Maria K

by Stoyanka V.

Name/pseudonym: Maria K

Sex: Female

Place of birth: Burlya village, Godech county, Bulgaria

Place of residence: Sofia, Bulgaria

Nationality: Bulgarian

Back then

In which year was you born?

Born in 1945 in Burlya village, Godech county, lives in Sofia, Bulgaria

Briefly describe living circumstances in your childhood:

Maria’s family lived together her parents, her father’s two brothers and her grandparents. Her mother gave birth at home; she has a younger brother though the first child in the family did not live long. The family had a small farm with sheep, goats, cows and horses. The nickname of their village was Panchentsi. Named after her grandfather's family Panchevi which was a rich one. Her first memories from the childhood are when she was 2-3 years old and they went with her mother to visit her mothers’ godmother. She was from Serbia and they had to go through a meadow to get there. Also, they helped her to pick hemp for tow. The family used tow blankets.

Today, the village still remains as in those years. The family home is deserted. The school where Maria started her education was closed and destroyed, its roof has fallen. She was still young when the family moved to live in Sofia. Her parents bought a yard in one of the Sofia neighborhoods where they started to build a house. Her father loved the order. They had a lot of flowers and fruit trees. Maria’s family was patriarchal. During the holidays she and her brother went to the village. Her brother was a year younger than her. In the village they slept with their grandmother. “It was a privilege to sleep next to Grandma. We had a schedule of who would sleep next to her.” Still, she remembers the most delicious thing that she has ever eaten in her life – bread with yeast and homemade butter.

Briefly describe living circumstances from your teenage up to your retirement:

Maria started school at 8, her first teacher was Mr. Venkov, who played a violin. Another favorite teacher was Mr. Bonkov, who was loved by all children. When the students were listening to the lessons they kept their hands at their backs. The nickname for the chemistry teacher was “Grandma Molecule”. There was a discipline and respect to the teachers back then. Teachers were like Gods to the students. “Still, I remember the smell when we stared school in the autumn. Poplars had a specific scent.” The school had an experimental field where each class seeded vegetables and took care of them.

After 11th grade Maria continued her education at the Institute of Refrigeration Equipment following her mother’s recommendations. They always consulted with each other “I have never made a decision by myself”. Initially, she asked her parents, next when she married all decisions were made jointly with her husband. After three months into her studies she stared work at the Refrigeration factory. Her first salary was 65 BGN (33 Euro) which she was giving to her parents, contributing to the total family budget. She continued to attend evening school. “I fell in love in 11th grade, though there were some boys I liked before that.”

She was 22 years old when they got married in 1967 with her husband after a very short friendship. Their honeymoon was in Serbia and at the seaside with the in-laws (mother, father and brother in law). Then, they all lived together. There was a mutual respect. At 23 she gave birth to her daughter and they helped in her upbringing. At 25 her son was born. The fee for the kindergarten was covered by her husband’s employer so they did not spent money for that. They had good neighbors, who helped each other. The family went to opera, theater and cinema. In the winter spent the holidays in the mountains and during the summer at the seaside. Both with her husband they were constructors a working class family. They had credits but managed to pay them on time. They even managed to buy a car – Warszawa (Warszawa was the first newly designed Polish car built after the WWII). In the factory they were producing refrigeration compressors for Japan. Though, she had a lighter workload as she was visiting an evening school. “We dreamed with my husband when we retire to go in the mountains and to become mountain hut managers.”