a very bulgarian christmas

So i have now celebrated my first bulgarian christmas, and let me tell you it was quite the experience. i spent the weekend before christmas hanging out with some of my other american friends, which was nice because it was the first time that i had seen them since i had moved to malko turnovo. Then, the day before Christmas eve i took the bus down to my host families house in Simitli where we had a huge home cooked meal of musaka and talked about what we had all been up to for the last few months. they were all doing well, and i got a chance to tell them about how i had been doing in Malko Turnovo. We had a big dinner only a few hours after the late lunch, and that pretty much started the pattern of non-stop eating that occured pretty much the whole time I was there. My host father Nikolai brough out a carafe of the merlot that we had made before I left in october, and that wine was delicious! we had actually made three types of wine, one white wine and two types of red; a merlot and a second that i didnt recognize the name. all three were good but the merlot was awesome.
anyway, that night me and my host brother Sashi went out to the center to look at the christmas lights and decorations. there was a huge tree in the center of town and the municipal building and several others were adorned with lights. town was pretty quiet though because it was kind of cold and everyone was at home with their families. the next day i woke up and found that there were gifts for me under the christmas tree from "father Christmas." i got a new pair of jeans and some winter socks (much needed) and a bag of random fruit and candy. I was pretty excited and gave out the gifts that I had gotten for all of them. Apparently some bulgarian families exchange all their gifts the morning of christmas eve, and to be honest, christmas eve felt more like christmas day to me then the actual day did. I spent the day walking around Simitli and meeting up with other people that I hadnt seen for a while.
that night we had a huge traditional dinner. the whole family was there including the grandparents and we sat around a huge spread of fantastic food. Christmas eve dinner is all vegetarian, and you are not allowed to eat meat until christmas day. we started off with a potato salad, pickles and rikia as we waited for everyone to get to the table. then we lit a candle and stuck it in the big loaf of bread. i asked my sister what it meant but she didnt know, so i asked the grandpa. he didnt know either, but its tradition so flaming bread it is.
when everyone had finally arrived at the table the grandpa lit some incense and placed it in a special cup. the we we walked to every room in the house with it to rid the place of the evil spirits so that we would have good luck for christmas and the new year.
once we were all seated again we had a toast to good health and then the grandpa broke the bread. the first several pieces that were broken off were set aside to honor the good luck for Christ, Mother Maria, the new year, and good luck for the family. then the remaining pieces were handed out to the family from oldest to youngest. when the bread was cooked, a coin had been placed in side and whoever found the coin in their piece was supposed to get good luck for the next year. i was lucky enough to find the coin in my piece of bread, but unfortunatly i forgot it at the house when i left (hopefully i dont get bad luck for that move). the rest of the food and wine we had that night was great, and i ended up eating so much that my stomach hurt.
the next day Nikolai, Sashi and I went to a nearby town to visit some of their family and partake in the christmas killing of the pig. now i have never actually been part of a pig killing before, but let me just say that it is a graphic event that involves a shotgun, a blowtorch, lots of knives and a pig twice the size of me. i will spare you all the details but it was sure interesting. we had a small grill that we used to cook some of the organs up as they were taken out of the pig but i dont eat pork so i wasnt to excited about that part. i did try some though. carving up the pig took most of the morning and afternoon, and that night we just relaxed and played cards.
all in all it was a very interesting experience and im glad i got to spend it with my host family.