I'm guessing that most people don't have a favorite pharmacy (or two as the case may be) but I do. I've got two favorite pharmacies in Sofia. Or maybe or maybe the word drugstore is more accurate. Either way, I've got favorites.

One I can see from my apartment window. I like them because they have the time and temperature attached to their store front <em>and</em> because when I am sick, they give me what I need no matter how questionable my Bulgarian is. Oh and they are <a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/20/buying-sunscreen-at-the-drugstore/" target="_blank">always really nice to me</a>. Even when we're not exactly on the same page.

So why do I need a second pharmacy?

Well, it's a question of selection. The other pharmacy I like is downtown on Shishman Street. It is by far less convenient but they sell tampons with applicators. They sell <em>Tampax</em>.

Yes, I am now writing a blog post about tampons.

Here's why, it's a cultural thing.

As girls in the States we grow up buying boxes of tampons with applicators as applicator-less tampons are the exception rather than the rule. The boxes of tampons we buy have at least a dozen tampons but more often than not the smallest box has 20 and the largest boxes probably have 48 or 50 tampons if not more.

However tampons in Bulgaria are a different story. Here the applicator-less tampon is king and about half of the tampons on the shelf are scented.  On top of this, boxes of tampons come in boxes of 8 or 16.