Long story short:
I was born in Bulgaria and my family came to Canada when I was still quite young (10). Anyway, my dad died late last month and we decided to hold the funeral in BG, since all our relatives are here. I don't want to get into details of his funeral (its rather personal), but let me say that the experience has left me utterly disgusted at what this society has evolved into.
Corruption here is simply beyond description. From the lowliest gravedigger to the highest ranking official, nearly everyone here is corrupt - everybody tries to get as much money out of you as they can. Policeman, doctors, lawyers, nurses, EVERYBODY!!!!! There aren't any laws, rules, morals or ethics, everybody is mean and nasty and corrupt. The beaurocracy here is overwhelming and everything is done with bribes -- I cannot count how many bribes we've given out since we came here 2 weeks ago.
In short, since the fall of communism, this society has taken the worst of communism and the worst of capitalism and has blended them in such a way it'll make most Westerns shiver.
And despite what some of you may think, this is not an exageration. Today I heard no fewer than 3 people say how incredibly bad Bulgaria has become and go into a rant similar to what I've said before. One person said "I never thought I'd live to tell my children to get as far away from this country as they can". To further support this, I know 1 person my age (20) that has no wish to leave Bulgaria. Everyone else is looking for a way to get out.
To be fair, there are still decent people left here, and I have nothing but pity for them. Over the last 2 weeks I've heard so many stories of so much suffering it's enough to make anybody's eyes water.
Some of you may be thinking Eastern Europe is improving due to some macroeconomic factors, but this is just another example of the GDP not telling your how good a country is. Here the country is only getting worse.
What makes this even more of a tragedy is that this is not what the country was like. The stories by mom tells me (and my dad used to tell me) are of a vastly different place. Sure there were limited freedoms, but there was order, security and a better lifestyle for almost everyone. A lot people would gladly go back to the communist days if they could.
And to make things even more depressing, Bulgaria is not a unique case. Greece seems a bit better, but not much. Romania and former yugoslav countries are in the same boat. I highly doubt the rest of eastern europe, russia, and former russian republics are any better.
Anyway, I am going to be back in Canada next week and I will not be comming back here (posting this from a net cafe). Shortly after that, I will go to the BG consulate and renounce my BG citizenship, because quite frankly, I've had enough of this country.
For the rest of my life, I will be only a Canadian and count myself extremely fortunate that I can live in such a great country.
I know this is borderline P&N material, but its kinda serious and could be considered an exposé on the current situation in Eastern Europe.
I was born in Bulgaria and my family came to Canada when I was still quite young (10). Anyway, my dad died late last month and we decided to hold the funeral in BG, since all our relatives are here. I don't want to get into details of his funeral (its rather personal), but let me say that the experience has left me utterly disgusted at what this society has evolved into.
Corruption here is simply beyond description. From the lowliest gravedigger to the highest ranking official, nearly everyone here is corrupt - everybody tries to get as much money out of you as they can. Policeman, doctors, lawyers, nurses, EVERYBODY!!!!! There aren't any laws, rules, morals or ethics, everybody is mean and nasty and corrupt. The beaurocracy here is overwhelming and everything is done with bribes -- I cannot count how many bribes we've given out since we came here 2 weeks ago.
In short, since the fall of communism, this society has taken the worst of communism and the worst of capitalism and has blended them in such a way it'll make most Westerns shiver.
And despite what some of you may think, this is not an exageration. Today I heard no fewer than 3 people say how incredibly bad Bulgaria has become and go into a rant similar to what I've said before. One person said "I never thought I'd live to tell my children to get as far away from this country as they can". To further support this, I know 1 person my age (20) that has no wish to leave Bulgaria. Everyone else is looking for a way to get out.
To be fair, there are still decent people left here, and I have nothing but pity for them. Over the last 2 weeks I've heard so many stories of so much suffering it's enough to make anybody's eyes water.
Some of you may be thinking Eastern Europe is improving due to some macroeconomic factors, but this is just another example of the GDP not telling your how good a country is. Here the country is only getting worse.
What makes this even more of a tragedy is that this is not what the country was like. The stories by mom tells me (and my dad used to tell me) are of a vastly different place. Sure there were limited freedoms, but there was order, security and a better lifestyle for almost everyone. A lot people would gladly go back to the communist days if they could.
And to make things even more depressing, Bulgaria is not a unique case. Greece seems a bit better, but not much. Romania and former yugoslav countries are in the same boat. I highly doubt the rest of eastern europe, russia, and former russian republics are any better.
Anyway, I am going to be back in Canada next week and I will not be comming back here (posting this from a net cafe). Shortly after that, I will go to the BG consulate and renounce my BG citizenship, because quite frankly, I've had enough of this country.
For the rest of my life, I will be only a Canadian and count myself extremely fortunate that I can live in such a great country.
I know this is borderline P&N material, but its kinda serious and could be considered an exposé on the current situation in Eastern Europe.