Do you

JimJ · 2025-10-24T09:17:23+02:00

Explore everyday life in Bulgaria through a heartfelt funeral narrative, touching on village customs and bureaucratic hurdles in Sliven.

Do you "dig" life in Bulgaria?

JimJ ViP

Member since 07 December 2015

JimJViPYesterday 07:17:23

1342

Today is my mother-in-law's funeral and it's been an interesting ride. She and my FiL are still registered for identity purposes in Sliven, even though they've lived in our village house for the past 15 years or so; like many Bulgarians they didn't bother to update their ID cards.

She died in Sofia but the authorities there refused to even consider her burial there. Luckily, the mayor of our village agreed to give us the nod to plant her there. The old boy can barely manage the 4 steps from his bed to the loo, even with his walking-frame, so we're planning to let him sleep and doing it without him. He keeps forgetting that she's gone anyway, but he can't manage standing for the church service, let alone walking around a muddy cemetery that looks like the Somme on a bad day..