[Brian]

I actually get that newsletter also and he is pretty much spot on. The only time I ever had communication issues in Sofia were when dealing with people over 40 or 50. Keep in mind if you are 15 or 25 in Bulgaria there is a very high chance you were brought up on US based entertainment. I met a girl whose favorite show was Sex in the City. There is limited opportunity over there and if you dont know English there is probably much less opportunity. That being said, I never made it out of Sofia and to the second tier cities. But as far as Sofia goes, he is correct.

[BalkanCynic]

(07-05-2011 01:01 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

"Bulgaria, from where I write this letter, is an interesting case. As the poorest member of the EU, there is a lot of opportunity at face value. Labor is dirt cheap. Property is dirt cheap. Living costs are a joke. English is widely spoken and is, in fact, more prevalent than Russian in the capital city."

http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/where-...tually-pay

Can anyone confirm this?

Interesting how he introduces bulgaria by writing about their olympic past... many of these athletes became mobsters or politians, sometimes both. Still the article speaks the truth.

-English literacy is high in the younger generation, below 25 years old. But the more attractive a girl is, the least likely she is to speak english. To put this in perspective, Poland has a much higher fluency. When's the last time you met a bulgarian shopkeeper who spoke english?

-Many multinationals are setting up shops there, that's also true. What soverignman fails to mention are the piss poor work ethics, inadequate education, high corruption and the communist-like bureaucracy.

-The low tax rate and cost of living could allow a foreigner to take a small pay cut and save as much as he would be if living in the USA.

-Minimum wage of $185: I don't know anyone willing to even work for that. 500 euros is what many aim for.

The US embassy in Sofia wrote a more accurate cable. It reads like great literature : http://www.balkanleaks.eu/09sofia154.html

[Brian]

in regards to the Cable a lot of that is true, but it makes it sound much worse then it actually is. the buildings are old and gray but frankly having spent time in one they are better constructed then most apartments in the US. trash wasnt that bad. some cars did park on the sidewalks but the sidewalks sort of accomodate this. are their corrupt gangsters? sure. but they mind their business if you mind yours. i will tell you this - Sofia is probably better run the most of Washington DC and I would feel a whole lot safer in any street in Sofia then I would in most of the DC streets outside of Northwest.

[K-man]

I was at the beach for a week, so just tuning in now.
Re: the article, if you want to do business in Bulgaria, for $185 a month you can hire a 45-year old gypsy woman who never went to school to sweep your floors. Yes, it is legal to pay her that little but she won't be working too hard for it, and would be looking to pinch unattended stuff lying around the office.
For the above-mentioned 500 euro, you can hire an English-speaking University graduate, but they won't be trained to a Western standard. Work ethic also poorer than in America, in the sense that they will come to work at 9 and leave at 5, and shit like "Yeah, I need you to come on Saturday too" won't fly.
For 1-1.5k EUR/mo. you can hire a quality employee. Of course, for managers or highly skilled workers you need to pay more.
Tax rate is 10% indeed.

[european_lover]

Sunny beach used to be super wild. (I also liked Sofia when I went there, I had the feeling the girls were extremly friendly. But that was already 10 years ago and few tourists went there back then). Actually the first times I went there I got very little, which really fustrated me, because many people in the end of the night and often also my friend would make out in “La Bomba” in Nessebar (the club doesn’t exist anymore) or especially the “Lazur” in Sunny Beach. Anyway, even though I had no game, the first week I went there I nearly got a nice Russian (but I was really too stupid and destroyed it), the second time I got a German.

The last time I went there in 2009, only for a couple of days, and I was quite unsuccessful, I had the feeling the spirit was not the same as my first times there. But the guys from Rome and Naples with their direct game seemed to do well. I remember the Swedish girls were extremly unfriendly and only wanted to speak Swedish (they have a club with only Scandinavian people!). There was also a new posh club with Bulgarian mafia inside, which was just scary: the girls were top, but the guys understood no fun.

Conclusion: Go there the last week of July, first week of August, many amazingly beautiful girls. It used to be really easy to pull, but the glory days are over I have the feeling. Some years ago, in the end of the night half of the people ended up kissing on the dancefloor and going home together afterwards.

[Greek kamaki]

Sunny beach is frequented by Scandinavian, English and German tourists in the centre (where clubs are) and by Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and polish tourists in the periphery(Sunny beach is a huge complex of hotels with total capacity of 300000 beds.
Be careful for one thing in Bulgaria.If you hit this destination you are immediately perceived as cheap tourist who could not afford to visit a place like Ibiza or Geek island.So the initial perception of girls (especially Russian,Ukrainian) is negative.Bulgarian men look and behave like gangsters.
Out is good place only if you are young (below 28), muscular, athletic and tall so you can can make a difference on the beach or in club.

[moonlight_sonata]

Hey guys, does anyone have recent info on Varna? I'll be going there soon for 2 weeks and would like to hit some cool spots for night/day game. I'll also be in Sofia but it looks like there is plenty of info on the capital.