Yordanovden.

I went back to Boboshevo for a couple days back in January. I hadn't realized it when I left, but it was Yordanovden. This is a slight digression: every day is some saint's feast day. The feast day of the saint you're named after is your name day (imenden), and is celebrated something like a birthday. Some other saint's days are holidays for other reasons, which I generally don't know. Like, St. George's Day, Georgovden, is the Day of the Bulgarian Army. Don't ask me. The biggest feast days are, of course, the ones with lots of people named after them. So Ivanovden, St. John's Day, is a big holiday. Sometimes, a completely random (as far as I can tell, anyway) woman's name will be associated with a saint's name too. For instance, Arcangelovden is the name day for anyone who is named after one of the Archangels...and it's also the imenden for women named Galina, which is fairly common. It is, in fact, my counterpart's name, and I didn't get her a gift, so I felt like a big jerk.

ANYWAY. I was in Boboshevo for Yordanovden. That's...St. Jordan's Day? Is there a Saint Jordan? I don't know. Maybe it's just Jordan Day, like the River Jordan. The tradition is to throw a cross in the river and all the young, crazy men jump in after it. Remember, this is January. I don't know what you do if your town doesn't have a river.



Everyone in town, waiting.




The pope carrying the cross. I gather that being the pope in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is not quite as singular an honor as it is in the Roman Catholic Church.



The cross in the river. The young men of the village get ready to jump in the river.




There they go!


I don't know what the winner gets. A towel, maybe?

Also: here's me with my host niece, Danislava, age 8. I've promised to go back to Boboshevo for her birthday in March. Isn't she the cutest?