Re:Smudging with Herbs and some OT: Ceremonies

[Guest guest]

Dear Fran,

I can relate to your email. My Dad was from Bulgaria. He came to the

United States via Canada in 1914 at the age of 14. He left Bulgaria to

escape the draft (or what they called the draft). It appeared that any

able-bodied young man past 12 was recruited by the Bulgarian/Ottoman

Governmnet and had to go to war. Dad was the oldest of 8 children when his

father gave him all of his money and told him to leave. He and a number of

other young boys and men left Easter, 1914 and never returned due to World

War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Communist Regime that

took over after WWII. My father married my mother in 1948 when he was 48 and

had my brother and I. Being that he was older he didn't talk very much and

since it was the era of McCarthy, he talked even less. We only knew that we

received these " wonderful " letters in a strange handwriting once every two

or three years. My father refused to teach us any Bulgarian except for

rabbit and donkey. It took me years to even find anyone who would teach me

any Bulgarian or Russian since we lived in Dallas, Texas. In the 50', 60's

and 70's there were only about 10 to 15 Bulgarians in this area and they

were all over the age of 75 and didn't want to even think about teaching

anyone any foreign language. My Dad passed away when I was 16 so my

association when the Bulgarian community was even more limited. My brother

and I were a part of the community but yet not a part of the community. We

were American. (My mom is American, born in Oklahoma.) As soon as I could

get a hold of an address and a letter in 1975 (my brother had been to Split,

Yugoslavia in 1972 and had met most of our cousins so he had an address) I

re-established contact with my Dad's family. Now remember that this is at

the height of the Communist control over Eastern Europe and they were not

too happy to deal with Americans, even family that lived here and getting in

was even more of a problem. Finally, I took the big step. I went into debt

for my plane tickets, sent the equivelant of today's fax at a high price

hoping that there would be someone to meet me at the airport (remember now

that I did NOT speak the language), and went on blind faith. I was

fortunate. I did have someone meet me at the airport. It was a cousin who

bundled me off to another cousin's home because he could not afford to have

me stay at his home due to the fear of loosing his job. They completely

changed the way I looked. They bought me new clothes & shoes and not me to

speak only when spoken to by the interpreter. I felt like I had gone into

the Twilight Zone and hoped that I would get out soon. I was allowed to stay

in the capitol, Sofia for several days and then put on a train with a tag

attached to my jacket saying that I was going to Burgas on the Black Sea to

meet with family and that I spoke no Bulgarian. I was given water and food

and told to sit quietly and that within 8 to 12 hours I would be on the

other side of the country. People smiled as they passed me and did not try

to talk. I can only image what the tag really said. When I arrived in Burgas

I was sprited away into the mountains and valleyies of Bulgaria to begin a

love affair with the country, it's people, and it's roses. I found that I

had family all over the place, especially in the valley of the roses, and

that for the first time in my life I was connected to my father's heritage.

I had a wonderful time there even though I couldn't speak a word of the

language. It's amazing how fast, however, you do learn the words for

toilett, meat, wine, water, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, bed and sleep. I

also learned to bring my own toilett tissue since there was always a

shortage of it in the country. I bet that today somewhere in the Bulgarian

mountains is an old roll of toilette tissue that I took as a gift in the

mid- to late 70's. I learned a lot about my father's family and the fact

that he had given the wrong birthdate and name on his immigration papers but

knowing our system here I understood all too well how that could happen. At

the end of the second week, they sent me back to Sofia and put me on a plane

home to the USA. I was still in culture shock but I still went back for

another 3 times to learn as much as I could. (It took 4 trips to learn what

my first name, Rhavda meant in Bulgarian.) So, Fran, don't give up. Your

time will come and you will learn what you are supposed to learn. I believe

that my love affair with wanting to make the best rose oil outside of

Bulgaria began in 1975 when I first visited there. Eventually, I want to

make the first American rose essential oil. I don't know how but I feel that

I can do it in a few more years. You might say that I inherited it in my

" genes. " (Bad pun. ;-D) but I had to write it.) I still don't know that many

Bulgarians here in Texas nor the language but I'm still trying. I told my

son that he had the best of both worlds in his heritage - Bulgarian on my

father's side, Scotch-Irish-Cherokee on my mom's side, Scotch-Irish going

back before the American Revolution on his father's dad's side, and

English-Scotch-Irish-American on my mother-in-law's side. How's that for

being totally American! Isn't it great that we are here in this great

melting-pot called America? - Remember to VOTE on November 2, 2004. It's

your right and your privilege.

Take care and have a great week! I hope you don't mind my sharing a

little different perspective on the American hertiage because as I child I

felt so out of the loop. Everyone knew, it seemed, everything about their

family and we only knew about my mom's family. My dad spoke with an accent

that we understood but knew very little of his background. So, yes, I do

understand and I say go for it. No matter if you have to go half way around

the world to find out or go to a million libraries. It makes you whom you

are and you can definitely pass that along to your children.

Sincerely,

Rhavda Emison

Scents of Success (http://scentsofsuccess.com)

Texas Grown American Made Rose Oil Products

Rose, Helichrysum, Oak Moss, Melissa, & Other Products

 

>Sometimes it is difficult to understand where we are all coming from. I felt

>drawn to Native culture way back in the 80's, didn't have a clue why but

>felt like a long tunnel and something was pulling me. I followed it no

>questions asked.