April 2011
Hard to believe 4 weeks ago we were sat in our home in the UK trying to decide what to do with our lives. We were bored and stagnating and needed something new. Strange how life can change so quickly. On Wednesday 16th March we received the sad news that our very dear friend Toma Vladov Trifanov had died suddenly at the age of 52. He was a wonderful man, full of character and well liked by everyone. Life can be so cruel.
The family are very special to us and when they reached out to us in their sorrow we knew exactly where we would go. Back to the wonderful town of Veliko Tarnovo.
In Bulgarian tradition, funerals are held very soon after death and so we were unable to attend but they believe the soul stays in this world for 40 days and so a memorium is held on the 40th day to mark their passing. We knew we had to be there for then and so things had to move quickly. I still cannot believe that in 3 weeks we had packed, cleared a complete house, sold a car and were on the way to a new life.
So here we are on the 13th April, one month to the day we lost our dear friend, in our new home beside the Yantra river, looking up at the magnificent Tsaravets Castle and drinking a glass of Tomi's wonderful Rakia.
21st April 2011
Today we were honoured to attend the Panahida (40 days after death ceremony) of our beloved friend Toma Trifonov in VT.
The religious part of the celebration was held at the cemetery in VT. Firstly the Priest sang a chant and then spoke of Toma and his life, whilst holding a lighted candle. He then broke bread (specially made for the ceremony) and poured wine over the grave in the sign of a cross. All present were then invited to pour wine and to tend the grave with a small mattock to refresh the soil. We each then lit a candle which was placed in a sheltered shrine area on the grave. Whilst all of this was happening, the family handed out bread, cake and a small plate of food to each person. We all then placed flowers at the grave, but these had to be an even number. The whole thing was very moving even though we as non Bulgarians did not fully understand all that was being said.
From the cemetery we returned to the family home for a feast. A place was set at the table for Toma and a glass of Rakia was poured for him. We were then all given a glass of Rakia from which we had to pour a small amount on the floor for Toma. The meal was a fine feast of salad, various other items including stuffed cabbage leaves, bop and potato salad, and more of the ceremonial bread freshly baked and still warm. The families closest friends were there and to be accepted and included was indeed and honour and a privilege. Not once did we feel like outsiders, even when the conversation became more animated the more the rakia flowed. The meal was finished with a traditional dessert, Vareno Zhito (boiled wheat), a bit like dry rice pudding, said to originate from the fact that wheat is considered the "Staff of Life".
All in all a wonderful experience even if it was such a sad occasion. We will miss you Toma.
April 24th
Today is Easter Sunday.
We had a visit from our friends and neighbours to wish us Happy Easter and they brought a plate of coloured eggs and some slices of Easter Bread. We then had a wonderful time playing something like a game of conkers with the eggs. We each had an egg and took it in turns to smash our egg against that of someone else. The person with the unbroken egg then matched it against the next person until only one egg remained unbroken. John won which means he will be happy and healthy for the rest of the year.
Some of the eggs and bread
We saw the eggs yesterday after Natalia had spent 5 hours decorating them. They are absolutely beautiful and it was a real shame to break and eat them.
The lovely Eggs before we broke them all.
This is an article outlining Easter in Bulgaria.
Easter is one of the most significant holidays in the Bulgarian calendar. Starting with Palm Sunday, the holy week leads up to the Great Day. In the country, the festival is popularly known as "Velikden", which literally means 'the faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ'. Easter traditions in Bulgaria are a derivative of the Eastern Orthodox Church rituals. In tune with worldwide Orthodox traditions, bright red colored eggs and Easter breads known as "kolache" or "kozunak" are the prominent symbols of Easter in Bulgaria. In the article, explore all about the traditions and celebrations
At midnight on the Saturday before Easter Sunday, people in Bulgaria gather at church, with red painted eggs and bread. The priest proclaims three times "Christos Voskrese" (Christ has risen) and the congregation replies "Vo istina voskrese" (Indeed he has risen). One of the Easter breads is specially decorated with one or more (but an odd number) of red eggs. After a special sequence of services, the clergy blesses the breads and eggs brought by the people.
The Bulgarian 'good luck crack' is a unique Easter tradition in Bulgaria. Eggs are cracked after the midnight service and over the next few days, during the festive season of Easter. On Easter, the eggs are cracked before lunch. The egg that is cracked on the wall of the church is the first egg that people eat after the long fast of Lent. People take turns in tapping their eggs against the eggs of others, and the person who ends up with the last unbroken egg is believed to have a year of good luck. He/she is considered as the most successful, healthy and happy person for the rest of the year.
May 2011
I guess one thing I thought we might miss from the house we had in the UK was the wildlife. We were very lucky to live in isolation from traffic and pollution so had many birds and mammals to admire.
Thankfully we seem to have a plentiful array of creatures here to satisfy our love of nature. So far we have seen Martins and Swallows, Magpies, Jays and a Hooded Crow. Our garden trees have been visited by Great Tits and Sparrows. There is a pair of Pied Wagtails who must be nesting nearby and regularly visit the river below. Reptiles of course enjoy basking on the warm days and the garden has an abundance of small lizards that we enjoy watching as they scurry to and fro. A couple of days ago John moved some stones only to discover a small snake warming itself in the early sun, only the size of a slow worm but quite beautiful. There are very few mammals to be seen, unless you include the neighbourhood cats, but we do get bats flying along the river in the evening. We are yet to discover what species they are but they are certainly much larger than the one we had in the UK.
As we settle in, we will try to photograph some of them and put a gallery of them on a seperate page on the site.
6th May
Today we celebrated not only John’s birthday but also in Bulgaria it was St. George’s day. This day is a major holiday for Bulgarians, not only is it the name day of anyone called George, or the many derivatives of, but it is also the Army Day or day of bravery. There are many parades in towns and cities to commemorate
In Bulgaria St. George is the patron of spring verdure and fertility, and of shepherds and farmers. His Day, May 6, is believed to set in summer and the new farming cycle.
It is traditional to prepare and eat a lamb, which is an ancient practice possibly related to Slavic pagan sacrificial traditions and the fact that St. George is the patron saint of shepherds.
An excerpt from Bulgarian folklore
On the Feast of St. George everything in Bulgaria is colourful, golden and beautiful. In the Bulgarian folklore the saint is often addressed as “Dear, vivid Saint George”. The girls that folk songs hymn are all dressed up accordingly with gold bracelets and silver belts. The swings that everybody swings in on that day are golden too. And, if there is rain on 6 May, it is believed that every raindrop is worth a gold coin.
“Easter is a great day, and St. George’s Feast is even greater”, a proverb argues. Regardless of the deep veneration for the greatest Orthodox Christian holiday, Bulgarians have always celebrated the Feast of St. George with an impressive range of rituals and events. They go across all members of the traditional community. In its traditional format the feast actually opens a day earlier as teenage girls and boys go out to the fields or to the nearby woods. Dressed up for the occasion, they pick flowers and twigs. As the ritual proceeds, the girls sing songs about the forest and the flowers that have invited “young girls to pick flowers, make posies for their hair as well as wreaths.” In some ritual songs the central role is given to the rose, basil and other spring vegetation. They engage in animated dialogues that make clear that the apple has been early, while the rose is drinking wine from basil, its godfather.
After they returned from the forest with aprons full of herbs and flowers, the girls grouped in small groups and engaged in the preparation of the decoration for the feast. First they made the wreaths for the sacrificial lamb. They also prepared poses that were used to make predictions on the following day. The flowers were left under a rose for the night. Vegetation was used to decorate children’s bed covers. Women put twigs and herbs on the gates and in farming buildings. Boys attached twigs to the gates of their sweethearts. Before sunrise, young girls and brides adorned with flowers would bring water from community wells. It was known as flower water, because St. George’s Feast bunches were placed in it. It was also known as silent water, since, on their way back young women were forbidden to talk. Some of that water was used to make bread, and the rest – to bless people, livestock and houses. Water blessing was meant to bring health, fertility and a rich harvest. Early in the morning everybody went to bathe in springs and brooks. In traditional beliefs Vivid George holds the keys of the dew, the rain and of all rivers.
One considerable share in St. George Day rituals is given to stock breeding and to sheep breeding in particular based on the conviction that St. George is the guardian of herds. On this day shepherds ritually turned herds out to grass, and also ritually milk the sheep. It was the first day after Easter to taste milk, cheese and other dairy products. One key part of the St. George Feast rituals is making ritual loaves of bread. Bread was meant to be the bloodless sacrifice handed over to the saint. By tradition boiled lamb was prepared as votive offering. Before slaughtering, the sacrificial animal would be decorated with wreaths and was blessed. For the holiday the table was heavily laid with seasonal food. Older family members spent more time at it, while younger ones performed rituals linked to future weddings. The community would go out and gather in the central village square for a festive St. George chain dance. Girls swayed on golden swings to protect themselves from lustful dragons. Others swayed for the sake of sound health.
We had a lovely get together with our friends next door. The son in law is called George so it was a double celebration. We had bought George a lovely landing net for fishing and they presented John with a lovely garden chair for him to relax in out in the garden in the sun (if we ever get any).
Both men were given a bouquet of Zdravets to wear behind their ear, this is supposed to give good health for the coming year. John won’t let me publish the photo I took of him with his flowers but this is a photo of said flowers.
The meal started as normal with Shopska Salad and Rakia.
The main course was then a joint effort, Rumi had cooked lamb and potato salad, whereas I made chicken tika, pilau rice and naan bread which the family had never tried before. And then of course there had to be cake, a lovely creamy gateaux I had made for John.
It was a lovely day
31st May.
Well where did that month go. It seems it was only a couple of days ago we celebrated John’s birthday on the 6th and now here we are at the end of the month.
It has really been a period of settling in more than anything. Mundane things like opening bank accounts, getting our medical certificates, finding out about renewing our registrations and transferring the car to Bulgarian plates.
In between this we have been enjoying the weather and making a start on tidying the garden, which even Rumi admits needs attention.
We are hoping to create a shrub garden in the main bed at the front of the house. John has done a sterling job of digging it all over and removing the unwanted plants. We bought a nice Euonymus and made a feature of a piece of driftwood that was in the back garden. It is coming along nicely, we just have to decide on some more plants.
The side garden and smaller front plots have been cleared and I am hoping to provide us with a few veggies. We have 8 very healthy tomato plants given to us by Rumi’s mother and these seem very happy growing along side the wall.
So far in the front plot we have a few lettuce and spring onions, but have some courgettes, Tikvichki in Bulgarian (my pronunciation of which gave Natalia many laughs until I mastered it). I also have some cherry tomato plants coming along which I hope to grow in a tub.
Talking of Natalia, we were pleased to help her celebrate her birthday on the 21st of May. In light of their recent loss it was a quiet affair with just family and close friends, but we were lucky enough to have nice weather and so were able to have a nice meal out in the garden.
Rumi and Natalia
George and Natalia
The only other event of note is that Ellie had a very drastic summer haircut. Her coat had thickened up again and she was suffering in the heat. So it was off to visit the groomers.
She may look strange but she is so much happier.