BIG BROTHER'S LOOKING THE OTHER WAY

by Borislav Stoyanov; photography by Elena Filipova

The Bulgarians love the Russians because they live the same sit-com

russian tourists.jpg

With the collapse of the Soviet regime and the subsequent opening of borders, the Russian diaspora in Western Europe and the US has lost part of its charm. The romantic image established over the years by Tsarist emigres and dissidents has been shattered by the invasion of the crassly-mannered nouveau riche into tourist hot spots and the immigration of hundreds of thousands of people ready to do anything to survive.

The situation in Central Europe is similar in a way. Under Communism, Russians in Central Europe worked mainly in the fields of science or culture, apart from those in the army, who had almost no connection with local people anyway. But today the prevailing opinion in Prague, Budapest or Warsaw is that prostitution, and organised crime in general, has Russian origins. This, coupled with the residue of history, results in a rather negative attitude to anything Russian.

In Bulgaria, however, matters are different. Even in the early 1990s, when the nations in the Soviet sphere of influence directed their hatred of the Communist regimes in their countries at Russia, the Bulgarians did not give up their affection for the "Great Country".

I can remember the way my mother melted when she turned on the old record player, put on a Visotsky record and sat lost in reverie in her armchair.

With the advent of English-language culture my parents' generation experienced a culture shock. The Russian language, which is close to Bulgarian, was their chance to communicate with the world. Irrespective of their political inclinations, every Bulgarian is influenced by Russian culture. Shukshin and Tarkovsky created their art despite the discredited model used to make "cultural products" in Communist society. They became a symbol of freedom for the Bulgarians comparable to the Beatles and Milos Forman.

For the pre-war generations "Communist" and "Russian" had never been synonymous, and this has helped young people regard Russia without prejudice.

Today, the Bulgarians have a positive attitude towards the Russians because there aren't any economic immigrants in this country, and most of the Russian tourists coming to Bulgaria are members of a socio-cultural stratum displaying typical Slavonic frankness and good-nature.

To put it plainly, the truth is that Bulgarians love Russians because they are forthright and because they like drinking at least as much as we do. Because they live in the same sit-com. Because Communism's lies were the same for everyone. Because they are intelligent, spiritually-minded and honest. Because they are melancholic. Because they are amusing. Because they gave us Nabokov and Bulgakov. Because they are Orthodox. Because they are naive. Because they sent a man into space. Because they take themselves too seriously. Because they created the cartoon Nu, pogodi!. Because they have the charming custom of cutting a hole in the ice to swim. Because they liberated us. Because they are always kind enough to lose to our national football team. Because their women are more beautiful and more eager to communicate with men even than Bulgarian women. Because they are steadfast. Because they are proud. Because they are unrestrained. Because they are old-fashioned. Because they are inimitable. Because... we are so alike.

  • COMMENTING RULES

    Commenting on www.vagabond.bg

    Vagabond Media Ltd requires you to submit a valid email to comment on www.vagabond.bg to secure that you are not a bot or a spammer. Learn more on how the company manages your personal information on our Privacy Policy. By filling the comment form you declare that you will not use www.vagabond.bg for the purpose of violating the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. When commenting on www.vagabond.bg please observe some simple rules. You must avoid sexually explicit language and racist, vulgar, religiously intolerant or obscene comments aiming to insult Vagabond Media Ltd, other companies, countries, nationalities, confessions or authors of postings and/or other comments. Do not post spam. Write in English. Unsolicited commercial messages, obscene postings and personal attacks will be removed without notice. The comments will be moderated and may take some time to appear on www.vagabond.bg.

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.

Discover More

OPEN BUZLUDZHA 2024
The fourth iteration of the OPEN BUZLUDZHA festival is scheduled to kick off on 8 August and will last for three nights/four days.

IS RACISM IN BULGARIA ON THE RISE?
"We are fascists, we burn Arabs": the youngsters start chanting as soon as they emerge from the metro station and leave the perimeter of its security cameras.

TRAINING BULGARIA'S YOUTH HOW TO DEBATE
Оne of the (many) notable things Marcus Tullius Cicero said over 20 centuries ago is that "to live is to think" – and if we are not ashamed of what we think we should not be ashamed to voice it.

BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM AND ITS BULGARIAN CONNECTION
Where are the Bulgarian Oscars? For years this question – coupled with the notable lack of a Bulgarian Nobel Prize winner in anything – has troubled the Bulgarians, perhaps bespeaking a very deeply ingrained cultural inferiority complex.

ANGRY SOFIANITES
From job opportunities to entertainment options: living in Sofia, Bulgaria's largest city, has its perks. It also has its downsides.

IN THE EYE OF THE STORM
"Dimitrina?" I have not heard from her for more than a month, which is unusual."Почина.""Po-chi-na?" I type the word phonetically in an online translation tool. "What?""Почина. Me, Dimitrina sister. Bye."
ARRIVAL CITY
As an airplane is swooping over a field beside Sofia Airport, two horses and a donkey do not look up, but keep grazing among the rubbish. Shacks made of bricks, corrugated iron and wood encroach upon the field.

ABF CELEBRATES BULGARIAN SUPERHEROES
Everyday Superheroes was the main theme of the event, celebrating the efforts and the energy of ordinary Bulgarians who work in spite of the difficulties and the hardships to make Bulgaria a better place.

TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND DANCE
As you hold this book in your hands, a Bulgarian song travels in outer space. The song in question is "Izlel e Delyu Haidutin," a traditional Rhodope tune sung by Valya Balkanska.

WHEN A ROSE IS NOT EXACTLY A ROSE
Attar-bearing roses and beautiful girls in traditional attire picking them dominate the images that Bulgaria uses to sell itself to both Bulgarian and international tourists.

DECIPHERING BISHOP'S BASILICA OF PHILIPPOPOLIS
This May, for two days, historians, archaeologists, restorers and experts in other fields shared their findings and ideas about the Bishop's Basilica of Philippopolis at a scientific conference in Plovdiv.

VERY SUPERSTITIOUS
Once you start paying attention to Bulgarians, you will observe some inexplicable actions. Dozens of men and women wear red thread around their wrists. An old woman cuddles a baby, and then spits at it.