Martinitza

Well, here is a holiday we defiantly do not have in the states. They tell me that it is unique to the Balkans. Every first of March, the entire country wears some kind of threaded red and white. It can be little shapes of men and woman, little balls of yarn, attached to pokimon pictures (seriously, I saw one), basically anything. Once you have your martiniza, you keep wearing it – every day – until you see a stork. Once you spot the giant bird, you either tie your martiniza to a tree branch or bury it under a rock. This brings you good luck and heath all year. From what I have gathered, the storks migrate from somewhere in the Middle East and come to Bulgaria for the summer. They have huge nests built on top of chimneys, I assume they are non functional, just waiting for the storks. Sadly for me, it snowed today. So, I think I am stuck wearing this silly bracelet for awhile. Anyways, it is an interesting tradition and certainly different.

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