Who pissed off Baba Marta!?

In Bulgaria the first of March is revered as a special day and occasion. It is a day that symbolizes the start of spring. The world that has been covered in snow for four odd months begins anew. This day is referred to as Baba Marta. Baba Marta literally translates into Grandmother March. Now, Baba Marta could be argued to be the Bulgarian personification of Mother Nature, but only for this single day. The day itself becomes a celebration, especially in the village where people depend on self-sufficient life and crops. An early spring would mean earlier planting and a more bountiful summer. The day is marked by buying little intertwined red and white string, often decorated with evil eyes and other bits and bobs. The tradition goes that you tie this string around yourself and wear it until you see a stork.

Bulgarian Independence day: Part 2 The Church

Part 2

After lunch, which included a shot of Rakia obviously. We high tailed it back to the center of town where Kmiet awaited us. On our way there, Dan made a very true comment about Bulgarian and Polish drinking culture. "There are only two occasions on which you can drink," Dan remarked "When it's your birthday and when it's not." Some people obviously take that statement too much to heart, but wine and Rakia flow like water in Tsarevets, especially during dinners and proper occasions. We headed into Kmiet's office which was up a flight of stairs in the central building.

Bulgarian Independence day: Part 1 - Celebrations

Part 1

March 3^rd was an important day in the year 1878. It was the day a peace treaty was signed between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. It allowed the reestablishment of the country of Bulgaria, which had been occupied for nearly 500 years by the Ottomans. To this day many Bulgarians have an almost genetic distrust of Turks, this is especially true for the dying generation who lived under the communist government. Skipping ahead 137 years we arrive to today, March 3^rd 2015. On this day I was finally able to take part in the celebrations of Bulgarian independence from Ottoman hold.

A Birthday for a Kmiet

1

Kmiet is the Bulgarian word for Mayor and even though we have been on good terms with the mayor who presides over the village my family owns a house in, we often refer to him as Mayor/Kmiet more than his given name. That being the case I will refer to him as Kmiet. We have known Kmiet for several years already since our six years of owning our house in Bulgaria. We have spent many a times having dinner, BBQs, and drinks in both formal and non-formal occasions but ever since the death of his beloved wife and the diagnosis of his cancer, he has become a lonely man, who even though he protests to invitations to dinner, he always happily accepts and can spend hours talking about times of the past as well as his sons and grandchildren. That is enough for his brief introduction however, I will talk about and elaborate on Kmiet and his life in the later, but for now I will discuss the night my father and I spent at his party celebrating his 78th birthday.

The Dying Generation - An Understanding

The Dying Generation,

An Understanding

The Dying Generation is a biographical ethnographic depiction of the lives of the generation born in the early to mid-1900's. I have been granted a unique insight into the lives of the "previous" generation in my life and journeys. I have spent countless hours in the majlis of Arabic royalty and sitting under a canopy of grape vines in Bulgarian villages. In my relatively short life so far, compared to the 80 years plus lived by many of the people I will be describing, I have met, interacted, ate and drank with many individuals and communities, giving new perspectives and knowledge to life and ways to live it. It is not so much these elder ways that are the key point to me writing what I write here, but instead it is the change and the conflict that occurs between the elder ways and the quote unquote newer generation that will now over take, control and consume the world. In my short life span so far, I have met and talked to men and women, whose accumulated knowledge would span across a whole century if not more. The men and women that I will be highlighting have lived through the economic transition of the United Arab Emirates and the fall rise and fall of the communist state in Bulgaria.

Life in itself it challenging, tough and is constantly changing, but the change of culture and the gap between generations can be a drastic one that causes much confusion and struggle between an elderly population trying to cling to its past and the "better times" and their children who think the grass is greener on the other side. Such conflicts are ever more drastic when you think about the culture clash that comes from transitioning from a communist life style to one dominated by capitalism, or the way the Bedouin of Arabia would live, nomads and farmers who lived based on daily needs, to living off millions of dollars from oil revenue. Some traditions and cultures have been lost whilst others have been converted and "westernized" to coincide with the "Mc-Donaldization" of culture. Despite these changes, some things hold fast against the globalization that is sweeping over many countries and inhabiting many nations. Generation gaps are not as evident in the "western world", the conflict between disco and rap is arguably not as drastic as between the change in cultural ways of life and economic systems.

In my writings I will describe both the lives of the various people I have interacted with, the stories they have told and the adventures I have shared with those people. Some insights into their emotions or thoughts will be based on my perceptions of our meetings and discussions but the majority of what I write will be based off of first and second person experiences, that is to say experiences, either I or the person in question has lived through and shared through conversation. Not only this, but I will put to you the vast changes and troubles that come with having to come to terms with the "new world" and how that effects their relationships with their children and grandchildren.