And that's how on this late pre-Christmas Boston afternoon, only twenty minutes after she bought them, Martina returns the Italian boots in question along with the receipt for over $450 and asks for her money back.
"But, please, is there something wrong?" the girl behind the counter asks anxiously, still knowing that, whatever the answer, she is legally obliged to return the client's money.
Everyone born in the 1990s and now attending college wonders how the 20th Century could have been dominated by two extremely absurd ideologies: Nazism and Communism, collectively known as totalitarianism. How could millions of people be led to believe what essentially was a thoroughly imaginary philosophy propagating the supremacy of one race – in the case of Nazism? Likewise, how could millions of people be ruled by a single supposedly omniscient party claiming to rule by decrees in all areas, from biogenetics to sports – in the case of Communism?
Those infamous stray dogs might have it lucky – at least they're not ripped apart in one of Bulgaria's illegal dog fight arenas.
The blinds in the bedroom are completely drawn, but the day still finds a way to penetrate with the roar of the garbage truck. This means it's Wednesday. This means it's eight fifteen. Is there a noisier noise than the noise of a garbage truck at eight fifteen?
On 27 April 1986, tests discovered radioactive particles on workers' clothes at the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden. The source? Not that reactor, but another one, 1,100 km, or 684 miles, away, in the heart of the Soviet "ideological information blackout zone". Those living in the West found out about the 26 April disaster in Chernobyl days before those in the Eastern bloc.
Sometime during the 1930s, the underage Hollywood star HoH Shirley Temple decided to watch her newest film in the movie theatre. She had become famous long before her 10th birthday for her touching performance as a child who had lost one of her parents. Yet as Erich Kästner describes in his novel Lottie and Lisa, Shirley wasn't able to watch her own movie – children weren't allowed to see the film. She was old enough to act in it, but not old enough to watch it.
The CIA claims that there are 0.92 men for every woman in Bulgaria. Yet, despite the unequal odds, you can still catch occasional glimpses of the endangered species known as the Bulgarian man.
The global information network covers the whole world and is theoretically blind to national borders. However, domestic markets inevitably have unique quirks. This means you can't approach all local markets in the same way. Bulgarian cyberspace is no exception – you'll find a few big players, as well as many smaller fry fighting for a cut of the tempting profits from online advertising. And the battle has just begun – experts estimate that online advertising income will only increase in the coming months and years.
However, he told us the following story which can only be another of those scams employed by greedy hoteliers wanting to cheat foreigners (in this case school kids) out of a few extra euros.
Rejoice all you oldies who pine for the atmosphere of Communist Bulgaria. It is alive and well (despite a few cosmetic alterations) in a now private, formerly stated-owned, bank in Burgas. There is no need to sit at home dabbing Kleenex to the eye as you watch your seventh re-run of Goodbye Lenin. Hurry on down to re-experience the thrill of being put in your proper place.
What would go down in history as the first Bulgarian soap was aired in the late 1960s-early 1970s by Bulgaria's state television's only channel. It was partly a Western (good guys versus bad guys), partly a historical romance (every Bulgarian girl at the time was in love with Major Deyanov aka Bate Sergo, the series' surviving character played by Stefan Danailov – yes, the minister of culture in 2008).
As any visitor to foreign lands knows, there is a tendency to play it safe when it comes to eating native. Most prefer to stay out of harm's way at inviting-looking cafés and restaurants with Latin letters or at least pictures. However, by sticking to this practice, they will be missing out on a tremendously tasty part of Bulgaria.
SUCCESSES AND SCANDALS
She is a traveller at heart who crosses borders with her mind open to a variety of styles. Belina Kostadinova was born in Burgas and gave her first concert at the age of seven. She won the Svetoslav Obretenov Award in 1981 and the Dimitar Nenov Award for Young Virtuosos the following year. In 1983 she received an international award in Salerno, Italy. Belina graduated from the Music Academy in Sofia, where her teacher was Masha Krasteva. Later she studied under Rudolf Buchbinder in Switzerland and graduated from the Basel Music Academy in 1993.