November.
Well, life has certainly taken a different turn here. This year has been quite difficult and strange cos I have been full of thoughts about why I’m here and what could happen next. I wasn’t going to stay here for the winter but Jess being ill changed all that so I decided to think more positively about the winter and I suddenly had to be organised for major hibernation – I’m experienced in that now of course!
Anyway I think my whole energy focus changed with that decision and maybe that opened the door to opportunity – first of all we made our first sale. Lisa from Ireland has bought The Jungle. She came over last week and I had almost a week of the intricacies of Bulgarian bureaucracy. But it’s all sorted now – just waiting for the Company documents. While we were talking to a guy in Osikovo about Lisa’s place, he asked if I wanted to buy a car and it was just what we were looking for – a 1500 Moskovits – a Russian antique with character. It’s a great little car actually it’s a got the feel of a tank about it – it feels really solid and potholes are not much of a problem – I think I’m going to enjoy it but here’s what happened when we made the deal.
Semo, who was selling it, came and took me and Jordan to Popovo. First we went to the Notary- this is someone who certifies things, swears oaths and generally ensures the validity of deals and documents. They don’t seem to do any ongoing work – they just have steady stream of people waiting outside their door for certification and a stamp. The one yesterday had not a scrap of paper on his desk – in fact there was nothing at all in the room – not even a file but…they do make money. He was overseeing our deal – this involved him generating 4 sheets of paper, all to be signed, stamped and entered into the ledger. It took about 30 minutes and cost 37 leva. There were about 6 people waiting outside when we left so I guess that this guy takes about 60-70 leva an hour – when you think that the average teacher’s salary is around 300leva a month, then he’s doing alright.
So that was the sale done, now I had to reregister the car. To the first office to get my details on the computer and first big problem because my details don’t fit. Everyone in BG has a personal ID number and every computer, database, form and official document is geared to this number – a UK passport does not have the same number of digits so it doesn’t fit. This happens all the time and it’s a right hassle. So then I had to drive back into the town centre and go to the bank to pay for this change – they don’t collect money at the car office – another computer hassle about the ID number. Then back to the car office for the new documents and then, the best thing of all …. the BG equivalent of the MOT had expired. So we drove to this little garage, no appointment, and had the test …. which took the grand total of 7 minutes! They checked the brakes, told me a headlight wasn’t working then went underneath and poked everything for, oh, about a minute and then that was it – the 25 year antique car had passed. I commented on this to Jordan and he said that they would have known it was an old car so they made allowances! I still have two other departments to go and visit before the car is finally legal but nearly there.
This car also has a choke – remember them? I’ve never driven a car with a choke and now I have to develop a relationship with it so I stop juddering along the road and looking like a fool.
So I have a share in a car, the beginnings of a business and my next mission in life is the internet. This is going to happen -it has too –I have so much work to do this winter and I suddenly have loads of questions that need answering – like how do I perfect the distillation of alcohol, what’s the best natural insulation, some new chutney recipes, Newcastle’s scores, etc.
Another thing that’s changed around here is that Little Jackie is lost. She has been gone about a week now and I’m trying not to think about it too much but it’s very sad. Drago was not very helpful with his mime of how she probably died. Jess is a bit better lately – she has a weak heart and she’s just slowed down a lot. She’s 18 now which is a lot in dog years so she’s doing canny really. She just been to the vet for massive dose of vitamins and glucose – an hour on a drip but she was ok about it. While I was there I saw a dog’s spleen. The vet had just been removing one in an operation and it was sitting in a tray. Very interesting – not everyday you get to look at a dog’s spleen.
I have two books to read right now – Hot, Flat and Crowded by T. Friedman, and A World without Bees – Einstein reckoned we would survive for around 4 years without bees and they’re dying in massive numbers. The first book is trying to educate Americans about the reality of global warming – it’s very readable and the statistics are mind boggling but actually what the 2 books made me realise, was how much this place is, or could be a safety net. Nothing is exactly safe of course, but life here is so much about just what’s happening here and about growing things and not wasting stuff, it seems almost detached from the global economy. People around here don’t have credit and they’re not really consumers so although the price of bread has gone up and petrol is expensive, the vegetables are still growing, my well is full of water and if I had chickens, they’d be still laying eggs.
According to both these books, crunch time is coming now for the environment as well as for credit and the world economy and now I’ve started to move my attention to power and insulation. But that brings me back to the weather. Usually here, winter starts on the first week of November – the last 2 years it has snowed at that time. Right now, it’s about 20 degrees, the sun is shining and it’s going to be fine for at least the next week. In fact the weather has been so great the last 6-8 weeks; we’ve had a second spring. Things have grown again and the flowers have come out. Even in the couple of years I’ve been here, I’ve noticed a change in the climate and of course local people see it much more drastically. This is the other side of not being dependent on a global economy – we are very dependent on the weather and it’s easy to forget how very dry it is here. It hasn’t actually rained since mid September and before that, it was the beginning of July, so we need the snow to refill the water table.
Global warning aside, we are having the most glorious autumn – it seems to be going on and on and every time I look up, the colours are different – mostly all yellows now but loads of leaves still on the trees. Coming from the UK and especially from the North East, I am used to wind, in fact, like most Brits, I guess I used to take it for granted. When ever I am somewhere without wind, I find the stillness unsettling. That’s been the case here up to now but I have turned a corner – I’m suddenly quite tuned into stillness. I can feel it sometimes – the air is so still and everything is so calm that’s its almost palpable. And once you feel comfortable with the stillness, you can listen to the sounds – not noises, but sounds. There is no background drone of traffic or industry or anything like that. If you go and sit on the hill at the end of the field, you’ll maybe hear dogs, a donkey braying, cow bells, jackals and wolves howling at night, a saw, some metal banging and probably some noises that you cant identify – and in between and around the sounds, is silence and stillness.
I’ve had a few emails lately from people who want to give up life in the UK and start again here –it’s very exciting and this village could be an amazing place in few years – it is now of course but I mean in terms of energy and activity.
Its great when I meet innovative people around here and I’ve just had three inspiring conversations. In the last couple of days I’ve learned about heating water by dropping down a big height, like my well, and then through a few coils and back up by which time its hot! That’s the limit of my understanding of that technology but it sounds interesting. Also had some news ideas on compost toilets, irrigation systems, soil tonics and chimnies. The fun thing is that we’re all here trying to do things differently- we’re learning from our neighbours but then maybe adding extra bits to their traditional ways; some people have skills and knowledge about things like draught systems etc but for the most part, we’re making it up as we go along and sharing that learning. And I meet people who are coming here to really get into something that they love – like keeping horses – wonderful riding around here on all the common land and forests; keeping pigs and making first class sausage; making hard cheese (yes please hurry up!); biodynamic gardening; making furniture out of the wonderful local wood; water technolgy or whatever. There are lots of people where who have sold a house in the UK and now live a comforatble ex-pat life but there is a growing number of people who can see this place as a way to fullfil a dream about owning land and living more sustainably. Or maybe to put a plan into action in a way thats not possible in the UK or any developed country for that matter. I get escapees from all over Europe and of course the US.
A funny note to end on – I went to visit some friends in a nearby village last night, got home about 1am and realised that I didn’t have my house keys. I also lost a cake last night – another story but they could be connected. Anyway, the only way to get in was to get a ladder and climb thru a window – that was OK for me but getting Jess up and thru was quite a hassle. She wasn’t very impressed but I thought it was funny. This morning I was woken by Baba Penka rapping her stick on my window and then she couldn’t understand why I couldn’t come out and we had to talk out the window. Later Jorge saw me climbing out the window with Jess and when he stopped laughing, he reminded me that I had left a spare key at his house – saved.
PS on 13th Nov – special thanks to Lisa who send me the Obama Guardian. I have an American volunteer here right now and we’ve read the entire paper and I’ve learned loads about American politics. Lets just pray he comes up with the goods.
Also…winter is here. It was minus5 the other night but the sun is still warm for an hour or so around mid day then 4 o’clock the temperature plummets. No snow yet but the moon calendar says Dec 6th is the day and then the big snow on 29th. We’ll see. I’m very happy to be looking at the enormous pile of wood I’ve got and I was thinking about thermal vests today. Needless to say, all of my neighbours are already wearing 9 layers of everything and heating their kitchens to sauna proportions.
Lots of love from Voditsa.