{"id":931,"date":"2019-05-10T17:49:48","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T14:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/survakari.com\/en\/?p=931"},"modified":"2019-06-04T23:57:41","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T20:57:41","slug":"dragichevo-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/survakari.com\/en\/2019\/05\/10\/dragichevo-village\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragichevo Village"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The village of Dragichevo is situated\nin the southwestern slope of Luylin Mountain and is a starting point for the\nRudartsi resort and for the Selimitsa Ridge of Vitosha Mountain. Administratively\nit belongs to Pernik municipality and is not far from the capital Sofia. It is\nlocated around the railway track Sofia\u2013Pernik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many children and youths participate in\nthe survakars<\/em> group of the village. A\nyoung girl recounts that since her childhood she shares the experience of Surova<\/em>. Her father is the standard-bearer\nof the survakars<\/em> group in the\nvillage, and her uncle masks in the group of Yardzhilovtsi. Some of her other\nrelatives put masks as well. One of the urges, which stirred her enthusiasm,\nwere the Dragichevo survakars<\/em>\nthemselves, who on the feast visited also the school in the village. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was a schoolgirl, they\nvisited the school. Inside they went along the corridors and jangled. It was a\ngreat emotion! We commented with friends then, that one day we would also like\nto be part of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, some years ago Vanesa Viktorova\njoined the survakars<\/em> group \u2013 first,\nshe took part in the \u201cwedding\u201d ritual, and in the last 4\u20135 years disguises with\na costume, mask and bells. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen\nI started to disguise, at first I thought that the mask is not for me. It<\/em> <\/em>was<\/em> <\/em>not<\/em> <\/em>interesting<\/em> <\/em>for<\/em> <\/em>me<\/em>. <\/em>I<\/em> <\/em>was<\/em> \u201c<\/em>grandmother<\/em>\u201d. <\/em>One year, for instance, on the festival in the village of Mramor we won\na prize for personage together with the \u201cgrandfather\u201d. We were so involved in\nthe characters\u2026 I was so stooped, that afterwards I had pains in my back. When\nI was younger, I wanted to be more fascinating \u2013 to be among the people, to\nmake jokes with them. When I grew up however, I realized that Surova is\nactually the \u201cwedding ceremony\u201d and the bell-wearers. On a festival, I saw a\nman, who looked imposing. When he jumped, he made such a noise, that I had the\nfeeling that the earth beneath me is shaking. I was very impressed. And on the\nnext year I decided to be part of the bell-wearers. I prepared a costume. While\npreparing it with my grandmother, I was impatient and all the time repeated:\n\u2018Well, isn\u2019t it about to be ready?!\u2019 I was like the little children, and was\nimpatient to put it on and to see how it suits me. It was very nice! I put\nbells as well. When once I dressed like that, somehow it became part of me. I\nstarted taking care of the costume. Every year I am careful not to damage it.\nWe also preserve the bells very well. The masks and the bells belong to the\nculture house (chitalishte), and they are kept there. For a second year, I\ndisguise with the same mask. About two months before January, we gather in the\nculture house and renovate the masks. Every year when the local feast passes,\nsome parts of the masks start falling apart \u2013 the feathers come down, the laths\nbrake, something may be torn. And especially after the festival, the masks are\nrather damaged.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanesa shares her opinion about the\nparticipation of women and children in the survakars<\/em>\ngroups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\nare many girls in the group; there are many children as well. We are very\npleased with that, all of us. The youngest children are 4-years old. A young\ngirl, her name is Bozhidara, every year disguises with us, she has a costume,\nshe has bells. It doesn\u2019t matter if it is winter, if it is snowing, if it is\nraining, if there are puddles, if there is mud. That child is always with the\ngroup. There are some more little children \u2013 Deyan, Izabela, they are many\u2026, I\nwould not enumerate them all\u2026 Yes, I agree, that in the past the custom was\nmen\u2019s (bachelor\u2019s), but in our time I do not see anything wrong if everybody\nparticipates. In the long run, tradition will remain alive only if everybody\nhas an access to it \u2013 from the child to the oldest one, from a boy to a girl. I\ncannot imagine, that a child would like to participate in the group and we\nwould say \u201cno\u201d just because somebody does not agree. Men and women, old and\nyoung \u2013 all of us hand in hand maintain Surova. And tomorrow our children will\ntransfer that tradition. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe eve of the feast, in the village we are like bees, every one brings\nsomething, every one works something. We<\/em> <\/em>are<\/em> <\/em>overwhelmed<\/em> <\/em>by<\/em> <\/em>such<\/em> <\/em>a<\/em> <\/em>nice<\/em> <\/em>panic<\/em>. <\/em>And when we enter the culture house, and when we look at the masks\u2026 The\nvery preparation, the very January \u201csmells\u201d of Surova. The whole of January is\nSurova! It is very nice!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nis my emotion \u2013 Surova! I can tell you what the feeling is, but it should be\nexperienced. It is an emotion, the way it is with love! When Surova is over, I\nfeel somewhat empty. I miss it. I want it to come again!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recorded in 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n