Words of the week:
котка (kotka) - cat
заека (zaeka) - rabbit
Well, I went from a flood of blogs and writing every week to not writing for two months... or has it been three? A lot has happened I'm sure, but it doesn't really seem like it to me. I've tried to travel a lot, but I don't think a single trip I've planned has worked out. Three times I tried to visit a waterfall near Lovech, once I tried to go on a canoe trip, once to the Black Sea, once on a camping trip with friends, and I had hoped to go to Croatia in September with some other friends, but I can't seem to get any specifics to plan the trip. Well, in two weeks I will finally be able to go on one trip. I'll be going back to Romania with some youth volunteers that I work with for a week long program. The topic will be using the media to fight discrimination. It should be interesting, and it's a great opportunity for my kids to travel and meet people from other countries. I'm hoping that they really like it, and I'm sure I will, too. But really I'd like to travel for vacation some time and see parts of Bulgaria I've never seen. Hopefully I'll be able to do more of that at the end of the summer. We'll see.
Well, since I haven't been able to travel, I've been finding other interesting things to do here in Lovech. This last week I took part in a big theatrical production that was pretty interesting. There's a castle ruins in my town, and the municipality has created a stage up there. They then invited a lot of different groups in Lovech (including the youth volunteers I work with) to participate in big event that re-creates Bulgaria in the first century. We didn't use just the stage for this production, but the whole castle. There were war battles and soldiers on horseback, soldiers invading the castle by climbing the walls, the crowning of a new king, traditional dancing, and fireworks at the end. I played the role of a Bulgarian village woman. Luckily, I had no lines to say. There were about 100 of us who were just doing things that village people do. It was a lot of fun with the grandmas knitting and the little kids running around, and I with my volunteer friends helped to cook and then we did each other's hair and hooted at and talked about the young soldiers walking by. Our scene was about 5 minutes.
At the rehearsals we had a lot of down time, so we took some really amazing pictures of each other at the castle (it may be one of my favorite places in Lovech because it's beautiful there, though the two parks in Lovech are beautiful, too). And we met a lot of other people. The grandmas were all really cute and thought I was Bulgarian and were trying to marry me off to their grandchildren.
We also got some really great pictures while we were all in costume, and we really looked like a village of traditional Bulgarians. We had so much fun taking pictures! And at the end, the community loved the production so much and there were so many people that some had to be turned away, so the municipality decided to have the production one more time this Thursday. It should be fun!
In other news, I should tell you all that I have adopted a cat! Her name's Zaeka, which means rabbit in Bulgarian. She's small and loves to cuddle, which suits me perfectly. I love sitting with her and petting her while I read. Playing with cats is much different from playing with dogs, though. I'm having to learn how to play with a cat. I get the feeling that I'm an unsatisfactory play mate... she seems to get bored really quickly and prefers to play with and eat my hand more than the toys. But she's learning that my hand is not a toy, and otherwise, she still loves to cuddle. If any of you cat people have any suggestions about how to play with a cat and how to help her not be bored, let me know!
Monday, July 02, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
Romania and Easter
Word of the week: Христос Воскресе (Christos Voskresay) - Christ is resurected
Last week was my first time outside of Bulgaria for 8 months. The European Union funds international youth projects, and an NGO in Romania is hosting such a project on how to fight discrimination in the media. I went there for a two-day meeting to prepare for the project that will be in July, and I'll take two Bulgarian kids from my organisation with me then. There were people from 8 different countries there, with me representing Bulgaria. All of these international projects are in English, and everyone was impressed with how well I spoke the language :-) But then the organizer told them I was an American and everyone became impressed with how well I speak Bulgarian :-) I had a really good time. We talked about the meeting in July, and we visited some newspaper offices and a TV new-station office. Then we went sight-seeing and took lots of pictures. We had a barbeque and a ping-pong tournament (which I won!) and basically had a lot of fun enjoying each other's company. I'm very excited about taking my volunteers in the summer; I think this will be an incredible experience for them.
This last weekend was Easter, and I had a lot of fun hanging out with lots of friends. I was hoping to visit my Bulgarian family for the holiday, but I didn't plan for it enough in advance and was unable to. But I had a lot of friends in Lovech who invited me to do different things with them, so I was out all day Saturday and Sunday. I went walking with friends on Saturday, and Saturday night we went to church at 11:00 to prepare for the midnight celebration. For Easter, people dye eggs, and the first one they always dye red. This red one they bring to church on Saturday night and give it to God (I didn't dye eggs, though, so I didn't bring any). I bought a candle, though, with everyone else, and we all lit them at midnight and walked around the church three times. There were hundred of people, though, in this tiny church, so it took forever to do this. Then we all went home. I'm not exactly sure if there's any spiritual significance to this practice (I assume there is), but I don't know it.
On Sunday I went to a nearby monastery with some friends. We lit candles again, and then we all went out for beers and french fries. I had my first beer, and it wasn't bad. My tastes are definately changing in Bulgaria, though I still prefer juice or water. While we were relaxing, we broke our eggs. This is a Bulgarian tradition where everyone takes an egg and bangs it on everyone else's eggs. If your egg doesn't break, you have good luck. Generally, I have good luck with all of the Bulgarian traditions, but with this one, all of my eggs broke on the first try. Oh well. I guess it's good to share the luck.
I also went on a really great 4 hour hike with a group of volunteer friends later that day. I saw parts of Lovech that I've never seen before, and it was beautiful. I definately plan to go hiking there more often. But probably the best part of this hike was that I was able to actively participate in all of the conversations... yeah!!!!! I still have a lot to learn of the language, but it's coming along!
Last week was my first time outside of Bulgaria for 8 months. The European Union funds international youth projects, and an NGO in Romania is hosting such a project on how to fight discrimination in the media. I went there for a two-day meeting to prepare for the project that will be in July, and I'll take two Bulgarian kids from my organisation with me then. There were people from 8 different countries there, with me representing Bulgaria. All of these international projects are in English, and everyone was impressed with how well I spoke the language :-) But then the organizer told them I was an American and everyone became impressed with how well I speak Bulgarian :-) I had a really good time. We talked about the meeting in July, and we visited some newspaper offices and a TV new-station office. Then we went sight-seeing and took lots of pictures. We had a barbeque and a ping-pong tournament (which I won!) and basically had a lot of fun enjoying each other's company. I'm very excited about taking my volunteers in the summer; I think this will be an incredible experience for them.
This last weekend was Easter, and I had a lot of fun hanging out with lots of friends. I was hoping to visit my Bulgarian family for the holiday, but I didn't plan for it enough in advance and was unable to. But I had a lot of friends in Lovech who invited me to do different things with them, so I was out all day Saturday and Sunday. I went walking with friends on Saturday, and Saturday night we went to church at 11:00 to prepare for the midnight celebration. For Easter, people dye eggs, and the first one they always dye red. This red one they bring to church on Saturday night and give it to God (I didn't dye eggs, though, so I didn't bring any). I bought a candle, though, with everyone else, and we all lit them at midnight and walked around the church three times. There were hundred of people, though, in this tiny church, so it took forever to do this. Then we all went home. I'm not exactly sure if there's any spiritual significance to this practice (I assume there is), but I don't know it.On Sunday I went to a nearby monastery with some friends. We lit candles again, and then we all went out for beers and french fries. I had my first beer, and it wasn't bad. My tastes are definately changing in Bulgaria, though I still prefer juice or water. While we were relaxing, we broke our eggs. This is a Bulgarian tradition where everyone takes an egg and bangs it on everyone else's eggs. If your egg doesn't break, you have good luck. Generally, I have good luck with all of the Bulgarian traditions, but with this one, all of my eggs broke on the first try. Oh well. I guess it's good to share the luck.
I also went on a really great 4 hour hike with a group of volunteer friends later that day. I saw parts of Lovech that I've never seen before, and it was beautiful. I definately plan to go hiking there more often. But probably the best part of this hike was that I was able to actively participate in all of the conversations... yeah!!!!! I still have a lot to learn of the language, but it's coming along!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Getting Used to Bulgaria
wod of the week: свиквам (svikvam) - to get used to something
Well, it's becoming more and more difficult to think about interesting things to write about. I guess life is becoming routine for me. It's nice to feel settled here and comfortable with everything. It's nice that Lovech is starting to feel like home. Now that it's home, though, I think I want to start seeing more of Bulgaria on the weekends. There's so many places and things that I want to see, so hopefully you'll be hearing more about those in the future.
The most exciting thing for me this week was that I started taking a more active role with the volunteers at work. I led a good portion of one of the meetings with them, which was sooo nice. I talked with them about a grant proposal that I'm writing to renovate our basement and make it into a volunteer club, and we talked about their ideas on various aspects of the project. It was so exciting to be able to lead a discussion with them and to understand them and be understood. It wasn't perfect, and I still need help from the youth leader, Olga (pronounced Olya), but I'm super excited.
The other nice thing about this week was taking a trip to the capital, Sophia, and seeing a lot of PC friends. I went for a minority committtee meeting, which was pretty interesting too. I intended simply to get information about the committee and what it's doing, but I somehow find myself now involved in one of their projects. They're putting together a resource kit for PC volunteers with activities and information related to minority issues in Bulgaria, and I'm helping gather information. It'll be interesting, and maybe I'll be able to use some of it with my group of youth volunteers. We'll see.
Well, it's becoming more and more difficult to think about interesting things to write about. I guess life is becoming routine for me. It's nice to feel settled here and comfortable with everything. It's nice that Lovech is starting to feel like home. Now that it's home, though, I think I want to start seeing more of Bulgaria on the weekends. There's so many places and things that I want to see, so hopefully you'll be hearing more about those in the future.The most exciting thing for me this week was that I started taking a more active role with the volunteers at work. I led a good portion of one of the meetings with them, which was sooo nice. I talked with them about a grant proposal that I'm writing to renovate our basement and make it into a volunteer club, and we talked about their ideas on various aspects of the project. It was so exciting to be able to lead a discussion with them and to understand them and be understood. It wasn't perfect, and I still need help from the youth leader, Olga (pronounced Olya), but I'm super excited.
The other nice thing about this week was taking a trip to the capital, Sophia, and seeing a lot of PC friends. I went for a minority committtee meeting, which was pretty interesting too. I intended simply to get information about the committee and what it's doing, but I somehow find myself now involved in one of their projects. They're putting together a resource kit for PC volunteers with activities and information related to minority issues in Bulgaria, and I'm helping gather information. It'll be interesting, and maybe I'll be able to use some of it with my group of youth volunteers. We'll see.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Birthday
word of the week: приятелки (priyatelki) - friendsThis last week I turned 23, and now I can say I finally feel like an adult. A lot has happened since I've come to Bulgaria, and I guess that becoming an adult is a logical result of all of it. But don't worry, I still have my sweet, innocent charms! And I am still mistaken as one of the youth volunteers when I'm with them... I guess I still have a ways to go before I can look like an adult :-)
Throughout the day on my birthday, people kept taking me aside to give me presents, which was a really nice break from the seminar. Nelly gave me a beautiful red shirt that really looks good on me (shown in the picture with a PC fiend of mine), some perfume, and a big, wonderful, red flower all of which were from everyone in the office. Another friend gave me a potted rose plant, another a bottle of wine, and another a candle that smells like roasted marshmellows. I think it's funny that you can get candles that smell like marshmellows in Bulgaria, but you can't actually get marshmellows. oh well.
The party was good, and everyone loved the rice-krispie treats and smores. We volunteers had a good time teaching our language trainers the names of these treats. We had to break them down into syllables like they did with us when we learned Bulgarian, and it was pretty funny to reverse the roles.
The seminar itself was pretty good, too. It was on how to write projects, and a lot of the activities we did I think would be really good to do with the youth volunteers at my organization. They have a lot of really great project ideas, but then they just wait to be told what to do to make them become a reality. We're hoping to do a training series with them on what a volunteer is (the concept of volunteerism is relatively new in Bulgaria), and I
think it'd be good to include some of the things from the seminar. We now have a new youth worker at my organization, and I'm really excited about working with her on this.This Saturday, I went with Sonya and some friends to see an exhibit of wax figures. The figures were life size, and there were a lot... Harry Potter and his friends were there, Stalin, Hitler, Roosevelt, Churchill, some American singers, Bulgarian national heroes, Shrek and his friends (on the left), and more. We took a bunch of really funny pictures.
Well, that's all for this week. Till next week!
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Happy Baba Marta!
Word of the week: рожден ден (rojden den) - birthday
Sonya took us all out to a cafe for her birthday
Well, February and March have been the months of birthdays. Nelly had one a couple weeks ago, Sonya and Galya (another coworker) had theirs this last week, and mine's on Monday. For each birthday, someone (or two people) go shopping to buy a present from all of us. It's been fun going shopping with one person to buy a gift for someone and then turning around and buying that person a gift too. Bulgarians celebrate their birthdays by bringing a cake, chocolates, juice, rakia, and all kinds of good things eat for all of their freinds to enjoy. However, having so many birthdays has been a bit overwhelming. We've begun giving ridiculously small amounts of rakia just for the tradition of giving the toast. Actually, I don't think we even drank rakia at Sonya's birthday. (I toast to your health anyway, Sonya!)And I don't think I could eat another slice of cake.
I'm not going to have cake at my party. Actually, Abe and Anica sent me some rice krispies and marshmellows for my birthday and I just made rice kripie treates for my party. But I'm not going to be in Lovech to celebrate tomorrow with my coworkers. Peace Corps has a mandatory workshop that all volunteers in my group and our counterparts have to go to, and I'm travelling today to be there tomorrow... yuk! But I'll be with all my volunteer friends, and one of them is organizing a party for me! It should be a lot of fun, though very different from the parties at the office. It's more of an American tradition for friends to organize birthday parties instead of the birthday person organizing it. And we'll be eating the very American rice krispie treats and making smores. But I also hope to buy some rakia and chocolates to add a bit of Bulgarian tradition to it. I really love how my Bulgarian and American friends are going to be celebrating with me and creating an interesting blend of cultural traditions.
Besides the birthdays, this was a big celebration week in Bulgaria. On the first of March we celebrated Baba Marta, and I think I got a little over ten martinitsi! We took the youth volunteers at our organization to give out martinitsi that we had made to people working in the
municipal building, and then we went to a home for children with disabilities. This was really interesting because I don't think any of the kids or my coworkers had been to a place like this before. It was good, though. The volunteers gave them martinitsi and we all ate cake (I had to force myself - so much cake in two weeks!) One of the volunteers played on the piano and people sang fun songs (picture to the right). The children from the home showed the volunteers the computers and the things they like to do with them. I was even able to talk a little with one of the people living there... woo hoo! I took a ton of pictures of everybody, and they turned out pretty well.
Sonya took us all out to a cafe for her birthday
Well, February and March have been the months of birthdays. Nelly had one a couple weeks ago, Sonya and Galya (another coworker) had theirs this last week, and mine's on Monday. For each birthday, someone (or two people) go shopping to buy a present from all of us. It's been fun going shopping with one person to buy a gift for someone and then turning around and buying that person a gift too. Bulgarians celebrate their birthdays by bringing a cake, chocolates, juice, rakia, and all kinds of good things eat for all of their freinds to enjoy. However, having so many birthdays has been a bit overwhelming. We've begun giving ridiculously small amounts of rakia just for the tradition of giving the toast. Actually, I don't think we even drank rakia at Sonya's birthday. (I toast to your health anyway, Sonya!)And I don't think I could eat another slice of cake.
I'm not going to have cake at my party. Actually, Abe and Anica sent me some rice krispies and marshmellows for my birthday and I just made rice kripie treates for my party. But I'm not going to be in Lovech to celebrate tomorrow with my coworkers. Peace Corps has a mandatory workshop that all volunteers in my group and our counterparts have to go to, and I'm travelling today to be there tomorrow... yuk! But I'll be with all my volunteer friends, and one of them is organizing a party for me! It should be a lot of fun, though very different from the parties at the office. It's more of an American tradition for friends to organize birthday parties instead of the birthday person organizing it. And we'll be eating the very American rice krispie treats and making smores. But I also hope to buy some rakia and chocolates to add a bit of Bulgarian tradition to it. I really love how my Bulgarian and American friends are going to be celebrating with me and creating an interesting blend of cultural traditions.
Besides the birthdays, this was a big celebration week in Bulgaria. On the first of March we celebrated Baba Marta, and I think I got a little over ten martinitsi! We took the youth volunteers at our organization to give out martinitsi that we had made to people working in the
municipal building, and then we went to a home for children with disabilities. This was really interesting because I don't think any of the kids or my coworkers had been to a place like this before. It was good, though. The volunteers gave them martinitsi and we all ate cake (I had to force myself - so much cake in two weeks!) One of the volunteers played on the piano and people sang fun songs (picture to the right). The children from the home showed the volunteers the computers and the things they like to do with them. I was even able to talk a little with one of the people living there... woo hoo! I took a ton of pictures of everybody, and they turned out pretty well.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Прoшка = Forgiveness
Words of the week:
Прошка
Сирни Заговезни (Sirni Zagovezni) - the last Sunday before Lent
Last Sunday, I spent the day at Nelly's house with her and her family to celebrate a holiday called Proshka, or forgiveness. However, this word is very similar to the word prashka, which means thong. I confused these words, and it made for an interesting week.
Anyway, we all had a wonderful time celebrating and eating lots of food and talking. I usually go to band practice on Sundays at 4, but I was having such a good time that I didn't go. Goshko, Nelly's youngest son, was very excited about playing a special game with a sweet called halva. A small piece of halva was tied to a string and usually this string is tied to a fan so that it will make the halva swing around. But there's no fan in Nelly's apartment, so instead Nelly and Mitko (Nelly's husband) took turns swinging the halva. While it was swinging, the children and I attempted to catch it with our teeth. It's a pretty funny game, as you can imagine!
Sonya mentioned this holiday before when Heather asked if Bulgarians had a holiday like Thanksgiving. Well, there's a lot of similarities between this and Thanksgiving. However, this holiday isn't so much for people to say thank you, but rather for children to ask for forgiveness from their parents. I didn't notice Nelly's children ask for forgiveness, though, but figured maybe they did it when I wasn't there. I thought I'd inquire more about this, so I asked some children that I met with on Friday whether they celebrated Prаshka (which, remember, means thong) and if they asked their parents for forgiveness. Well, the kids were really good and didn't laugh at my mistake, but they all said they forgot to ask their parents for forgiveness. So, I would say that Sirni Zagovezni is like Thanksgiving in that your supposed to think about and say something meaningful, but really it's just a fun time to get together, eat really good food (but not turkey), and watch a really good game (but not football).
Sirni Zagovezni is also the last day before Lent. I was a little surprised about this because we celebrate Lent starting on Ash Wednesday. So I told them about how people in American protestant churches celebrate Lent, and I told them about Fat Tuesday, too. However, my Bulgarian friends are like me in that they know about the 40 day fast of Lent, but we don't really actually fast.
Прошка
Сирни Заговезни (Sirni Zagovezni) - the last Sunday before Lent
Last Sunday, I spent the day at Nelly's house with her and her family to celebrate a holiday called Proshka, or forgiveness. However, this word is very similar to the word prashka, which means thong. I confused these words, and it made for an interesting week.
Anyway, we all had a wonderful time celebrating and eating lots of food and talking. I usually go to band practice on Sundays at 4, but I was having such a good time that I didn't go. Goshko, Nelly's youngest son, was very excited about playing a special game with a sweet called halva. A small piece of halva was tied to a string and usually this string is tied to a fan so that it will make the halva swing around. But there's no fan in Nelly's apartment, so instead Nelly and Mitko (Nelly's husband) took turns swinging the halva. While it was swinging, the children and I attempted to catch it with our teeth. It's a pretty funny game, as you can imagine!
Sonya mentioned this holiday before when Heather asked if Bulgarians had a holiday like Thanksgiving. Well, there's a lot of similarities between this and Thanksgiving. However, this holiday isn't so much for people to say thank you, but rather for children to ask for forgiveness from their parents. I didn't notice Nelly's children ask for forgiveness, though, but figured maybe they did it when I wasn't there. I thought I'd inquire more about this, so I asked some children that I met with on Friday whether they celebrated Prаshka (which, remember, means thong) and if they asked their parents for forgiveness. Well, the kids were really good and didn't laugh at my mistake, but they all said they forgot to ask their parents for forgiveness. So, I would say that Sirni Zagovezni is like Thanksgiving in that your supposed to think about and say something meaningful, but really it's just a fun time to get together, eat really good food (but not turkey), and watch a really good game (but not football).
Sirni Zagovezni is also the last day before Lent. I was a little surprised about this because we celebrate Lent starting on Ash Wednesday. So I told them about how people in American protestant churches celebrate Lent, and I told them about Fat Tuesday, too. However, my Bulgarian friends are like me in that they know about the 40 day fast of Lent, but we don't really actually fast.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Bulgarian Babas
Words of the week:
баба (baba) - grandmother
мартиници (martinitsi) - things made out of red and white string to celebrate the first of March and the coming of spring.
Dancing - Always
This week wasn't nearly as exciting as last week, but at least it ended with dancing. I now know five horos, but I only know the names of the first two. I'll have to pay more attention when the teacher is talking. I tend not to listen because I assume I won't understand, but I want to learn the names. This week's lesson was particularly exhausting for me. I ended up dropping out of the last dance two minutes before it ended because I was so tired that I kept making mistakes and couldn't get it right. I'm so glad to have something so athletic to do. I've befriended one of the ladies who works there, and she seems to think that I dance pretty well. Last night she asked how long I'm going to be staying in Bulgaria and said that after two years I could go back to Boston and start my own Bulgarian Horo school. So, Emily, you get free lessons at my school when I come back :-)
Valentine's Day
So, Valentine's Day was this week, and the youth volunteers had their competition on the theme of Valentine's Day, the Day of Lovers, and Safe Sexual Practices. A lot of volunteers wrote essays and they all read them out loud, though I have no idea what they were about. It was good, though, and the three best essays got prizes. The organizers of this competition also read a little about the history of Valentines Day and I think they also talked a little about safe sexual practices. I was excited about this because it got people focused on the poster I made about contraception and reading the things I took so long to write. I celebrated inside about the success of my humorous endeavor.
The youth volunteers have also been making valentines that we gave out to people in the municipal building, the police department, and other places. Then we all went out to a cafe and talked and had fun. I really enjoyed being with the youth and taking their pictures at these events. They're a really great group of kids.
Martinitsi
In addition to making valentines, the volunteers have also been making martinitsi, which are essentially bracelets or little figurines or anything made out of red and white string. I knew that this was to celebrate a holiday, but I couldn't remember exactly what holiday it was and how the martinitsi were used. So I asked Nelly, and she explained that this was to celebrate a holiday on the first of March in which everyone exchanges martinitsi and wears them until they see one of two birds (I forget which birds). When they see one of these birds (the first sign of spring), they hang the martinitsi on a tree or put it under a stone. If you put it under a stone and you see an anthill there, then you will have good luck for the rest of the year. There is also a symbolic figure related to this holiday called baba Mart (grandmother March). I forget exactly what she does, but I think there is a story in which she gives martinitsi to everyone as signs of spring and I think that she is the one who brings this season to the land.
Traditional Babas
Talking about baba Mart led to thinking about all the various babas in Bulgaria's traditions. There's baba Zima (grandmother winter) from Christmas time who helps father Christmas pass out presents. She also has a white dress and in the winter she cleans her dress by shaking it out. When she does this, white flakes fall from it to the earth and that's how the first snow comes. She hasn't cleaned her dress yet in Bulgaria this winter, though, and I'm really doubting that she will. Then there's also baba Yaga, the scary baba who is a witch and flies on a broomstick. There's a story about how she lives in a house made of candy and sweets. Children are attracted to this house to eat the sweats, but then baba Yaga comes out and eats the children! I think there's at least one more traditional Bulgarian baba, but I can't remember who she is.
The Real Babas
In real life, though, the babas (grandmothers) can often be found sitting on benches in the center of town, talking and watching the people go by. Peace Corps volunteers have coined these benches the "baba benches." This name is a bit misleading, though, because the dyados (grandfathers) also come out and sit on the benches. I think it's fun that the babas and dyados have such a visible part in the culture. The babas are known by Peace Corps volunteers as a great source of the sought after home-made slippers that are super warm and comfortable and great for the winter. During pre-service-training, Peace Corps volunteers are told to make friends with the babas because they are so generous and willing to help, providing amazing home-made cooking and other things like these slippers. I can't say that I know too many babas, but I have received a pair of the slippers from a baba in Kraynitsi, my training site.
Our Project
To digress a bit from Valentines Day and the babas, this week was also the start of this big project that I keep saying my organisation has received funding for. The project is to help teach the youth of Lovech about the court system. We will be inviting students who are interested in pursuing careers in the judicial system to participate in a series of training sessions in which they will learn about the way the court system works in Bulgaria, the way the regional and national court systems interact, basic civil rights and how to apply them, ecological legislation that's been passed in Bulgaria and more. As part of the training, we'll take the students on field trips to the Lovech court house to view a court session and talk with people who work there. At the end of the training sessions the students will perform a mock-trial in the court house that will be open to public viewing. We're also opening the project up to all the schools in Lovech, inviting each of them to bring their students on a field trip to the court house. The court will be open for one week to take the students on a tour and talk with them about the work that goes on there.
This week we had the first meeting with our partners to introduce the project and talk about how to begin implementing it. There were about 40 people there, including school directors and students and I'm not sure who else. We had them break into three small groups to give ideas about various topics regarding the implementation of the project. I couldn't tell you much about how the meeting went, but Sonya says that lots of new and good ideas were presented, and to me that indicates a successful meeting.
I was the official photographer for the event. Actual, I'm the official photographer for all of our events. I bought my first camera before coming to Bulgaria, and I'm really glad I did. But now I sure could use a photography course. I'm finding that I really like to take pictures, but I don't really know anything about taking particularly good ones. Maybe I'll look into it when I come back to America.
In the meantime, tomorrow I will continue to take pictures as best I can while we celebrate this Bulgarian "Thanksgiving" holiday. I don't know much about it yet, and I forget what it's called, but Nelly invited me to her house tomorrow to celebrate with her family and friends. I'll tell you more about next week!
баба (baba) - grandmother
мартиници (martinitsi) - things made out of red and white string to celebrate the first of March and the coming of spring.
Dancing - Always
This week wasn't nearly as exciting as last week, but at least it ended with dancing. I now know five horos, but I only know the names of the first two. I'll have to pay more attention when the teacher is talking. I tend not to listen because I assume I won't understand, but I want to learn the names. This week's lesson was particularly exhausting for me. I ended up dropping out of the last dance two minutes before it ended because I was so tired that I kept making mistakes and couldn't get it right. I'm so glad to have something so athletic to do. I've befriended one of the ladies who works there, and she seems to think that I dance pretty well. Last night she asked how long I'm going to be staying in Bulgaria and said that after two years I could go back to Boston and start my own Bulgarian Horo school. So, Emily, you get free lessons at my school when I come back :-)
Valentine's Day
So, Valentine's Day was this week, and the youth volunteers had their competition on the theme of Valentine's Day, the Day of Lovers, and Safe Sexual Practices. A lot of volunteers wrote essays and they all read them out loud, though I have no idea what they were about. It was good, though, and the three best essays got prizes. The organizers of this competition also read a little about the history of Valentines Day and I think they also talked a little about safe sexual practices. I was excited about this because it got people focused on the poster I made about contraception and reading the things I took so long to write. I celebrated inside about the success of my humorous endeavor.
The youth volunteers have also been making valentines that we gave out to people in the municipal building, the police department, and other places. Then we all went out to a cafe and talked and had fun. I really enjoyed being with the youth and taking their pictures at these events. They're a really great group of kids.
Martinitsi
In addition to making valentines, the volunteers have also been making martinitsi, which are essentially bracelets or little figurines or anything made out of red and white string. I knew that this was to celebrate a holiday, but I couldn't remember exactly what holiday it was and how the martinitsi were used. So I asked Nelly, and she explained that this was to celebrate a holiday on the first of March in which everyone exchanges martinitsi and wears them until they see one of two birds (I forget which birds). When they see one of these birds (the first sign of spring), they hang the martinitsi on a tree or put it under a stone. If you put it under a stone and you see an anthill there, then you will have good luck for the rest of the year. There is also a symbolic figure related to this holiday called baba Mart (grandmother March). I forget exactly what she does, but I think there is a story in which she gives martinitsi to everyone as signs of spring and I think that she is the one who brings this season to the land.
Traditional Babas
Talking about baba Mart led to thinking about all the various babas in Bulgaria's traditions. There's baba Zima (grandmother winter) from Christmas time who helps father Christmas pass out presents. She also has a white dress and in the winter she cleans her dress by shaking it out. When she does this, white flakes fall from it to the earth and that's how the first snow comes. She hasn't cleaned her dress yet in Bulgaria this winter, though, and I'm really doubting that she will. Then there's also baba Yaga, the scary baba who is a witch and flies on a broomstick. There's a story about how she lives in a house made of candy and sweets. Children are attracted to this house to eat the sweats, but then baba Yaga comes out and eats the children! I think there's at least one more traditional Bulgarian baba, but I can't remember who she is.
The Real Babas
In real life, though, the babas (grandmothers) can often be found sitting on benches in the center of town, talking and watching the people go by. Peace Corps volunteers have coined these benches the "baba benches." This name is a bit misleading, though, because the dyados (grandfathers) also come out and sit on the benches. I think it's fun that the babas and dyados have such a visible part in the culture. The babas are known by Peace Corps volunteers as a great source of the sought after home-made slippers that are super warm and comfortable and great for the winter. During pre-service-training, Peace Corps volunteers are told to make friends with the babas because they are so generous and willing to help, providing amazing home-made cooking and other things like these slippers. I can't say that I know too many babas, but I have received a pair of the slippers from a baba in Kraynitsi, my training site.
Our Project
To digress a bit from Valentines Day and the babas, this week was also the start of this big project that I keep saying my organisation has received funding for. The project is to help teach the youth of Lovech about the court system. We will be inviting students who are interested in pursuing careers in the judicial system to participate in a series of training sessions in which they will learn about the way the court system works in Bulgaria, the way the regional and national court systems interact, basic civil rights and how to apply them, ecological legislation that's been passed in Bulgaria and more. As part of the training, we'll take the students on field trips to the Lovech court house to view a court session and talk with people who work there. At the end of the training sessions the students will perform a mock-trial in the court house that will be open to public viewing. We're also opening the project up to all the schools in Lovech, inviting each of them to bring their students on a field trip to the court house. The court will be open for one week to take the students on a tour and talk with them about the work that goes on there.
This week we had the first meeting with our partners to introduce the project and talk about how to begin implementing it. There were about 40 people there, including school directors and students and I'm not sure who else. We had them break into three small groups to give ideas about various topics regarding the implementation of the project. I couldn't tell you much about how the meeting went, but Sonya says that lots of new and good ideas were presented, and to me that indicates a successful meeting.
I was the official photographer for the event. Actual, I'm the official photographer for all of our events. I bought my first camera before coming to Bulgaria, and I'm really glad I did. But now I sure could use a photography course. I'm finding that I really like to take pictures, but I don't really know anything about taking particularly good ones. Maybe I'll look into it when I come back to America.
In the meantime, tomorrow I will continue to take pictures as best I can while we celebrate this Bulgarian "Thanksgiving" holiday. I don't know much about it yet, and I forget what it's called, but Nelly invited me to her house tomorrow to celebrate with her family and friends. I'll tell you more about next week!
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