RELEVANT BULGARIAN PHRASEOLOGY

Sofia Echo, Bulgaria
Oct 30 2006

"Go and complain to the Armenian priest" is a very popular idiom in
Bulgarian. Loosely it means that complaining is useless and you are
not going to find any help. The phrase mocks the person at whom it
is pointed because of his futile and irritating attempts to grasp
someone’s attention by whining.

Although nowadays Bulgarians use it in a negative, derisive way,
history scholars and many Armenians oppose this and call it a misuse.

They cite the memoirs of Bulgarian revolutionaries from the times
of the Ottoman domination who were exiled to the town of Diarbekir
(Turkish Armenia) suspected of plotting against the sultan and the
empire. Many of them managed to escape prison thanks to the local
Armenian priests – people with great influence on the Ottoman governors
– who fostered the Bulgarians both morally and financially.

Anyway, there are two views on that. Valya Pirova, assistant professor
at Sofia University, Bulgarian philology chair, says the expression
has always had a negative meaning. According to her, the Bulgarian
exiles had the right to post a complaint to the closest Christian
cleric (and that was the Armenian patriarch) once a year, but those
letters were never answered.

Brush up your joke repertoire

Every Balkan country tells jokes about its neighbours. Bulgaria makes
no difference but the anecdotes about Armenians aberrate slightly.

Actually, as the Armenian ethnic group is probably the best integrated
into the Bulgarian society, there are no "neighbourhood" jokes about
them. On the whole, Bulgarian humour contains no negative attitude
towards Armenians and although sometimes ridicules them, it is never
offensive.

Three types of anecdotes could be specified:

Where Armenians boast with their abilities, might, wealth. Very often
these jokes feature the characteristic desire of the Armenian to be
first in everything.

A Bulgarian, an American and an Armenian talk about their sports
facilities. The Bulgarian says: "We have a wonderful big stadium –
it holds 40 000 people". The American laughs and says: "Our biggest
one has a capacity of 120 000". Then comes the Armenian’s turn: "The
capacity of the biggest stadium in my country is 120 000 seats in
the first row". The other two ask amazed: "Why in the first row only?"

The answer comes with a grin: "Have you ever seen an Armenian sitting
in the second row?"

Where Bulgarians highlight Armenians’ affinity for plump women.

Radio Sofia: What shall one do if a woman is fat?

Radio Yerevan: Let her spin a hoop around her hips.

Radio Sofia: And if she can’t make it through the hoop?

Radio Yerevan: Then don’t spoil the fine lady!

Where Armenian people/institutions are used to discuss politics and
international affairs, to criticise over problematic issues. In such
cases, jokes usually have nothing to do with Armenians themselves.

Bulgarians simply use the frankness of Armenians to disguise biting
jokes, says Valya Pirova, assistant professor at Sofia University,
Bulgarian philology chair. The above-mentioned Radio Yerevan (Yerevan
is the capital of Armenia) and the Armenian guys Kirkor and Garabed
are most popular.

Radio Sofia: What would have happened had they shot Kruschchev during
his speech before the UN, instead of John Kennedy in Dallas?

Radio Yerevan is silent for a moment. Then says: It is difficult to
give an answer but one thing’s for sure – Aristotle Onassis would
have never married Nina Krushcheva.

Simply delicious

If you are fed up with ordinary restaurants, try one where they serve
Armenian cuisine. Almost all big towns with large groups of Armenian
residents offer that chance. One of the most popular places here is
Egur, Egur (literally Come, Come) in Sofia, owned by Hilda Kazasian,
a famous jazz singer.

Once having made up your mind that you want to try Armenian food,
you’d better be warned that it’s savoury but often either spicy or
quite sweet. If you’ve already eaten Bulgarian sarmi you’ll find
a similar thing on the Armenian menu, only the vine leave rolls
are stuffed not simply with rice but also with caramelised onions
and raisins. A lot of the dishes include eggplant – like Shtoratz,
where it is fried in thin slices and then rolled with milk filling,
or Carna salad, which includes also white cheese and tomatoes. If you
like meat, you might find Veal with sauce of green and black olives
a true delicacy. Although dessert comes last, in Armenian cuisine
sweeties are obviously held in honour. The must here is Anush abur.

It is translated as "sweet soup" and is a type of frumenty with boiled
wheat, dried fruit (figs, apricots, raisins) and various nuts.

In truth, cooking typical food is one of the traditions which the
Armenian families in Bulgaria keep longest. The recipes are passed on
to each new generation. Many Bulgarian girls, married to Armenians,
also get to know the secrets of their cuisine.