So here I am in Australia, a very long way from Bulgaria.

One of the first social occasions I was invited to, was a night of traditional singing and dancing at the Perth Greek club. In fact, it was a birthday present from my sister and two of her friends, Steve and Anita, both of Greek heritage.

and here they are

Now, in case you didn’t know it, Greece and Bulgaria are neighbours and whether they are friendly neighbours or not, they cannot escape the similarites in their cultures. When the evening kicked off, I began to realise just how similar they are……

It all started with the food, as we sat down to plates of tomato,cucumber and feta cheese, a cheese not disimilar to the cirene cheese that is eaten in Bulgaria. This was followed by lamb cooked in the same way as the Bulgarians cook theirs.

And then things really hotted up with the entertainment. An absolutley fantastic Greek band from Melbourne and a group of traditional dancers hit the floor and it was wonderful.

The outfits might be different, but the dancing was so similar

Unfortunately, for the first time in years, I went out without my camera, and so all the pictures of this fabulous night were taken on my phone…not great quality, but at least I ended up with something.

Anyway, as I watched and listened I realised just how similar the music was and even more so, the dancing. When the official entertainment was over, just about everyone in the room got up and the real dancing got underway. You may remember from some of my earlier diary entries that I have been attempting to learn some of the traditional Bulgarian dances so that I could take more of a part in village social occasions. As I watched the Greek community of Perth dancing around the room, I realised that I actually recognised some of the dances and knew how to do some of them…..

I was still having a little trouble with my back at this time, so couldn’t get up and strut my stuff, which was a shame. I suspect I might have been quite at home.

I still had a cracking night with friends and my sister

but left feeling quite melancholy about Bulgaria and its neighbourhood….

But a lot has happened since that beaut night out and I’ll have more in the coming days/weeks…..including a lovely trip back to Bulgaria. Oh, and the good news is, my back is back, so to speak and I’m again able to exercise, though there will be no more lifting things that weigh more than me…..so things are looking up even more….I can’t complain about how things are going in pretty much every aspect of my life…..I’m happy

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