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[caption id="attachment_896" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Traffic Troubles"]<em><img class="size-medium wp-image-896" title="Traffic" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc06478.jpg?w=225" alt="Traffic Troubles" width="225" height="300" /></em>[/caption]

It’s your lucky day.  This is the second piece in a regular segment for my blog: How-to-Tuesdays.  Here I will give you a run down on how to do something new–related to my life in and around Bulgaria. Check out last week's how to which is a great recipe for <a href="http://karolinkabulgaria.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/aubergine-turkish-style/">roasting egg plant in the Turkish style</a>.</em>

I grew up in a small town where the traffic was busy for about 5 minutes during rush hour (if you can even it call it rush hour).  My mom taught me a song about crossing the street "Stop, look and listen before you cross the street.  Use your eyes, use your ears before you use your feet!" And these lessons learned early on have served me well.

Even in Washington DC where we definitely had rush hour and there was always traffic on the street, a girl could rely on the cross walk, traffic signals and the pedestrian right of way.  I lived in the city more or less unscathed for 5 years.  It's probably important at this point to note that I didn't own a car and walked or took public transportation every where.

Upon arriving in Sofia, I was terrified to take to bus, tram or trolleybus but I quickly learned the ropes.  The thing that I wasn't expecting was how difficult it is to be a pedestrian in this city.

Right of way as a pedestrian? Nope.  That's a laughable idea.  Relying on the street signals to safely cross the street? Also, not a good idea.  Stand on the sidewalk hoping for a break in traffic? I guess that this is okay, if you've got 20+ extra minutes to kill.  <!--more-->

So when the song your mom taught you at five years old for crossing the street is no longer sufficient, what's the answer? Well, for me it's been a little bit of trial and error, a lot of common sense (the "stop, look and listen" advice is still good) and my cat-like-reflexes have come in handy as well.

Here's my advice:
<ol>
	<li>At a busy street without a signal, approach the street at an even pace and hope that a Bulgarian will already be there in the process of crossing.  Speed up a little bit and cross with the expert.  Alternately, you can slow down in order to cross with a Bulgarian you see approaching the corner.  This strategy is about using the street smarts of a native and the strength of numbers.</li>
	<li>If there are no Bulgarians in sight, look around again, then eye the traffic.  Never cross in front of a new or expensive car.  They seem to always speed up in the intersection or as soon as there is a pedestrian in their path.  If the cars are older, step in to the street with purpose and hurry across.  Usually if you're in the street they won't hit you, but rarely will they stop for you to cross the street even if you're in a crosswalk.</li>
	<li>When using a traffic light to cross, never-ever assume that you can step into the street when the man says you can walk.  You cannot.  First you must look to make sure that no drivers are going to make a free right hand turn into you as you cross the street.  I've had someone try to hit me this more than once.  Also, no amount of glare or mean looks will make a driver feel bad.  Your status as a pedestrian makes you much less important than a driver.</li>
	<li>Use the underground "subways" to cross under busy intersections as much as possible.  Basically there are sets of stairs that you can use which take you under the traffic problem--Bulgarians call them "subways" because sure that's what they are but these "subways" will not take you to a metro/tube/underground-train (well unless you are on the only metro line in Sofia that has something like 8 stations and then one of these "subways" might actually take you to the metro).</li>
	<li>Wait as patiently as you can for either a break in the traffic or a Bulgarian to come along who you can then follow across the street--Bulgarians, after all, seem to have a six-sense about crossing the street or they are fearless.  Pretty cool either way.</li>
</ol>
Does it get any easier to cross the street? Well now that I have some established routes in my neighborhood to get to my high school, the university, my grocery store and the like I find that I know what to expect from the traffic and I am definitely less terrified to cross the street (though maybe it's bad to lose that edge--being terrified does make you more aware).

The best part of all of this? Now, I find myself reaching out to grab my American visitors' hands in order to help them cross the street or what's more often the case, to drag them behind me as I dart out into traffic.  Oh, how quickly we adjust.