Glory Ho

In the kitchen with Elana. She’s always willing to listen to my Bulgarian. I’m looking for a little history. Cigarette in one hand, coffee cup in the other. She leans against the sink. I sit on a stack of chairs.
Andrea: Moge li ti pitam neshta: kokvo beche jivod prez “communism?” (Can I ask you something? So what was life like during communism?)
Elana: It was terrible. People working only two hours a day, everyone having the same wage, no matter what their skills. Everyone had a job, sure, but there is no motivation because you’re not in charge of your own life. There is no personal responsibility because the state takes care of everything for you. and nothing every changes. No matter what you did, you are still the same.
My inner monologue: That explains the cracked sidewalks, unsatisfactory customer service and a slough of other violations of common society sense. But this reminds me of Chez Gavera—his original idea was to help the poor people, spread the wealth and remove power from the richest people. He had good intentions, but I guess it just doesn’t work. ..
Elana: “My grandfather owned a factory before communism and when the communists came into power, they took it away. As an entrepreneur, he was a threat and was declared an enemy of the state, banned from working or having anything to do with the factory.
Andrea: Oojus (Awful)
My inner monologue: Entrepreneurs were discouraged, penalized and declared the enemy. Can you imagine?
Andrea: Ee kakvo za patuvane? (And what about traveling?)
Elana: You typically couldn’t leave the country. My family managed to get to Italy to visit relatives and it was terrible. The government listened to our phone conversations, opened our mail for months and warned my parents that they must never, ever tell anyone what they saw in Italy.
My inner monologue: Am I listening to a horror documentary on NPR? No this is the country I’m living in. Is she talking ancient history? No, this was in 1989. It’s not even IN the history books yet.
Andrea: E mnogo trudno za horata sega, nali? (It’s still hard for people now, isn’t it? How do they do it?)
Elana: I really don’t know. I was 17 when it all changed, but there are still problems. People thought it would be better the next year, just like Switzerland. But even now, taxes take 50 % of our wages. We pay 6% health insurance and we don’t even know where it goes, because when we go to the doctor, it’s very expensive. It’s such a problem, but all people do is murmur, that’s all. Why? Because. We were trained to keep quiet. Protesting before got you removed from society, maybe even sent to Belene to disappear.
Andrea: Ne moga de viarvum che. (I can’t believe it)
Elana: Oh, it’s true. And now, with the EU coming, prices will increase and the local shop owners, those that worked so hard to crack their mental shell of communism, will be driven away.
Elana: But I know it’s good for us for the long term. We will have a balanced economy. The salaries will match the prices and people can live on their own, maybe have more than one child and have enough money to save a little. I won’t see it in my life, but maybe, I hope for Raia (her daughter).
Andrea: Head shake.

This was and is Bulgaria.