The Living History of Blagoevgrad
The following article is an excerpt from an interview, conducted by two students from the American University in Bulgaria. The story is part of an Oral History project, which aims to preserve the history of the town, through its inhabitants. Following the excerpt, you can find a further explanation of some of the topics in the article.
“ I was born in Greece. We are Bulgarians, by origin, but we are from the last refugees who came to Bulgaria. (1)
Stana Andonova Gadeva is my name by passport. I was Stana Andonova Nikolova before divorcing my husband. Around Blagoevgrad, I am still known as Stela Nikolova. Styliani is my greek name and this is where Stela comes from, I like it. Everyone knows me as Stela Nikolova.
When my parents picked my name, my father chose Stana /in Bulgarian “ostana” means stay/. Their children used to die at childbirth so when I was born, they gave me this name so I can stay alive. They did the same with my youngest brother Zhivko /”zhivot” means life in Bulgarian/. (2)
My last name means Godly. Comes from God — Gad-eva. When I used to fight with my ex-husband before our divorce he always said you’re bad and even your family name says it /”Gad” in Bulgarian means bad, unpleasant/. But then I went to study and I actually found it comes from God. My family name is Godly. (3)
I am very grateful I had wise parents, not educated but wise! At the moment there are many educated people in Bulgaria but there are very few smart ones. All the smart ones started leaving the country. One thing is to be smart, another thing is to be educated.
When I was studying to become a kindergarten teacher, I realized my father knew all the words of wisdom without reading any textbooks. He always used to say, ‘’If you can do any good, do it. If not, move along.’’
When raising my daughter, I learned that I am not always right and my opinion is not always the most important. There are so many things in my life that I have missed just because I did not observe enough or because I did not pay enough attention. One thing is to look at things and another one is to actually see them. This is how I learned my lesson and I started changing and I am still changing.
On the 11th of September, 2001- the attacks(4)-I was traveling to America. I was alone on that flight and while traveling from Sofia to Poland, 30 minutes before landing, the attacks in America had happened. When landing in Poland, on the airport it was something terrific - a bustle. Flights are canceled, the airspace is closed. Something horrible. Imagine, I didn’t know English. I tried Russian. I found other Bulgarians later and we spent 4 days in Warsaw. On the 5th day, airspace was open and we flew to America, my daughter was there.
I don’t love this town /Blagoevgrad/ because of my ex-husband. When I went to the States for the first time and came back, I was amazed in a bad way. Everything started to make an impression on me, the dry grass of Blagoevgrad, the dirty streets. Especially during the summer, nobody was taking care of the grass, it was horrible. I never noticed those things that much until I saw what it is like in the States. The difference is huge, they had fake grass there but they were taking care of it too.
The town is very clean, it is between three mountains (5), but we don’t know how to maintain it. We have an oasis here in the mountains but we keep it so dirty. I walk all the time, I am a very sporty person. For me, movement is life, knowledge is freedom, and those are my principles. “
Stela Nikolova, photographed and interviewed by Sofia Drenkova and Emanuela Kerencheva
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(1) The last refugee waves happened after the Civil War in Greece (1946–1949) when the communist movements got defeated. Following the war, many Greek communists and Bulgarians from Eagan Macedonia (part of Greece) emigrated to South Bulgaria in search of shelter.
(2) First names of people in Bulgaria usually have a connotative meaning or even a literal one. The meaning of the name is believed to be part of the person’s character or to represent his destiny. In the past Bulgarians used to name their children with names that symbolize life, health, strength, or vitality, like in the case with Stela, or Stana and her brother Zhivko. Many children used to die young and their parents thought that the names they gave them could save them.
(3) Surnames of people in Bulgaria like fist names also have a connotative meaning or even a literal one. They usually represent a profession or a characteristic of the whole family. In the past people in villages used to refer to all members of a family with the profession of its eldest male. Many surnames have literal meanings and explain what the family did like tailors, smiths, healers, others are coming from what the people were like or even from music instruments if they played such. In the case with Stela, the actual meaning of Gadeva is somebody who is slow. This means that in the past it always took too long for members of her family to do something or show up somewhere.
(4) The attacks from 11th of September, 2001 famous as “9/11”, when four US commercial airplanes were hijacked by nineteen people from the organization of the al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Two of the airplanes struck the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the third airplane struck the Pentagon Building in Washington, DC and the last airplane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A total of 2977 people were killed in the terror attacks.
(5) The three mountains Rila, Vlahina and Pirin. Blagoevgrad lays in the hollow of Vlahina and Rila and Pirin could be also seen. Therefore it creates the feeling as it lays between three mountains.
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Sofia Drenkova studies Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University in Bulgaria. Sofia has been living in Blagoevgrad for more than 15, but the personal stories of its inhabitants always happen to amaze her.
