"AZIZ!"

Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Yesterday we bumped into a group of about 7 Peace Corps volunteers stationed in small villages around Plovdiv. They had all gathered to run a week-long day camp for Roma (gypsy) kids in town, children who rarely get that kind of attention and have that kind of fun given their poverty and the racism and lack of opportunity they endure. Naturally Scott and I fast became friends with the PCVs over some good Bulgarian beers on the main shopping street, and we went out with them all night.

I think perhaps my brother's friend Elena may be the only person who can truly appreciate what we witnessed last night (a native of Plovdiv), because it involved a local superstar. Let me explain a bit:
Aziz is sort of a Prince or Michael Jackson type of celebrity in Bulgaria. His music is extremely popular and he has a good voice, so I can't judge him badly there. Bulgarians really enjoy music that is a fusion of Bulgarian folk and remixed techno. The videos are melodramatic and very funny. But Aziz's image is ridiculously feminine - glitter, high heels, beaded skirts over tight cut up denim capri pants - all this even though he surrounds himself with huge bald bodyguards with no necks and beautiful women. If you see his poster, it looks straight out of Zoolander.

Anyways, we went to a club last night to see Aziz make an appearance on the campaign trail (he is now running for office of some sort). Forget any kind of platform or speech, the guy arrived at 1 am and walked into a dancing club crowd also containing 7-9 Americans not knowing exactly what to expect. He danced in the center of the club singing his songs (terrible dancer) to the delight of the locals. The women love this guy, you should have seen the wall of cell-phone cameras surrounding him. So he came, sang his songs, shaked his ass, and Scott and I left a little early!

We're now in Sozopol, a small beach town on the Black Sea in the east. We took a nice train ride across the country after very little sleep and rented a cheap apartment in town from an old woman who speaks no English. I think we'll hit a couple towns along the coast (although it is very quiet here before high season) and maybe one more destination before leaving Bulgaria.

I know this is just stop number 1 in Eastern Europe, but I think it needs to be said that what Americans grow up thinking about this area of the world is embarrassing and uninformed. Our education in American classrooms is based entirely on ancient history, modern wars, and communist legacies. Oh, and of course fear of most places beyond western Europe. Not knowing what to expect, I imagined we might stumble upon Soviet era gulags or anti-American armed gangs just past the border, not the undiscovered supermodels and seaside restaurants and resort towns. Contemporary classes need to be introduced immediately.