Holidays and what not

My favorite Hodja (priest) trying to look "American" (ps those are a Bulgarian's sunglasses and my cell phone is way less expensive than that one he's holding! haha)




Borino...this is during Grohotno vs. Dospot










Me and my girls @ 6amish






















my girls deckin' me out in the latest forest fairy fashion














































Gulu and I - here she is talking me through abtest (ps that's not the correct spelling)































So, May is a praznik (holiday) filled month if I've ever seen one. Our Easter break basically lasted from April 25th-May 7thish. From May 3rd-5th Borino, the biggest "village" in Bulgaria which also serves as its own municipality, held a football tournament. Luckily, Borino is only about 10 minutes away from here. So, everyday we loaded up in cars and vans and headed out to barbeque, watch some football, and close out everynight with some hot chalga concert and later an outdoor diskotek. Good times. May 6th was a different kind of holiday celebrating St. George. Typically, (right, saint?) Muslims do not celebrate the Christian holidays here, but St. George's day is different. We woke up and headed out into the woods at around 5:45am. We hiked for a good 15 minutes to a quiet creek in the woods. There, with a few of my friends we took "Abtest" in the river. Abtest is the ritual washing of the body, it starts with your hands, then goes to your head, arms and legs. I never remember the order and always have to be talked through it. After that, we took limbs off of a certain tree and tied it around our heads and waists. This is supposed to represent good health for the year, but I was just really stoked that I got to look like a forest fairy for a little while. If I'd known it was going to be that cool I totally would have brought my tu-tu. So, enjoy the pics!

Charity Football in Chirpan

About 2 weeks ago I went to Chirpan. Jimmy, the volunteer there held a charity football tournament to help out one of the organizations in his town. In order to enter the tournament each participate paid a small fee. Youth teams led by youth development volunteers turned out to play and we even had teams of just volunteers...in fact, team "Az sum muj" took the silver in the end! This is just one really great example of how volunteers can organize low cost events to help out a good cause. Wait a go, Jimmy :)
ps the pictures are really bad, in fact I didn't even get any action shots...then again, who am I kidding, mom you're the only person who reads this blog anyway! For better coverage check out Jimmy's blog.


A couple of McCoy's hanging out on the sidelines




Jimmy's counterpart and temporary ref

Andrew and Lauren showing thier team spirit...AZ SAM MUJ!

Wedding post...the first of many

So, about a month ago we had the 2nd wedding since I've been here. So far we've had 3 and I here that in the summer there will be more. I know that for the people who are from my village, the engagements are really short (anywhere from a week to a few months) and the weddings follow the same format. The families wake up early and decorate the cars with balloons and what not. If the bride is from the village the groom goes to her house to sort of barter for her with her family members. This is just in honor of tradition the groom doesn't actually buy the bride anymore haha. If the bride is from another village or town they drive caravan style to pick her up and come back to the village with her. The weddings are usually held in the village of the groom. After that everyone in the village goes to the center of town to wait. The bride and groom and the closests relatives go into the mayor's office where the secretary performs a sort of ceremony and they sign the marriage certificate. When they come out they pop champagne and dance the horo. We then all walk together in a big happy mass to the school. Outside at the entrance of the school the bride and groom break a glass and then break pitka (it's sweet bread in a braided mold) over thier heads. Whoever gets the bulk of the pitka broken over thier head will more than likely rule the house. The bride and groom and relatives then go to wait inside the school in the foyer as we come in one by one giving gifts and money. Then we proceed to one of many rooms to eat together. The teenage boys who aren't married act as waitors. We hang out at the tables and eat for an hour or two. Afterwards we all go outside and dance the horo and kuchek until dark. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.


Everyone eating @ the school




Me with one of my favorites on our way to dance some mad horo




Everyone waiting on the bride and groom

The bride and groom

The band stands outside and plays where the whole village waits for the bride and groom to come out of the mayor's office...they continue to play until the wedding finally ends around...well, dark.

Velik Den

So, this past weekend was Easter or "Velik Den" in Bulgaria as per the Orthodox faith. As my village doesn't celebrate this Christian holiday I high tailed it to Sapareva Banya to celebrate with my host family and some other volunteers. Traditionally, on the Thursday before Easter families dye easter eggs. I didn't get to Sapareva Banya until Saturday so I missed out on that, but I did get to crack them! As you can see in the pictures below, you choose an easter egg from the bunch and crack them against someone else's whoever's egg cracks first loses. We also ate traditional easter cakes or "kozanak." Ani made a ton some with chocolate and some with these little jelly things inside. On Sunday we had a lunch of lamb and liver rice...so, I've come to the conclusion that it is impossible for a vegetarian to celebrate any holiday in Bulgaria as they all involve some kind of meat! All in all it was a really great vacation and a good celebration. Pics below.
Rajun

Joe Edno and Joe Dve cracking eggs.

Posing with MY beer...the chick on the bottle has blonde hair and blue eyes...by default we are twins.

Crackin' eggs with Joe...I lost EVERY TIME

Kozanak...Ani made like 8 loaves. I probably put away about 3.

All us kids together from right to left: Patty, Joe Dve (2), Me and Joe Edno (1)

March 8th continued...

So, after the concert I got invited by some of my neighbors to go on a picnic. The weather wasn't too cold (though, it wasn't too warm either!) We jumped in my neighbor's Lada and off we went to a nearby village called Teshel. There by the lake is a tiny little gazeebo (sp?) with a table and a grill. Once the picnic was over we all still had alot of energy so off we went to another nearby village Giuveren. This village is actually smaller than mine (what?!) but they, too are Turkish Muslims. Again, below are some pics. :)



My language tutor and best friend on the far right with the doctor (middle) and his wife, the nurse :)


A pic from the cafe in Giuveren



With my neighbors by the lake where we had our picnic.

Neighbors by the gazeebo.

With just another one of my adopted families by the grill :)

Chestit 8 Mart!

So, happy March 8th! For those of you who don't know, March 8th is International Women's Day. It's celebrated differently in every country and not at all in some *clears throat* (America.) Here in Grohotno this is quite a big deal. It seems to me that it is a sort of blend of Mother's Day and Valentines Day. Children give gifts to their mothers and boyfriends give gifts to their girlfriends...you get the idea. In honor of this holiday our cultural center put on a concert. We invited the kindergarten and elementary school to help us out. The kindergarten put on a short little program with songs and poems, and the school graced us with traditional songs accompanied by the accordian. Our own cultural center's dance groups also performed. Below are some pics...enjoy!



This is our auditorium connected to the cultural center...it was a full house of about 250-300!


3 of my favorite girls and members of the dance team...they are wearing traditional Rhodopian dance costumes.



This is me in traditional garb as well....I may or may not have performed with the group :)




Another of my absolute favorites! She dances with the younger group and she, too is wearing traditional Western Rhodopian dress.

Aide na baera! (I have no idea if this makes sense or not)

So, the weather is finally warming up a bit and you can even smell spring in the air. I invited Krissy over for a day to hang out with me because....well because I love her. I told a few people that she was coming and heard a unanimous "Aide na baera!" Which means in English (as per my trusty handy dandy dictionary) "Alright, let's all go to the hillhock." Yeah, so this one doesn't really translate...the "Baera" is just an area a few kilometers up a mountain where we spent the day and had a picnic. We hopped in my friends old jeep (which we ended up pushing halfway down the mountain later) and had an afternoon filled with good food, rakia, and yes even a little horo. Below are some pics...as always, enjoy.


Beautiful Krissy showing off our 30 yr old ride...yes that is indeed how we do. (ps don't worry peace corps...it still has seat belts :)




My wonderful friend and housemate, Erdinch!










Krissy and I helping out....you can tell by the look on my face that I'm an expert.








A couple of the boys nailing chickens to a stick...mmhmm.

Vasil Levski Day

Feb. 18th was Vasil Levski Day. For those of you who don't know, Vasil Levski was a Bulgarian revolutionary, ideologist, strategist, and theoretician of the Bulgarian national revolution and leader of the struggle for liberation from from Ottoman rule (so says Wikipedia.) The 3rd grade class at the school here put on a 20 minute program in honor of Mr. Levski. The program included songs, and poems and was performed for the rest of the school...I was very honored to have been invited :)

This is Asia a teacher at the school and one of my best friends here. She is usually the one in charge of these programs at the school and does an amazing job!







The 3rd grade class reciting poems.

Sledding...

So, I know I'm a little slow on this one...but ya know...what can a village girl do? This entry is about sledding. I'm in luck because the hill by my house is the most popular spot for the kids to sled. I'm not sure if you can tell in these pictures, but the sleds are pretty interesting. They are homemade...basically it's just a wooden board with ski blades welded to the bottom. There are all different variations. The kids have yet to talk me into jumping on to one of these things...I told them as soon as they figure out a way to add some "spiratchiki" or "brakes" I'm all for it. Ok, that's all for now...enjoy the pics :)

It's baby season :)

So, it's baby season. Since October I have been to almost 10 mulitfas. Everyone makes sure to tell me exactly when we are having them because I love them so much! Below are a few pics of my friend's mulitfa from a couple of weekends ago. I've decided that this is kind of like America's baby shower...except this one is waaaay more extravagant. I probably explained all this in an early post, but I'm gonna do it again, so...blah. First, four or five baba's (grandma's) set to cooking at about 5am or earlier. They cook pots and pots of beans, rice w/ pork, cabbage salad, and banitsa. We also eat "halva" which I think you can actually get in the states and I am totally obsessed with. Women start showing up around 11 and so starts the flow of visitors that lasts well into the evening. First, you go into the room where the baby and mother stay. You talk with the mother and give her money, sweets, and sometimes clothes for the baby. This usually depends on how close you are to the family. After that you go into a different part of the house, or maybe even to another house where every room is filled with long tables. There are always other members of the family running around serving you, and making sure you are comfortable and have everything you need. After you eat, you simply leave...and you've had a good day. Below are some pictures of the last mulitfa I attended...we have one more coming up and after that we are done for at least a couple of months as no one here is ready to pop anytime soon...sad, I know. Enjoy!



A few of us sitting around the table enjoying the yummy food and probably talking about how and why I don't eat meat.


That's halva there to the left and the rice concoction in the middle.



One of the baba's servin' up a plate of goodness.

Me with the baby and Jamle behind me about to say, "When are YOU going to have a mulitfa?" Yikes.

Pazar

Quick little entry. Here are a couple of pics of our "pazar." This is sort of like America's version of a flea market. We have a pretty big pazar in Devin, the town closest to me on Wednesdays. Lots of people from the town go on that day, many take off work for it. You can get pretty much anything you want at most pazars. They sale anything from clothing (hot bulgarian fashion) to fruit (1 lev for a kilo of mandarins or apples...Mmmm) to household items (I bought an iron for 15 leva.) Prices are almost always negotiable at pazars. That's one reason I love them :) Our pazar here in Grohotno is a bit different. It is VERY small, and to my dismay there are no fruits or veggies for sale. But, it's a fun place for people to hang out when the weather is nice enough on Saturdays. I hear once spring and summer hit the pazar is a bit bigger...but for now, if I need sheets for my bed, or a hot wool sweater...this is where you can find me :)

Christmas in Bulgaria

SO, I spent my very first Christmas away from home this year. The holiday season was tough being so far away, but I made it through and had a great time. Because my village doesn't celebrate Christmas, I spent it in Sapareva Banya with my host fam and two other wonderful Peace Corps Volunteers (Joe 1 and Joe 2) who lived with my host fam before me. Christmas here wasn't TOO very different. I spent alot of my time cooking, as food is a big part of any event here. On the 24th we ate only vegan, so I was a happy happy girl. The next day, however, was a meet fest...only after we opened our presents from Santa. I spent the New Year here in Grohotno. Again, spent the entire day cooking with some of the women here in the village (Banitsa and Baklava...mmmmmm) and at 12 we went outside and danced in the street for hours to the light of fireworks. Below, I'm posting pics of a holiday program they had at the school, and some pics of Sapareva Banya.
Rajun :)



Making tikvi (pumpkin) banitsa Christmas Eve Morning with Joe2.




Writing my name on my very own stocking!







Christmas Eve Dinner

All of us in front of the tree we decorated

The 8th grade girls here doing traditional dances

Santa visiting the 2nd graders!