Great Journey 🏍 Day 257
Little fit of past-tense emotionality
Actually, I knew it. That Bulgaria is a former socialist country. And that it didn't have as much support as our little GDR back then when it made the leap into the modern world, I know that too. (A small hint: I'm not sure at this point whether the modern world has only brought advantages, that's just by the way). And yes, I also knew that abandoned and grey, sad-looking villages await us here.
Then, standing in the middle of it all, in this shop that somehow got forgotten in the transformation to capitalism and still looks like what I was used to in the past, it caught me cold.
Speechless (!!) at first, I looked at Gerd and stammered: "That's exactly how it used to be, that's exactly how it looked. That's how it was when I was a child." He took me in his arms and whispered "You poor Tschudderli" in my ear.
Later, we drive across the countryside and (apart from really impressive nature) this blandness yawns at us in the villages, this old, this rotten, this grey. And again I feel: that's how it was, yes, exactly like that.
This time, however, wistfulness and nostalgia are mixed in, the street is dusty and empty, but I can see children running around in my mind's eye, hear East German music in my ears and how we secretly read West German newspapers. How we taste that scary yoghurt with rubber consistency and drink Thälmann soda. How we secretly shouted "friendship" at the flag roll call as pioneers to feel bigger. How we paid 10 pfennigs for the bus and the cinema and how the youth club was a second home for us. And next to all the shit that went on back then, from which Mama shielded me, there is real joy. Memories of a really carefree childhood.
Thank you Bulgaria for giving me a glimpse of my inner self through your exterior!
1TP6BeautifulChildhood #ddr #ostkind
Thank you, Heike.
A very touching report. 👍
Hi Rachel, thank you!
Best wishes from - at the moment - Bulgaria!
Kind regards - Heike