All Politics are Local

Vlado's campaign headquarters

As previously mentioned in this space, a friend of Anne and Mark is planning to run for mayor of the city of Blagoevgrad.  Well, as of yesterday, the campaign for the election is now underway.  Now, keep in  mind that elections in Bulgaria are not the marathon process that they are in the U.S.  Instead the campaign started yesterday and the election will be in October.  (of this year)

So Vlado put on a rally to officially launch his campaign and Anne and Mark were honored to be invited (actually it was put on in a public square so everyone was invited, but still, it was nice to get the invite) even though they are not eligible voters here.

The actual rally started with some junior dance troupes - apparently intended to warm up the crowd.  After that frivolity, the political speeches began in earnest.

Go Punch Party!

All of the key members of the party got up on stage and Vlado began his campaign speech.  What was the speech about?  Anne and Mark were able to recognize the following words and can translate them to English: "Good day," "business," and "thank you."  What else was he talking about?  Ummm, let us get back to you on that.

As you can see in the photo above, Vlado brought his daughter Krissi on stage.  As you may imagine, political speeches may not be overly interesting for a little girl, even if such speeches are being made by her father and his friends.  Krissi paid attention for as long as she could, and then she stole the show by waving to the crowd.

You tell em Daddy.  Word!

We are happy to report that the rally was well attended.  Here is a photo that we took panning around the crowd:

Panning the crowd

Plenty of people there, as you can see.... hey - wait.  Did you see that?  The guy on the left with the jacket on...

Is that what I think it is?

Hawkeye nation?  No, Hawkeye Inter-Nation.

It is.  It's a Tigerhawk, one of the registered trademarks of the University of Iowa.  Go Hawks!

After the rally, Anne met up with the candidate and then a local band took to the stage.  Here's a taste of both.

Hey, Anne's back in Bulgaria!

Only in Bulgaria

Sometimes it happens that Anne and Mark look around and wonder where exactly they are.  This is perfectly understandable, given all of the different places they have visited and things they have seen.  Sometimes, however, they see things and realize that they must be in Bulgaria.  There are just some things that happen here that do not happen anywhere else.  For example, dumpster fires:

Now this is not the first dumpster fire that Anne and Mark have seen.  In Bulgaria during the winter, these were not common, but they were not "uncommon."  Apparently, people take the coals from their furnaces and drop them into the dumpster while they are still hot.  The next morning - boom - melted dumpster.  The unusual parts about this particular melted dumpster are (1) that it happened in the summer (and it is still far too hot for any one to be running the furnace around here) and (2) this is a dumpster for recyclables only.

Another example.  The fountain located outside of the main building of the university is sometimes covered by graffiti.  Usually, the city allows this "street art" to remain indefinitely.  However, next month Blagoevgrad will be holding local elections.  Apparently, in an effort to increase the prospects of the incumbent candidates, public works projects have picked up around town.  One of these, apparently, is washing off the graffiti of the fountain.  What makes it uniquely Bulgarian?  Well, it appears they just dumped a ton of Dawn dish washing liquid into the fountain and let it circulate for awhile.

Sorry, Mayor, I am still voting for Vlado.

Third example: horse rush hour.  It is not unusual to see horses around town in Blagoevgrad.  The Roma population still uses horse-drawn carriages on a daily basis and it is not uncommon to hear the clip-clop of horse hooves rumbling through town.  What is uncommon, however, is to see a couple of horses out for their nightly stroll without supervision.

These horses do not appear to be the brightest knives in the drawer, as they appear to be looking to eat the grass in the asphalt on a fairly busy intersection.

Today's fourth, and probably most memorable, "Only in Bulgaria" moment is brought to you courtesy of this kid in the Rooney jersey.  (For those of you who do not know, Wayne Rooney is an English soccer player who could be a twin brother of Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Anyway, as you can see, little Rooney is ready to check out with his purchase of beer and a hard cider.  Not bad for a Thursday night, my friend.  

It was not clear whether the clerk carded lil Rooney, but is clear that he waited around for his change.

Also, for future reference:

Flea, bass player from the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Wayne Rooney, English "Football-er"

Not to be confused with EDWARD Rooney, the nemesis of "cool dude" Ferris Bueller.