to keep this column fresh while always relating to Vafli.
Ahh the Borovets Chocolate Covered Vafla - marvel at its majesty. Ever since I began to dabble in the world of vafli this has been my all-time favorite. Perhaps the best way to describe it would be as though you found a rose with no thorn; pure beauty with none of the pain of the modern world. Usually, when feeling down or answering my desire for sweets, this is what I reach for (Vafli really has served as a comfort food after many a crappy day). A mere 25 or 30 stotinki (cents) for all the magic of the world.
Here is the naked Vafla out of its wrapper. Look at the ripples of flavor and the consistent chocolate shell. Although chocolate coated vafli are very common, it is one step away from the traditional vafla. The old school or "usual" vafli have no chocolate coating. I enjoy it both ways. That's on a normal sized cutting board, so you see it's quite a bit of majesty for 25 stotinki. Alright, I can't just look anymore, I need a bite!
Oh, that was fantastic! This vafla has the perfect mix of wafers, chocolate and heaven. It's almost overwhelming. Perfection.
Normally vafli would never make it home without being bitten. Truthfully, most do not even make it home. I usually have the wrapper torn open on my way out of the store. However, this was a scientific endeavor, so I had to exercise patience. Now have a look at the glorious flavor layers.
Due to being in a state of vafla-euphoria I didn't get a focused shot, but I think you get the idea. The light layers are the wafers, the dark ones the chocolate. The mixing of the layers is the heaven. I attempted to take more picture of my vafla eating experience, but since my instincts were focused on devouring the vafla, they didn't come out so hot. Once I gorged my vafla in about 6 bites, I decided to take a closer look at the beautiful packaging that makes it "the blue borovets".
Note the excellent graphic design. The crisp-yet-rugged letters spelling "Borovets" set in front of snow-capped mountains. The reason for this is that this brand of Vafla is named after Bulgaria's oldest ski resort, Borovets. It is a fitting name, since the majesty of Borovets vafli more than matches that of the Rila Mountains. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say they named the resort after the Vafla.
Although you can't see it, the label says "A quality product from Day and Night Ltd". This is the company behind the genius. They make a variety of vafli, and their sweet website tells you about their production process. They pump out 30,000,000 vafli every month! Better still, they are ramping up to double their production! This might be the best news I've ever read on the internet. You can read more about their varieties of vafli on the site, but don't bother since I will be reviewing them all here anyway.
Back to the wrapper. The back tells you that this 55 grams of goodness provides 285 calories of energy! That means you can meet your caloric intake with around 7 of these bad boys! I think I might have a new diet. They also list the ingredients, link to the website and give an email address! I might send them a link to this and see if they will hire me as a vafla taster/reviewer/Arch Duke of Vafla.
Since I find this to be the ultimate vafla, on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being trash and 10 being vafla-tastic), the chocolate covered Borovets vafla receives a 9.99999. It would certainly be a 10, but I reserve that there may be a greater vafla out there, and if so, I intend to find it.
Vafli yours,
George Vaflington
Posted byThomas at 12:01 AM 2 comments
Labels: Vafli
pop! of the week: Ken Lee (tulibo dibo doucho)
Monday, March 10, 2008
It's hard to say exactly what's going on here, but from what I can tell, the sky is just a little bluer and maybe the birds have starting singing a little louder. Yes, that's right my friends, the nauseating and disappointing smell of perhaps the last seven months is quickly dispersing in the quick and fresh spring air. Daily awkward moments thrive in the sunlight, and I’m once again free to walk the streets without fear of snowballs launched at me. Oh there are many things about spring in Bulgaria that we wait throughout winter with anxiety for. Most obvious of course are the cute little sweethearts that eventually turn into street roving maniacs. Well, sure, it is open season for cat sex; but cut and dry, straight to the point, I'm talking about Bulgarian Music Idol.
To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing more serious here (save maybe Hristo Botev's beard) than our annual competition showcasing the best-voiced beauty in all the Balkans.
Look what at what we came up with last year:
and of course, the Balkan Whitney Houston:
This year gets off to an even better start: Ken Lee!
In this weekly Monday post, we will explore all the complexities of Bulgarian pop music. Stay tuned, the fun is just starting.
Posted byshizzaun at 8:58 PM 0 comments
Baba of the Week: Baba "Janet"
There are so many great babas to choose from here in my town. They range in all different shapes and sizes, some more spherical then others. The one that I chose for baba of the week this week is the one that makes me the most happy in the morning. I always have a groggy start to every morning, either from the previous night’s rakia fest or the “special” channels after dark. Either way, I always dread waking up in the morning. The one thing that does get me out of bed though is the local magazine baba, which for this blog’s purposes, will go by the name of Janet.
Janet is a jovial character whom never seizes to amaze me with her 8 in the morning “spunk”. Her magazine stand is on the way to the municipality and I see her everyday. The magazine is simple and is pentagonal in shape. She does not sell coffee or banitsa like other “sell out” magazine stands. She is 100% original, cut and dry, straight to the point. The selection ranges from Atlas in 4 different languages, National Geographic and Playboy. What makes this stand and the educator of the community any different? It is the sales techniques of the salesbaba. Janet, through her realization of her predecessors’ failures, does not sit in her stand hiding from her clients. She does not moan at the fact that you give her a 10 leva bill for a 50 stotinki paper. She addresses her cliental face to face, outside of the stand. Every morning she says hello and good morning to her passing community members in hopes that they may need the latest addition of Cosmopolitan. Not a fan of Cosmo, for you manly man, she will gladly point out the inappropriately dressed female on this months issue of FHM.
When I sat down with Baba “Janet” for an interview, I asked her a few questions:
Me: Baba “Janet”, you joined some pretty elite company when you decided to start selling newspapers. Is this what you saw yourself doing 60 years ago.
Baba “Janet”: Well, I wanted to be a pet store owner. Gosh, those little puppies really stole my heart when I was little. But over time, I realized that these cute little sweethearts eventually turned into street roving maniacs. How could I have a business selling puppies when I knew someday, they would be the ones keeping up at night with there barking. Besides, there was barely a market for puppies in my village.
Me: Where did you acquire your sales skills that have made you one of the most successful business entrepreneurs in the community?
Baba “Janet”: Probably not from my father. He was the quite, agricultural type. He spent most of his days in the field tending the crops. My mother was the outgoing one of the family. When we were younger, my brothers and sisters would make crafts in our free time. We gave them to our mother, thinking they were the best creations on the planet (Sticks tied together with string makes wonderful creations), and she would try to sell them to the others in the community. Her contagious personality and charisma allowed her to sell these with ease. So, I would have to say that I learned my business skills from her.
Me: So is there a Man in your life
Baba “Janet”: Who, “Hank”? I left that drunkard many years ago. It’s just me now and I am better for it.
Me: In closing, Could you tell me some of your favorite magazines that you read.
Baba “Janet”: Man, there is just so many. I would have to say Garden Monthly is a must read for me. But I am also guilty of taking a peek at the new Barbie magazine every now and then.
At 74, Baba “Janet” stands as a pillar of the community by bridging generations with her personality. She wakes up everyday with energy and excitement that will ingnite the community with a reason to walk to work. At least that’s the way I see it.
For your achievements, Mrs. Baba “Janet”, we salute you.
Signing off, your field reporter
Brian Fantana
You Stay Classy Bulgaria
Posted byChase at 9:45 AM 0 comments
