Bulgarian School

[There are so many posts in draft mode here on this blog! Most of the ones with "real" content end up that way, in part a testament to the amount of available mental energy at the end of the day when it's quiet enough to write. So here's a longer one that been waiting for a few weeks, and is mostly informational, and a recapping of some things as far back as December. The pictures aren't great, but hopefully capture a bit of what we get to do!]

We were very lucky last spring to be connected with the local Bulgarian community (there are about 200 or so Bulgarian people living here in the Twin Cities) through the Bulgarian School of Minnesota - an organization that meets weekly on Sunday afternoons to help maintain Bulgarian language in culture in the families living in the area. In the beginning, it was mostly a chance for Bobbi to spend a few hours each week talking with people who spoke her language - a welcome relief for her after the hard work of living in an all-English household. She connected with a few of the women there who have all played various mentoring roles in her life since then, and their presence in our lives has been invaluable.

Last fall when the classes started up again, we enrolled Leah, Rinnah, and Evania (and their best friend who lives up the street from us). Owen could have been involved, but since he'd rather spend his free time on Sunday with the girls' friend's three older brothers, he opted out. They spend a half hour learning Bulgarian folk dances...

You can see Leah in the bright pink sweatshirt and black shorts toward the left.

...and then an hour and a half in language classes.

Evania's teacher has three and four year olds, and is an endless fountain of creativity - stories, songs, games, projects - all in simple, repetitive Bulgarian.

We've been so grateful for the chance to not only help Bobbi keep in touch with her Bulgarian language and culture, but also for our family to get to be part of it.

I missed posting about it (because I was still just barely coping with morning(?? always???) sickness and single parenting while Matt was with Mira in the hospital), but the Bulgarian school put on a Christmas program followed by an amazing potluck dinner a few weeks before Christmas. Each of the older classes contributed to the program.

Bogomila, as (obviously!) the student most proficient in the language, was asked to begin the program by reciting a poem from memory. She was awesome, and I was so proud of how confident she was.

Talking with Leah and our friend while waiting for the program to start.

The dancers did one of their folk dances (but the video I took isn't worth sharing, so I'll spare you), and then later the language class that Leah, Rinnah, and their friend are in sang a song about a white rabbit that gets lost in the woods before finding his family again. Each child had to memorize and sing a verse by him or herself.

The program ended with Дядо Коледа (Grandfather Christmas) himself making an appearance with loads of presents for each of the children. We've never done anything with Santa before with our kids, but wanted them to have a part in this part of the program, too, so had contributed one for each of our kids along with everything the other parents brought for theirs.

That part took about as long as all the rest of the program! But it was a hit for the kids. We had explained to the younger ones that someone dressed up like the Bulgarian Santa was going to be passing out presents - Evania was absolutely delighted that he gave her the little blue stuffed horse that she had asked Mom for the week before and been given "No" as an answer. "Mom said I couldn't have the hacoon [Evanese for unicorn], but the Bulgarian Santa gave it to me!" Even after I explained to her that I had picked it out for the Bulgarian Santa to give her, her delight was not diminished in the least.

We are so grateful for the way our family has been welcomed into this community - it's good for all of us!