Birthday Bash

Frustration! Just fell victim to the "I just wrote a huge post and lost it because I didn't save it!"

So again:

This past weekend I celebrated my last birthday in the 20's. Even though the years are piling on I really am feeling younger every year. I am not sure why that is except that I feel I am taking life by the horns... and I feel great. I am not gloating... on the contrary... Physically, it has a lot to do with putting as many years between the present and the last time I destroyed my body in the pool, becoming a vegatarian and learning to listen to my body (as well as the time to be able to listen to it)

I recently had an email exchange with a friend of mine and I told him that things were going well and felt like I was in the prime of my life... half joking, half not... mostly just to say things are great. Of course, like any good friend... he shot me down... but I am serious.

So this past weekend I went to the heart of the Rhodopy Mountains which borders Greece. The Rhodopies are "lost in time" and I think because of this I have a special place in my heart for them. The mix of old Turkish culture and the village life of Bulgaria mixes (with a sprinkle of Greek culture) into this potent and intoxicating aroma of smells and sounds, such as the call to prayer that on a clear day can be heard echoing from one valley to the next, the pristine forests or the clak-ity-clack of a horse pulling a load of hay.

We celebrated the famous "Kookeri" festival in the small village of Shiroka Luka (Wide Valley). The Kookeri festival is very similiar to the Mummers parade that every Philadelphite knows quite well. Based on the same concept, the Kookeri is an ancient pagan tradition of "scaring" the evil spirits of winter away and to usher in the coming spring. We of course ushered in the spring with 6 inches of snow.

Although it is not clear from the pictures below, local villagers dress up in these crazy outfits and dance around with masks and large bells in a ritual dance... they are usually very drunk, firing guns into the air and then the craziest group jumps into the icy cold river (as well as one volunteer). Hundreds of people descend on this tiny town (pop.500) to witness and partake in the festivities. After the formal rituals are done... 4 or 5 hours of dancing begin.

Traditional Bulgarian dancing is a line dance called the "Horo". From Ukraine to Greece the "horo" is very similiar. Even at my buddy's wedding (a greek), I found many of the dances exactly the same. If you have ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding then you know what I am talking about. The dancing at the Kookeri involves hundreds of people and just continues non-stop for 4 hours... it is quite amazing. I danced for about 3 hours with small breaks for beer and water... but then I collapsed from exhaustion!

Part of trip down to the Rhodopies was to visit my friend Eric and his cozy village of Smiliyan (famous for Smiliyanski Bob - Smiliyan style Beans). My favorite food in Bulgaria, unfortuantely for Eric, I ate lots of beans when I was down there. The village life is quite different from my life in Sofia and I really enjoyed the time to relax.

Note: The pictures that I am posting above are from about a year ago. We had a benefit soccer match with some famous Bulgarian soccer players... Buluchkov and Lechkov. Buluchkov is featured above. Both of them were on the 1994 World Cup team that took 4th. They are legends. Buluchkov was receiving an award from the International Organization of Migration, a partner that I and other volunteers work with on a anti-sexual slavery project. I guess they thought it would be funny to have an American team to laugh at and beat up on... but... we actually played quite well (although we lost to the Ministry of Sport and Youth) and were big hits because we had Trisha, the only girl to play.