By now you have heard about the great beaches along the Black Sea, or of the great ski resorts that Bulgaria offers. Now it's time to let you in on the secret that the Bulgarians never told you about.
     Most Bulgarians that you meet in America come from smaller towns, The few that you meet and are from large cities have relatives in Those small towns that they visit on holidays or while on vacation.

     Like most of the small countries, we are proud of intangible things like centuries of history, strong family ties, ancient legends… Bulgarians, in addition, are proud with their great sense of humor. We are the only country in the world with The Annual International Festival of Humor and Satire which is held in Gabrovo. Gabrovian people are well known for the preservation and enhancement of essential Bulgarian characteristics: conserving and reusing. They do not waste anything in Gabrovo! There, if you can roll up a string around your index finger at least once, save it! It can serve a purpose again.

      The Week before Easter Lent includes some interesting customs and rituals of asking forgiveness from parents, relatives, friends and neighbors. The entire week is meatless. Sunday, the last day, is known as Pokladi or Zagovezni. This is the time when younger people visit their parents and relatives and after kissing the right hand of the older person ask to be forgiven for any intentional or unintentional deeds that may have caused misunderstanding or strained relations. The Zagovezni supper ends with an exciting custom of Lamkane. A boiled egg or a piece of hard candy is tied to a thread and suspended from the ceiling above the dining table...

     The most significant event in the Bulgarian history, occurring in the first half of the ninth century, was the creation of the Slavic alphabet and the subsequent emergence of the Slavic literature.
      In the course of three centuries, the Bulgarian state had achieved considerable social, economic and political progress. To satisfy its cultural and educational needs the Slavic part of the nation was in demand of an alphabet other than the Greek. In Bulgaria, such an alphabet was needed especially after Tzar Boris declared Christianity to be the official religion in the country in 885.
      The Slavic alphabet was created by the famous Slavic educators - the brothers St. Cyril and Methodius. They were born in Salonika, the capital of Macedonia. St. Methodius was born in 825; and St. Cyril in 827, his original name was Constantine. Their father, Leon, was a nobleman and Byzantine magistrate.

     Rila Monastery
     The monastery is situated at 1147 m above sea level amidst beautiful scenery in a hard-to-reach part of Rila Mountain, 117 km south-west of Sofia. Two swift- antechamber flowing rivers- Drushliavitsa and Rilska, flow on either side.
     It was founded by the hermit-monk Ioan Rilski and his disciples around 930 AD. Interest in the monastery is rekindled during the Middle Ages, when many Bulgarian tsars and noblemen make generous donations. It has survived many fires and raids. Together with the maintenance buildings, the monastery forms a large architectural complex.

     TRUE TALES OF LOVE AND LUST IN THE LATER YEARS
     She Trusts Me, She Trusts Me Not.
     It’s all about loose marbles.

     Most people will agree that trust is a very important part of love. In Beverly’s case, I don’t know which cancelled out the other. Did she stop loving because she couldn’t trust or did she stop trusting because she didn’t feel loved? Here is her story. You be the judge.