I got to chatting with one of the help at our hotel, an H-2B from Bulgaria. (That’s a seasonal guest-worker visa. Heaven forbid young Americans should have to do menial work in their vacations!) Bulgaria, like Romania, is cursed with a big Gypsy population. My new friend was soon telling me Gypsy horror stories.
Then, nodding to the window through which could be seen platoons of cruise folk doddering up Juneau’s steep streets: “If they ever find out about this place they’ll be swarming here. It’s Gypsy Paradise!” He made the universal pickpocket/Gypsy gesture, dipping his hand down with fingers together and thumb stuck out.
