Cenka Georgieva About Baba Vanga – close friend of Baba Vanga
Baba Vanga asked me to move to the Rupite so I comfort and solace her, and so she has someone to laugh with. I come from the village of Tchumakovtzi, province of Vratza, and in 1977 went to visit Baba Vanga so she can tell me should I do the surgery on my gallbladder – something that doctors suggested. Baba Vanga yelled: “Ah those doctors, shame on them. They just want to cut people – real butchers. You don’t have stones or sand in your gallbladder. Don’t do this surgery. Come here in the Rupite, there are very powerful mineral springs here. You will have regular baths in them, you will drink the water, and you will fully recover.”
I told her that I come from afar, and I was sent to visit her from d-r Boneva, so I ask whether I should do the surgery or not.
“No, you won’t do any surgeries. Tomorrow you will start to build a bungalow where you will live. Me and you will become very good friends and will see each other often – she share one fate.”
I came to Petrich only with 15 leva (about $10). On the next day I asked my sisters for help, and they sent me a total of 500 leva. I collected the money, and built the bungalow. Baba Vanga sent me a man, who helped me with finding the materials. It was a wild area where there were other bungalows of other people that just like me were asked by Baba Vanga to live here. There wasn’t a paved road to Baba Vanga’s house, but later Ludmila Zhivkova arranged the construction. I started to live next to Baba Vanga as if it was some kind of a joke, and without feeling it 18 years passed by.
Every morning when Baba Vanga was going to the Rupite from Petrich, she was stopping by to see me. While Vitka was tiding up her room, me and Baba Vanga were chatting and telling jokes. Often we would get a sip of ouzo – it was Baba Vanga’s favorite drink. Baba Vanga had a great sense of humour. She loved when I was reading jokes to her from the newest newspaper. When she was younger she had much more energy and stamina. I have heard her sing many times – she really had a good and powerful voice. Most of her songs were sad full with drama and sorrow. Early in the morning she was always entering her garden to check on the flowers – she was touching, talking, and singing to them.
Baba Vanga loved to knit, and many of her clothing were done by her. On Sunday, she was usually not accepting people, and she was often inviting me to see her. In the summer we were sitting under her big poplar, and as usual were telling jokes and stories, while knitting. Once I decided to challenge her just for the fun, who will knit her ball of cotton faster. I offered her to knit with two hooks, and I will knit in crochet. I did this because I knew Baba Vanga used two hooks most of the time. She almost got offended and told me that she is a very good crochet knitter as well – so she wanted to swap roles.
She really amazed me – she was so fast, and the quality was unbelievably good, so I didn’t stand a chance to beat her. Later she told me that she learned how to knit at the Center for Blind in the town of Zemun, Macedonia. Since then I never challenged Baba Vanga in knitting – she definitely was the better knitter.
Until Baba Vanga was sick on a bed, every time when I visited her she would start the conversation asking me what did a cook this morning. Often she would send me back to bring her some of my dish so she tries it. In return she was often giving me a box of chocolate candies, but sometimes I had to refuse, as I had problems with my gallbladder, and eating sweets only worsened the problem. Once she told me: “Cenka you don’t eat chocolate candies because of your gallbladder – is that it? This soul of yours that you carry – ask it to allow you. While you are still here on Earth, you should try many things. When you go up there – you won’t be able to.”
One day – it was Archangel day and Ivanka Yaneva – very good friend of Baba Vanga came for a visit. She brought meatballs, steaks, salami, salads – the whole table was full with food. Baba Vanga was already sick at the time, and didn’t move much. I entered her room and she welcomed me with the usual: “Cenka what have you cooked this morning.” I told her that I made lentil soup. “Go bring me one bowl of it – I want to try it.”
I gave her a whole bowl, but she only tried 2-3 spoons and that was it. She didn’t even touch any of the meats.
Baba Vanga wasn’t vegetarian, but she didn’t eat meat often. One of her favourite dishes were fresh cabbage with tomatoes, and peppers filled with cottage cheese. But since she grew up in great misery, and as a person that knew very well what is like to not be able to afford food, boiled potatoes in a salted water, were also among her favourite foods.
Zheni Kostadinova graduated Philosophy at the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She has worked as an editor at the student TV show “Ku-Ku”, and as a reporter at the National Radio “Horizon”. For over 15 years she is a columnist at “Weekly Trud” newspaper writing about esoteric and psychology. In the same newspaper she is maintaining a page on literature. Zheni Kostadinova is the author of some of the most popular books written on Baba Vanga including “Baba Vanga The Prophetess”, “Baba Vanga Predictions”, “The Secret of Baba Vanga”. Her first book was translated into Russian, Polish, Latvian, Serbian, and Albanian. Zheni is a member of the Union of Bulgarian Writers. She had published three books of poetry: “Fire Sticks (2002), “17 love colors” (2007), and “Fig Jam” (2008). In 2012 Zheni has founded the art-house “Kuklite”. It is a doll gallery and a mini-museum located in the old downtown of Sofia. The gallery exhibits different dolls placed in specific categories. Besides the exhibitions, the art-house “Kuklite” also have the priority to work with children from the local schools, so they learn more about the traditions and customs of the different nations. The main idea is to transform the art-house “Kuklite” into a centre for cultural exchange, creative collaboration between representatives of different fields of art, science and philosophy. The art-house will hold meetings with interesting personalities, and will be a place of exhibitions, seminars, workshops, premieres of books and documentary movies, puppetry, and many other great events. The art-house “Kuklite” will also be a place where collectors can display their favourite artefacts and can share the history associated with them.
