3. ‘Blessings’

Vladimir hadn’t said too much. The reception that winter had been warm and heartfelt. The editorial team had arranged accommodation with a friendly host family a few streets away. When the power went out in the editorial office, the bottles came out on the table. “It’s been much worse,” they quickly said. And with a grin: “These are the blessings of capitalism.”

But there were also more cynical reactions. “The same crooks are in charge again,” you would often hear that winter. “The nomenklatura (the elite of the communist party, red.) decides everything. Just like before, when everyone was ‘equal’.”

It also seemed like almost everyone had started their own business due to the poor economic situation, or was about to start one. The basement spaces under the apartment buildings in Varna were teeming with souvenir shops, hair salons, and tobacco vendors. A better existence was literally being built from the ground up.

As the first foreign chain, McDonald’s had opened a branch in Varna. In the first few days of the opening, there was a long line at the door, as if nothing had changed. But the scarcity of the past had been replaced with the right to choose freely. Parents with children, teenagers, grandparents – everyone wanted to have been there at least once. Mostly because of the symbolism, rather than the quality of the food. After Levi’s and Coca-Cola, this was again a Western icon that could be embraced. They were free hamburgers.