Scirocco island (or a place you should visit)

Me and my friend are on a small airport on a small island. On the airport there is only one more airplane even smaller than ours (which was small). One smiley blond woman is calling us. She is from the tourist agency as she knows our names. We get into BMW cabriolet which is driven from this very nice woman. She asks us about the flight. Yes, it was pleasurable. Now we are in front of one small orange, typically Mediterranean house, which is our accommodation. I am so interested in what is happening that I forgot to tell you where we are – Scirocco island in Greece (an amazing Mediterranean place).

Me and my friend who is with me here – Bobby were here seven-eight years ago. The island was lonely and empty with few houses, olive trees and palms on it. We expected the situation now to be the same. Surprisingly, it is completely different. The island is significantly changed with more buildings (however, small), cars, tourists. The whole infrastructure is changed which is commendable having in mind all these new buildings.

Never mind. Now imagine: fresh fish in mixture with a great variety of wine; palm trees with their coconuts, small cabriolets, narrow streets up and down like in San Francisco and one floored orange or yellow houses. The atmosphere is… sorry, I don’t have words to express it.

However, logically, if for seven years, let’s say, a place change from “Nothing” to “Paradise”, it means that the prices are also changed from “Cheap” to “Expensive”. For example, my room in the one floored orange hotel costs 110$ but it has nothing more than a TV set, air conditioning and a sea view. The cheapest (but very delicious) fresh fish is 20-30$...

Finally, I have one recommendation for the locals – ban the building making for some years. Let the things like that – they are amazing. And OK, let it so expensive but don’t let entrepreneurs destroy this paradise with five-star hotels, big airports and highways.

The blond woman with the cabriolet is driving us to the airport as we are getting back to Bulgaria. Instead of saying “Bye” to the nice woman, I told her “We will come back soon”.

Maria Almisheva

A LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Envirinment

Dear Editor,

I am writing in reply to your article on global warming, which appeared on Monday’s edition of “Daily News” newspaper and would like to share my ideas with you. I do believe that global warming is not a problem that will be impossible to solve. However, many people do not realise the magnitude of the problem and have not done their part to stop it from happening.
Having said that, it is also true that most of us would never forget modern conviniences for the Earth’s sake thinking that it would be pointless no matter what is the price. For example, no one would swtich off all power gadgets in his home while the boy next door is having a soothing hot bath or playing games on his computer.
However, we don’t have to return to ‘dark ages’ to do something to stop the effects of global warming. The main problem of energy supply can easily be solved with the use of solar power or any renewable sources. Simply installing solar panels is beneficial in terms of cost of energy, efiiciency and enviromentally friendly. Hence we do not restrain our energy needs.
The same applies to our cars and the other comforts and convieniences. Of course automobiles are vitally important but with just buying a fuel-efficient cars or considering transportation alternatives such as mass transit, carpooling, bicycling or telecommunicating we would be beficial to both environment and us ourselves.
To sum up, we do not have to scientics or diplomats to prevent the process of global warming. The underlying problem is that many people are not aware of the magnitude of global warming and have not done their part to stop it from happening. What we do need is simple information, and not to forget that individual choices can have an impact on the climate change.
Yours faithfully,
Suzane Karamanova

A LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Years ago, you were always reading about the so-called ‘generation gap’ and all about the conflict between the rebellious young and their mystified parents.Well, you may not read so much about it any more, but it’s still there. Perhaps it’s just human nature that children, their parents and even their parents’ parents are poles apart. Perhaps it’s just the natural result of time passing that each generation sees the one that follows them as being in some way ‘not like we were’. Perhaps people of every generation, as they get older, look back on a ‘golden age’ that may never really have existed.Perhaps the generations just aren’t meant to get along.


Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to the newspaper article on the subject of the generation gap. The article was very intriguing and I would like to share my ideas on the matter.
I would definitely agree that there has always been generation gap since the dawn of the civilization and I assume it will not make our lives any more comfortable to know that this is normal and natural, and we should go through it. Having said that, the gap, however, is a much deeper malady than viewed superficially. Actually, it is an inevitable and maybe eternal age-versus-youth conflict between authority and rebellion, between responsibility and freedom, between limits and exuberance, between experience and naivety. This phenomenon is being characterized by children’s desire to cast off and parents’ fear to let them go.
The reasons for the irreconcilable conflicts which are so often set in motion between two set of generations are numerous. What can be said for sure is that they are divided, not by chronology, but by attitudes. It is generally observed that the mystified parents usually act like frogs in the well. They are fully convinced that their ideas and viewpoints are the ultimate and ideal. The elderly people consequently tend to think that the new generation is deriving from the older and, in their opinion, better standards and do not approve youngsters’ behavior, tastes and even ways of thinking. Their expectations are of trouble. The older generation is always bemoaning the ‘golden age’ – a wondrous period of their youth when everything was much simpler and happiness was spread among people. In stark contrast, the younger generation is flexing its muscles against the older one with a longing for independence from their parents and their history. They look with mockery on parents` ‘dark age’ being grateful for the vast opportunities their time can offer.
In conclusion, I think that as individuals, we cannot control such generation differences. We participate in them whether we wish to or not. Like it or not, we should simply admit defeat and accept the facts that the chasm between the conservatism of age and the iconoclasm of youth is all but unbridgeable.

Yours faithfully,

Suzane Karamanova

ARTICLE: The Day That Changed My Life

Neli Urumova

The night was already spreading its azure veil along the boisterous city, with the curtains slowly falling on the serial busy working day. As a caring girlfriend, I was all but ready with the Sushi, waiting for my man to come back after the prolonged conference.
Not until the clock showed 22:30 did I got the needle and decided to go to my mom’s house not to spend the rest of the night in silence and loneliness. I stuck a slip of paper on the front door and succinctly wrote ‘At mom’s.’
Understandable as it is, Ma welcomed me with open arms, unfolding her endless thoughts and feelings born by what she’d heard. Such a bore, you bet, though it was the better option.
Not long afterwards, the phone rang. I guessed it was Ben, my boyfriend, insisting I returned. ‘It’s too late already, dear’, my voice was rather nervous, although I attempted to conceal it, ‘I’ll get back early tomorrow.’ ‘Please! I gotta tell you something that can’t be put off.’ ‘Something bad?’, I asked anxiously. ‘Well, … almost.’
I was quick to go home. There, I found Ben sitting on the sofa holding a ticket in his hand. All of a sudden, the affectionate girlfriend in me woke up and I tenderly said ‘Darling. how are you? How was the conference?’ ‘Fatiguing, but successful. How was your day?’ This game didn’t appeal to me, however. I was restless with the ticket my eyes were catching sight of, even though Ben was trying to hide it. ‘Come on. Out with it, Ben’, I said instead of answering to his question. To my surprise, Ben smiled, casting a loving glance at me, which at that moment seemed mocking to me. He put the ticket on the table and calmly said, ‘That’s it. I’m afraid, I gotta go.’ ‘Excuse me, my temper was ironic, where ‘you gotta go’?’ Ben smiled again. ‘Paris. And I’d be grateful if you do me a favour.’ ‘A favour?!’ I uttered. ‘Exactly. While being at Paris, looking after the business, I’ll need someone to care for… my heart. And as it belongs to you, would you take the responsibility?’ He opened a glossy box with a gold ring shining from within. I was amazed! ‘Yes! I will!’, I screamed in a swoon.
In a while, I asked ‘What was the bad in this?’ ‘Ur… your mom’s not coming.’ Both, we burst in laughter.
I knew I had the best man by my side and I was going to live a fairly tale, as it actually happens at present.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor,

I have read the article about the generation gap between ‘rebellious young’ and ‘mystified parents’ and I was utterly pleased to see that other readers were invited to give their opinion on the subject.

Generation gap is that major reason why parents and children are moving away from each other. As we all know, the environment has changed so has the lifestyle and the children’s attitude toward life. However, the old generations still live in the past. They try to impose the old ways of thinking and behaving on their children. Thus, a huge inevitable distance occurs.

Our parents think that the time of their childhood was better than the today’s. They believe that they were well-behaved, studious, stricter and more pressurized. They do not estimate the stress we live in, how much is required from us and how our childhood is limited to minimum. They consider their past as simpler, better and happier. However, they do not take into account the new developed facilities, the entertainments and the opportunity we are given. For them the past is what is really worthy.

Moving next, the parents are nostalgic about the past days. They hold dare for something that will never happen again. Parents do not want to accept that their children have different thinking, opportunities, surrounding and diverse priorities. They can’t stand the truth that we, these days generation, believe in something completely disparate from what they believed. Therefore, the generation gap still exists and will always exist. Because every generation has its typical surrounding -technologies, education, media, standards of living which influence the way of thinking, developing and behaving.

It strikes me that this problem is faced by people of every part of globe but still nobody can find a proper solution. Maybe parents and children will never find something in common? Perhaps they will be always in fight!

Yours faithfully,

Maria Prashkova

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Years ago, you were always reading about the so-called ‘generation gap’ and all about the conflict between the rebellious young and their mystified parents.
Well, you may not read so much about it any more, but it’s still there. Perhaps it’s just human nature that children, their parents and even their parents’ parents are poles apart. Perhaps it’s just the natural result of time passing that each generation sees the one that follows them as being in some way ‘not like we were’. Perhaps people of every generation, as they get older, look back on a ‘golden age’ that may never really have existed.
Perhaps the generations just aren’t meant to get along.

Dear editor,

I am writing with a view to extending on the topic about generation gap that you set in your last issue. I am glad you give us, the readers, this opportunity.

Truly, it’s no wonder that ‘generation gap’ has always been a buzzword in people’s life. Unconditional as it is each of us is fated to go through the hardship of sitting on the one side of the fence whilst our elderly kin in full strength is menacingly pointing their finger at us from the other side. Actually, the conflict arises in the context of adolescents’ struggle to be the masters of their lives which encounters obstacles in the face of their caring parents. This controversy continues to appear between the different generations even when the youngsters are already adults and the adults are already old people. It is just that their conceptions still differ and it seems to me that all this turns into, or more probably turns out to be, simply the natural being of humans.

That change is the engine of life is indisputable. Like a part from the indivisible, alterations occur in every aspect of life – we change our mind, tack, tune, ways... We launch a change of heart and hence we change the whole scene. This is where divergence of convictions between generations stems from. Need I say, parents equip their children for life but when these children set foot in real life in sooth, it appears that circumstances are changing and new skills are requisite. Youngsters’ fresh brains are able to apprehend them and neither are their parents’. So, the generation gap is not merely the natural result of time but also the inevitable result of social changes and development. Nothing short of familiar is the ‘golden age’ that elderly people tend to talk about for hours. It is the time when they have been young and that ‘it was so different and so much better’ is justified to be heard from their mouths for it is what they experienced and therefore all that is understandable for them. In one or another way, they just cannot take in the innovations.

In fact, every generation is right in its own premise. After all, everyone has the ownership of themselves though to sustain our mankind we need compromises because, as it appears, different generations are just not meant to fit tight.

Yours faithfully,
Nelly Urumova

ARTICLE: The Day That Changed My Life

Susane Karamanova

I knew I could sing. But now I had to prove it.

It was my ninth time appearing in front of a Sony Music executive to sing a few songs making an effort to do a record deal. The first eight tryouts had led to stone-cold rejections. I didn’t have the right look. My hair was bushy, my clothes – dated. I was nothing like a beauty queen. However, growing up in a disadvantaged family thought me to be a fighter. The best I could hope for, if I wanted new horizons, was to latch onto a skill or career I was really good at. That’s how I viewed my singing.
That morning waiting to perform three songs for a man behind a desk, without a microphone, lights or amplifiers, I was quite apprehensive. Letting someone judge whether I deserved a commercial career in 10 minutes was something I had to do. In the middle of my second song, a passionate ballad, I glanced up at John Grady, the president of Sony Music, who was sitting behind his desk. He was going through it looking for something to write with, as if to jot down a grocery list. It was awkward. My future was at the mercy of a man who didn’t appear interested at all. About halfway through, I saw Mr. Grady writing something down. From where I stood, I could clearly see him write the letter n, followed by the letter o. As in: No.
That’s it, I thought. Approval, alas, looked virtually impossible. My longing for music career evaporated. As we said goodbye, however, Grady gave me a vigorous handshake and said, “I want you to have this.” Though my hands were shaking, I found the courage to take the paper and read it. Much to my surprise, it didn’t say “no”. It said, “now”!
It is how my dream of becoming a professional musician started to come true. Although I did still had to write, sing and record album to prove myself, that moment was a turning point that utterly reshaped my life showing me that anything is possible if you just believe.

ARTICLE: The Day That Changed My Life

Mary Almisheva

Just one day can rock your life's entire foundation and shake everything that you believe.

I am a journalist in a big television and I have my normal life. It was a normal Monday morning. There was to be a great football match the same day and people wanted to know the result previously. That’s why I found one beggar for whom I heard that he could see in the future and I made an interview with him on the street. I asked him about the football match and he told me that Manchester city would win the match with one goal. After that, not knowing what else to ask him, I asked about the weather and he told me that it was going to rain. “Tell me any other interesting things you see” I said without believing in him. “Something other?” he told me “I am sorry miss but this Friday… you will die”. I really didn’t know what to say, how to react, I just walked into my car and started driving to my office. The whole day I was trying not to think about that.

It was a nice day as a whole and after work me and my colleges decided to go to one pub to watch the football match. It was OK until the end of the match – the result was 1:0 for… MANCHESTER CITY!!! It wasn’t that easy for me not to think about the beggar’s words now.

Ok, but the morning came and outside… IT WAS RAINING just as the beggar said. During the whole week believe me, with every hour that passed I felt my death coming nearer and nearer and I started loving everything around me more and more, I started seeing how beautiful the world was just then, thdn I understood how happy I was, what life ddid I have… I regretted not understanding what I had before.

The Friday came. And yes, I had a car accident. But on Saturday morning I opened my eyes, my new eyes and I saw my husband, my kid, my mother and how beautiful the hospital was. Yes, I found the beauty in the hospital because I was alive and the Friday was in the past.
This Friday I died really and another person in my body, with my name, with my life was born. But there was a big difference between the dead Me and the new Me – now I was happy, I was a real person thanking God for everything. And I thank you for reading this. Be happy

ARTICLE: The Day That Changed My Life

The day that changed my life
Mary Prashkova

There are moments in your life that you just don’t expect. Events that can rock your life and shake everything you believe in. The loss of my friend Sally did just that.


It was cold December night and I and my family were having a dinner. It was around 9 o’clock when the telephone rang. It was Sally’s brother. He was crying and his voice was trembling. I couldn’t catch much of what he was saying except the fateful phrase “Sally is death’. I slammed the telephone and burst into tears. From that moment everything was in slow motion – every voice I heard, every movement around me.

The night was awful, I couldn’t close my eyes or when I did the trembling voice of Sally’s brother sprang into my mind. It was early morning and I asked my parents to accompany me to my friend’s house. It was the most difficult thing I had ever done. In front of the house there were a lot of people. I tried to spot Sam – sally’s brother, but without result. My legs were stiffed and I couldn’t walk. I attempted making a move but without success. After some minutes roaming around I was ready to face the harsh reality. I skinned Sam and tried to reach him. He was my last hope to overcome with this situation.

The ceremony started. I couldn’t stop my tears. After a couple of minutes I was not able to keep the pain inside of me and rushed through the door. I found myself in front of the place where I always waited for Sally. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. Was I strong enough to get over it?

The funeral was over. However, I was nowhere near over it. Eventually, I had to move on. I was feeling that I was outside myself. I was not the same bright and cheerful girl. I couldn’t be the same, could I? Now I know not to take life for granted and understand what precious gift life is. Each day is new adventure on this roller coast of grief. The only thing we can do is to get up every morning and try to share a smile. Because life is an alternation of good and bad moments. Sometimes the bad moments outnumber the good ones, but sometimes they just re-born you just like I was.