The holidays 2010 –sad, busy, fun

Yes, before Christmas came I was quite sad, and longing for home, friends, and family a bit..but quickly my days filled up with many banquets, school concerts, presentations and cultural center events. Unfortunately there are only a few pictures of all these events..as I had no camera, and the new pictures (found under ‘Tricia’s new Pics’ link at the bottom of the page) are those that friends have sent.

So, when talking with a friend from the village one day, I asked ‘How was Christmas celebrated before, during Communism’..and I kinda had an idea that it wasn’t a big celebration here..but it was still a surprise to hear her say that it wasn’t celebrated at all (or had to be celebrated discretely in homes). Oftentimes I hear Bulgarians refer to Дядо Коледа (Father Christmas / Santa Claus) as Дядо Мраз (Father Frost / Cold). For Christmas, here, many villagers will buy a pig during the fall, and on Christmas Day, they will kill it, using all parts of the pig. It is killed on Christmas Day, and not Christmas Eve because they do not eat meat on Christmas Eve.

I had no plans for Christmas, as I only wanted to talk with my family. It was great that we were all able to gather on Skype and talk together. However, one of my favorite students, and good friend, Hrisa, invited me to her home Christmas morning. They were killing a pig..and then, using all the pieces. Some will be eaten soon, some will be preserved for the future, some will be frozen, the skin will be eaten, the fat is boiled down to lard, and the feet will be jellied.

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t catch the early bus, and missed the actually killing of the pig. By the time I got there, the skin was off, the head was off, and the pig was in pieces on a sheet of plastic in the kitchen area. Later I went with Katia, another friend and learned how time consuming it is to make pitka (a type of bread roll eaten during holidays).

I was invited back to the village the next day by another friend, Snezha. That entire Christmas weekend I was a little tired and sick from lack of sleep during the busy week before..and these good friends took really good care of me. It was a very relaxing Christmas weekend

New Years in Uzana

I spent New Years with my favorite hiking group. We went to Uzana where I made many new friends from Varna and Dobrich (near the Black Sea)..in fact, I’ve been invited to visit Dobrich next weekend..we’ll be hiking Mount Botev (the highest of the peaks in the Stara Planina mountains.

I found the snow! That’s a part of what made it such a great New Years. I went on long hikes both days..you can see the pictures at the link on the bottom of this page. For New Years Eve there was so much food..yummy food, lots of meat, lots to drink..dancing, of course, champagne, and sparklers..then outside for the fireworks..ours, and all of the other huts in the area..the sky was lit up for some time. One guy had a flare gun and the fired it off a few times.

The next day we hiked to the summit of Mt. Ispolin, and then I continued to explore more of the nearby peaks. It was a great New Years weekend..just hiking, sleeping, eating, drinking and dancing.