Colour & Motion

One thing I haven’t talked about much lately is socialising…possibly because I haven’t really been doing as much as I would normally like to be.  It hasn’t all been misery and a couple of Sundays ago, through the power of charades and a little bit of Bulgarian, I ascertained from Christina that there was something on in General Insovo and not only was I going to be there, but I was getting to take some of the villagers with me.

Sunday dawned warm and filled with sunshine, and I was certainly feeling a wee bit excited about what was in store for me.  I do love a day out you know and when you have no idea where you’re going, it just makes it that little bit more exciting. Christina knocked on my door at 9.30 and covered in factor 30+ and wearing my big scruffy straw hat, I piled her into the car and we headed up to the town square. Here I was greeted by just about everyone in the village and all the women were in traditional costume.

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There were last minute flowers poked under scarves, lipstick applications, a swig of Rakia, a quick dance practice in the square and then everyone piled into a line of cars parked on the road and away we went for a big day out in Insovo.  Keep in mind, I still had no real idea of what was awaiting me when I arrived.

I parked the car, rounded up the ladies and we headed into the park where I was greeted by a sea of colour and noise. This was obviously some big deal in the area and I found out that people come from villages all over the region to take part in a day of dancing, singing and eating.  It was absolutely wonderful: the costumes, the atmosphere, the crowds, the colours. Everywhere I looked, there was this sea of colour and motion.

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I spent the day wandering around taking photos, not just of the dancers but of faces in the crowds…there were some great faces amongst them.

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Including Christina and her husband’s cousin, looking resplendent in their costumes…

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And this lucky youngen’ with the largest serving of fairy floss I have ever seen in my life….they don’t do things by halves here.

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 Once again, Christina had enabled me to experience something truly wonderful, something I never would have found out about on my own and an event that I will be sure to attend again next year.

And another thing I must mention. As a precurser to my fabulous day in Insovo, I also had the village children visiting me on the Saturday.  They arrived in traditional costumes and in exchange for one lev, I received a song and dance on my front door step.  I managed to work out that it was something to do with the approaching Easter, which we’ve just had here this last weekend, but not exactly sure what. It was delightful though.  Such a nice event to have happening on your doorstep, and the kids were great.

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 There’s more to come, but I’m having all sorts of bother with the website just now, so I’ll keep this short and bang out another entry with even more social stuff.

There’s wee baby horses, a social evening with Ivans family and delicious, new season Bulgarian lamb….Mmm  🙂

For now,

 Dovishdane

 mercer