Today is 15th September, it's the first day back at school in Bulgaria as the weekend saw many children back in the town of Yambol after many spending the whole summer with their respective Baba and Diado (Grandma and Grandpa) on the farms in the villages. And by all accounts having got feedback from many, loved every minute of it.It was a word of warning from our own Baba who was crushing grapes by hand in the big barrel this morning as I set out to drive. “Be careful,” she said. “There are lots of children walking to school this morning,” as another vine stalk was taken out and discarded from the barrel.
True to her words the town was swarming with children, most carrying bunches of flowers. It is tradition that the first day back, the children present flowers to their new teacher. It is quite strange watching the elder boys walking the streets with flowers in their hands, in the UK they would be called ‘Pansies’, but here nothing of the kind, this is normal.
The first day is a day where the children get a talk from their teacher and head teacher. This particular school day only lasts a few hours as they are walking their way back home flowerless at around 10:00 this morning. Many parents of the younger children are in on the talk.My work place is opposite a school, which has been inactive for months. It suddenly came back to life this morning on this unusually cold September day. It is really nice to have the area and the building full of activity again with children talking and playing sensibly during their break time. It is especially heart warming to see such respectful well-behaved children in this part of the world.
How sweet! That would be quite an experience to witness.
ReplyDeleteYeah, when I was working for the Bulgarian National Radio there was so much fuss about the first day of school... I was so surprised. In Holland it's just a normal thing, but in Bulgaria (and also in Turkey I've noticed) they make a big deal about it and have special customs and traditions. Really heartwarming to see.
ReplyDeleteIf you want, by the way, I could get you in touch with the National Radio. They have a photo of the day on the sites of their international channels (they have 10), so they could use your photography... Maybe you could even submit some stuff to them that they can use... I don't know what's possible.
I was asked to do weekly audio column of about 5 minutes about life in Bulgaria as a foreigner, but I found myself unable to write 5 minute radio speeches. Since Yambol is not far from Sofia (I think), I could get you in touch with them, get them to see your website and you can see where it goes from there.
If you're interested, that is :-)
You can mail me back at bas -at- basbasbas.com... not sure if I'll read further replies to this post here.