What do you see?
Bad weather
As Sasho said: "It's always bad weather on women's day."
Then again, as a man, he would say that... ;-)
Women's day
Women's day is the only day when women get unilateral respect in Bulgaria
Nearly every convenience store in the country is adorned with pictures of alluring scantly dressed women advertising anything from Vodka to sausages and cheese. In public offices men do not hesitate to pin up posters of naked girls. It's a man's, man's world but on the 8th March women brighten up, make an effort to be pretty and they expect respect, attention, a smile and maybe some flowers in return. They actually demand it and on this day they get it.
As Akon says: "I'm trying to find the words to describe this girl without being disrespectful... Damn! uz a sexy bitch!"
Baby Fitness 5
Staying fit!
Many mothers (and fathers) complain that they do not have time to stay fit after having a baby. We've found the solution. Get the baby involved in the fitness program and use him as a weight. And as Raphael gets older and bigger it increases the level of difficulty. It's the best to stay perfect.
The doubitchou
"C'est fin, c'est tres fin, ça se mange sans faim."
The doubitchou is a Bulgarian speciality. If it looks like what it is, that's because it's hand rolled under the armpits and tastes like a chocolate truffle....
The weaver
Milka specializes in weaving goat's hair. Hence Koza's grimace as she hadn't recently epilated. Milka was evidently very excited and already threading her back-side....
Thankfully, Raphael saved us once again. We managed to distract Milka by asking her to sow a special Martenitsa Gaitani, traditional woven embroidery worn on the outer garnments, into Raphael's Bjorn.
Etara
Etara is a village built in the traditional Bulgarian style from the revival period (1870s). The main street is lined with worshops where master craftsmen produce in front of you wood carvings, pottery, weaves and copper utensils. Specialist shops prepare traditional bread and pastries as well as Turkish coffee in sand and Bialo Slatko, white jam.
Baba Marta
Zara, Mariya and Julien with Stoyan and Milena
For Baba Marta (1st March) people exchange red and white Martenitsa bracelets and wish each other health and long life.
In Bulgarian March is the only month in the calendar which is feminine. The weather is always unpredictable. It is a cross-roads for winter and spring. This year some reports predict that winter will last till May....
Artistic direction by Zara.
In Bulgarian March is the only month in the calendar which is feminine. The weather is always unpredictable. It is a cross-roads for winter and spring. This year some reports predict that winter will last till May....
Artistic direction by Zara.
39.5
Long nights
Maybe flying down the ski slopes for a day with Raphael in front was not the best idea. He caught a cold. we spent 3 nights trying to keep the fever down with compresses of cold water, apple cider vinegar and sel gris de Guerande and a bit of Calpol to suck the excess heat out of the body.
The local doctor came to check on him on Sunday evening at very short notice. Blagodariavi!
The local doctor came to check on him on Sunday evening at very short notice. Blagodariavi!
He recovered very well.
Pic by Zara.
Skiing together
All together including Raphael in the Bjorn
A few years ago we went camping in the Landes. We only had public transpport and bicycles. We carried our huge family tent (aka The Castle), sleeping bags, ruck sacks and even a body board on bicycle from one camping site to the next.
This year we continued with the tradition with Raphael on skis. He's wearing his Santa's Little Helper Xmas hat.
This year we continued with the tradition with Raphael on skis. He's wearing his Santa's Little Helper Xmas hat.
The winner
CFC of Vidima
Roman Abramovitch learnt it from the Bulgarians. If you can't sort something with money, you can sort it with more money!
Open race
All welcome!
Anybody with a horse could join the race. There were all types of breed. Some horses were saddled, other raced bear back or just with a blanket. As the commentator said:
"It's not about winning, it's about starting the race!"And:
"The winner is the one who gives me the most kebab!!"Now you wonder why the European Commission says Bulgaria is the most corrupt country in the European Union.
Horse BBQ
Family event
Spectators joined in with horses and riders to enjoy the event. Everybody, including the horses, drank beer and rakia. Some people joked that the last horse in the race would end up on the BBQ!
Todoroff den
Improvised horse race
On Todoroff den (21st Feb) horses races are organised across the country. In Vidima a field was set up ad hoc to make-do as a race course. Fortunately the snow had melted in the 2 previous days.
The person responsible for maintaining the track was publicly humiliated for not shooting the wild boars who destroyed the top soil in their quest for food.
The ground was flooded with melted snow. It was a mud bath. Some horses ended up riding their jockey upside down!
The person responsible for maintaining the track was publicly humiliated for not shooting the wild boars who destroyed the top soil in their quest for food.
The ground was flooded with melted snow. It was a mud bath. Some horses ended up riding their jockey upside down!
Progress
We could finally relax a bit...
After 3 months of shoving and pushing to make things happen we finally got some results. We settled down in our new home, put up our own bed and caught up on sleep. We had learnt a lot about ourselves and each other. We had found limits we had never previously explored, discovering new depths to our beings. We felt scarred but more alive than ever. Most importantly we were in control of our destinies.
Parachuting
And one morning the skies cleared out...
The last 3 months had been somewhat difficult. We'd thrown away our middle-age, middle-class comfort and parachuted ourselves in unknown lands. We found no straight lines just curves with surprises and adventures at every turn. But we perservered to find our own way. We set our sights in one direction and finally gained a foothold by finding a new place to live that was comfortable, clean and spacious. We had a real kitchen. We laid down some rugs in the rooms. Raphael could now learn to crawl on the floor.
Natural fitness
Moving in fitness exercise
We moved all the stuff we had brought from London in the trailer, approx. 1 tonne in weight, + the bags we had in storage in Plovdiv + the new petchka (wood stove) + 4 cubic metres of wood we had left to burn for this winter. All in all we must have moved at least 2 tonnes of stuff to our new house.
Mariya insisted on climbing the stairs with 20 kilo crates of wood. It tones the gluts!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
