Saint George’s Day

 

On Wednesday, May 12, we had the opportunity to celebrate St. George’s Day with two groups from the Kindergarten. We were able to learn about the way they celebrate it here in Bulgaria, which is totally different from the way they celebrate it in Spain. We found very interesting everything that is done on this day, everything that it means, in general everything that revolves around St. George.

Early in the morning, we had to go to the kindergarten to prepare and decorate the swings with which the girls were going to be swung by the boys. To do this the day before we picked up many flowers and tree branches, all of them very pretty so that the swings would be as beautiful as possible. Moreover, they were beautiful, we decorated them with yellow and white flowers, with branches of different types, big or small, with many or few leaves, the swings were very nice, we loved how they were.

 

Once decorated, the children of the nursery sang and recited poems about this day. Then the girls were swung by the children in St. George’s cradle. We also had the participation of another group of little students from the nursery, they were attentive at all times and they swung in the St. George’s cradle as well.

 

To end this magnificent activity, the director of the museum prepared some typical games. We played three different games, each one more fun than the last. It was a very fun time and we all had a great time. In addition, we discovered what games are usually played here when you are a child, and to our astonishment, they were similar to those in Spain, but not the same. We really liked the game of the captain and the sea “капитане капитане, какво е морето”. After this activity, we are looking forward to teach the children which are the typical Spanish games, and to play all together and have a great time!

 

 

We in Spain celebrate this day in a different way. On May 19 we had the opportunity to show them how St. George’s Day is celebrated in Spain. The activity consisted of talking a little about our holiday and making some rice balls and balloons to play a typical game in certain areas of Spain.

We have planned this series of activities in order.

First, we will talk about what we do in Spain on Saint George’s Day, and we will comment that we already talked about this day in another activity, where we gave a book with a poem and a rose.

Saint George’s Day is celebrated in Spain on 23 April. On this day, it is normal to see how lovers give each other a rose and a book. Gifts are also given between family and friends. On this feast, they combine the international day of the book with the day of the lovers. It is celebrated in a special way in Barcelona, where there are open-air markets where people buy books and roses. It coincides with the fact that Saint George is, since the 15th century, the patron saint of Cataluña; on the other hand, the famous legend of Saint George and the dragon. Now my colleagues are going to remind you of history.

Once upon a time, there was a dragon that terrorized a village. The dragon kidnapped the princess to eat her, but a knight named George went to rescue the princess. The knight went to the dragon of death and from the red blood that fell to the ground sprouted a rose bush with the reddest roses. He gave a red rose to the princess as a symbol of his love.

Secondly, we will work in groups to carry out a workshop, in which we will make balls out of rice, balloons and plastic paper. This was a lot of fun because it was a bit complicated to make the balls with the children. In some cases, the rice flew out and it was a continuous laughter. However, between all of us, we were able to make all the balls. One for each child, so that they can take it as a souvenir.

By the end, we will play a typical game in some villages in Spain. We are going to be divided into groups, the same groups that we have formed for the workshop. The game is about hitting a bottle that we will paint or cover with the balls. If they hit the bottle, they accumulate points. This was the most fun part of the activity without a doubt, we spent about 30 minutes playing together. At the beginning we put the bottle on a table, being too easy the game. Then we were improvising places to place the bottle, and make it more difficult and fun. All the kids are very good at throwing the ball, we have been really surprised with their ability to throw it. We had a wonderful day playing

  

Finally, this activity has consisted of two different days, one day we have known how St. George’s Day is celebrated here in Bulgaria, and the other day we have celebrated this day as it is celebrated in some parts of Spain. In both days, we have had a great time, besides it has been very good to know the culture and activities that are done in Bulgaria. I would like to mention again that we had a great time with the kids, both days were GREAT, LET’S HOPE YOU COME BACK SOON!!!

 

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