Отговорът на инж. БЕЖАНСКИ
Преди време един от популярните в САЩ вестници – „Чикаго трибюн” пусна страница, посветена на България. Беше страница, определена главно за „туристически записки”, но се беше получило нещо друго. Подписана бе от Тим Джонс, който отишъл в България да се види със сина си, преподавател в София. Но други неща го впечатлили и той написал за тях. За съжаление, както се случва на хора, които не се чувствуват ангажирани с истината, той си бе позволил да напише доста смущаващи неистини. Или доста фриволни съждения.
Българите знаем, че страната ни в момента не я бива кой знае колко. Но не бихме искали това да дава основание някои наши гости да се упражняват вурху нашия беззащитен гръб на остроти и черна стилистика, която, уви, наистина се чете по цял свят с повече интерес отколкото добрите новини.
Българските медии за вътрешна употреба са понякога и по-лоши и по-разпасани от наши пишещи гости като Тим Джонс. Но това си е някак си цапаница в локвите на вътрешния двор. Когато външен човек го напише и го предостави на света – това е вече клеймо, което се възприема като „лицето на нацията”. И от неговото изкривено изображение страдат всички българи. Най-вече ние, които живеем извън България, в случая – в САЩ.
Затова и нашите имигрантски медии са особено придричиви към парливите материали, затова ние смятаме, че нашата главна цел е да покажем доброто в българина, което другите няма защо и не го показват, проблемът си е наш, вмето да се самоопределяме едни други като глупци, крадци и бандити. Всяко лошотия, свързана с името на българин удря под кръста всеки друг наш сънародник – много или малко… Когато една холандка, женене за българин, носеща българска фамилия, удуши двете си деца и американските медии го съобщиха нашироко, много българки – бейбиситъри, загубиха работата си, защото „бългаките душат децата си, българите са серийни удушвачи”!
Искаме да ди предоставим един материал, който показва как трябва да реагираме в такива случаи. Негов автор е инж. Илия Бежански, един от строителите на Лас Вегас. По негови проекти и с помощта на неговата фирма са построени редица сгради, сред които и „най-големият в света архитектурен поп-арт комплекс – хотел, ресторанти, казино и рекреация „Ню Йорк, Ню Йорк”, един от бисерите на необикновеният град Вегас и световната архитектура. Бежански защитава родната си страна както със своите професионални достижения, така и със словото и авторитета, който притежава.
Ето извадки от статията на Тим Джонс, който като че особено прецизно е търсил да напише само лошото и да скрие всичко хубово, което несъмнено го има и в България. Следва и отговорът на инж. Илия Бежански.
Какво видя и написа Тим Джонс
„Нагоре-надолу по виещите се, калдъръмени улички на този древен град /Велико търново б.р/, хиляди черно-бели преснимани листове (става дума за некролози б.р.) с лицата на умрелите са закрепени по дървета, стълбове и сгради. Повечето от тези хора са починали от доста време насам. Някои са починали преди години, но техните роднини на този така наречен „град на Царете” и други градове из цяла България пазят измачканите, пожълтели известия за починалите, сякаш да напомнят на приятели и съседи да не ги забравят… Но това не е нужно в страна, в която много малко е забравено…Българите помнят… македонците, които живеят в съседната земя и повечето българи си мислят, че тя е тяхна”.
„Това е тъмна, очарователна и за съжаление забравена страна, с размера на Айова… Тук несъмнените сили на Новия свят се срещат с инатия Стар свят, очертан от каруци, овчари, склеротична и корумпирана управляваща бюрокрация и икономика, които в по-голямата част изостават от старите братя на Източния блок.”
„Не идвайте в България, ако търсите европейска елегантност, осеяна със “Старбъкс” и всички тези западни, туристически снаряжения, които правят пътуването ви удобно и спокойно.”
„Дълго време в безредие, България е нещастна жертва на ненаситно воюващи съседи... …Почти изглежда, че единствената нация, която не е минала през България е Уол март (Wal-Mart).”
„Ястията са доста семпли. Много основни ястия са яхнии, сготвени с наденица или пилешко. Пържоли се намират трудно”
„Глобализацията и по-точно Макдоналдс, несъмнено прави каквото си иска с България, както турците са направили преди столетия. Опашката от коли пред 24/7 отворения Макдоналдс в София е непрестанна, докато превозните средства горят бензин за $5.50 на галон докато чакат за Биг Мак.”
„Както и да е , пътят на тази физически и културно недодялана част от югоизточна Европа към запада се извървява със скорост по български, нещо като „един Господ знае” кога ще пристигне храната, поръчана в софийски ресторант. Ще пристигне евентуално.”
„ Ако нямаше неприятности с бурето с барут Косово, София щеше да се нарича Дивия Изток на Европа.… Дупките по улиците са в съревнование с ямите по бордюрите, поддаващи под тежестта на колите.”
„Туристическите пътеводители убедително твърдят, че посетителите не бива да се тревожат за тяхната безопасност. Всъщност, докато се разхождаш из града, трябва да се притесняваш повече от уличните кучета, отколкото от мафията.”
„Изхвърлени гуми, счупени стъкла и други боклуци се мотаят навсякъде с изключение по търговската улицата. Пространството до летище „София” може да бъде объркано за маково поле, но всъщност това е натрупване на бели торбички, които изглежда са се сраснали с бурените.” И пр. и пр.
Comments on the article “Bulgaria the Wild East of Europe”, author Tim Jones
By : Ilia Bezanski
I recently got hold of the Bulgarian issue of “Travel” magazine and read a translation of your article “Bulgaria the Wild East of Europe”, which has been published in the “Chicago Tribune”. I am a naturalized American and have lived here for the last 42 years. I also have had a successful professional engineering career and had raised a family here, for which I am very thankful. I have also contributed to the American culture by realizing monumental projects for high rise hotels in USA.
Being a native of Bulgaria though, I couldn’t help it, but comment on your article about my native country.
I was puzzled and surprised by your negative perception and offensive language used to describe Bulgaria, its people and their customs. I couldn’t believe that an American
journalist could use such diminishing words trying to put down in any way possible the self esteem of the Bulgarian people. That seems quit unusual since American people are known for being very tolerant and accepting to the customs and the culture of different nationalities. This article sounds more like a personal vendetta in order to present Bulgaria and its people in the worst light to the rest of the world.
After all if you don’t have anything nice to say about the country, where your son has been welcome to teach and live, please don’t say anything at all.
I am going to start with a suggestion for your son ,where to find barbeque sauce, instead of you taking a trip to bring it to him. There is plenty of it around here and it will make it easier on you and you wife Merry.
But let’s go to the next thing that you found it to be strange, which is the pictures of dead relatives attached to poles and walls. This happens to be an old religious custom of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which really shows that the people love their relatives and friends and miss them once they are gone. In some Western cultures people don’t care about their closed ones even when they are still alive. Is that any better?
And while you were walking in the ancient city of Tarnovo looking at the dead people’s pictures ,why didn’t you look at the old fortress and magnificent ruins of the castles where the Bulgarian Kings used to live with hundreds of years of history. Did you stay to watch the light show at night on top of the ancient hills and listen to the glorious history told over the speakers by the narrator.
The Bulgarian land is covered with buried ruins from ancient history, from the Tracian ,Greeks and Romans, who have been thru here. There are whole cities buried under that have been discovered by Bulgarian and foreign archeologists. These are the things that an intelligent person comes to see in Bulgaria, not the trash in the fields or the homeless dogs. There is plenty of homeless dogs and even more homeless people and trash in the American cities. You should have shown pictures of the rich historical places, not of dogs and trashy fields.
You talk about Bulgarian people being rough around the edges and of low culture, but almost everyone here speaks more than one language and is well acquainted with world affairs, history and geography. I think that you would have been surprised by the interesting conversations you could have had if you tried to communicate even with the common people.
When you were walking around the holes in the streets and sidewalks of Sofia, did you notice that there are 3-5 theaters at every stretch between the intersections of “Rakovski” street showing world class plays, including American Broadway shows. Also did you see the impressive building of the theater “Ivan Vazov”, named after one of the greatest authors of old times compared only to the classical French writer Victor Hugo. Did you know that Bulgaria has given to the world some of the best opera singers? Did you get a chance to watch the unique folk dancing and listen to the amazing voices of the folk singers .One of these folk songs was recorded and send on the spaceship “Voyager” on its eternal trip thru the Universe.
Here I want to quote the words of the new American Ambassador Nancy McEldowney who recently arrived in Bulgaria with her husband and two children: “ my husband and I are very glad to be here. We would like to get to know this beautiful country with great rich history and culture, it is the birth place of the Cyrillic alphabet and one of the great cradles of civilization.”
And you couldn’t be more wrong by presuming that young couples sit at the benches in the park to hug and kiss, because they don’t have a room to go to. More than 90% of the people own their place free of debt, there is no other country like that Have you ever heard about being romantic and kiss in the park while the birds are chirping and “the blue evening slowly falls about the garden trees and walls”(this verse is by Robert Stevenson”).
You complained about the food in Bulgaria, not offering variety and being simple.
Wrong again! The restaurants offer big choice of tasty food and cooked in a healthy way. How can you even compare the unhealthy way that most of the food chains in USA offer their food to the American Public. The fattest people live in the USA,I know because I have travelled thru most of the States. MacDonald is not a popular eatery in Bulgaria. I laughed when I read about the cars waiting on line for Big Mac. Everybody knows about the bad food they offer.
Talking about terrifying poverty in Bulgaria. They are not rich, but it is not a third world country and people live with dignity. Also if you ever visit a Bulgarian home you will be pleasantly surprised by their hospitality and the abundance of food and drinks on the table, no special occasion necessary. Also every Bulgarian has health insurance at a very minimal cost. The college education is at a very high level and it is affordable for everyone. The pregnant mothers do receive long time off, which is paid even after the baby is born. And you can still walk the streets safely in comparison to the big cities of the” civilized” West. The elderly people most commonly live with the families of their children until they die, thus avoiding the cruel loneliness that the old people are subjected in USA. Going to see a shrink, which a necessity in USA is not something the Bulgarians do, because they have friends and close family they can talk to and never feel alone.
I don’t think that the so called “rich American” can brag about it anymore. He has lost his home, because he can’t pay his mortgage ,he doesn’t have health insurance because can’t afford it, has less job opportunities ,because American companies are subletting jobs abroad, who has to take his shoes off before he boards a plane, who sleeps with his gun next to his head afraid of burglary, who worries about his college student being shot in college by a nut created by the very society he lives in. Is this being rich, is this being free?
And how rich is a country that has trillions of deficit and relies on financial help from its former enemies such as communist China and also Saudi Arabia the mother land of the chief terrorist Bin Laden.
You also mentioned Mafia style murders in Bulgaria, don’t Mafia lifestyle and organized crime flourish in America even today. Aren’t gangsters still roaming the streets of the big cities and having influence in different areas of the American life
Or talking about the political murder of Georgi Markov. Are you aware how many political murders and plots against governments has CIA planned over the years. What about the murders of John and Robert Kennedy?
You quoted that Bulgaria is “a piece of heaven possessed by demons”, but let me ask in which country the biggest mass murderers lived, demons like Jeffery Dahmer, Ted Bundy, The Son of Sam, Ray and Fay Copeland just to name a few.
I would agree with you that you don’t come to Sofia to look for the atmosphere of a Starbucks café, after all why leave USA and travel abroad if you want to find the same thing. Sofia offers a lot of different cozy restaurants with gardens for people to sit outside and dine with their friends. Quit different than sitting alone at a lonesome corner in some American bar and drinking yourself to death, because you have lost your job or your wife has put you thru a devastating divorce. After all what do you have left once this happens to you, get your gun and go and shoot your boss and colleges. Does this happen, yes and even happened few days ago when somebody shot the chairman of the Democratic Party in Arkansas because he has lost his job at a Target store.
You may think that I am bringing up all the negative things about America, because I don’t like it, but all I am trying to say, is that you can always ruin the image of a country by using all the bad facts you can find about it.`
When a person visits another country he doesn’t go there to look at all negative things and then try to smear the image of this country. You go there and look for the native customs and culture and the charm of the nature itself. There is a beauty in everything in this world and in every country. But beauty has to come first from within the mind. If the mind is narrow it would deprive itself from the abundance and the variety of culture of the different people in this God’s world.
When I landed in America 42 years ago, everything was so strange and in many ways hard to perceive. But I opened my mind and tried to learn what this country was all about, learn its language, understand its people and their customs, traveled to get to know the beauty of its landscape and I fell in love with it. Most of all I loved the people, they accepted me as one of their own. No trace of chauvinism, which I felt on my transitional stay in Austria. That is why I was so surprised by your outrageously critical article.
I expect people from foreign nations, who visit my native Bulgaria to show some respect for the country and its great people with recognized tolerance for all nations.
