Gas Crisis!

You may have read in the news recently about a dispute between Russia and Ukraine resulting in the natural gas being cut off to many countries in Eastern Europe. Since we live in a country affected directly by the crisis (Bulgaria receives 90% of its natural gas from Russia), we hear about it from our co-workers. Jess's school is in the area of the city that is heated primarly by natural gas and because of this had co-workers who had no hot water from the tap and had to heat water in the microwave to wash their faces and brush their teeth. Some school districts have declared holidays to conserve the gas used to heat the buildings. Jess' school was not shut down, but its hours were reduced - starting later and finishing sooner. Our apartment has always been heated with an electric powered radiator, so our hot water and heat has been unaffected by the gas crisis. We do, however, suffer the normal minor inconveniences of winter. In general, we solve our weather woes by confining ourselves to the bedroom easiest to heat, preparing more soups, cocoas and coffees, and Jess has started dressing like a blanket-covered ninja.

Yordanov Den

Yordonov Den (St. Jordan's Day) or Epiphany takes place every year on the 6th of January. In towns across Bulgaria priests bless crosses and throw them into lakes, rivers, and the sea. Brave men from around the town then jump into the ice cold waters and swim to retrieve it thereby receiving the priest's blessing for the year. This year it was a balmy 4 degrees (39 degrees for all you Fahrenheit folk) and with snow still on the ground we made our way to the sea where Bourgas' celebration is held. Now I have a little confession. Last year when I was told of this cross throwing event, I was imagining more of a Jesus crucifixion cross and not the small wooden cross of a priest. So needless to say I was a little disappointed, since all year long I had envisioned men diving into the water and pulling out this humongous cross. When we arrived at the pier a sizable crowd had already gathered. We went down on to the beach hoping to catch some good photos, since only the press is allowed in the area where the actual event takes place. The ceremony starts at the church and the priests make their way on foot to the sea. 19 men and boys took part in the event this year and from where we were we could just make them out on the end of the pier. When they were all ready the priest threw the cross and they jumped in, braving some pretty rough seas, to retrieve it. While the boy was receiving his blessing we noticed the people on the beach near us walking toward the water and realized that they too were going forward to receive theirs. The belief is that when the priest throws the cross into the water, it becomes purified and many people went to touch it and bless themselves. A couple of people even bottled the water. On his way back to the church the priest blessed the crowds (and us!) with water by dousing some branches and flicking them at the crowd.

Why Are There Little Kids Beating Me?

The survachka, a New Years tradition unique to Bulgaria, brings good health to all those touched by it. Survachki are made with short branches from a Cornel tree. The best ones are those that have branches directly opposite each other, as they are twisted and tied into half moons on each side, creating circles. The branches are then decorated with bits of colored wool and string, popcorn and dried fruit. Kids carry them around on New Years Day, tapping grown-ups and reciting poems for good health. In return they are given money, usually pocket change. One of the most popular poems goes as follows...

Сурва,сурва година, (Happy happy new year)
весела година! (merry year)
Едър клас на нива (good harvest)
голям грозд на лоза, (big grape on the vine)
жълт мамул на леса, (yellow ear in the field)
пълна къща с коприна, (full house with silk)
червена ябълка в градина, (red apple in the garden)
живо-здраво до година, (alive and healthy all year)
до година, до амина (all year, Amen)

Happy New Year

Chestita Nova Godina! We wish everyone a successful and happy New Year. Our holiday was spent in Bansko, a ski resort town in Bulgaria. Last year we didn't do anything but gaze wistfully out the windows of our apartment while people set off fireworks and this year we were determined not to miss out on the festivities. After a mini-break between holidays we set off once more for the other side of the country on an overnight train. This is notable because after a pretty crummy experience in our train car involving some loud-talking, chalga-music-video-playing drunk people, we have decided to never take the night train again :) We met up with our friends in Sofia and continued on to Bansko to an apartment we had rented from a British lady. It's very common for foreigners, especially the British to own property in Bulgaria and the apartment was AMAZING! It had heat in every room, new appliances and dishes, comfortable beds and couches and just about everything you could imagine including access to a jacuzzi and sauna. We passed our days there playing games, making hot cocoa coffee drinks, watching movies, taking walks and even headed up to the mountain for an afternoon of sledding. Bansko is situated at the foot of the Pirin Mountains, but the Rila Mountains are visible as well and everywhere you look you can see snow covered peaks. It was much larger than we thought it would be. It has been built up and developed a lot over the past ten years but still retains bits of its historic old-world charm. A lot of the buildings were built or renovated to resemble houses from the revival period and mehanas serving traditional Bulgarian food abound. Bansko gets a bad rap for being expensive and it was a little awkward to tell people we were going there because the assumption is that you will be paying a lot of money therefore you must be rich, but we cooked all our own meals and spent a lot less than we imagined! We didn't get to ski because it was pretty expensive, but after seeing the result of a couple ski mishaps most of us agreed it was probably for the best.

On New Years Eve people usually go to a restaurant, which would have been booked long in advance. There is a set menu with entertainment and the party lasts the whole night. At midnight in the center of town there are performances by singers and dancers, fireworks, a blessing by the priest, a televised address by the President of Bulgaria and horo dancing. Wil and I were so excited for the horo because we recently started taking dance classes and it is one of the only ones that we know. However, when the time came for this special dance called the Dunavsko Horo, we didn't even get to do it because most of the people there didn't know how and you have to start on the right beat in order to do it properly. Oh well. On New Years day people cook banitsa and put fortunes inside it that tell you something about your future for the coming year and kids go around with their Survachka tapping people and reciting good luck poems for money. In some towns Kukeri (men dressed in costumes of goat hair and bells) dance to scare away bad spirits. The next day we woke up to a fresh blanket of snow which made the views really nice on our train ride back through the mountains. A perfect start to our year.

White Christmas

Last week we traveled back to Kyustendil, our old training site, to celebrate Christmas with Wil's host family. Much to the disbelief of practically everyone, we love Kyustendil. Maybe it's the people, or the mountain, or the pace of life, but we always feel happy to go back. Christmas is a big family holiday in Bulgaria with lots of food and steeped in tradition. The main celebration takes place on Christmas Eve or Budni Vecher. It is always a vegetarian (and sometimes even vegan) affair. Some people even spend the weeks leading up to Christmas abstaining from meat and dairy products, but our families just observe this tradition on Christmas Eve. There always has to be an odd number of dishes served as even numbers are often reserved for bad luck and the dead. We arrived on Christmas Eve from Sofia and began by helping with preparations for dinner. Blaga is a good and patient cook and let me help so that I could learn how to make some of the dishes back in Bourgas. By the end of the day we had cooked many dishes made from peppers, rice, beans, and lots of sunflower oil. After all the food is set out on the table the oldest male in the house breaks the pogatchka or round bread. Inside this bread a coin is hidden and it is said that the person who finds it will have luck in the coming year. Bits of bread are broken off beginning with a piece for God, then the house, and then each person in descending age order. This year Pepe (Wil's host dad) found the money. After this, dinner officially begins and continues for at least another couple of hours. There is also a tradition that involves breaking a walnut. Each person cracks one open and those that have a full healthy nut will have good luck and those without a nut or whose nut has withered will of course have bad luck. One of the neatest things about eating food in smaller villages and towns in Bulgaria is that many times food has been grown, canned, or hunted by the families themselves. We enjoyed homemade wine and rakia, salads that had been canned in the fall and Wil even got to help make homemade sausage from wild pig that Pepe had hunted. At the end of the night the food is left on the table for deceased relatives and spirits to come and feast. Christmas day is spent relaxing and eating. Unlike in the U.S. all the stores are open and it is pretty common to go have coffee with friends and family. On Christmas night we went na gosti to the house of Wil's host brother's wife's parents. Bulgarians celebrate their name days (the day of the saint whose name is closest to theirs) and the 25th is a name day for anyone with a name derived from Christ. As we walked around town on Christmas Day we got a present I haven't had since I was a kid. We had a white Christmas.