About me

 

Hello.

If we haven’t met in person already, I’m Antonia.

An English language specialist and a photographer by education. I work with language primarily for money and with images – primarily for myself. Right now I work primarily as a mother. Full-time.

I’m from Burgas, Bulgaria but live in the small Czech town of Choceň with my husband Lukáš, our baby Julián and our cat Weiss.

I write about my life, travels and things that interest me. I’m interested in books, art, traveling and writing but most of all in the world and life as a whole. I find both of them mysterious and every day I discover them on my own as if there are no religions or philosophies (to me).

I discover and then write about them. Mainly for myself. But since you’re here, reading this, then it’s for you too.

Why Agamonitsa?

Agamonitsa is the name I used to call myself as a little girl, finding it difficult to say “Antonia”. I have a second option, a bit closer to the target – “Otonina” but “Agamonitsa” is dearer to me. It reminds me of the Bulgarian word for “caterpillar” (“gasenitsa”). It also reminds me of a tape recording we used to listen to on the music player in our old house in Rudnik when I was a kid and still had both Mom and Dad. “Agamonitsa” reminds me of my wonderful childhood which I’m determined to carry with me till the rest of my life.

That’s why.

Why the wind?

The wind is my metaphor for fate or not-fate. For what happens in my/our life. I was born in Burgas. The wind there is irregular. Sometimes it blows from the sea and other times from the city. My birthplace seems to have determined my life. I don’t have a specific direction. I’m dependent on the wind.

The thing I resemble the most is a bush from a western film which the wind is chasing down a dusty empty road. Rootless. Or searching for her roots. Which one? I don’t know. My goal is to find out.

If I’m rootless, then the wind is to blame. If I’m looking for my roots, I’ll find it with its help again. Since I don’t know which of the two I am I take the wind as my friend.

That’s why…

I’m glad you’re here. It will be nice of you to leave me a word. We could even start a conversation. But if you don’t want to talk, that’s okay.

Have a nice reading. 🙂

P.S.

I don’t have a lot of time for photography anymore but if you’d like to see “my points of view”, you can take a look at my collection of old, mainly analogue, photographs in my blog Antonia Ivanova Photography.

Sometimes I find it fun taking photos of my life with a phone and uploading them to Instagram. You’re welcome there too.

This blog has a version in Bulgarian that was started a few years earlier. It’s called Агамоница и вятъра. Take a look if you can also read in Bulgarian or send it to a Bulgarian (speaking) friend who might like it.