'Allo! 'Allo!

For today, here's an interesting little episode from our life in Sofia.

Before we begin, answer me this: are you Bulgarian?

If so, you can skip the next question. If you aren't, please continue reading.

Do you know of a Britsh TV series called "'Allo! 'Allo!"?

...

We didn't either. But apparently -and that's the reason I posed you the first question- if you are Bulgarian it's impossible to not know this series, it's like a natural constant or something.

Thus we were caught completely off-guard when, during the days the Sofia International Film Festival was taking place, Boryana called us and told us that we were invited that very afternoon, free tickets and all, to a screening of 'Allo! 'Allo with the presence of the series' cast - an event which had been organised as part of the film festival. "Okay", we said, running to catch the trolley bus.

The only thing we knew about the whole thing was that it was a British something-something... and that was about it. None of us knew more, but we each assumed the others did so we didn't ask. We were excited we'd be watching something in English. But no; what was screened was the final Reunion special, apparently shot years after the end of the series, showing what happened to each character... all dubbed in Bulgarian. We might have been disappointed with that, but apparently the dub itself was a big part of the series' success in the country and has been the reason most people love it.

We were invited at an event many Bulgarians would kill to have attended, and had known nothing about it. Even our mentor Boris told us that we can say that we saw the actors of 'Allo! 'Allo! as an easy way to make friends and impress people in Bulgaria. Of course, that wasn't before he cursed at us under his breath for failing to invite him to see his heroes from up close - for failing to know just how big a deal this was. "Okay", we said, experiencing a small dose of what survivor guilt must feel like.

To show that we are aware of our -unintended- insolence, we have made a deal to do an 'Allo! 'Allo! marathon together with Boris before our EVS is over. Maybe it could even be the Bulgrian dub...