Kate in Bulgaria

Experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer and some adventures on the side

Честитa Баба Марта Happy Baba Marta

Tomorrow is March 1st and if you are Bulgarian or in Bulgaria tomorrow is a big day.  

Taken from an article on Baba Marta:

Also known as Grandma Marta, Baba Marta is a season before the beginning of March each year when Bulgarians present to relatives and friends martenitsa (also known in some Bulgarian regions as martenka) - a double red and white tassel made of wool- to bring health and happiness.

The red colour, as people say, is to protect from disease and the white colour makes you live longer. As her name comes from the month that she comes in, Baba Marta is believed to be either severe and cruel, making the whole country white with snow, or mild and kind giving health and strenth through her martenitsas.

On the first day of March, the Bulgaria people and their friends put the martenitsas on their clothes, or wrists, and even on their animals, and wish each other health and happiness with "Chestita baba Marta" - (in English, "Happy Grandma Marta"). "Marta" comes from the word for March (Mart) in Bulgarian.

This is an ancient Bulgarian (pagan) tradition (well - nobody knows how old but most probably it's more than one thousand years old) and symbolizes the end of the cold winter and the coming of the spring.

Martenitsas should be worn until the person sees the first stork (supposedly returning from the South and not the one in the Zoo). Then martenitsas are thrown onto a tree. The red and white colours symbolize the snow and the blood from an old story where, a stork brings the blessing for health to a small child from its parents, who are far away. The giving of the martenitsa helps you feel like Spring is near. The "arrival" of the stork indicates that this has happened.

The lack of "real" winter and and a shortage of storks raises some difficulties in implementing this tradition nowadays but Bulgarians are still celebrating and very fond of the 1st of March (in a traditional and "modern" way at the same time

I could attempt to explain it all, but I'm sure the sites about Baba Marta will tell you much better what it is all about.  In order for you to have a better idea what all this is about, i've included a couple of web site links that have pictures and more information, including folklore about the holiday. 

This is a tradition found only in Bulgaria and as I am a fan of jewelry, one that i enjoy.  I have already received two Martenitsas today, and will wear them proudly until I see my first Stork.  This year of course I'll know what a Stork looks like and won't have any of the confusions that last year brought.   You tend to hear the Storks before you actually see them, that or at least see their nests first.  They are absolutely huge  and remind me a great deal of Pelican nests on top of Bouy markers. 

So, here are a couple sites to look at, enjoy the reading and Честитa Баба Марта

http://www.abvg.net/Traditions/Marta/Marta.html

http://www.geocities.com/greetings1001/martenitza.html

here are some examples of Martenitsas, there are hundreds of different ones and they can be bought everywhere around Bulgaria

               

posted by: ksension at February 28, 2006 12:53 | link | comments |

Snow snow everywhere..

It started snowing sometime early Sunday morning and didn't stop until oh, late Monday.  Fun stuff snow, especially when you get about a foot of it in a day.  One thing I can say for it is that it turns the bleak winter here rather beautiful.  Amazing what snow can do for run down buildings and baren landscape.  It got down to -20 last night, and at that rate this latest snow will probably be around till the end of winter (end of March/April) and the ice will be around even longer.    Still though, seeing as how this will probably be my  last true winter, I have decided to embrace the snow and enjoy it.  After Bulgaria, it's going to be warm climates and sunshine for me. 

Well, there isn't a whole lot ot write about today.  On the official countdown I have 2 months and 3 weeks till Matt and I leave for Greece.  Exactly 4 months till we leave for our Eastern Europe trip and 7 months and 3 weeks till I am officially finished with my service.  My how time flys

I'll post more later or at least post some pictures of all of this snow.  Hope you all have a great week

posted by: ksension at February 08, 2006 07:48 | link | comments |

A Bulgarian

This is something I was forwarded in an email from another volunteer here.  It is disturbing to say the least, and hard to believe something like this would still happen anywhere in the world let alone a country about to enter the EU. 

At the end of this I have also posted the official response from the Bulgarian Government after this event was publicized by local media and MANY people, both Bulgarian and non-Bulgarians, responded in outrage. 

*Note this happened last year

VILLAGE WHERE A DOG'S TERROR IS USED TO PREDICT THE FUTURE  -- Mar 7 2005


SUPERSTITIOUS Bulgarian villagers believe terrified dogs are the key to a prosperous future.

Every year, the village of Brodilovo (just a small distance south of the capital Sofia ) holds a 'trichana na kuche' - dog's spin - ceremony.

They tie dogs to a device made of two twisted ropes and spin them round, frightening them so badly they empty their bowels while spinning and spew feces into the crowd.

Villagers believe, according to ancient custom, that the more faeces the dogs produce, the healthier and wealthier the year will be for Brodilovo and its inhabitants.

 

From Wikipedia:

Dog spinning is an alleged form of divination,  practised in Bulgaria.

In dog spinning, a dog is suspended above water on a rope. This rope is then 'wound' by being twisted repeatedly in a given direction ( clockwise or anticlockwise), before being released so that the suspended dog rotates rapidly around in the opposite direction (respectively, anticlockwise or clockwise).

The purpose of this is allegedly to prophesy the prosperity of a community during the immediate future, although the method of interpreting the results of the exercise remains obscure.

The first known reference to this alleged practice is in a press release issued by the UK Green Party, issued 29 July 2005.

 

 

 

 

The official response from teh Bulgarian Government

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA
                                                    OSLO

 

Tidemands gate 10
0244 Oslo
Tel      22 55 40 40
Fax      22 55 40 24
bulgemb@online.no

                                                                                                                  Oslo, March 18, 2005.

 Our Ref. No. 144/2005

 

Re: Dogs’ abuse in the village of Brodilovo, Bulgaria.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I sincerely appreciate reaction, triggered by the recent media publications about the appalling abuse
of dogs in the village of Brodilovo, Bulgaria.

With its 350 inhabitants the village of Brodilovo is indeed a very small one by both Bulgarian and European standards. The village is situated on the slopes of Strandja Mountains in the Southeastern part of the country in a very sparsely populated area less than 10 km from the border with Turkey. The area is seldom visited by outsiders – Bulgarian or foreign. These are the reasons why the abuse of dogs in Brodilovo was largely unknown to the general public in Bulgaria until very recently.

As the events in the isolated village of Brodilovo cast a shadow on Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people as a whole, it is very important to stress that the abuse of dogs or any other animal does not represent any kind of tradition or folklore belief either in the Southeastern region of Bulgaria (the County of Bougras) or in other regions of the country. This is confirmed by renowned scholars and experts (both Bulgarian and foreign) of Bulgarian folklore traditions.

The Bulgarian public was also deeply disturbed by the media publications, which showed our fellow-countrymen in Brodilovo practicing something so unacceptable, cruel and inherently alien to the spirit of the Bulgarian traditions.

The public outcry produced great pressure on the authorities in Brodilovo and its population. On March 9, 2005, the mayor of the village Mr. Dimitar Dimitrov addressed the public in an official declaration, in which he expressed his’ and his fellow-villagers’ deepest regrets and asked his Bulgarian fellow-countrymen for forgiveness for blemishing the morals of Bulgarian people.  In this declaration the mayor also pledged that 2005 would be the last year when dog’s spin was performed in Brodilovo.

I would like to thank the Norwegian animal lovers who, like their Bulgarian friends, expressed their concern. Your civil consciousness is indeed admirable. I am confident that your protest – stronger than any other kind of action, would
 contribute for the ultimate eradication of the appalling dogs’ spin in Brodilovo.

                                 Best regards,

                                                 Gancho Ganev, Ambassador

 

 

 

 

 

 

posted by: ksension at February 02, 2006 08:48 | link | |

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