Two Tonics in One

With Galia at home starting the long haul of recovering from her operation there isn't a lot that I can do. I think she was quite pleased that she had a little rest from my attentions as I spent a night on my own on the village farm. There were lots of jobs that needed to be done, watering the seedlings that were sown last week and planting more onions and garlic and complete the pruning of the vines while the weather was fine.

All these jobs were done as I arrived back the following morning with many aching muscles and blistered hands. Somehow being in pain made me feel a bit less guilty about Galia being in pain - Strange how the mind works.

Anyway, there was Baba who has her own problems with bad legs. She was told to rub apple vinegar on them which would ease the pain slight. So, on this Baba bumbled her way to the local shop and brought back a bottle with a picture of an apple on it. It was a funny sight seeing Baba with her trousers rolled up making her way to the bathroom to rub on the 'new wave' medicine.

Minutes later there was a distinct smell of apple in the air as she returned with here trousers still rolled up and a great smile on her face, it was a smile of anticipation as she waited for the 'old wives tale' remedy to work.

Now it is well know that Baba's eyesight isn't what it used to be and we became suspicious that the aroma that was given off wasn't an acidic smell. We looked at the bottle and found out that is wasn't apple vinegar but apple juice she had bought and rubbed on! The laughter hit the roof as Baba gave a 'Nastrave' (cheers) and gulped a mouthful of the apple juice.

The laughter never died down as we went back to the shop a bought the apple vinegar version for real as Baba repeated the application once more with a definite vinegar smell in the for the rest of the night; evidence indeed that the right treatment was made.

It's funny how the story kept getting retold all evening and the laughter remained as strong as it was from the first realisation. Not only was the vinegar tonic working on Baba now but the legacy of laughter was a great tonic for Galia.

Galia Joined By Donatello in Yambol

It’s all change in Yambol as Galia is out of hospital and at home recovering, the operation was completely successful although she will need quite a time to recover.

Needless to say she won’t be starting work for at least another week possibly up to three weeks. I won’t allow her to go back unless she is fully recovered. The weather has changed from – 18 C to 0 C during nights and reaching +12 C during the day.

Having had a couple of days in Skalitsa, having a whale of a time sorting out an iced up farmhouse, I return to Yambol late Sunday evening. The following morning we were without water again! No freezing temperatures, just a normal occurrence, we knew it would be back on in the evening and it was Ivo and I tossed a 20 stotinki coin to see who took a shower first – he won.

Ivo had recently acquired a new friend, which he said was going to live with us. We thought, ah ha, at last he has a girlfriend, but it was with great disappointment that when he brought his friend home it turned out to be a buck rabbit named Donatello. The disappointment didn’t last long as the rabbit now has the free run of the house and we discussed that fact that a rabbit is cheaper than a women and certainly much less of a headache for Ivo. It is a great concern of all of us that one day as the silent roaming rabbit will wander and that Baba will eventually accidentally sit on him!

Rabbits aside, our neighbour the priest has his house up for sale – we were gob smacked at the value he is putting it up for. Almost the equivalent of £100,000! Fair do, it has been done up really nicely with all the modern fitting you would find in a modern westernised house and a garden that is mainly lawn, but for that money it is only Mafia or foreigners that could afford it. It is not typical of a Yambol town house, it is as if it had been done up for a foreign buyer with no vegetables or other garden produce being grown. It has been observed and documented before in this blog that priests in Bulgaria are astute businessmen so perhaps it is no surprise that the home was perhaps a business enterprise for this holy man.

Finally, back to Galia, it is great to have her back home again and to be quite honest we both feel quite lost without each other.

It's Who You Know In Bulgaria That Counts

It is with great worry that I saw Galia go into hospital yesterday. She had a check up and they took her in straight away to be operated on. She has kidney problems and other complications that others and I never really had any idea about because she would never say. This is the way with most Bulgarian women; they just work until they drop!

Galia never normally complains about anything, other than jokingly about my English habits, the rising cost of living and the cold winters, but that in the main is just small talk. She has been in pain for some time now, I know being so close to her, but this is kept a secret as she doesn't want her family to know due to the stress it will cause them, especially Baba. She often tell me to not say anything to Baba.

So right now as it stands, Galia has been through one operation today and there is another on Saturday. Baba and I sit here this evening in silence, praying that she will be okay. We are both worriers, but how we deal with this is very different. My appetite has gone with worry, but Baba insists that eating will ease the worries, a definite conflict there.

Baba was in tears knowing that she wasn't going to be at home at least until next week. Consoling Baba is difficult and the only way I can take her mind off it is to put the television on, but even this is a drop in the ocean as to what is going on in her worried head.

We just hope that Galia pulls through. I will skate to the hospital tomorrow if I am allowed by the doctors to visit her.

We count ourselves extremely fortunate that we have two doctors in our family, one that consulted and referred Galia to hospital; the other actually supervised the diagnosis and operated on her today. Without this we would have been on a waiting list and probably been sent to another City hospital for treatment. It is so true that it is whom you know that counts every time in Bulgaria!

Bulgarian Pasta for Breakfast

This morning I dropping off my partner to work as usual, only to find something was different when I got back home. On the kitchen table was a plate of steaming hot pasta. The word 'Zakooska' was thrown at me from Baba who was folding up the bedsheets in the living room. This word means breakfast. Baba had taken it upon herself to prepare me a traditional Bulgarian breakfast this morning. She came into the kitchen to explain that see had seen that I hadn't any cornflakes left and we were totally out of home baked banitsas, which is what I normally eat for breakfast.

Well how can I refuse this specially cooked breakfast lying on my place on the kitchen table. The thought of pasta 7:30 in the morning didn't really appeal at this point. It wasn't normal in my previous UK life to have such things this early the morning. I did occur that this was probably the most healthy eating option of all breakfasts, it did made sense to eat food like this first thing on a regular basis to give a steady energy level to lunchtime. Right now though I wasn't looking forward to eating it, but didn't want to upset Baba who had gone to so much trouble.

As I sat down, then Baba fetched and put by the plate of pasta some sirene (white goats cheese) and some sugar. She urged me to put some on the pasta dish before I start eating it. Adding sirene to the pasta wasnt' a problem, I didn't need much persuasion with this. The sugar addition was a different story, I just couldn't bring myself to add it to the dish. Pasta to me should be a savoury dish. The addition sugar to the sour taste of sirene would just confuse my taste buds which hadn't even had a chance to wake up yet.

So pasta and serene was my zakooska at this moment. The first few mouthfuls felt quite alien as the slimy pasta slipped and slide down into the empty depths of my stomach. I've had warmed up curry for breakfast before now in my student days, but that was a long time ago, this is different. By the time the pasta had been half eaten, my taste buds got a second wind. This food was great! Pasta and sirene, without sugar, I now couldn't get enough of it. The combination of bland tasting pasta and sirene which just brings many meals alive worked wonders with this dish. It reminded me of a simple boiled potato and sirene dish we sometimes have here.

Baba never makes food for one, its not economical to do that, she had made enough for three days. This will see us through to the weekend she said. It looks like pastas for breakfast is here to stay and with winter upon us what better way to start the day. Another revelation in the simplest of foods discovered today.

Kind And Generous Bulgarian Baba

Baba is of the old Bulgarian school and a very funny person with it. However, she does get stressed out at the smallest of things. A hole in a jumper is a major problem and she's on it with repairs even before you can take the jumper off! Just missing a phone call sends here into a panic worrying that the call was the utmost importance. She will spend the next 20 minutes trying to figure out who it was and what they want question everyone until the mystery caller that was missed is solved.

Now 85 years of age, she is full of aches and pains with the colder weather during night now upon us this mid November. Even with the aches, she never attempts to put the newly installed air-conditioning system on when she is at home on her own.

There are two reason for this, the main one is, she’d rather stay cold than use up the electric, she often goes to bed at 7:00 before the system was installed to save energy. The other reason is that she just can’t understand the air conditioning controls. Even though the on/off button is the biggest and the only one coloured pink. No matter how many times we try to teach her, it goes in one ear and out the other.

The other day she had us all in stitches with a typical incident. She said that lunchtime she had lost two teeth; one fell in her bean soup she was eating and other she accidentally ate. That was it! The story was a two liner. The funny thing was that we all couldn’t understand how on earth you could lose teeth eating soup! She repeated the story time and time again and it remained as funny each time as she herself had trouble telling it from the fits of giggling.

Baba always puts other people before herself, even if she was starving, she would make sure others ate before her. She sneaks out of the house without telling anyone sometimes and brings back basic food such as bread bought on her measly pension. She knows we usually shop everyday after work, but feels that she has to contribute something to the dinner table. That’s Baba; they just don’t make people like this anymore - even in Bulgaria. Looking after here is our duty in the family house, but it really is a case of her looking after us.

So what is the point of this particular blog?

Bulgaria is changing so fast that it has left many behind, Baba is one of those people. She just doesn’t know what has hit here with the changes over the last ten years. It is now an unfamiliar world she is living in, along with many others of her generation. It becomes even more unfamiliar to her as each day goes by, I see that very clearly.

Maria Day

It was early evening as I saw Baba take out of the small desk in the kitchen a small pamphlet; I knew exactly what it was. Every so often Baba does this, the pamphlet is a yearly calendar of all the religious and important secular day in Bulgaria. And the reason she gets it out quite often is that in Bulgaria these days come thick and fast.

It was not more than a couple of minutes after she had focussed and referenced here way to this months special dates when a great “Ah!” came about. “Outre, Maria Den” was the made in the next breath. Tomorrow is Maria Day, the second biggest day after Christmas she added.

Now Maria Day is a big one, not least because most of the women in Bulgaria are called Maria, but added to that the religious connection makes it even more significant. The mother of Christ was named Maria and this also is tied up with the day. A big day indeed and an expensive day Baba added as she counted six Maria’s she knew where she had to buy gifts for them.

Galia and I knew about this day coming up as we had already planned the gifts that were to be given to each Maria we knew, we had four on out list and all had been wrapped up and to be taken to the Skalitsa farmhouse tomorrow evening on out normal route to the farmhouse each weekend, beside three Maria’s we knew were in Skalitsa. There would have been five but sadly, out favourite Maria passed away last month. So, bedtime came as we looked forward to tomorrow, the15th August, a big day for all Maria’s and their entourages in Bulgaria.

It was another early rise and unknown to me there was a call to leave early this morning for work. Not only that we were to take Baba with us! “Why,” I asked. It was explained that we were to go to the church before work, as it was Maria Day.

We all drove off as I was asked not to go to the main Yambol town centre church, as it would be too busy there. Galia said that there would be hundreds of people queuing and we just didn’t have the time. With this, directions were given directing me to another church on the other side of town by the Tundzha River.

We got there and is was a place I never knew existed, far away from the active town centre this sleepy little area and the church tucked away within the community here was a big discovery. I parked up in the empty street, (no problem parking ever in Yambol yet,) and we entered the church grounds. What opened in front of us as we walked 10 metres to the church entrance was an impressive place of worship. It had some scaffolding a the front for some minor repairs to the façade, but the scaffolding was shroud with flowers which enhanced the entrance.

We entered this grand church of St George, where the was the normal bureau selling candles on one side and a temporary table with a register for signing on the way out on the other side of the lobby, (not sure what that was for.)

The candles bought, one for Maria Magdalena and other candles to be lit with a prayer said for loved ones past and present. We then proceeded to enter the main forum of the church. This was just as impressive as the main St Nikolai Church in town! After lighting my candles and prayers said in secret, I took time to gaze around and take things in. The way to describe this church was busy. There wasn’t anywhere in the church that didn’t have something carved, painted or artefacts put there. From floor to ceiling was littered with frescoes, the ceiling frescoes in particular impressed as the spilled over going down the side of the high walls. There were repairs and restoration needed in some areas, but in the main it was a major surprise to find the building in fine form.

There was now a steady trickle of people coming in doing exactly as we did, young and old were seen here as we made our way out into the bright morning sun. Looking back the building was established in the year 1737 but the Turkish Ottoman were in rule then so it may have been a Muslim based place of worship. Underneath the original date were three more date all in the mid 20th Century. I can only guess that this was converted into a Christian church during those dates.

Galia was dropped off to work as Baba and I made out way back to our Yambol home to carry on the day’s work. We were all spiritually content at this point, but the Maria Day had just begun. What was to happen to the secular part of the celebrations during the course of the day is something else to look forward to.

http://365bulgarianadventures.com
http://therakiasite.com
http://doshforu.com

Another Bulgarian Meal to Remember

Another day, another routine and another adventure just waiting to happen in Bulgaria. Never a day goes by without an event that amazes, shocks or makes you so thankful about life here. Today was just another one of those occasions.

A daily routine has now been established from Monday to Friday but the word routine has a sense of paleness about it. Perhaps we should throw that word into a different make up reflecting a new angle. A daily routine of experiences and adventures are discovered each day in Bulgaria and today is no exception.

The mental and physical clock had struck 12:00 with the signal of food and lunch beckoning. Baba as always was there but unlike most Bulgarians she is always very punctual, especially at meal times, which is her domain. There may be a reason behind this as she has to take her tablets after meals at regular intervals and 12:00 is one of those times.

It is always a guessing game every day by trying to discover what she is going to present at lunchtime. The clues are the evening before where she sometimes spend hours sitting outside in the garden or in the backroom with the garden view, preparing natural ingredients for the next days meals. Whether it is peeling potatoes, mincing meat, sorting the beans, stripping the garlic, chopping the onions or countless other cooks chores; the first clue is here. Ingredients are always prepared the evening before.

The second part of the detective work is the smell in the kitchen mid morning. The cooking would have been started early on and the aromas that waft around the house, just like that trail in the Bisto Gravy advert during the 1970’s. It isn’t very hard to put both clues together and not be far off the mark.

Today I knew there were some peas involved as the previous evening we had Baba’s daughter-in-law in the garden with her helping shelling the peas, picked that very evening. Galia and I had collected them and brought them home from the factory grounds where Galia works. They grow a magnitude of fruit and vegetables there, which when harvested and in turn supplied to the workers there and their families. What’s more having been there on a daily basis to drop off and collect Galia I knew that all the food produced on that ‘factory farm’ is chemical free.

So, organic peas were on the menu for sure but what else? There was a distinct smell of something stewing that next morning, something meaty and wholesome for certain. Baba had never disappointed in the food stakes here ever.

A call was made, ‘Martin, Mundger!’ The food was ready as I trod the ceramic floor into the kitchen and sat down at the ever ready laid table. It was always a table to two as pairs of cutlery, napkins and complete bulbs of raw garlic also from the factory farm placed enthusiastically with comment about how good it is for you, on the table. A glass of freshly made Ayran was poured into the glasses. Knowing where the food had come from and with the knowledge that not one chemical is contained within is a major leap in the enjoyment of food and drink in Bulgaria.

This particular Ayran was made from sheep milk brought back from Skalitsa village and turned into homemade yoghurt in Yambol. Then mixed with water and salt producing the most wonderful Aryan you could ever imagine and complimented the garlic sitting beside it.

The bread, again bought daily made in Yambol and bought daily. It has to be bought daily as it goes off quickly in the warm Bulgarian weather as it is absent of preservatives. Two days maximum for local bread here. On the the second day Baba uses the old bread next morning to dip into her daily dose of linden tea (another story.)

So we have Ayran, garlic and bread, so far so good. The main dish was about to be served and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. When it did arrive it was certainly different to anything I had seen before. Yes, there were peas but the amount of peas was the surprise. A whole large soup dish of peas as a bed for chicken, the peas were used just like rice and yet again the local herbs and chicken stock it was cooked in was spectacular in so many senses Smell, sight and taste all combined into something that can only be described as very memorable today at lunchtime.

The chicken used was also from Skalitsa, one of my own, I knew its history therefore this completes a meal that remained completely free of any additive, preservative or whatever they put in and we don’t know. The combinations of tastes just hit the mark, but it wasn’t complicated food it was very basis simple ingredients added together into a feast of fed senses.

Baba had inspired yet again! The learning curve took a steep gradient today in how simple food can be so successful.

http://skalitsafarmhouse.weebly.com
http://site4truelove.com