Episode 49: Bella, Bella

"Bella, you came into my life, stole my heart in the middle of the night, when your little soul entered this big, wide world."

— Jesse Johnson, 1996

In Bulgaria, a good job is hard to find. But when you're an expatriate, it's practically impossible. Most positions, whether it be a Hewlett Packard processor or a Happy waiter, are, understandably, prioritized to countrymen or, in rare cases, other European Union citizens. This puts non-EU folks — particularly the one's like me who lack the native tongue — up the creek without a paddle. 

However, since English is the universal language of the world, tutoring is perhaps the most profitable business for the jobless Germanic in the Sunflower Capital of the World. And while unemployment doesn't apply to me — as I'm currently teaching traditional art and journalism at the American English Academy of Sofia — if push came to shove, it's nice to know there's something to fall back on. However, sometimes employment isn't always about the stotinka earned. Sometimes the nourishment gained from the overall job experience can make it all worthwhile.

With that being said, this holiday season, after my girl from the north country joined an all-female choir and performed a handful of enchanting Christmas chorales, and Bulgaria was being treated to the long-awaited arrivals of an old friend and a concert performance from the world's greatest film conductor, I was offered a rather odd job that was so darn cute and adorable, I couldn't refuse...

"It's time now to sing out

Though the story never ends

Let's celebrate
Remember a year 
In the life of friends"

—Jonathan Larson, 1996

IT WAS A LOVE FOR WORLD TRAVEL AND Doctor Who that initially sparked an adoration between me and Sarah in 2008. However, it would be years later when I'd discovered that we also have a knack for singing harmony. In fact, it all happened earlier this year, when Sarah answered an ad in search of gifted female singers. So, after the midwest native joined the girls choir, the time had finally come around to perform her first gig. But before that would happen, the Traveling Twosome attended a couple of notable Holiday parties amongst friends... 

The first gathering, which was hosted by none other than Joe and George (the same couple who throws a smack your momma Thanksgiving meal each year), was to both bring in some Christmas cheer and to celebrate the homecoming of my boy Matt, a class of 2000 Peace Corps volunteer with Joe, who now works as a Foreign service worker in Uzbekistan. But, if you're memory bank serves you well, you might recall Matt as far back as Episode 2, during my first Bulgarian spa outing, where I received the massage of a lifetime.

Joe and George's festivity was a huge turnout that included many of Matt's old friends, like Fani, Kamy, Ceco, Marie, Boyan, Emily, and Alex, as well as future ones, such as Richard, Ivo, Lubo, Will, Sophia, Kiril, Christian, Marinella, master-chef Bobby, and rock-n-roll Bobby. Speaking of rock, after the festivities, me and a few late night stragglers dragged Matt to Swinging Hall, a cool dive bar, where we caught a few local bands. The next morning, Matt headed back to Uzbek, with a promise to come back real soon.

The second Holiday gathering, held in the early afternoon hours, was strangely fun. It was the yearly Christmas-cookie-eating-exchange-party, hosted by friends Sarha, an ex-pat from Germany, and her boyfriend Vladi, whom you might recall as the first Bulgarian biker in Episode 33. The cookie aspect was yummy, but the exchange part was even yummier — I got a Christmas mug, and Sarah ended up with a beautiful blouse. You see, here's how it works: choose a gift (usually a hand-me-down) and if you like it, you have the option to either, give a personal possession in exchange for it, or simply keep it and be merry.

Speaking of merry, the following Sunday morning, I awoke to the smell of pumpkin pie. It was Sarah baking goodies for our own upcoming Christmas festivity before heading off to the States. But, getting out of bed to decorate the tree, unfortunately, the preparation was cut short, due to Sarah having to gear up for several performances at the Sofia Anglican Church, British Residence, and U.S. Embassy. Other than bad acoustics at the latter, I'm proud to say that Sarah and the girls gave three back-breaking performances, that included the usual classic holiday jingles, and an all-time favorite tune of mine called "Seasons of Love" from the brilliant 1996 musical Rent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Don't let us waste

a precious little minute.
Be sure to use

each second in it.

And that way, to make

the best of everyday."

— Ennio Morricone, 1969

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT THE U.S. RULED THE horror film making genre, during the 1990s' DVD boom, I'd discovered the Giallo, a term used to describe Italian thrillers beginning in the late 1960s throughout the early 1980s. And while Giallos are amongst the most masterful horror movies ever made — like John Williams to Star Wars— many owe a great debt to Italian composer Ennio Morricone, the genius who soundtracked them.

With no disrespect to fabulous film conductors like the aforementioned Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones, and John Barry, Ennio Morricone is — hands down, period, no questions asked — the greatest film conductor of them all. In fact, I'd be so bold as to say, you haven't really heard music, until you've heard Morricone.

A bit far fetched? That's because you're only familiar with the musician's Spaghetti Western titles such as the ever-popular The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (1966) and Once Upon A Time In The West (1968); exceptional works, no doubt, but — to true Morricone fans — pale in comparison to the decades of countless, criminally unrecognized soundtracks written, composed, and conducted by the artist, such as La Donna Invisible (1969), What Have You Done To Solange? (1972), The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970), and magnum opus Veruschka (1971).

Well, after two decades of trying to get my paws on a pair of Morricone tickets (including several sold out Radio City Music Hall dates), I finally got the wonderful honor of seeing the man live, front row, and center stage at a sold out performance inside Sofia's Arena Armeec. Unfortunately, due to Sarah's back-breaking performances, which turned out to be literal, several hours before Morricone was set to take the stage, my girl from the north country pulled a disc in her lower back.

However, since Morricone has a massive European following, it was easy scooping up a fan willing to take Sarah's seat at such a last minute notice. And that fan happened to be Rali, a co-worker at the American English Academy. So, after meeting up with the young Bulgarian teacher, we headed straight for the arena. Starting on time, Morricone, who still looks wonderfully youthful, was accompanied by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, and a stand-in for the exceptional Edda Dell'Orso, an Italian singer who provides the wordless vocals on many of the artist's compositions. 

Unfortunately, Morricone has well over 600 brilliant scores, so it would be impossible for the conductor to perform all of them in one night. With that said, although the artist missed pieces I'd had my heart set hearing, such as work from various Giallo soundtracks, after witnessing the outstanding performances of "Metti Una Sera A Cena," "The Good The Bad The Ugly", and many others, I got so caught up in the rhapsody, I hardly even noticed.

And I wasn't alone.

Being the concert goer who gives an equal amount of attention to both the performer and the crowd, during the closing number of "On Earth As It Is In Heaven," the opening track from The Mission (1986), I observed how the appreciative Bulgarian bystanders seemed as though they were under a musical spell. In fact, from the looks of their faces, I'm sure they'd all agree... you haven't really heard music, until you've heard Morricone.

"Sunny Day

Sweepin' the clouds away

On my way to where the air is sweet"

—Joe Raposo, 1969

STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT THE SECOND A child is born into the world, he or she is able to learn several languages simultaneously. And while I'm a strong believer of the truth in science, exposing a newborn to a vast amount of vocabularies seems like an accident waiting to happen, like confusion or a loss in national identity. With that said, during the Winter of 2012, while chatting over a yummy plate of spaghetti, Sarah informed me of what I'd original thought was supposed to be a joke. You see, Bojana, her friend and Bulgarian co-worker with child, asked if I were interested in tutoring her baby, the minute after it's born. Tasks performed would be to read children's books aloud, sing the ABCs, and so forth.

Ha, ha, right?

Well, several months later in the Spring of 2012, I'd run into the expecting mother at the corner store, where she relayed the same sentiments, but rather seriously. Still assuming her offer was just humorous small talk, I chuckled it off with a sarcastic "sure, sure, no problem." But in the Summer of 2012, while attending one of Sarah's work related functions, the Bulgarian accountant mentioned the job offer again, but this time, with more conviction. After relaying the story to Sarah — expecting another laugh — my girl from the north country gasped earnestly, "uh, she's not kidding, O."

She then further explained that Bojana believes the newborn would benefit from being tutored early in English, and additionally relayed the disappoint her friend would face, if I'd rejected the job. Falling silent for a moment, I scratched my head, and wondered "why?" I mean, it all seemed like such a waste of time to me. 

"Sorry, Sarah," I grumbled. 

"She'll just have to be disappointed. I'm just not up for the job."

However, on August 3, 2012, Bojana gave birth to a beautiful blue-eyed baby girl named Bella, a leo just like me. And three months later, I'd run into the assertive woman once more at the local corner store. But this time, she relayed a rather vital reason why she needed me — and only me — for the job. You see, if you've been a steady Blog-O-Daria reader, you'll recall me being 1 of perhaps 3 Black dudes living in Bulgaria. So, without beating around the bush, Bojana confessed that other than Bella getting a daily English lesson, she would also be in close contact with a person of color. Basically, but not in so many words, the concerned mother wanted to insure that Bella has a healthy balance in life, so not to grow up thinking the whole world is white.

Well, let me put it to you like this. The great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "everything we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see." With the good doctor's words in mind, Bojana's reasoning struck the desegregation cord inside of me. At that moment, I thought to myself, if tutoring Bella will effect one Bulgarian's view on race relations, then it was a job certainly worth signing up for.

"Bella, Bella,

Eyes of wisdom,

Full of grace.

Your precious smile

Can breeze me through

My roughest days."

— Jesse Johnson, 1996

SARAH OFTEN SAYS children are naturally drawn to me. While I tend to boastfully attribute the reasons being my "good looks" and "cool attitude," she bluntly insists, "no, it's because you're funny looking." And while my girl from the north country might be half joking, I'll admit to there being some truth in the matter. For instance, on the day I first met Bella, the usual shy toddler — who is the spitting image of her mother — was mesmerized by my enormous curly locks and quickly began to tug at them. But even though she seemed comfortable, she only gave me a half smile, as if to say, 'yeah, this job's not going to be a piece of cake, dude.'

Well, it turned out I was right about Bella's facial expression, because even though, in a worst-case scenario, I was provided a little help from Katia — the nanny whom Bella refers to as 'Baba Kati' — the first day turned out to be tremendously tough. Never having tutored a 4 month year old, I was quite nervous, with no idea of where to start. So, after several minutes of silently freaking out, I remembered to simply stick to what Bojana requested and glanced around the room to find the nearest book. Ironically, I located a children's story close to my traveling heart called Oh, The Places You'll Go! (1990), by the great Dr. Seuss. Well, it must have been the right prescription, because after reading the first stanza, Bella let out the biggest laughed imaginable. Either it was the tone of my voice, or the strange language coming from it, but whatever the case, the little girl's laughter was calming. 

So, for the next few weeks, I found my groove. And thankfully, until Bella got used to me being around, I continued to be accompanied by Baba Kati, as well as Bella's blood babas, the wonderful and youthful Mrs. Natasha and Mrs. Connie. And on brief occasions, I'd be joined by Bella's dad Jivko, an amazingly chill grocer from Kardzhali who generously provides yummy fruit snacks, like fresh orange juice or ripe red tomatoes, delicious enough to take a bit out of!  

Speaking of fringe benefits, next to learning how to speak Bulgarian by ways of Bella's baby talk, since Sarah and I wish to have children of our own in the near future, being with the toddler has additionally taught me a thing or two about what it might be like during fatherhood. And, boy, am I learning a lot!

But beneficial or not, after two months of having my hair pulled, singing, dancing, jumping, crawling, crying, and reading verses of Dr. Seuss, it seemed as if my efforts were useless. Whatever I'd say or do, Bella would naturally respond in Bulgarian. Sensing the frustration, Bojana and Jivko assured me that the English lessons were getting through to their child, but unfortunately, at that particular point, I'd already made up my mind to end the sessions.
  

Nevertheless, on what was to be my final day with Bella, it seemed as though the Bulgarian couple was right. The little lady had been subconsciously learning English the whole time, but refused to use it, until she needed to. You see, after bidding a final farewell, then leaving the apartment and shutting the door behind, I heard a little voice shout, "bye-bye, Owo!" Puzzled and excited, I rushed back through the door, where Bella was sitting there flashing me that usual half smile. It was as if the child knew I needed to hear something in English in order for me to stay.

And stay I did. 

So, after working with Bella for over a year now, even though her English has vastly improved, I still experience good and bad days; sometime she's up for a lesson; sometimes she pretends like I'm not even in the room. Jivko insists not to take it personally, further siting that his child's behavior is within the bloodline of a typical Bulgarian girl. Still, when I'm not with Bella, it's nice to know that she thinks of me often and makes a special effort to invite me to parties, picnics, and parades. And you know what, it's all kind of strange when you stop and think about it. It's like I've become more than a tutor. I've become a friend. 

So when you add it all up, no matter how the days turn out, being around Bella has been quite worthwhile.

Be seeing you.

O