Lisa in Bulgaria at Christmas
I arrived in Bulgaria on 17th December and was immediately shown around the school by the children from second grade. There was some snow so we went sleighing outside.
In the evening I enjoyed the Christmas concert of the school. It was great – with carols and popular songs and dances from Disney films!
On 23rd December the children organized a traditional Bulgarian Christmas festival for me. I had a special Christmas dinner – with a homemade bread with a coin for luck and meatless dishes – beans, staffed peppers, rice wrapped in sauerkraut leaves, nuts and fruit. The children sang some carols that young people go round the houses singing at Christmas and get some small gifts in return. We also prepared some “survachki” – twigs decorated with wool, popcorn, dried fruit and cookies. Children use them to tap the people on their backs saying rhymed blessings for health, luck and fertility. That is their favourite tradition!
However the surprises didn’t end here! On the same day the children from Saint Sofia school organized a festival called Christmas and New Year in Europe. Each class had chosen a country and presented its Christmas and New Year traditions through beautifully illustrated presentations hanging on the walls or broadcast on the interactive whiteboard. There were stations around the school that the children visited and were told lots of interesting facts about Christmas in different European countries. There were greetings and Christmas songs in many languages and also delicious traditional Christmas dishes. The best presentations were about Poland, Slovakia, The Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey, France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain, England, Portugal, Italy, Estonia, Germany.
