Chestit Baba Marta!

March 19th. 2019

Surprise! Surprise! We had a special guest come into our class today. It was Sarah, no not the Sarah in our class but Na’s Mom’s grandma. She came in to read us a book but before the book started it had some questions to ask her. Why did you come? Where are you from? Are you going to teach us where you’re from? Were some of the questions. Sarah explained that she is here to visit Na, Ra, Ad and her daughter (Nataly). She was born in Peru, South America, lives in Israel now and is visiting Japan. She did teach us a little about where she’s from. Sarah said that Japan and South America has something a like. That something is that we share the Pacific Ocean. We found it on the map and looked across the ocean to the end of the map… but it ended… Remember yesterday Kai talked about how the world is a ball? So he showed that the map actually connect to the other side of the page. After the questions were finished Sarah read Bear has a Story to Tell. In this book the bear has a story to tell but he has to help his friends get ready to winter. By the time it was his turn to tell the story, he had forgotten it… It was a funny and endearing book about helping and friendship. Thank you Sarah for coming to read to us!

When Sarah finished Kai explain a little about our stations today. There were cooking, craft and other activities setup around the room. Em asked, “Why are we cooking?” Which was a great question. We usually only cook for special events but why today? “Today we will have Bulgaria day” Kai answered. What is Bulgaria and why is he teaching us about Bulgaria we wondered... Kai told us that he use to live in Bulgaria for 2 years. That’s why he wanted to do Bulgarian day. Today we’re going to make shopska salata (Bulgarian Salad) and make martenitsa (Bulgarian bracelet).

Salad:

The shopska salata is a staple in Bulgaria, it’s similar to a Greek salad. It was simple to make, the only ingredients are tomato, cucumber, onions (optional), parsley, salt, feta cheese and oil. We cut up all the ingredients added salt, oil, parsley and cheese. Look at our master chef skills!

Martenitsa:

On the martenitsa table we twirled red and white yarn together to make a bracelet. We needed to be patient to twirl the yarn. We also had different techniques when it came to twirling. Some of us held one string still and moved the other one around and some twisted both strings at the same time.

Bulgaria day! We started by singing our What is Your Name song but this time we sang, “Kak se kasva?” (What is your name) and “As sum…” (My name is …). Then we looked at the flag of Bulgaria. It was white, green and red. Then we looked at the outline of the country too . “What does this look like?” Kai asked. We thought it looked like a dog, a lion and a crocodile. “Yes, a lot of people think it looks like a lion.” Kai said. They use the lion symbol is part of the countries coat of arms. We looked at some of their traditional costumes, food and products. A couple of the food are shopska salata and banitsa. The country is known for yogurt and rose oil. Kai also thought us a traditional dance, that everyone knows, it’s called horo. We learned the easiest one of them all. You take three steps to the right, kick with our left foot and then kick with our right foot. They learn this dance when they’re little. People dance the horo for all different kinds of occasions, each region also have their own variations. After the horo it was time to give out our martenitsa. Kai said that they actually give out the martenitsa on the 1st of March. It’s a special day called “Baba Marta”. Baba means grandma just like Japanese and Marta sounds like March. It represents the coming of spring. They wear it until they see the first stork and then they tie it on a tree. When the stork comes it means that spring is here. We picked our friends, tied the martenitsa on their wrist and said, “Chestit Baba Marta!” Now we have to find a stork! Thank Kai for showing us about Bulgaria!

After the park, we had another special event. It was Tai’s show and tell. We wondered what he has for us in his paper bag? Tai brought out a few sheets of colored paper and told us that he went to Kidzania. He explained his pictures.

I drive a car. I have a license.

I make a bread. 1st I washed my hands. Then I made two bread. I rolled the bread.

I take a picture decorated it but I didn’t do the numbers.

1st I hammered chairs… I built a house.

And now it’s time for questions:

I: Did you make a real house?

Tai: Yes.

Sa: Why did you go to Kidzania?

Tai: Because I wanted to go.

Al: Why didn’t you do the numbers? (On the calendar)

Tai: Because there was no stickers for the numbers.

A: Was it long time ago?

Ta: (Show with his arms) This long ago.

Kidzania sounds like a fun place to go to pretend to be an adult.

What another wonderful day filled with knowledge. Tomorrow will be even more exciting with another international day. Hope you’ve all enjoyed your day!

XOXO,

Flowers Class Children