Moving Forward
June 8, 2009
Words and photographs by Colter Hettich ©2009
Bulgaria became a member of the European Union on January 1, 2007. Ambassador Dmitris Kourkoulas headed the EU’s delegation to Bulgaria several years ago, and is now trying to help Bosnia and Herzegovina meet EU requirements and gain membership.
“I certainly believe that Bulgaria is a success story and will become even more of a success story in European integration in the years to come,” Kourkoulas said in a Euractiv.com report.
Even though a Bulgarian opinion poll reported in February that almost 50 percent of the eligible population would not vote, Bulgaria was one of 11 countries whose ruling parties were defeated, according to Reuters.com, joined by Britain, Spain, Latvia, Hungary, Ireland, Estonia, Portugal, Sweden, Greece and Slovenia.
Bulgaria entered the EU in 2007 with “Cooperation and Verification Mechanism” in place, which has since scrutinized the country’s judicial system. The commission noted in its reports that evidence often “disappears” during lengthy trials, or witnesses “forget” what they saw,” Euractiv.com reported.
Bulgarian law gives immunity to candidate legislators until the Fall, and several candidates seem to have taken advantage of that this year. After Alexander Tomov registered as head of his own Bulgarian Social Democracy party he was indicted for embezzling 18 million Euros and falsifying documents. Candidate Ivaylo Drajev, Bulgarian soccer club owner, is being prosecuted for causing the death of two people while driving under the influence of alcohol. Vesselin and Hristo Danov — father and son duo who registered as candidates for the national legislative elections on July 5 — were arrested for money laundering and indicted for pimping and criminal association, according to Euractiv.com.
Boyan Yurukov, a senior journalism major, software company intern and native Bulgarian, writes for ThinkAboutIt.eu, a political blog managed by a team of journalists and journalism students to inspire youth involvement in this year’s EU elections.
“When you ask Bulgarians about what they think of the EU, many would answer that it is a union that offers many benefits to our country. When they are asked however, what is their personal role in that union, most of them are confused,” Yurukov wrote on February 25. “We don’t perceive the EU as a union, but as the thing that will fix the stuff that is wrong in our country … There is a strange notion that someone is going to come from somewhere and undo all the wrongful things that have been done by politicians in the past 20 years.”
With concrete monuments to communism still peppered across the country, many people in Bulgaria are pushing forward, seeking an integral role in our global economy and social sphere.
Outcasts
June 3, 2009
Top 6 things I did not expect about Bulgaria
June 3, 2009
Colter Hettich ©2009
1. Mayonnaise bottles are yellow. Mustard bottles are green. Thankfully, ketchup bottles are still red.
2. Shaking your head from side to side means yes. Nodding your head up and down means no. Impossible to adapt to.
3. Bathrooms have a tile floor, four tile walls and a ceiling. No bathtub, no shower. The shower head sticks out of any of the four walls. every bathroom is equipped with a squeegee and a drain in the center of the floor. It is inconvenient for everyone as it sounds.
4. When the server brings your change after paying for a meal, placement of the ‘thank you’ is key. Say ‘blogoderia’ after you are handed your change, and you are in the clear. Say ‘blogoderia’ even a split-second before, and all of your change just became a big tip. Yes, I learned the hard way.
5. Bulgarian salads have no lettuce. Ever.
6. Bulgarians eat tomatoes and cucumbers with every meal, no matter what.
The Open Road
May 18, 2009
Words and photograph by Colter Hettich ©2009
The city of Yambol centers around two main streets that run from one end of the town to the other, parallel to each other. If anything can be said about this city, its future is secure. The proof: the diaper-donning future of Yambol waddles across your path at every turn. If its not waddling, its weaving a 3-foot-tall, electric SUV through main street crowds.
One of these mad motorists cut me off, inspiring me to take a picture. When it happened I was walking with Angel, my new 15-year-old Russian friend who learned English by watching Cartoon Network. He laughed and told me how much fun he had as a child maneuvering through the streets. As he reminisced, my mind wandered. I imagined the boy on the other end of my lens ten years from now, walking with a visiting American, telling him or her how much he loved driving those little cars as a kid. I asked Angel if he thought those boys would stay in Yambol.
“If you are born here, you stay here,” he said.
I hope one of those little boys is watching too much Cartoon Network.
A Reminder
May 16, 2009
Colter Hettich ©2009
Angel, a 15-year-old Russian who lives in Yambol, offered to show me around town yesterday. As we were walking, he pointed out important buildings such as City Hall and the only cinema in town. I tried to take in every detail as we walked and kept noticing white pieces of paper with black and white photos taped to telephone poles, walls, doors, every surface that might hold on to a piece of tape.
I asked him who this person was. I hadn’t gotten close enough to any of them to realize that each photo was a different person, most looked vintage and faded. He told me when someone dies, a family member or friend prints their picture. On the page they include the day they passed away and a message saying how much the father, mother, brother, or sister will be missed.
The paper is not left to brave the elements forever. One year later the same family member or friend replaces the memorial with an updated paper, the date replaced by ‘one year ago.’ It will continue to be updated annually until the person responsible moves, decides to move on, or dies themselves.
No outdoor surface is sacred. Children play, couples dine; life moves through the streets of Yambol, outlined by these reminders of our temporality.
32-hour journey
May 14, 2009
Photographs by Colter Hettich ©2009
A view of the gate through which I entered Bulgaria.
When we arrived at the airport in Sofia, Bulgaria, the airport had was almost completely empty. The welcome party must have missed the memo about our flight being delayed eight hours.
A man has a somewhat serious conversation on his mobile phone at Charles de Gaulle airport, terminal F, in Paris.
A woman reads at Charles de Gaulle airport, terminal F, in Paris.
The Eyeglass 