New Years and Name Days

I wanted to share a few things as this week was an exciting week culturally here in Bulgaria.

New Years:

честита нова година!

This is the greeting people wish you after seeing you the first time during the New Year. You simply wish them back the same thing and it's a very happy time of year. Many people also wish you things along the lines of health, happiness, and love throughout the year. 

Name Days:

Here in Bulgaria, Name Days are a BIG deal. They are just as important as Birthdays, if not more important. I love name days as it means my students whose name is on that day bring chocolates to school and I wish them a happy name day. My students are also more upbeat on their days. Many of them seem to be genuinely proud of themselves which is great to see. Everyone celebrates and has a good time. The reason I'm mentioning this all this week is that two common names recently had name days. Wintertime is truly the season of name days as many names fill the days of December through March. 

Thursday, January 6th, was the name day for Yordon (Jordon) which held even more importance in the Eastern Orthodox Church. On St. Jordon's day, priests all over Bulgaria go to a river and devote time to celebrating the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordon River. The water is blessed and then the priest throws a cross into the water. People then run into the cold water for the cross and whoever finds it is said to have great blessings throughout the year. I did not witness any of these events though several other volunteers filmed some great videos 

Then on Friday, January 7th, was the name day for Ivan, Yoan, and Yoana which was a great day. Ivan is an extremely common name here in Bulgaria which meant I received about 8-10 chocolate from just three classes of students. Plus, two of the teachers at my school were celebrating their day which meant food and drinks in the teacher's lounge during the big break. It's just nice to see people in good spirits and enjoying one another's company. I had a good time sitting with the other teachers between my classes, sharing greetings, and giving cheers to the Ivans.

Here's a link if you're interested when name days are (maybe yours) and simply what names are popular here in Bulgaria.  

When are Name Days?