UZANA

I went on a hike at a nearby mountain this weekend with the hiking group..and it was just what I needed. You know, how poets sometimes say that a location inspires them to write..that’s exactly how I felt this weekend while hiking..the leaves were a beautiful golden color and lightly drifting to the ground, the sky was clear with the sun shining strongly..the wind was whistling through the treetops, and the mountains were snow-topped and beautiful, as always.. It was a relaxing day with a really great group of people and good conversations..I wish I could just bottle up the feeling, and open it up when life gets a little too stressed :)

I posted pics from the hike..click here, or at the bottom of this page labeled Tricia’s newest pics.

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Part 2 – Bulgarian names

..and for me as a child, and even now..my last name is the same as my parents..the family name – well, in rural areas in Bulgaria, the family name comes from the grandfather on your father’s side. Think about this for a moment..if that were the case for me, my mom’s family name, and my dad’s family name would each be different, and their family name would be different from my family name..and not only that, if my grandfather’s family name were Yordanov, my family name would have to be Yordanova (because I am female)..

The trend in the cities has moved away from this, and families moving from villages usually officially change to a common family name if they move to a city.

A child’s middle name is always a derivative of their father’s name..even if there is more than one child..For example Ivelina Dimitrova Stanova and Ilian Dimitar Stanov.

..and if you call or shout out to someone, the name also changes..not greatly, but it changes..like Ivan – you would shout Ivane..or for Elena – Eleno, Lubomir – Lubomire.

This last rule about names, I have yet to follow. In Bulgarian there are 2 forms of ‘you’. There is the singular you (ti), and the plural form (vie).

When introduced to someone you should use the polite ‘vie’ form + their family name..and only when you are on a more familiar basis do you change to using the singular ‘ti’ form + their first name. I have a Bulgarian friend that finds it difficult to determine when this point has been reached..

What’s in a name?

You know those nicknames we have for people – like for a woman named Susan, we might call her Susie, or Sue..or Richard my be called Ricky or Rich or Rick. And these nicknames or abbreviated names make sense to me. I can see where the shortened name comes from.

Well..in Bulgaria, names and how you address one another have a very different structure..and it can all get very confusing at times. For example:
- 2 people born in the same year, might address each other as Набори - Nabori (meaning exactly that ‘born in the same year’
- Colleagues working together often refer to each other as колеги – kolegi (colleague)..I guess that is easier than remembering their name.

-- and when speaking with a woman around the age of your mother, she should be addressed as леля – lelya (meaning Aunt)
-- a women around the age of your grandma is addressed as баба – baba (Grandma)

And likewise for men

-- it’s чичо – chicho (uncle) for men approximately your father’s age
-- and Дядо – diyado (grandpa) for men you grandfather’s age

And to show respect to another man (whether he is your age, or older)..I often here batko, or bai+name (for example Stanimir would be called Bye-stan)..kind of like big brother..he always helps and takes care of the hikers in our group that fall behind.

Here is one that really throws me..it is a part of the local dialect in the Veliko Tarnovo region.
- When an older person speaks with a younger person..they refer to them as ‘Ba’
- When speaking with a grandfather, he is also referred to as ‘Ba’
- When a younger person is talking with their mom it is ‘Ma’ (that one makes sense)
- When speaking with morethan 1 person, or to adults they address each other as ‘бе’ (Bay)

Are you confused yet?

If you converse with someone with the same name..you don’t call each other by name..instead you say адаш (adash) – meaning namesake (per the dictionary).

Which is why I usually call people by the name they are introduced with..but somehow, even that gets confusing. Let’s say I get introduced to Georgi. Now that sounds like a simple enough name..however, when other Bulgarians refer to him in conversations, they don’t say Georgi..they say Zhoro, or Gogo (commonly used in the cities), or even Gosho (in the villages)..or..here’s an example for a woman’s name – Boriana might be referred to as Bobi, or Boobka. Here are a few more:

Girls names:
Gergana – Geri Penka – Pepa or Petia Paraskeva – Parka Ginka – Galya
Boys names:
Dimitar – Mitko or Mitak Nikolai - Koilyo Valentin – Vaiylyo Yoran – Dancho

Did you notice girls names always in in ‘a’ and boys names only end in a consonant or ‘o’ or ‘I’.

Next week, I’ll explain about middle and last names..almost as confusing as first names :)

This week, I did a radio announcement with two students from the 10th grade about the International Day of European languages..and we asked the announcer to play a few songs in other languages..One of the songs she chose for Bulgaria is the one I have posted above – Detski Spomen (press the play button in the upper left corner).

New Song posted

The newest song posted above (press the play button in the box in the upper left corner - it says Rofinka Bolna Legnala), is a song from the Rhodope's, in the mountains, one of the many diverse regions on Bulgaria. When I visited there a while back with my hiking group, one evening we were lucky to be entertained by the owner and a colleague..one played a homemade guida (bagpipes), and the other sang..and 2 of our women hikers joined in as well..it was quite beautiful to listen to. This music is very different probably from what you have listened to..but I would suggest closing your eyes, and just listening a bit to it.

little delights in life

Living in Bulgaria has really made me a more avid hiker..but sometimes it is nice to visit and hang out with the friends in my town..all sorts of interesting surprises pop up. I visited Geno last weekend..he is pictured below.

Geno is proud to say he was my oldest English student at 81 years of age. He invited me for lunch. Geno is the ideal type of person I can see running a ‘kushta na gosti’ – these are houses where tourists are invited to live and help out to see a typical Bulgarian way of life. Every time I visit, I learn something new. My last visit was spent picking strawberries and eating mulberries, and bringing up water from the well (much harder than it looked)..this time, we picked grapes – there are so many different types of grapes, all tasting different and ripening at different times. With the grapes, we made freshly squeezed grape-juice (see the picture below).

Yep..dig your hands in and squeeze; and then strained it and had it for desert later. We also started a fire in a little fire well, and roasted peppers..also a new experience for me (the peppers start hopping when the bottom gets really hot from the fire).

After biking back from the village, I headed up to our local monastery where the Horo (Bulgarian dances) group was meeting to celebrate our 2nd anniversary of the group (I swear we celebrated this in the winter already)..but it was a great time..we had a barbecue – slightly different than an American one – no hamburgers, but there were Kranviches (which are like our hotdogs), and lots of sausage type meat (called sudjuk and nadenitsa), no ketchup, but jars of Lyutenitsa (a tomatoey vegetabley substance)..everything tastes fantastic grilled outside. I have noticed recently more initiative being made by members of the group..this time, besides dancing, one of the members organized a couple of games with prizes first..I can’t remember my last gunny sack race..I was happy that I understood most of the trivia questions (in Bulgarian)..even if I couldn’t answer them..and I enjoyed watching the Ruchenitsa couples contest (a traditional Bulgarian dance) – it’s a fun dance to watch, but the timing proves hard for me to pick up. Here's a video I found online - As always..I have posted a few new pictures, from the first day of school, the banquet for the first day of school, and lunch with Geno. You will find these by scrolling to the end of the page, and clicking on Tricia's Newest Pics