Kazan — summer 2014

Skype is so handy when you travel. You are certainly desperate to know what I look like on Skype. So here I am at 2:00 in the morning after an incredible day of sight seeing and an excellent dinner.

Here are some generalizations.

• I would say the majority of Bulgarians have white or golden skin. The most common hair color is black, followed by dark brown. There are a handful of dishwater blonds. I don't think I've spotted a natural blond. I'd say genetically it's primarily an admixture of Slavic, Greek and Turkish.
• As in Russia, one finds a certain number of women of late middle age or older with henna-red hair.
• Otherwise people 30 and above pretty well look like they do throughout eastern and southern Europe.
• The number of kids in their teens who seem obese is slightly more than in Russia, but much-much less than in the US.
• In their twenties there seems to be a gender difference in obesity. The young women are rarely obese, although slightly more than in Russia and vastly fewer than in the US. There are rather more obese young men than in Russia, but vastly fewer than in the US.
• Hair styles among girls in their teens and twenties seem quite varied, although longer hair is always the norm.
• Among boys in their teens and twenties, variations on the buzz cut are the most common. The ones who are not wearing buzz cuts are also wearing more expensive clothes, so I'm thinking the buzz cut is the cheapest one to get.
• Among guys in their twenties I see a lot of what I first thought was ‘designer stubble.’ But then I noticed that they usually don't have neatly trimmed borders, so it’s probably just that they don't want to shave everyday, and their dark-hair genetics makes it more obvious than on us blond types.
• Bulgarians smile when they take pictures; Russians don't.
• Public service is a bit better than in Russia.

The timing of my stay in Plovdiv is interesting because not a block from my hotel is a curious public art installation called “Project 0.” (I’m not sure if that is the letter O or the number 0.) Basically they blocked off the middle of a street with a two-sided mirror. The first couple of times I walked past it, I didn't even realize it was there, but then once the straight lines caught me eye, and I had to explore. Here is the view from my side of the street. (Click for larger version)

And here is the view from the other side of the street.

Here is the explanation in Bulgarian. (Click for larger version)

And here is my fast and dirty translation.

Project 0 (2010- ) is an independent project by artist Kiril Kuzmanov for a public space in the Kapan neighborhood. It is being implemented in cooperation with curator Vladiya Mikhailova and the Open Arts Foundation (Plovdiv).

The project began in April 2010, and it's implementation on Zlatarska Street is a result of the cooperation and consideration of 50 different people and groups who commissioned the fragments of the two two-sided mirror wall in an open and transparent way. Thus Project 0 serves as a precedent in the country for a work of art implemented as a shared responsibility between various people. The cost of the fragments do not include any payment for the artist or the partner organizations.

Project 0 has been implemented entirely with funds raised from commissioned parts without any external financing.

Project 0 is being displayed on Zlatarska Street for ten days, from the 7th through the 17th of June. After that the 50 parts will be uninstalled and the work will continue to exist in various places around the world where its commissioners are located. However it will remain connected with the space in the original neighborhood.

0otkireto.blogspot.com
www.kirilkuzmanov.com

This evening I had dinner with Cleo and Teo at Граждански клуб ‘Citizen’s Club.’ We ended up sitting at an outside table for a few minutes, but then a thunderstorm set in, and we were driven inside.

We arrived there about eight in the evening, and the conversation and eating was non-stop till after eleven. It was marvelous. Maria’s degree is in applied linguistics. Her English is decent, and she also has Greek and German down. I have to say that Cleo and Teo have done a good job raising her. Her she was having dinner with a man she hadn't seen since she was two years old — I suspect she did not want to be there — but she participated in the conversation in an engaging and lovely way, and she always had interesting things to say. I was grateful for her kindness and hospitality. Cleo speaks English and Greek and is a professor of comparative literature and ancient literature, so she has a world of interesting things to say. Teo teaches at a technical college and speaks English and German. So we had the most marvelous type of conversation that happens with the multilingual and multicultural.

This was our third get together, and I really wanted to pay for dinner since they had paid for the other two events, but they absolutely refused. It was very American on my part to want to instill some parity of hospitality, and it was very Slavic of them to be generous without counting the cost. That's the essence of gift-giving and hospitality among Slavs (and many other ethnic groups). One gives because one is generous and kind, not because you are trying to achieve a financial balance. Hopefully next time I am in Plovdiv they will let me bear some of the expense.

For me dinner began with a салат «Елада» ‘Greek Salad,’ tomatoes, onions, marinated feta, ground olives. I've eaten an awful lot of chicken since I've been here, and my main course was chicken in a spicy sauce.

Cleo and Teo each ordered a шопски салат, which pretty well is like a standard American green salad but with the pieces diced up more thoroughly. Maria had something similar but with a bit of cheese and pasta added. Cleo's main dish was a large hamburger steak, and Teo's was three kufta patties, something my own brother-law from Lebanon would have made. They insisted on the typical Bulgarian rakiya at the beginning of dinner, which I'm afraid to say went right to my head.

After the meal we all walked down toward my part of town. In Russia and eastern Europe people walk together as part of their socializing much more than in the States. All three would point out various places of note. For instance, Teo pointed out this hardware store, and mentioned that it had been the *only* hardware store in Plovdiv after the communists took power in 1946. Mind you, it was a city of 300,000 people, so a single hardware store is ridiculous indeed. Such are the vicissitudes of a planned economy.

I showed them my hotel, which they generally thought was very nice — it is kept spotlessly clean and bright — but were dismayed by the wet bathroom, which they thought very odd in a modern hotel. We then looked over the public mirror installation. We headed back southward, and as we walked through the city, Cleo and Teo and Maria all stopped and talked with people the knew. It was lovely to see them in their happy, native element. We parted ways on Stefan Stambulov Square, where there home is.

So all in all it was a most excellent evening. Excellent company, good food, and an enchanting old town in good weather. I am deeply content.