Dimitrovden

Bulgarians celebrated Dimtrovden on October 26th. Dimitrovden, besides being a big nameday holiday for anyone named Dimitar or Dimitrina (the third most common Bulgarian name) is also celebrated as the holiday that marks the start of winter. St. Dimitar, legend has it, rides a red horse and brings frost alongside, snow falling from his white beard. St. Dimitar is also the patron saint of builders and carpenters. Houses and construction projects should be finished by this date and the fieldwork brought to an end. A traditional gift for a Dimitar or Dimitrina are white flowers bound by a red thread—the white flowers symbolize a mellow winter, the red thread the health of the recipient in the coming year. If there is a full moon on Dimitrovden, it is believed, the winter will be mild, spring will come early, and the bees will fill the beehives. Graves are cleaned and fresh bread is brought to the graveyard.

St. Dimitar was born to a Christian family in Saloniki in the late 200s. His family’s beliefs, however, were not public and upon inheriting wealth from his parents, he was made a town chief by Emperor Diocletian. As town chief, Dimitar was supposed to persecute Christians. He did not do this and was caught preaching to townspeople. He was thrown in to prison, tortured, and, on 26 October 306, killed. His remains were transferred to a small church and are believed to be responsible for curing ill people and saving Saloniki from conquest.

St. George and St. Dimitar are popularly portrayed in folklore as twins or brothers. Georgovden (St. George’s Day) in May marks the start of summer, Dimitrovden the start of winter.  Below is a popular legend about them I found on  http://bnr.bg/sites/en/Lifestyle/Folklore/Pages/2610Dimitrovden.aspx

There was once a poor man who used to go finishing every day. Once he caught a small fish. It spoke to him with a human voice and begged him to let it go. The man was merciful and went back home that day with nothing to eat. Some time later, he caught the same fish but it was now bigger. He let it go again. The same thing happened a third time. The man decided to release the fish again but the it spoke to him: “Poor man, don’t let me go this time. Take me back to your house and cook a meal for you and your wife. Then, bury the bones under the mangers of your mare”. 

The poor man was feeling sad for the fish but obeyed its words. Soon, his wife gave birth to two boys, and the mare to two foals. One boy was named Dimitar, and the other George. The boys grew and became strong and handsome lads. One day, they saddled their horses and set off to travel around the world. They reached a crossroads. Georgi took the left road and Dimitar - the right. Some time passed and Dimitar received a sign that his brother was in danger. He headed to look for him but all he could find was his horse – Georgi had been eaten by dragons. Dimitar managed to make the dragons return the soul of his brother. The twins mounted their horses and became saints. Thus they soared to heaven and started helping ordinary people on earth. 

School Work

Along with cold weather and first snow last weekend, I came down with my first cold of the season. But, thanks to nightly election gatherings and concerts I had three whole nights without scheduled activities this week to recover during. I winterized my apartment and made some much needed progress on law school applications.

Work at the Municipality was understandably slow this week. Elections are on Sunday. There are nine candidates for mayor. That is a lot for such a small community and it seems like everyone is somehow personally involved. I’m interested to see what changes occur after the election results. I helped make a powerpoint of nature reserves and eco-paths in the area for some visitors from Macedonia. But, on a much more exciting note, I SUBSTITUTE TAUGHT for a teacher’s 5th, 7th, and 8th grade classes! I loved it. The 7th grade English class was the toughest: it’s the biggest class at school (18 kids) and a lot come from other villages so I don’t know them real well. Even so, it wasn’t bad. We reviewed homework and I introduced the present perfect tense.

I can’t believe how much I enjoyed substitute teaching. I’ve taught adults and I’ve taught kids in non-classroom settings, but this was my first time as a ‘real teacher,’ even if it was just as a substitute. Before I became a Peace Corps volunteer, I never really spent time with kids-I didn’t babysit or family members nearby with children younger than me. I never thought I would enjoy being around kids, but they’re great and I look forward to my activities at the school. It helps that the teachers and school director are fantastic, but beyond that, I love the general happiness and enthusiasm of the kids. It never fails to put me in a better mood when I walk to the school and hear a student call my name from the windows or run across the yard to meet me.

 I’m sure if I taught every day, it’d be a lot more difficult, but the kids behaved quite well.  Teaching them isn’t too different from teaching the adults, except the kids are  a lot easier to discipline. With older adults, it’s sort of awkward when they behave poorly and they are way worse about speaking out of turn or interrupting a struggling classmate.

With the scout groups, we worked more on Halloween. The older group discussed fundraiser ideas, made a poster for counting bottles, and talked about ideas for the Halloween party. They saw the half finished piñatas the younger group made and wanted to do the same, so that’s what we’ll work on next Tuesday.  I never would have guessed I’d be doing this much paper mache… While making decorations, the younger group went wild over the sequins and plastic googly eyes I received in a care package.

Once a week, I help lead an elective geography/ecology class for 5^th and 6^th graders (CIP class). This week, I tried teaching compass use. I’d observed another volunteer teaching it during a summer camp. He made it look so easy! My efforts sort of worked. I should have probably gone over it with the teacher ahead of time, because when I finished explaining and showing everyone how to use them and started asking them different directions to practice with; she re-explained and showed a different way.  They mostly ended up confused and lost interest. I’ll try again with the older scout group at a later time and see if it will work better, then maybe attempt again with the CIP.

After collecting the compasses, I passed out sidewalk chalk and a list of items that can be found in nature (something scary, something young, something without purpose, etc.).  The students selected three items to draw and then presented how they chose the images and discussed similarities/differences among the drawings. I think being outside and enjoying the mild weather made this activity a lot more popular than orienteering.

Scouts and Halloween prep

 The rest of this week flew by. The only night I don’t have scheduled activities is Thursday, and this week I spent it testing recipes for paper mache and silly putty recipes in advance of the littler scout group’s (1st-4th graders) meeting.  [Lessons: For paper mache-use white flour, not grainy whole wheat flour, and hot water works 10,000 times better. For silly putty, epsom salt is not a substitute for corn starch, but pudding mix is.] 

Future bat pinata.

The director at the school here is great. Yesterday, she decided the scout groups need their own room and gave me the key to an unused classroom. We wasted no time in putting it to use. The little group started making Halloween-themed piñatas. For Halloween, the scout groups are helping with preparation for a party at the school and brainstorming ideas for a coinciding fundraiser (no ready-made cookie/magazine subscription infrastructure in place here). This coming week, the big scouts (5-8th graders) will be working on collages and we’ve already posted scout laws and mottos. Having a classroom is also way more convenient for me, now I don’t have to haul two bags of activity materials to and from the school each time I visit.  

Nine new adults showed up to my beginner English class this week. I love having new students and am impressed by their interest, most are well over 40 years old. I hadn’t expected it, since the week before no one new attended. Like last year’s beginner group, there is a wide range of levels: some know a handful of words and simple present tense grammar, others need the alphabet. It's fun, and a lot easier after a year of practice; plus, my old students were super helpful. 

I brought home my half of the jars! So far, no indication of spoiling (no puffed lids).

East of the West: A Country in Stories, by Miroslav Penkov

East of the West: A Country in Stories is a collection of short stories by Miroslav Penkov, a Bulgarian expat living in America. It came out this summer, and was recommended to me by a new Fulbrighter-thank you Marty! East of West is a good selection of stories - one was previously published in The Best American Short Stories of 2008, edited by Salman Rushdie; but, the relevance of Penkov's characters, conversations, and lives to those with a connection to Bulgaria make it an especially worthwhile read. 

The last few weeks

Summer to Winter: Canning and Hiking in Chiprovtsi
September and the beginning of October went by in a blur. It wasn’t until the shock of cold weather over the weekend that I realized the second month of fall is almost half over. Now the signs are everywhere. Bright reds, yellows, and oranges cover the mountains, the tops of which received their first snow last night. I’ve moved my basil, cilantro, and jalapeno plants indoors where they will die slightly more slowly than on my balcony. Pumpkins, potatoes, and apples from neighbors are filling my spare room and the smoke from roasting peppers has come and gone. The days are noticeably shorter and my fingers are dyed a dark brown from shelling walnuts. I know I’ll probably be wishing for a hot, sunny day in a few months, but this weekend I was grateful for a few days of dreary rain. It felt like it was about time. We haven’t had hardly any rain these past few months and these were the first rainy days in months.

Besides the weather update, what else is new? Well, as you can see in the awesome slideshow, I canned and pickled vegetables for the first time. One of my personal discoveries in Bulgaria is that I love the pickled carrots, cauliflower, and red peppers. I’m happy I learned how easy it is to make since a suitcase full of it probably won’t make it through customs. 

With friends from Chiprovtsi, I went on a fantastic day hike in the mountains nearby. I’ve been hiking around here a lot of the past year, but this was my first time going to the mountains with a jeep-an adventure in itself. Our hike didn’t even begin until we passed the tree line. It is easily one of the top 5 most beautiful places I’ve ever been. They’re relatively unknown in tourist world, few visitors even from Bulgaria come to see them. The two pictures below are from Plamen Petkov. 

School starts, activities around town

School started on September 15^th with opening ceremonies and flowers for teachers at schools nationwide. I’ve been spending a lot more time at the school this fall. With the teachers, I’ve organized two youth/scout groups. I’m lucky how great the kids here are: they listen and are eager to participate in everything. With the older group, we’re working on a couple of projects and discussion themes. Now, we’re talking about communities (how we define them, which ones they belong to, etc.) and collecting bottles to make a greenhouse. 


The younger group is making paper mache this week. The women and girl’s fitness group is going strong, still meeting 3 times a week. Participation has also grown and some of the women stay late to help teach gymnastics to the younger girls. Adult English classes have restarted after a few week hiatus. Attendance fell during the summer and when garden work picked up, it made the most sense. Before Bulgaria, I’d never taught a language, organized youth activities, or led a fitness group. Now, I do at least one of these things almost everyday and absolutely love them. 

15 September is an important day, especially for 1st graders. 

In the news...
Bulgaria is in full campaign mode for the elections at the end of this month. It’s interesting working in a municipal office during a local election year, there are constantly things coming up. There are so many candidates, it seems everyone is somehow personally involved. With the America’s election season beginning more than a year in advance, I don’t know how anything gets accomplished.

Tension with Bulgaria's Roma communities have been in the news lately. Though rhetoric and recent drama has been unpleasant, it has drawn attention to an important issue that will have to be addressed, not just in Bulgaria, but across Central and Eastern Europe.
Scores Arrested in Roma Protests 
The Return of the Gypsies - Transitions Online

Bulgaria: Attractive Tourist Destination
On Monday, my counterpart and I went to the Sofia airport for the opening of a photo exhibition. Last winter, I sent in pictures to an online contest for “Bulgaria—Attractive Tourist Destination.” Two of my pictures were selected to be among the top 30 displayed in the exhibition. The exhibition will be in the airport until the end of the month. It moves to Sofia University in November, and then to Pleven in December. 

A friend of mine from Chiprovtsi also submitted photos that made the final cut. I’m thrilled that of the 30 photos chosen to represent attractive tourist destinations in Bulgaria, FOUR are from Chiprovtsi. Put another way, 13% of the images of tourist destinations in Bulgaria show Chiprovtsi. 10,000 people pass through the terminal each day, which is pretty good free advertising. I received an award, gave an awkward tv interview, and enjoyed free snacks with my counterpart and the driver. The pictures can be found at: http://phototourismbg.com/


On the way to Sofia, we came across an accident. A semi truck full of beer had spilled cases of beer all over the highway. No one was hurt at the scene, but a highway full of free beer could lead to lots of things. 

Back to the topic of weather...
The unusual hot weather that persisted until Friday is referred to locally as a “gypsy summer,” similar to how “Indian summer” is used in the states. I had never given much thought to it before, just assumed it wasn’t a nice term. After hearing its parallel in another language, I need to let you know: it’s offensive and it should not be used. Think about it: the term originated from the colonial belief that the Native Americans (Indians) were deceptive and untrustworthy. We no longer use leaches to bleed sick people or burn witches at the stake, so please, don’t use Indian summer. It’s a linguistic example of how racial prejudices once permeated American culture, affecting even the names of weather patterns. If you want a replacement phrase to describe unseasonably hot weather in the fall, I recommend: “Golden October” (Germany/Austria) or “a tiger in autumn” (China).

Canning and Pickling

This past weekend Palma and I made five types of turshia (pickled vegetables) plus lutenitsa (tomatoes and roasted peppers)—40 jars in total! It took all day, but will be completely worth it this winter. Here are a few pictures and recipes from our super productive day: