When His messengers conveyed God's words to mere mortals in the form of scripture, I believe they intended for His heavy invocation for whatever matter needed resolve. To which book one subscribes to or a total refusal of it, is another topic of discussion. The fact of the matter is that I've been wishing for heavy precipitation in my village since January, after hearing about the snow-storms and shut-downs back home. Some may find it an ill will. But you see, in the past couple of weeks the temperature buoyed somewhere in the upper 60s, bright sunny days to make even Droopy happy for once. As comfortable as that was, I wondered to myself, "what kind of a winter is this?! An effect of global-warming I suppose..." "Well, at least I can throw the Frisbee around....", I carried on about the days. But what I secretly prayed for was a bit of snowfall, heavy snowfall, perhaps. The effect of snow, albeit miserable in the villages when the streets turn in to a muddy slush, is also very charming. The entire landscape in Borino is a mystic white place. And one can never have too much fun in the snow! So I prayed (I actually didn't. Just wishful thinking). I complained about it to my villagers and friends. Some laughed, some snared and some even sympathised. Call it awesome mind power or just plain expected, snow finally came on Monday. And it's been snowing since then with a total accumulation exceeding 21 centimeters!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Balkan gas row & me
There's something in Bulgaria for which I am thankful - cheap bread. Bread being the staple of every Bulgarian, a loaf may cost as low as .80 stotinki (60 cents) at the local grocery establishments. Baked daily, fresh bread is always bountiful. However, friends and foes are equally aware of my affinity for the whole-grain kind. Because variety-seeking is a luxury merely endeavored here in the staples section, to buy multi-grain over the regular white has a hefty cost - a whole Lev (BG currency). So here's the catch. Only one store in my village carries that bread. Last week, when I went to the store to re-fill my cabinet, I noticed it didn't have my bread. Instead, there sat a stack bagged in blue label. Naturally I asked about them to which the shop keep replied, "wheat". Consequently, I bought a loaf, something I had to suffice with for now. When I ran to the store to buy more bread next time, those blue bags were sitting over the counter again. This time I grew curious and asked the shopkeeper why she wasn't carrying any multi-grain bread in orange bags anymore. After brief exchange of whatnot, she speculated that it was due to the recent gas shut-off from Russia that caused the bakery to stop making multi-grain bread. So how had the Russian-Ukrainian gas conflict affected me you ask? Well, it wasn't the obvious. I don't have a gas furnace to heat my place; I use wood. I am glad the gas flow is resumed. Now hopefully my bread will come soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)