after living here 8 months i have found that bulgaria is basically composed of two types of people: those whom i can understand, and those whom i can not. through trial and error i have found some basic essential truths when dealing with the latter.
one is that without a doubt, the only word you really need to know is the local word for "maybe"
you can fake pretty much any conversation with that.
that and "i don't know"
but you have to add the facial expression too.
not like "i don't know because i'm a dumb shit" face.
but more like "that is a very interesting question, i will need some time to reflect on it to give it the proper answer a question such as that requires."
if they don't seem satisfied with the "i don't know" combined with the face, then resort back to "maybe".
if it is a yes or no question (most likely as i have discovered more people speak to foreigners in mostly yes or no questions) then 'maybe' will likely work.
if not, then by answering maybe to a question that maybe is not a correct answer, they will usually see that it is much too much of a challenge to continue with the conversation and give up, thus letting you off the hook.

and there you have it.
my 2 minute course on conversational bulgarian.