So, the prom deal: BIG. Rumor has it that an average prom preparation costs parents around 2000 leva. Not an impressive amount by US standards, but a *lot* of money in Bulgaria. Many parents even get loans for that purpose. The packet includes outfit costs, prom night dinner usually at a 4-star hotel, and a 3-day outing at a seaside resort. Then, of course, there are the extras: the extravagance of the outfit, limo rental, private family parties (quinceanera style), and so on. The length of the list is limited only by the family's financial situation and, of course, their vanity.
Mom had been hearing a lot about the prom during her 2-month trial of teaching 12th graders. Infatuation would be a modest word to describe the situation, especially among girls - about dresses, diets, tanning salons, you name it. All of them, of course, among mom's favorite topics, mwahahahahaha!
Every school probably has their prom on a different evening. Every evening around 7pm the whole city goes mad from the non-stopping horns of the cars driving around all the delirious 12th graders.
Mom's school had their prom on Sunday. At 7pm, the whole area in front of the Novotel hotel was packed with people. Students kept arriving in all sorts of vehicles, from limos to cement-mixing trucks (!)
The whole thing lasted 45 minutes (as long as it took for all students to arrive and enter the hotel - after that, they were on their own). Mom had been promised to witness an Oscar-like evening, with red carpet and all. But she's been tricked, there was no carpet after all (for the first year!) and the whole thing was quite disorganized, with crowds moving towards all directions.
The atmosphere was truly reminiscent of the Oscars, nevertheless. And, just like in the Oscars, there was the good, the bad, and the ugly. LOTS of ugly. Crazy outfits, scary hair, and tons - oh tons - of makeup. For obvious reasons, I cannot post pictures, but here's a short video just to give you an idea:
Jealous, aren't you? ;)
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