Córdoba

After exploring Madrid, we decided to rent a car and travel with Judy to explore Andalucía. The first day, we drove all the way to Sevilla, stopping once along the way for a quick walk in Córdoba's historic center. Within minutes of stepping onto Córdoba's beautifully-paved streets, we were well aware that we entered an entirely different atmosphere than the one we'd come to know in Madrid. The houses were whitewashed, the streets lined with orange trees, and the Moorish influence on the culture could be felt everywhere. We gradually made our way to La Mezquita, upon Bethany's recommendation, along the way stopping to enjoy the varied architecture, including an old stable that was busily preparing for a show on Andalucian horses.

Within forty-five minutes, we had reached La Mezquita, famous for its red and white arches, and transitory history - starting out as pagan temple, which became a mosque, which became (and remains) a cathedral. The vast interior features over eight-hundred (of the original nine-hundred) arches, many of which had been brought from other regions in the Mediterranean and beyond. It was an incredible vision to behold.

Refreshed by our jaunt through Córdoba and with the sun falling from the horizon, we piled back into the rental car and readied ourselves for the short drive to Sevilla.

On to Spain

Upon arrival back in Sofia, we made our way back to Hostel Mostel, where we again traded portraits for the guests in exchange for two night's stay. We also had the chance to explore Sofia a bit before catching our flight out of Bulgaria, and managed to find some interesting antique shops and cafes while walking the golden streets of the old downtown area. The unique yellow pavers were supposedly a wedding gift to Tsar Ferdinand from the Austro-Hungarian royal family, in the early 20th century.

Our red-eye flight from Sofia to Madrid was exhausting, but made easier by our excitement at meeting Roy's aunt, Bethany, and Catherine's mom, Judy, in the Spanish capital. Bethany had been living in Spain for the last twenty years, while Judy had made the decision to come over and visit us for a week to celebrate the holidays. Our first night in Madrid, the four of us wandered the Barrio de Las Letras - guided by Bethany - and had a delicious, authentic meal at a popular local's place. The following two days were spent wandering the comfortable, cafe-filled neighborhoods adjacent to our hotel, and of course, visiting the Prado and Reina Sofia, where we saw such impressive works as Goya's Black Paintings and Picasso's Guernica. We also unexpectedly chanced upon an incredible (and free) retrospective of Eugene Delacroix's work at the Caixa Forum, an interestingly restored building located directly adjacent to a massive living wall - it turned out to be our favorite exhibition in Madrid.

A Farewell to Bulgaria

Soon after completing our installation in Ivancha, it came time for us to leave UFO Studios and make our way back to Krushevo. Solemnly, we packed our bags and said goodbye to the animals, the space, and to our host, Margaret, who we'd grown close to and come to know as a friend. It was a long bus ride back to the Rhodopes in the southwest, and full of thoughts of what we had left behind in the rolling hills and fields of the north.

Upon arriving back in Krushevo, we immediately fell back into the space we had inhabited before we left, only this time we were greeted by the presence of two other workawayers - Anne-Lene and Elisabeth from Berlin - with whom we quickly made friends. Within a week of our return, all of us were invited to another wedding. However, on this occasion we were guests of the bride, and the wedding was to take place in a nearby town called Debren. Much like the wedding before, we had a lovely time dancing and feasting on the usual Bulgarian cuisine.

We were also fortunate to be greeted by wonderful weather in Krushevo, which allowed us to quickly get to work on Lily and Yan's cordwood building. In just a few days work, we managed to finish off a few of the walls by an interesting method somewhat similar to slip-forming (but without the rocks). With two pairs of extra hands around it was quick work, and we enjoyed the practice in natural building techniques.

With Thanksgiving approaching, we decided to treat our hosts and housemates to an authentic American holiday meal and set about gathering ingredients (many of which proved to be difficult to find). When the discussion of a Thanksgiving bird came up, Lily and Yan remarked that four of their chicks had grown into cockerels and were now at an age where they would begin to compete and fight with each other, as such they suggested the largest of them might make a good turkey substitute. The day before Thanksgiving, Lily walked us through the procedure and together we dispatched and prepared our first bird - it was a grim experience, but one that made us appreciate the offering of meat in a new light. Catherine prepared the meal almost single-handedly while the rest of saw about other tasks around the property, and it turned out to be one of the best meals we'd had in all our travels.

Photograph by Anne-Lene.

With the weather holding up, and the date for the girls to move on approaching, we decided to take a farewell hike together through the nearby hills. Careful not to disturb the flocks and guarding karakachans, we spent the day exploring forests and meadows. Towards the end of the hike we found a frozen waterfall which doubled as an excellent (although somewhat terrifying) slide, which ended up injuring all of us in various ways. It was a worthy price.

It was tough to say goodbye to the girls (though made easier by their convincing us to buy tickets to visit them in Berlin), though not long before we were met by some new workawayers in Luke and Lainey from the UK. Just like it's supposed to be, Roy and Luke bonded over chopping wood, while Catherine and Lainey bonded over knitting and making jam.

In the fews days before leaving Bulgaria, Catherine painted a couple murals for people in the village. One, life-size, in the living room of a woman's house, depicted a tropical island with her two grandchildren playing in the sand. In return for the painting, she stuffed us with traditional Bulgarian dishes and gave us bags full of terlitsi, socks, walnuts, and other beautiful things she had made by hand. Catherine also painted a tree of life mural on the door of the village shop, as a way of giving back to the store-owner, Angelina, who would always give us free coffees and beers whenever we stopped by.

Our last evening in Krushevo was spent around the small wood-stove in the village store. We all sat around it in a circle, and used our usual combination of minimal Bulgarian vocabulary and enthusiastic charades to say our goodbyes and recount stories from our stay in the village. Catherine was finishing off a crocheted sweater for her niece, and during the evening she was given more handmade clothes to send back for the baby girl. Fatme, the pattern keeper and master knitter, had made an amazingly intricate hat with leaves curling up the sides, as well as a beautiful pair of cabled terlitsi. We gave out chocolates to everyone who came into the store, as is tradition in Bulgaria when one is making an announcement, and were given blessings of fortune and health in return. At the end of the evening, we said another hard goodbye to the small community that had taken us in and given us so much.

The last difficult parting came in the morning, as we hugged our generous, long-time hosts and new friends. The goodbyes were short and to the point, as one would expect in Bulgaria, but no less heartfelt. Yan drove us to Gotse Delchev, where we would catch our final bus to Sofia.

The Ivancha Reclamation Project

As each of our fellow work traders left UFO Studios to continue their travels and pursuits, we began to spend more and more time getting to know Margaret and exchanging our ideas for art with her. To utilize our passion for street art, Margaret encouraged us to wheat-paste in Ivancha, even going so far as to generously allow us to dedicate our work hours to the effort. So, invigorated, we took the opportunity to do something on a larger scale than we were used to, and immediately set out into the village to scout for the most interesting areas to wheat-paste. Our wanderings culminated in the derelict schoolhouse, a massive, beautiful, and once useful building. Saddened by its condition, we felt moved to inspire a change. That, combined with the beautiful natural light flooding the building and the empty classrooms, all unique and full of curious detritus, made us feel we had found our ideal location. Our idea for a theme to unify the project was reclamation, to reclaim the neglected spaces for constructive or creative endeavors, and we spent an entire week preparing work to symbolize it.

Catherine wanted to fill an entire classroom, to open up an otherwise unused space into a place with energy and life. Honoring what has inspired her in Bulgarian communities and culture during our travels here, and hoping to evoke a curiosity about the people depicted. The images, read like stories across the walls, describe the landscape through paper-cut silhouettes and oversized portraits of women who play interesting and important roles in traditional village life: Fatme, a woman who keeps all the traditional textile patterns in her memory like a library for the other women to consult, and Thikra, the vrachka, a wise woman and powerful folk healer who makes potions and bring people all the way from Sofia to seek her help.

Roy felt compelled initially to connect with Ivancha by pasting images of her youth in the empty and disheveled rooms of the schoolhouse. To juxtapose the harsh spaces against the bright and hopeful faces of the youth as it once harbored. However, the likelihood of connecting with the scarce youth of the village was nil, so Roy decided instead to paste portraits of his friends alongside a poem for each, as a way of honoring them so far from home and sharing a personal part of his own life with the locals. Due to his plodding pace and meticulous style, he was only able to complete five drawings and five poems in time.

It took over two hours to paste all the pieces up.

It is our hope that the people of Ivancha, along with the volunteers and artists at UFO Studios, will be inspired to take part in the Reclamation project in whatever way they see fit - reclaiming and restoring Bulgaria's neglected buildings into personal, creative sites. Perhaps one day the project will spread.