Bulgaria 01/01
And so my New Year in Bulgaria has begun.
And what a merry old time I’ve had in the last couple of days…… 🙂
New Years Eve Eve: The night with the locals at the café was brilliant !! No other word to describe it….we had a ball.
We sauntered up there at about 6 o’clock, as instructed by Maria. We kinda nervously poked our heads around the door and were immediately swept inside by Michael and Dida, who works for him. The place was all set up for eating, drinking and dancing so we took a seat and watched the locals arriving. First thing we noted was that everyone was bringing in food and drink….had we committed out first faux pas for the evening? Er, yes…..so I fled back down the road to the Big Hoose and grabbed anything I could find that was edible, plus a supply of wine and ice. My sister Helen had sent me a box of treats from Italy (and a big thank you to her for that) so a large box of scrumptious almond biscuits got thrown into the esky, some very good chocolate that Jillian had bought, packets of savoury bits & pieces..anything I thought might appeal.
I had left Jillian there to fend for herself, but it definitely wasn’t a problem. I arrived back to find her ensconced at the table with Dimitar, the Mayor, his wife and daughter, Christina, (the best neighbour in the world), and various folk from the village.
Jillian & Dimitar
Jillian & Christina
They had laid out a mountain of food for her to pick at and she seemed very happy indeed when I returned. Though she tells me that when Dimitar arrived, he wanted her to ring me and tell me to hurry up. 🙂
There was a brief period of eating and many offers of Rakia….I didn’t think I could refuse the Mayors offer when he proferred a bottle, so I bravely allowed him to fill my glass…..I did say ‘malko’but obviously his idea of small and my idea of small were worlds apart. I ended up with a substantial, three finger slug in my glass but it was pretty damned good….one of the better rakias….so with a glass of rakia and a glass of wine in front of me, I settled in for what was a fantastic evening.
The women started singing…and Oh My God, it was amazing, stunning. Beautiful, haunting music, amazing voices….and then the men joined in and it just got more and more extraordinary. If you’ve never heard traditional Bulgarian music, you may not understand what I’m talking about….if you have, you’ll understand how overwhelming the beauty of the music is, and I was sitting there in my tiny adopted village, with my new friends and neighbours, being treated to the most wonderful music.
And I realise that pictures can’t do the singing justice, but these are some of the people that have made me so welcome here in Miladinovtsi and I want them to have some recognition.
And they hadn’t started the dancing yet !!!
A stereo was produced and the dancing commenced…..and everybody, young and old was on that floor at some stage of the evening….well, except me….my confidence fled and I spent the evening watching. I’m still being chastised by Jillian for not getting up to a dance that was dedicated to me by the Mayor……she’s really giving me stick about it. Jillian herself did get stuck into the dancing 🙂 She was up there being led by the women through the traditional dancing and had a damned fine time
And she was dragged up onto the dance floor by the Mayor and Marias husband and basically danced the night away 🙂
Throughout the traditional dancing, people of all age groups were up on the floor, from the very young to the not quite so young…all very comfortable doing their traditional dances which they’ve obviously grown up with.
When the more modern music was played, a few younger women were dancing and they were wonderful to watch…..almost like belly dancing…..very skilful, very exotic.
I have made a promise to myself that next year I will be better prepared for the evening and I WILL get up and dance……well, that’s if I get an invite.
As midnight approached the entire mob headed outside….still dancing… and as midnight struck, fireworks were ignited and the crowd continued to dance….
The whole night was all about dancing, singing, eating, drinking and incredible hospitality shown to both myself and my sister.
It really was a fabulous evening and one I won’t forget for a long time to come.
New Years Eve: We decided to go into Yambol for New Years Eve, as it seemed that the villagers were all having a quiet celebration at home with their families.
We booked into a local hotel and also booked ourselves in for dinner. The night was OK, but I have to say, not nearly as warm and friendly as the night in Miladinovtsi. Things were more formal and people were tending to remain within their own groups. But we had a good time and got many handshakes and kisses at midnight, which was nice. And we both won a door prize, Jillian a wine rack for the table and me, a rather frightening looking knife……..handy for a pig killing next year perhaps ??? 🙂
New Years Day: today we headed over to Martins for a very pleasant lunch…a chance to catch up and have a chin wag about the happenings of the last few days and the experiences we’ve both had. We’re both strangers in this land and we’re both certainly having some incredible experiences….like nothing we’ve ever known before.
I feel very lucky to be in this situation where everyday brings something different, something interesting, something for me to learn about…….let’s hope all this stimulation keeps old age at bay for a few more years 🙂
Tonight though, I feel about 110 years old…it’ll be an early and an alcohol free night for this old girl. I need to give my liver a breather as I prepare myself for the arrival of my nephew, James and his girlfriend, Laura on Wednesday. Very excited about seeing him and meeting Laura…..that’s the only problem with not seeing people for a couple of years….you lose touch with all the changes that are happening in their lives. There’ll be plenty of catching up in the next couple of weeks.
Until the next installment, Dovishdane
mercer
Sue Mercer,
Bulgaria 2005
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