Bulgarian Graffiti and Architecture of the week: Random Words and Phrases
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Several places in my town have words and phrases that have caught my eye and even caused me to spend time thinking about their purpose and or intentions. Some could have been placed for any number of reasons................boredom, lack of paper in the house, practicing English. Other words and phrases seem to have more thought behind them, including hate and humor.I came across one that said simply USE. This one stood out to me from the array of ATAKA and Nazi symbols. I decided it meant USE as in the how Bulgarians tend to use an abundance of materials for all daily activities and then discard as waste. Don't get me wrong, Americans and the rest of the western world is just as capable of creating an waste but in this country they seem to be creating, using and discarding materials at a rate that is just baffling. Every day I bite my tongue as a child throws his wrapper from his banitsa on the ground with the waste basket only steps away. Plastic bags that are given to you for the smallest item, often line the streets and cover open fields. I read this as more of a label or description of the people in this country.........a large number of people who USE their environment rather then working with it and protecting it from the over consumption of plastics and other un natural materials.
After going for a walk around town I came across this message sprayed on a wall next to a Turkish mosque. My town is not very diverse. We have roma and Turkish in our town but they are not welcome like in many towns. The Mahala is very far from the center of Karlovo and I have only come into contact with 3 or 4 Turkish families which are not completely accepted into society. When I worked at the Municipality there was one woman in my office who is Turkish and though all the other women interacted with her she was talked about when not in the room and comments were made about her being a terrorist by other members of the municipality. There are only two other churches in the main town of Karlovo. One is no longer working and the other is only used for holiday services. This was written next to a Mosque that is used every day for local Turkish Muslims. Bulgaria is one of the most diverse countries in the European Union and for most Bulgarians, they would prefer to be a country of only "Bulgarians." This is very interesting to me because most Bulgarians are not %100. This country has been conquered so many times and is surrounded by Romania, Turkey, Macedonia, and Greece that there is so much mixing of cultures with in the country and the people that there isnt much purity..........but this doesn't create a better environment for multi culturalism.
I thought I would end on a positive note. I was walking by a local elementary school during the rose festival in Karlovo and I came across this sweet little message; " I pee on you !" This did a great job of making me laugh and trying to figure out what inspored this person to write those words. Maybe it was to be endearing like when a dog pees on something he is marking his territory or when you lick something you are claiming it so other people dont eat it.........It could be the new way for the local youth to say "I love you and your mine." It sounds a bit cave man from that angle but otherwise I was thinking that was a rowdy teen making a statement about how the government tends to do give nothing back to the people, making them feel worthless or helpless like the grass or flower that is marked with the dog's urine.
Posted byCindy Lou at 8:21 PM 1 comments
