Why I Love Bulgaria

Why do we love something or someone is not a question we often ask ourselves; it is difficult to answer. Perhaps this is because love is a feeling that is not easy to catch in words. And that is why the book in front of you, that asks the question Why do I love Bulgaria, makes you curious and especially because a foreigner has made the effort to answer this question. Hans Wissema is not a stranger to Bulgaria and Bulgaria is not a stranger to him, for several reasons. Some of the reasons you will understand when you read the book or perhaps you have already read his book (in Bulgarian translation) Siberian lessons about life, love and death (Kibea, 2013).

The Dutch professor in technology and entrepreneurship offers us his understanding about the turning points in the history of Bulgaria – the ones that made Bulgaria as it is now. He shares his observations and perceptions about the social life of Bulgarians today. Wissema does not save us from his opinion that Bulgarians have a lot to be proud of, but they need to fight more decisively for their better future as well as stronger defend what is Bulgarian. It is therefore that the author reminds us of Paisius of Hilendar, whose allocution to Bulgarians we all know but we often forget.

Sometimes in life we need a mirror to realise something that is so logical and naturally clear. Or a foreigner should remind us of it. We then hear the message clearer and it makes us think. Hopefully the book of Hans Wissema will have the same effect on the reader. Reading it I thought about us, the Bulgarians, and about our Bulgaria and concluded: I am proud of and I love Bulgaria!