Festivals and Holidays

Life continues to be interesting in Bulgaria...

February 19, 2012

Joy had a birthday party for Randall mid-January. While riding the bus into Plovdiv, I was thinking that even just riding a bus 30 km is an adventure here, even if nothing happens out of the ordinary. It's just so incredible to me that I'm here…in Bulgaria…riding a public transport bus to the city of Plovdiv to see friends. Then the bus stopped in the last village before Plovdiv. A passenger got on and seemed to have trouble speaking. Then he tried to pay for his ticket with his keys. Then he sat in front of me and started trying to carry on a conversation with the young man in the next seat. Then, as the air around us filled with the unmistakable aroma of someone who has been "celebrating" all afternoon, everyone within 5 seats of the guy understood. I kept up a prayer for him not to get sick, and we were barely inside Plovdiv when the guy jumped up and said something to the driver. He pulled over to the curb even though it was not a stop, the fellow got out, and we drove on. I had to chuckle under my breath. Wasn't I just thinking about what an adventure it is to take the public transportation in Bulgaria?

Celebrations

We've celebrated no fewer than four holidays or festivals since the New Year. If I did the math correctly, that averages out to be one celebration every one and three-fourths weeks. The first was the name day of anyone named Ivan or Ivanka and included Vania (short for Ivanka), Ivo (short for Ivan), and Joan (feminine of John which is English for Ivan). Since every other male in Bulgaria is named Ivan, it was a big deal. (I may be exaggerating.) The tradition is for the one having the name day to treat friends and family, so Vania's nephew, Ivo, cooked up a storm for us: a special potato salad, turkey that melted in the mouth, side dishes, relishes, and a fabulous homemade baklava. (I always thought baklava was Greek. Turns out it's Turkish.)

Clockwise from left: Lubo (married to Angelina), Panch (married to Nadia), Nadia (Vanya's sister), Ivo (son of Nadia), Rumen (son of Angelina), Angelina (Vanya's sister), and Vanya (my landlady, tutor and good friend)

Ivo's wonderful potato salad

Next was Trifon's Day. I stuck my head out the door to say hello to Vanya as she returned from church last Sunday and heard folk music being played in the town center about 3 blocks away. I asked her about it, and she said they were celebrating the wine. This holiday is in honor of St. Trifon, patron saint to the wine growers, tavern-keepers, and gardeners. She wasn't interested in going, but I decided I didn't want to sit in my room while there was celebrating to be done, so I threw on my boots and jacket and headed out. I barely got to the crowd when I was grabbed and handed a glass of red wine. I looked around and saw many familiar faces – my director, Vanya's brother-in-law, the priest, a teacher friend's husband – all having what looked a lot like a tail-gater on the back of an old flatbed truck, except the only sport going on was horo and sampling the season's crop of distilled beverages. As I looked around I noticed there were very few women there. I asked why, but they just laughed at my observation. One man finally said his wife was home cooking, and I hoped I didn't make big a "foo-pah" by being there, but no one seemed to care. In fact when I tried to dance the horo and couldn't pick up on the step, one man graciously taught it to me. Horo in the snow, a couple glasses of homemade red…a great way to warm up a cold February Sunday afternoon.

Father Dimeter, me, Director Petazov, and Vanya's brother-in-law, Lubo

Horo in the snow with Lubo and "my dance instructor."

Valentine's Day here is the name day of those named Valentin and the celebration of St. Valentine. There were lots of hearts and homemade cards, but the kids didn't seem to celebrate to the extent we do in the States. I gave a card to my counterpart, Valentin, but otherwise limited my celebrating to playing Valentine vocabulary match with my students.

The fourth celebration in the past month was the Kukeri which took place this weekend. This is the day people dress in outlandish and very elaborate costumes, ring themselves with cowbells and scare away the evil spirits to ensure a bountiful harvest, health, and happiness through the year. The students and teachers got involved in this ritual and came up with some very creative masks as you can see in the photos. I accompanied our art teacher and the fourth graders Friday night to the next village where they paraded on stage.

There's a fourth grader under each of these masks.

The festivities continued on Saturday as people poured in from all over the country to parade their costumes in what I'm assuming was a contest for best…or scariest…or most ridiculous (see the angel). As you can see in some of the video, some wine-tasting may have carried over from last weekend.

Performing for the crowd

These folks are entertaining themselves while waiting to perform.

Snow

We got a lot of snow in Rakovski. People have been clearing it off their roofs in fear of them caving in, but other than that, we have been safe here. 

My landlady. The steps to my apartment are on the right.

Bobby the dog.

Sunset. This was taken after the first snow, so there's not so much on the roof.

My house is on the right.

Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton visited Bulgaria a few weeks ago. Many of us trekked to Sofia to see her in spite of weather warnings. We ended up getting "grounded" by the PC director and had to stay overnight in Sofia at our own expense, but getting to shake her hand was worth the trouble. She spoke to us between her official talks with Roma representatives and Bulgarian officials. She had done her homework and listed many of the accomplishments of the Peace Corps in their 20 years in Bulgaria. I didn't get any good photos of her. In this picture of her being introduced by Ambassador Warlick, I think she's looking at the flags displayed overhead.  

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria James Warlick, January 29, 2012.

U.S. Embassy, Sofia, Bulgaria

School

We started second semester last week. It doesn't seem that long ago I was anxious to get the school year started! I'm happy in my job when I'm able to pull a few students at a time out of the classroom to work with them. I'm not happy with my sixth grade class. About half the students are rude and disrespectful and seem to have made it their mission to disrupt the class every single time. Their homeroom teacher has been a big help to me and even called their parents for me, so this situation is getting better, but it sure makes me appreciate the many, many super kids I taught at the elementary in Nora Springs and all the wonderful parents who support and encourage their children with loving discipline.

I am so thankful my family is safe.

Love and peace,

Joan