ATDTDA (33) - p. 942-8 pregnant in Bulgaria

[kelber at mindspring.com]

"Pregnancy makes a woman do strange things."

We saw earlier that Yashmeen's pregnancy made her look at the future in a different light.  Her motivation for going on the mission to find and disarm the Interdikt is to make the world a safer place for her child.

But it also makes her generally more nurturing, which, in this case, translates to wanting to give Cyprian a blow job.  Certainly not a textbook symptom of pregnancy.

Meanwhile, Reef's reconsidering his rectal integrity.   A sign of impending fatherhood?

TRP seems to be working from the 1905 Baedeker's guide to Bulgaria.

p. 945:  A reference to Arthur Symons, A British poet and man of letters.  He had a major nervous breakdown in 1909, which virtually ended his writing career.  It's not clear when or where Symons wrote about Sofia, Bulgaria, or why he would be cited here (maybe quoted in the Baedeker's?). This is TRP reveling in the obscure.

Kebabcheta:  grilled ground meat formed into sausage-like shapes.

Banichka:  banitsa?  Pastry made with egg and white cheese in phyllo dough.

Palachinki:  crepes.

kanastanc:  ?  look it up in your Baedeker's.

Shop dialect:  spoken in the Shopluk region of Western Bulgaria (which includes Sofia).  Calls to mind the Foreign Office "shops."

The song references the ajtys (singing-duel) sequence in GR (starting on p. 356, Penguin) and also the song in The Lady Vanishes, which must be committed to memory or lost forever.  The two-person song that Robin's ex was singing in the clip he provided might give us a flavor of this.

For those who missed it first time around:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_FocSrz6pU

ruchenitsa:  Bulgarian dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aha1W_wJl2M

St. Tryphon's Day:  TRP says mid-February, but it's apparently celebrated on Feb. 1st.

http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/main.htm

"St. Tryphon is considered by many farmers to be the protector of the fields."

Given that Y, C and R are trying to disable the Interdikt line buried in the fields, doing it on or around St. Tryphon's Day makes some sense.

Dimyat and Misket:  Bulgarian wines.

Valley of the Roses:  "To visit Bulgaria and not visit the Valley of Roses is to go to Egypt and not see the pyramids."

http://www.bulgaria-hotels.com/en/discover_bulgaria/natural_phenomena/59NFO-the_valley_of_roses.html

Kazanlak:  this town is at the geographical center of Bulgaria.  Perhaps it cries out to be intersected by a straight line?

Sleepcoat: "Except that the music stopped two years ago."  Any thoughts, anyone, on what stopped the music?

We end this section with Yashmeen waiting to give birth in the Valley of the Roses.  Mr. Strzechowski will be there for the delivery ...

Laura