Mi primera fiesta de Halloween

Uy, qué miedo...

Voy a quedar muy mal confesando esto (una ya tiene una edad), pero el pasado 31 de Octubre fui, por primera vez en mi vida, a una fiesta de Halloween. Sí, podéis reíros si queréis, pero es la verdad. La fiesta en cuestión la organizaba el American Corner de la Sofia City Library, y aunque estaba enfocada a los niños tengo que deciros que me lo pasé fenomenal. Quizás sea porque yo aún no he terminado de crecer...

No sé en vuestras ciudades pero en Algeciras, donde vivo, Halloween no suele celebrarse. O no mucho, al menos. Alguna fiesta en academias de inglés, niños disfrazados en el colegio y, eso sí, fiestas variadas en bares y pubs. Pero poco más. Nosotros ya tenemos nuestra propia tradición para ese día, los Tosantos, en los que se celebra un mercado nocturno en el que se compra, sobre todo, frutos secos y castañas. Bastante alejada de la tradición del Truco o Trato que tantas veces hemos visto reflejada en el cine y la televisión.

Taller de decoración de máscaras

En la fiesta del American Corner no faltaron los caramelos, por supuesto. Pero tampoco las manzanas ni las chocolatinas. Os podéis imaginar, y con razón, que los dulces duraron poco, y si no llega a ser por un niño muy amable que me dio un caramelo casi ni los pruebo... Claro que eso no era todo. La decoración era todo lo que podía esperarse de una fiesta espeluznante y pudimos ver telarañas, fantasmas, esqueletos y todas esas cosas que hace que nos entren escalofríos.

Además de la música temática que nos acompañó en todo momento, se organizaron varias actividades para los niños asistentes. Por una parte, se organizaron talleres de manualidades, donde los niños (¡y sus padres!) podían decorar caretas o tarros de cristal. La pintura no llegó al techo, pero casi... También había varios juegos con los que los niños podían ganar diferentes premios, y si juzgamos por sus risas, creo que se lo pasaron bastante bien.

Sarah, Chema, Agne y Ricardo. Perdonadnos, era Halloween.

Por nuestra parte, los voluntarios también aportamos nuestro granito de arena disfrazándonos y sacando a la luz nuestro lado más terrorífico. Fue, en definitiva, una gran fiesta para todos. Una gran manera de conocer las tradiciones de otro país, como es en este caso Estados Unidos, estando en otro país tan diferente como puede ser Bulgaria. Un lío intercultural, vamos. Cosas de la globalización. Pero cosas divertidas, al fin y al cabo. 

Hristo Botev and his 20 poems

Bulgarian poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev (1848-1876), approximately one year before his death. Image (c) Wikimedia Commons.

Now, what to write about this poet? His authority in literature - and history - is almost universally unquestioned by the Bulgarians. He is the subject of many studies, books and artworks. He has been so scrutinised that I would probably be unable to say anything exhaustive or new about him.

The person in question is the legendary Hristo Botev. He died when he was 28 years old, leaving behind only 20 poems, plus some opinion pieces and letters - but the short, intense lifespan and the strength of his writings were enough to prove that he was exceptional in Bulgaria, both as a poet and as a political leader.

Today perhaps every Bulgarian city and town has a street named after Botev (along with those named after Vasil Levski, Stefan Karadzha and other revolutionaries). At noon on 2 June every year everything stops and loud sirens commemorate for about a minute the death of Botev back in 1876, during the fight against the Ottomans in Vratsa mountains. He is that important.

As a 19th century author, Botev is a romanticist. His poems are dramatic, expressive, visual, philosophical - all at the same time. Popular topics include homeland; death; a beloved girl; mother, father & other members of the family; freedom fighters (e.g. there are two poems about the death of Vasil Levski and Hadzhi Dimitar); patriotism; solidarity; the struggle for independence. A couple of poems (Patriot and In The Tavern) are sarcastic, questioning the morals of certain people.        

Many Bulgarians will volunteer to inform you that a verse by Botev is engraved in gold at the Sorbonne in Paris among other verses by the world's greatest poets:

“The moon comes out and day grows dim, 
on heaven’s vault the stars now throng,
the forest rustles, quiet stirs the wind,
the mountains sing song of fighters.”


(from Hadzhi Dimitar, 1873)

It should not take you more than half of a day to get acquainted with Botev's poems. If you are at least a little interested in Bulgaria & its history, reading them is a must. You can easily find the texts of all 20 poems on the internet, for example, here. 

A thoughtful Halloween afterparty: the Bulgarian Day of the Enlighteners

1 November at Sofia City Library: discussing the Bulgarian history, reading from old, original books.

When much of the Western world are recovering from Halloween festivities the night before, on 1 November Bulgarians commemorate their Day of the Enlighteners.

The day - perhaps symbolically set during the darker, gloomier time of the year - is dedicated to writers, educators, national revivalists, revolutionaries, freedom fighters.

The celebrated heroes include many historical figures, such as the Brothers Cyril and Methodius, the national poet Hristo Botev, the 'Apostle of Freedom' Vasil Levski. Influential books, both factual and literary, are remembered; important events of the Bulgarian history re-discussed; poems and excerpts of well known texts read aloud.

The celebration of the Day of the Enlighteners started in 1909, one year after Bulgaria declared its independence from the Ottoman 'yoke', but the Day did not become particularly popular up until the 1920s. During the communist times (between 1945-1992) celebrations of 1 November were banned altogether.

Nowadays 1 November is listed in the calendar of Bulgarian Official Holidays and is celebrated in places like educational institutions, libraries, museums all over the country. It is also the day of Bulgaria's patron saint, Ivan (John) of Rila.

'Istorya Slavobolgarskaya' (1924 edition) - the first Bulgarian history. Written during the Ottoman times (1762), this was the book that fueled nationalist feelings and motivated many Bulgarian freedom fighters.

'Osmoglasnik', or 'Eight Voices' (1645) - the first Bulgarian printed book. Note the two, black and red, colours, and the detailed decorative ornaments. From next April (2014) the book should be on display at the new Sofia City Museum (due to open inside the yellow former Central Mineral Baths building).  

A page from 'Nedelnik' (1806), the first published book in modern Bulgarian. There are only six known original 'Nedelniks' left in Bulgaria today; two of them can be found at Sofia City Library.