Mr. Ernu Goes to Sofia

Honi soit qui mal y pense
(image source: blog of Rahoveanu)
no copyright infringement intended

Bulgaria? noua noastră destinație

La fiecare 7-10 ani am tot schimbat locul de trai. Am deja la activ 6 localităţi în care am trăit. Mă obişnuiesc repede cu toate că vîrsta vrea linişte şi calm. Dar nici ca la Cluj sau Bruxelles că fac infarct.

Cîndva visam să trăiesc la Istanbul: singurul oraş adevărat din zonă. Şi poate singura metropolă euroasiatică. Oraşele europene par pe lîngă Stambul nişte pensioane de bătrîni (excepţie Londra). Dar nu cu Erdogan.

Dar Stanbulul se amînă pentru o altă viaţă. (Ca să dezvălui: Izgoniţii se termină la Istanbul, unde beau ceai cu o mătuşă anarhistă care are nepoate care o iau spre fundamentalism religios).

Am zis că nu mă mut din Bucureşti: cel mai european oraş oriental. Asta e marele lui atuuuuu.

Dar azi mi-a trecut aşa un gînd: de ce nu Bulgaria? Sofia ce are?

Le ştiu cît de cît limba, sînt slavi cu care mă împac binişor, sînt balcanici cum îmi plac, nu sînt isterici ca fraţii români cînd aud de politică, au mafie (deci sînt serioşi), au mîncare bună, se munceşte lejer, au mare, au vecini greci.

Mai nou au şi MCV iar noi nu. Poftim? MCV?

Bulgaria e chiar atractivă cu sau fără MCV.


So, Mr. Ernu goes to Sofia; as he's changed his place (only the place, not his ways) every 7-10 year; that seems to follow some logic; the logic of the six cities he has already lived in; well, because age wants peace and quiet, it could not be so easy this time; come'on, peace? quiet? no, no, no, not like in Cluj or Brussels (do you want a Mr. Ernu with a heart attack?); now, to put the thoughts in some order (as much as we could), Mr. Ernu used to dream of living in Istanbul: the only real city in the area; and maybe the only Eurasian real metropolis; near it the other European cities seem to be kind of old town pensions (maybe except London); but not with Erdogan (for whatever reasons Mr. Ernu doesn't like Erdogan, in case you didn't know it); so Stambul is postponed for another life; to reveal: Izgoniţii ends up in Istanbul, where Mr. Ernu has a cup of tea together with an anarchist aunt whose grandchildren evolve towards religious fundamentalism (I suggest Cafe Kundera, in case you like the novels of Elif Shafak; if not, keep to Vasile Ernu, that's okay); now, trying to keep this talk down to a sanity level, Bucharest (where Mr. Ernu currently lives) is the most European Eastern city; this is its big asset (of Bucharest, not of Mr. Ernu, who seems to be the most Eastern European guy; or whatever); then why Sofia? here Mr. Ernu gives his reason: why not Sofia? (I'm okay with that); he knows up to a point their language, as it is a Slavic one, with whom he is comfortable, they are Balkanians, which he likes, they are not hysterical (unlike the Romanian brothers when they hear about politics and policies), they have mafia (so they are serious), they have good food, they take it easy with work, they have the Black Sea, they have Greek neighbors; plus they are okay with MCV and we aren't; or the other way around; anyway Bulgaria is really cool.


(Vasile Ernu)