Rainy days

The rain continues to fall. It's been raining for a couple of days already. Sofia is a damp and greyish place.
Specialists were drawing attention to the huge drought which would have tur ned most of the crops aeund the country into ash. Instructions were made to inhabitants of regions most threatened to save water supplies.
Now the danger has been reduced. I suppose besides the mud and water all around many people are happy. There will be no draught, at least for the next few weeks...
The city is another story though. People here are not personally connected to the events areound the country. They work in the services and industry sector, they can buy anything from the supermarkets. If anything couldn't be produced here in Bulgaria because of the drought, they will buy imported goods. That's why it's most probable that one hears complaints of the rain.
If I have to enumerate the probable reasons, they would be:
- it's not convenient for street walks
- it's much cooler so we can't wear our summer clothes
- holes in the street coverage can't be seen by the drivers because they are filled with water
- holes filled with water are the puddle nightmare of pedestrians
- umbrellas get easily broken
- dusty Sofia becomes muddy Sofia
and etc., etc...
But what's the problem? This moments are some of the few times when Sofia resembles Venice (because the shafts are blocked with garbage and the water starts flowing in the streets).
Apart from the negative emotions that rain brings, there are also positive ones. As a friend of mine said, the city becomes much cleaner than it is normally. The lightnings and thunders make us feel that there's also nature around us, not only the ugly grey panel blocks.

Drivers didn't protest, but cyclists did.

The big news is that the strike of the public transport drivers was cancelled. They had a deal for salary increase. The municipality and the government had no option but to agree. If there were a strike, the whole capital would have been blocked and all citizens would have been very dissatisfied with their refusal.
Well, 200 leva (including taxes and social insurance payment) isn't much in my opinion, but yet if this is what the drivers want, then it's OK.
I just don't see why people always rely on the municipality and the government? Perhaps that's the easiest way??? In my opinion the better option would have been to stress more on advertisement spaces. It's an area not developed enough and the public transport company could make much more profit than now.

There wasn't a strike of the drivers, but there was a protest of the cyclists. I happened to be exactly on the spot where they gathered and started their protest: at NDK. They wanted more cycling areas in the city. One of the slogans was: "We don't stop the traffic", adressing the just-cancelled strike of the drivers.
Generally, there are almost no such areas in the city. The only ones are around NDK, but it's definitely not enough. When there are pedestrians walking over the lines or cars parked on the sidewalk, they have no option but to ride in the street...there's no need to mention that streets are dangerous for cyclists.

I totally agree with their demands. When boulevards are being reconstructed, plans should include larger sidewalks with lines for cyclists. Of course, the latter won't happen in the centre. The streets are too narrow for cycling areas. But the newest boulevards which connect the centre with the suburbs are a good option for this. Wouldn't it be nice to travel to work by bike...? :)

Pedestrian madness

Everyone knows that drivers in Sofia are simply mad. But few people pay attention to the fact that pedestrians are no more in their senses.

There's something wrong with the sign. You see it's in its place and yet not everything seems to be alright with it. The same applies to pedestrians. They have their sidewalks, traffic lights and zebra crossings but do they obey the rules? Of course not, this is Sofia, almost nobody follows the rules.

It reminds me of bulls: when they see red they go mad and run. In the same way pedestrians see red light and go. "There are no cars, so I'd better cross now, because I'm in a hurry".

I admit I also don't follow the rules every time. You know, it would be annoying to walk 5 minutes in order to reach the nearest traffic light or zebra crossing, then walk again for 5 minutes to finally get to your destination.

What I find really problematic is crossing on red light. One can never know whether a car would appear from somewhere.

Apart from the problem, there's also something funny about all this. It's very funny to watch people gather at the traffic light, wait for a few seconds, turn left, then right; decide to pass even though it's red and...GO! The first line goes, people from the other side of the street see how brave the others are and also go. Those who are on the queue also finally see people crossing without fear and make a decision to move.

Those who leave form a minority, and the author also is a member of this group.

Recycled

Separate waste collection was introduced in Sofia in 2005. The huge bell-shaped containers added more liveliness to the otherwise grey and dull city daylife. And, as it turned out, a good object of interest for the admirers of nightlife.

Nowadays it's very difficult to make some citizens not to throw their garbage directly from the balconies of their flats - either wrapped in plastic bags or not.

The way of treating waste tells a lot about the habits and mindset of citizens of the capital. One i s often lazy enough to hang their plastic bags full of waste directly onto the small waste basket placed at the bus stop. The idea of missing the bus while turning round the block where the containers stay is always one of the drivers for such acions.

As far as recycling is concerned, it just turned neccesary because the current dung-hill is almost full and people living nearby complained about the smell... So one of the results from the massive protests and summer days in a capital where the waste is not collected (because the collecting cars are not let to the dung-hill by the protestors) is the decision from separate waste collection.

True, it's of benefit for the companies holding shares in the recycling organizations. But yet what's the real impact?
Mindsets are yet to be changed.
People not to throw their waste from the balconies or onto the steet.
Complanies who have received the concessions for waste collection should be more hard-working.
Other things might not change that fast. Poor and/or homeless people would hardly give up collecting the waste from the containers and getting money from recycling companies for that - e.g. for paper, metal, glass.

I sense a difference compared to the past decade. Nowadays the average citizen of Sofia is much more concerned about the negative effects of irresponsible actions: on the environment and on the people. It is often said here in Bulgaria that only when something bad happens people realize there's been a problem and start thinking about possible actions

The bad thing about waste in particular were the protests which led to piles of uncollected waste in the whole city - during the summer. The problem was finally identified by the majority. Actions have been discussed. Somethinga has already been changed.

So far so good.

Sheep in Sofia

Yes, there are sheep in Sofia. Any doubts I had before are now completely gone.
There's something quite interesting about sheep and Sofia in general. Some people from Sofia, especially young ones, are proud to be citizens of the capital and regard everyone else as "peasants". Just the opposite: people from the country think that Sofians are very stuck-up and the high opinion they have for themselves is not supported by the facts at all. So, we've got a nice rivalry here.
But where's the sheep in the whole picture?
This poor little creature is said not to inhabit the capital of Bulgaria. It is said to live only somewhere in the country. If seen by a citizen of Sofia, the reaction might be: "OK, it's not a big deal, such sights can be seen sometimes. But the fact that we are superior remains."
The reaction of someone from the country: "There are sheep in Sofia too so don't offend us anymore and think you're superior."
These reactions are probably the worst-case scenarios. I believe in normal situations things are much more calmer. I have the feeling that most of the people involved (from both sides) argue just for the sport.

Oh, by the way, the I took this photo at the complex the Academy of Science. I hope there's no correlation between sheep and science here. :)