Sat, Nov 21 2009
About 28 results were found.
Have you ever heard of the Bermuda Triangle? People have commonly regarded it as a deadly area in the Atlantic Ocean where ships mysteriously go missing and all sorts of calamities occur. San Juan, Bermuda and Miami triangulate to form this area of catastrophe and, some believe, paranormal activity. Christopher Columbus was one of the first to cite the strange activity. Among other curious notations, he
Mention the name Maria Grozdeva to most Bulgarians and a glimmer of national pride begins to surface. In the hearts and minds of her fellow citizens, she is one of them - an average girl who made it good. Perhaps she embodies the hopes and dreams of everyone who came of age as change swept through Bulgaria. Her skill with a pistol has brought Bulgaria worldwide acclaim. She currently holds a world record
The first gesture came right around the rock `n' roll McDonalds. It was accompanied by a honk and a meaningful look. After so many years of driving in Sofia, I just assumed that it was what it always is, a normal part of the rush hour atmosphere. The cold morning forced my girls into a huddle in the back of the van, bookbags at the ready. Our morning commute generally falls into one of two categories: pure chaos or quiet
Do you remember when your parents broke the news that they were moving you to Bulgaria? Maybe it was not a family decision. Maybe you were not part of the discussion at all. Maybe you were completely against the idea but nobody bothered to ask your opinion. "Your father has a new job." "It'll be better money
A good education. What is it? Is it a set of grammar rules? Is it the mechanics of phonetics? Is it learning a foundational mathematical principle? Is the measure of a good education an ability to regurgitate data or is it an ability to apply principles? Is a good education more about the learner or the information? Perhaps, a good education is really about the ability to learn how to learn. Philosophies of education,
Author Burton Hill once said: "Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life". For Mena and Jason McCabe, a twenty-something, New England couple from Syracuse, New York, and Boston, Massachusetts, respectively, Hill's statement rings true. When most people at this stage of life are living for a career, the McCabes have decided to put their careers to work investing in a future generation. Jason is a certified
A state-of-the-art learning environment. Highly resourced and educated teaching staff. An internationally diverse atmosphere. Such an equation results in the sum of the whole equalling more than its impressive parts. At the Anglo-American School of Sofia (AAS), respect for the student sets the foundation for 21st century education. Educators translate their job into facilitating and equipping individuals to
"The what curriculum?" Have you ever had one of those rare moments when you realised that you really did not know as much as you think you did? As a mother of four, I face that wonderfully humbling realisation every day, but I am sure that for most of The Sofia Echo's readers, it is a relatively rare occurrence this, to be faced with one's own ignorance. Suddenly, there was a new buzz term flitting amongst
"Driving in Sofia is like stepping into a video game. It is a lot of fun as long as you are winning." This is one of my husband's favourite statements. For those foreigners who come from countries where getting into the car is a little less, shall we say, adventuresome, taking to the roads of Sofia can be frightening. One might choose to opt for a taxi instead, but that alternative can also have its challenges. My
A Father. A funny guy. A smile the size of the CIS. His image is all over Bulgaria - from Sofia's ATM machines to Nova Television. Given to wearing bright colours, his presence energises the room in the same way that the first tulips of spring lighten the heart after a long winter. True, he is remarkably funny, but the endearing qualities of this man run deeper. There are undercurrents of friendly openness that
OUR family celebrated a milestone last week. It was seven years ago that our second daughter was born. We had recently re-located to Sofia after spending four years in Moscow. We opted to return to the States for the birth of our baby. Once she was born, it became obvious to us that there was a problem with her ability to swallow. Even though we mentioned our concerns to the nurses and to the doctor
ON February 2 2005 Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovakia signed a declaration to improve the situation of their Roma communities at a Bulgaria-hosted conference. The plan was dubbed the Decade of Roma Inclusion and was set to span 2005 to 2015 with a focus on education, health care, creation of jobs and improvement of housing for Roma. POLINA SLAVCHEVA, TEANNA SUNBERG and NEIL CONNOLLY report on the situation one year on.
ANCIENT tales of the Middle East conjure up visions of scimitars, darkly mysterious eyes, and lands full of aromatic spices and sparkling jewels. In the literature of many countries, one can rediscover the introduction of the European and Middle Eastern cultures. Ashkan Ussefi, our expat of the week, embodies that synthesis of Middle East and 21st century West. He is a modern 20-year-old dressed in the baggy jeans prescriptive of today's youth culture.
THE piano recital had been heavenly. Settled into the quaint living room at a friend's home, our children stepped to the piano one by one and regaled us with the fruits of their labours. Beautiful chords flowed from their fingers, the notes of Christmas rang out in clear appeal as the snow gently fell. As the last note rang out, dusk settled over the mountain, we loaded our tribe into our host's vehicle
IT has been my joy and my challenge to live in Bulgaria through three pregnancies. I have gained and lost in those years - there was a time when my wardrobe was divided into `before', `during', and `after' the baby. Those warm phases of motherhood have brought me face to face with cold reality from time to time. Fashionably dressed wisps of women inhabiting clothes shops have been my jury. Their up and down perusal is familiar, as is the humiliatingly effective dismissive glance upon entry into their domain.
MARY Kate Olsen. Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Carre Otis. Paula Abdul. Victoria Beckham. Johnny Depp. Lindsay Lohan. Celebrities, one and all. Personalities of renown that your daughter, if she falls between the ages of nine and 21, will most likely recognise. She may even admire some or be a fan of others.
IT was a simple Christmas, to put it in positive terms. We had been living in Moscow for just three months - just about the right amount of time needed to work up a really good case of culture shock. Our rented apartment was painfully bare of personal items, yet full of things like broken doors and old car pieces which our landlord was unwilling to part with. Not only were we in a foreign country but everything around us was foreign as well. It was the Christmas of 1994.
THIS weekend our family Christmas tree assumed its rightful spot of dominance in our living room. Interspersed among the lyrics of holiday music welcoming a white Christmas there were the shouts of joy as we were reunited with the ornaments that bedazzle our tree in homespun glory. The floor below the branches is currently bare, but past experience informs me that eventually it will be bulging and overflowing with a bright and beautiful array of packages.
ONE of the most challenging aspects of having a large family is the close relationship formed with the family paediatrician. Please do not misunderstand - our family doctor is a wonderful person! But, last year's budget for doctor visits and medicines vied with the grocery bill for top expense. It becomes a little ridiculous when the children are on a first-name basis with their physician.
AFTER having written more than 20 Family Matters columns, my time in this paper has come to an end. I started off with many good intentions and possibilities last September and have written about everything from pets and birthday parties, to the joys of renewing my lichna karta, but now, a-year-and-a-half later, I realise I only covered a fraction of all my ideas!
A YOUNG mother recently asked me if her guilt-ridden conscience was justified in its condemnation of a weekend away while the kids stayed at home with a babysitter. I tucked away a smile and reassured her that, in my opinion, a couple of nights away would cause no long-lasting harm to the hearts and minds of her little cherubs. In truth, even as I uttered the reassurance, I breathed a heartfelt prayer that the advice I offered was correct.
"UGGH. Get a room!" This is the cry, hidden behind a smile, that rings out across the halls of our home any time our four-year-old witnesses a romantic exchange, whether it be a kiss or a hug. According to many psychologists and relationship counsellors, seeing their parents in a healthy marriage gives children a lot of emotional stability. Look around. Take a poll.
AS the last strands of summer dissolve on the horizon, the focus turns away from those long, lazy days by the pool and we chart a course into blustery mornings, routines, and homework. For many, the first day of school brings a moment of sadness. Others greet the new school year as an opportunity for new beginnings. Most students find their stomachs aflutter with nerves during the first days and even weeks of school.
FOR years, shopping stories have been at the top of my "most illustrative" list. They always proved useful as I attempted to explain life in Bulgaria to people from the West. How many times has a clerk refused to sell me an item because they were unable to make change? How many times have I received that change in pieces of unwanted gum instead of the stotinki due to me? There was a day when grocery trolleys did not exist.
SUMMER is almost here and, with a few key ingredients, those long, sweltering days can result in a recipe for disaster. Hungry mosquitoes, soaring temperatures and bored children are never a good mix. If the children in your home are already counting down the days until freedom reigns, and you plan to maintain your cool at home, start planning now.
"THE blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity". This statement, uttered by a third century church father named Tertullian, would ring true, down through the decades and centuries of Christendom even to today. Though the Romans tried to satiate their appetites with the blood of believers, it seemed that the more they killed, the more Christians there were.
WHAT happens when the unthinkable happens? As a mother of four girls, I naively assumed that emergency room visits would be a rarity for our family. My initial introduction to Pirogov occurred when my two-year-old kissed the pavement outside NDK. Two hours later, we headed home, with her chin glued together and pigtails still intact.
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