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!