Christmas the Bulgarian way - with a recreation of the Bulgarian traditions of a meat and dairy-free meal on the eve of Christmas, a lot of good mood and gifts - the children of Bulgarians living in Las Vegas, who attend the two Bulgarian schools there, experienced it, Maria Samichkova informed us. ‎

"The Christmas celebrations of over 110 Bulgarian children from the two schools in Las Vegas gave us an incredible emotional charge and a festive mood," wrote Boyko Hristov, the Consul General of Bulgaria in Los Angeles, after the holiday. As a special guest of the event, he thanked our compatriots in Las Vegas, who with the enthusiasm of Renaissance figures support the activities of the First Bulgarian School "Vasil Levski" and the children's academy "Rodna Rech" (Native speech) and help to unite the Bulgarian community there. "Bulgarian children are incredibly talented, smart and are familiar with Bulgarian traditions. The work of the Bulgarian schools with the youngest gives us confidence that the Bulgarian diaspora in Las Vegas will always be strong, significant and numerous," are the impressions of the consul, which he shared after the meeting on social media. ‎

The children received books as a gift, through which they could enrich their knowledge of the Bulgarian language. One of them is very special, it is called "Dobri" and in the early 1960s it was the most favorite reading material of American youth:‎

"And the most interesting thing is that this is a book written about a Bulgarian - it is about one of our compatriots, born in 1895 in the village of Lyaskovets”,explains Boyko Hristov. “Very talented, he went to the Art Academy in Sofia, then to Paris, and from there he arrived in Los Angeles. He immediately won a major national sculpture competition and became a star - he began working on the biggest Hollywood mega-productions at the time of Charlie Chaplin and was part of the world's film elite. This was a Bulgarian, his name is Atanas Kachamakov. And this book tells his story, written by a Canadian journalist. I want our children here to hear it too, because they should be proud that Bulgaria is not here since recently”. ‎

Bulgaria has left its lasting mark on the local culture and I am pleased to see that you continue to do so. Bulgarians in the USA are a source of pride for me. We are from the diaspora who can be proud of what we do here and contribute to the development of American society. On behalf of Bulgaria and on my behalf, I thank you for everything you do and for bringing your children here to learn Bulgarian, to study their history and to feel proud that they are Bulgarian. I believe this book will further contribute to this. I wish everyone happy holidays! Love each other, be proud to be Bulgarians and keep going because what you are doing is a spiritual revival activity!"‎

Editing by Elena Karkalanova

Photos: Maria Samichkova