Lost in Culture

With my bachelor thesis on national culture and its branding implications, I feel increasingly like Bill Murray’s character in Lost in Translation these days. So much theory out there, in the end it seems to me like it’s all in Japanese. And, unfortunately, I am not even near to being fluent in Japanese. Not yet at least.

In addition to the general thesis confusion, a more philosophical question emerges from the depths of anthropological and social theories. The more I am studying various national cultures, the more it feels as if I am losing grip of my own Bulgarian identity. Or is in reality Bulgarian identity losing grip of its own people? Maybe we are soon to become the Bob Harrises of our Bulgarian identity where cultural messages will be too complex for us to decode. Globalisation and diffused national images much? I wonder…

This Week’s Inspiration…

…Bulgarian Street Style

U-lica is a Bulgarian website that features photographs of creatively dressed people randomly caught walking down the street. I am following a lot of international blogs and websites devoted to street style photography but this one quickly became one of my favourite ones. It’s simple - not too much information on the main page. It’s personal - they always share a few lines about the people photographed. And it gives you a nice sneak peak into the Bulgarian Street Style. We all constantly check out blogs and webs of famous fashion photographers and designers but sometimes it’s interesting to see what’s up in a tiny corner of the world and how people understand fashion there. Last but not least, I am proud and happy to see that style sense has significantly evolved in Bulgaria during the past few years - we really needed that.

U-lica is also available in English so be sure to check it out. Below you can find some of the teasers that they normally post on their Facebook page before uploading a whole set of photos on their website - that’s how I got all hooked up. ;-) So here’s a selection of my favourite photos:

All images courtesy of U-lica

On Muddy Spring Memories

I remember that when I was a kid as soon as it was mid-March I would start wearing short sleeves and colourful shorts. Then, we would start playing again in the nearby playground with the neighbourhood kids, happy that spring was almost there. Technically, it was not all that warm or sunny but we were so tired of the gloomy skies and rainy days that we were getting desperate for “open-air” games. And every time we would play outside ignorant of the bad mid-March weather, provoking spring with our dirty T-shirts, and looking for flue-troubles in the mud, a wild old lady would appear and put our games on hold.

See now old ladies in Bulgaria can be pretty frightful because they will not leave you get away with it - they would call your dad or even worse - your mum - and tell them “You’ve been playing. Without a jacket. Out. In the rain.” (dramatic pause). For in Bulgaria the old people say that “one should not be wearing short sleeves in months containing the letter “R”, in other words no shorts may be worn in JanuaRy, FebRuaRy, MaRch, ApRil, and so on. There were of course some modifications to this theorem, for example “one should not sit on a stone during the aforementioned months either”. However, the practical result would always be the same - we would walk the walk of shame away from the old lady…only to change playgrounds. There we would challenge and wait for the harbingers of summer anew.

And so am I currently. With the only difference that I am changing studying (unfortunately) playgrounds now and I have slightly grown up (mentally not all that significantly, though). But I will be putting short sleeves tomorrow!

So summer come to me soon, please, I am challenging you! :-)))

Trifon Zarezan - or how Bulgarians celebrate St. Valentine’s

Ironically, we, Bulgarians, celebrate Trifon Zarezan (a.k.a. St. Trifon the Pruner) instead of St. Valentine on 14th February. This is a great excuse for all of us to avoid the love propaganda and cheesy merchandise that has recently flooded all stores in the world and focus on wine tasting and drinking.

Why do we celebrate St. Trifon Zarezan instead of St. Valentine in Bulgaria and why is St. Trifon called the Pruner? Read for yourselves:

“The Bulgarian holiday of vine-growers and wine-makers, Trifon Zarezan, marks the dividing line between the dying winter and the onset of spring. Women make special round loafs often decorated with a vine-leaf, a symbol of the fertile field, and hand them out to friends, neighbours and relatives. Vineyard owners cut down the fruit trees did not bear fruit.”


“St. Trifon is honoured as the patron saint of vine-yards. He apparently once had a vineyard himself and would prune it. One day, the Virgin Mary passed by and Trifon laughed at her, so she condemned him to cut his nose with the pruning shears, which he promptly did! From then on people would call him Trifon the noseless!”


Read more about Trifon Zarezan here

The Traditional Bulgarian Wedding

A Modern Tale of Magic and Myths

“Marriage is the main goal/theme in many Bulgarian tales, and the main characters are those who are ready to get married. The traditional Bulgarian wedding is almost mythic in action, and rich in symbolism. It provides the key to several enigmatic elements in these stories.

Bulgarian wedding rituals are concerned with ensuring a successful and fertile marriage. During the wedding period, the bride and groom are at the centre of the cosmic drama of creation that has been enacted over and over again since the beginning of time. The young couple are imbued with a special life-giving power that bestows blessings and fertility upon the whole community, guaranteeing the future. The consummation of the marriage on the wedding day becomes an act of magic.

Symbolism of the Wedding Banner

The wedding banner consists of a flag attached to a pole that has been ritually cut from a tree. The banner is topped with a red or gold foil-wrapped apple symbolising the sun and fertility, and decorated with flowers, ivy, strings of popcorn and chilli peppers. In some areas, the bride and the groom have a separate banner, with a white flag for the bride and a red flag for the groom. In other areas the groom’s family prepare a single banner with both red and white flags upon it.

Braiding and Shaving Rituals: the Comb and Razor as Magical Objects

On the night or the morning before the wedding itself, two important rituals take place. The bride’s hair is braided and the groom is shaved at their respective homes. Both rituals are accompanied by special songs and ceremony. After the wedding, the bride will not appear again in public with her head bare or with her hair loose like a wild samodiva. She will always wear a headscarf. The groom is no longer a boy, but a man ready to take on responsibility. The hair is tamed; the wild years of youth will be put aside and a new life will begin.

In the language of fairy tale the comb and the razor, the tools of braiding and shaving, become symbols of initiation into sexual maturity. They take on magical transforming properties and represent the transition from one stage of life to another.”

For the full text and the rest of the photos visit:

Photo source: http://vassilnikolov.com/ or Facebook album
Text Source: http://www.spellintime.fsnet.co.uk/Folklore.htm