Bulgarians at Princeton
So, there are apparently around 40 Bulgarians at Princeton (both grad and undergrad). Although I am used to the fact that we are all over the place, I was still surprised by that fact. I met some of them last Saturday for lunch (at the Bulgarian restaurant in Princeton, of course). They are a pretty diverse bunch, which includes one guy who is half-Bulgarian, half-Namibian. It is pretty endearing to hear someone speak Bulgarian, whom, just from looking at him, you would never assume spoke Bulgarian. But I digress... What I actually wanted to share was that even within this community, in small Princeton, central New Jersey, there are divisions and cliques. I quickly learned that the group I had met didn't really get along or hang out much with another group of Bulgarians....You don't really see that in other immigrant communities, do you? Or at least not to this extent. (I am thinking of Greeks, Turks, Poles, for example.) So why is it that we always find reasons to divide ourselves, rather than unite?
2 comments:
There are just too many reasons…
Division among ourselves is common especially from 'older generations' (immigrants that have lived here for over 5-10+ years). However, I think the combined number of people plays a role into this paradigm. Many of the mentioned groups have (generally speaking) larger group representations around the US and are therefore much better shielded from rouge elements which the older generations are trying to shield against themselves.
Please bear in mind that this example is limited to people that have been living here for a “while” and this isn’t all encompassing view of why we don’t get along.
On a related note: It is really interesting to see what transpires to one or a family after they have integrated/immigrated to the US within the first few years. Normally, they (families and people) are very much united up-to-the-point when everyone has a decent job and makes sufficient living wages…I am not sure the same happens in other cultures or it is a by product of capitalism, but I am sure it happens in our.
Hmmm you bring up an interesting point about people being united in the beginning. I think it's more of the "let's share the difficulties, so it's easier on both of us". Although, unfortunately, I think what often happens in BG culture abroad is that as people get settled in and become more successful in their new life, they start feeling that they are "better" than other Bulgarians around them. Those that may not be as well off, start feeling resentment towards those that are. Which is sad, but I have seen it quite often. In the vein of "не искам на мен да ми е добре, а на вута да му е зле"...
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