Alaskan Bulgarian

F_ _ _ It

Being at spring's peak has really changed Silistra. I noticed it most last night as I walked through the crowded streets and center and had 7 "hello"s from people I kind of know, 4 "stop-and-chat"s from people I'd been meaning to talk to, and an "F_ _ _ you" from a stranger, to whom I politely responded "you too" as I walked on. That's number three here in Bulgaria as far as demands that I do something crude to myself go. I'm reminded today, as ten new countries join the EU, that as far as Bulgaria has come since the fall of the Soviet Union, to take that final step would probably mean the end of 18 year-olds telling random foreigners that they do nasty things to mothers.

I've taken different approaches to this international relations problem. The first instance came in Septemvri, now almost a year ago. There, three thirteen year-olds had noticed me walking down the street and one of them had decided to show off by shouting m-----f----- at me. I hopped the fence between us and strolled up to the three, speaking very loudly in English. I'd had a particularly bad day. Anyway, it ended with the smallest kid slightly wetting himself, and my telling the kids in Bulgarian never to say anything like that again. I had realized that the only words in English these kids knew were "hello" and the slur in question. It became a pattern.

The second and third cases have both come in Silistra's city center. The second time, I just let the wind carry the naughty words away and walked on, and last night I responded as mentioned above. In all cases, mysteriously enough, the words have come from somebody in a group of three. The last two have been guys trying to impress their dates by insulting the tall, strange American.

Oh well, 3 bad tidings against inumerable good isn't at all bad. And the fact that they come from the mouths of idiots doesn't really hurt the situation either.