Gorgeous Days

We had a beautiful weekend in Bulgaria - sunny days and warmer temperatures.  People's spirits have lifted and the Sunday market was buzzing with activity, just like last summer.  It's wonderful to see people reemerge into the village with smiles on their faces.  Winter laundry has been washed and hanging on the line in the sun.  People are in their gardens clearing remnants of winter debris, turning the soil and planting onions and garlic.  I am happier for the longer hours of sunlight, warmer temperatures and spring energy.  While we were in the grip of one of the coldest winters on record, Sedona was its usual sunny, moderate self.  This weekend we had they sun and they received snow. 

Grateful for a Root Canal

In the past those two little words have evoked some mighty powerful emotions in folks.  I had a really positive experience this week.

In October I bit down on a piece of walnut shell in my food and after 3 days of discomfort that got worse rather than better, I went to the dentist to have my tooth checked.  Nothing serious was found.  So I came home and in time it did get better.  However, since then I've had intermittent pain in different forms in that tooth - sometimes on the surface, sometimes deep.  Last weekend, it began hurting again - it woke me up around 3:00 am with a lot of pain, so when Monday morning came around I made a call to Peace Corps and asked for an appointment with the dentist.

I was on a bus to Sofia by 1:00 pm Monday afternoon (it's a 4 hour trip from my village) so I could be at a 10:00 am appt. the next morning.

Tuesday's x-rays (digital rays) showed the demise of my tooth over the past 4 months.  That process has been the cause of the off-and-on again pain of the tooth and inflamation of the gum.

I am usually pretty sensitive to dental work and when numbing is needed, I ask for "extra" numbing.  Today Dr. Dean made the suggestion of not using anything to numb because the tooth has died and there will be no pain.  At first I thought he was crazy but he explained everything so well, that I trusted him enough to let him begin drilling with no numbing.  Guess what - he was right - no pain.  That was further evidence that the tooth had in fact died.  Only toward the end when he reached deeper into the tooth to the root canal nerve did I feel a little twinge of soreness.  From that point on he gave me a child's dose of numbing agent to continue the root canal process.  It helped calm me and it would wear off more quickly than the adult dose.  It was clear to me that this root canal was the necessary next step for my tooth.

I appreciate Dr Dean's thoroughness in his work and explanations of teeth and care.   His kindness and knowledge are truly reassuring to me as I lay in my least favorite chair in the world with my mouth wide open!

It's Sunday night now, and I have been wonderfully happy all week with once again, having a pain-free mouth.  No photos for this one!  :>)

March 1st - Chesteet Baba Marta

I, for one, am grateful for milder temperatures and more hours of daylight in each day.  I love that Bulgarian's begin celebrating the coming of spring early!  I'm feeling the energy and renewal of spring and cheerfully anticipate it's arrival in a few short weeks. 

On the 1st of March Bulgarian people celebrate a traditional holiday called БАБА МАРТА (Baba Marta) and it is related to welcoming the approaching spring. On that day, Bulgarians exchange so called мартеници (martenitsi) and tell each other Честита Баба Марта! This custom is essentially to wish great health, good luck, and happiness to family and friends. The name мартеница is taken from the Bulgarian word for March (март),or, as a legend tells, an angry old lady called Grandma Marta -Баба Марта.

In Bulgarian folklore Баба Марта is a grumpy old woman who changes her mood very rapidly and it reflects in the changeable March weather. When she is smiling the weather is sunny and warm, but if she gets angry the cold will stay longer and it may even snow. By wearing the red and white colors of the мартеница our ancestors asked Баба Марта for mercy. They hoped that it will make winter pass faster and bring spring.

Мартеница is made of twined red and white threads - woolen, silk, or cotton. The white is a symbol of strength, purity and happiness. The red is associated with health, blood, conception, and fertility. The most typical мартеница represents two small wool dolls –Пижо and Пенда (Pisho and Penka). Пижо is the male doll, usually dominating in white color. Пендаis the female doll, usually dominating in red color and distinguished by her skirt. There are many other variations and forms. Twined red and white threads are also used to make bracelets, necklaces, tassels, pompons, balls, squares, human or animal figures. Over the past several decades the tradition has been innovated by attaching all kinds of representations and symbols made of wood, leather, ceramics, metal foil to the thread-made мартеници.

When someone gives you a мартеница you should wear it either pinned on your clothes, on the hand tied around the wrist, or around your neck until you see a stork or a fruit tree in blossom for the first time in the season. After that you can tie it on a blossoming tree for fertility. It is believed that the мартеница bring health, happiness and longevity. Like an amulet, мартеница was attributed a magic power believed to protect folks from "ill fortune", diseases and an evil eye.

(Thanks to the Peace Corps staff for this succinct synopsis).