While living in Bulgaria, I made a friend named Ruben. He lived in Kazanluk, about a 30-minute bus ride from my host town, Stara Zagora, at the time. Ruben and I became friends through my student Yoan, who knew Ruben through a family connection.
Originally from Portugal, Ruben was spending a year in Kazanluk with a volunteer organization, conducting film production and screenwriting workshops for the townspeople. We quickly connected over our shared love for cinema and found ourselves visiting each other in our respective cities. We’d take each other to our favorite restaurants (mine was Restaurant Uniqato), share stories of growing up in Portugal/Seattle, watch movies on weekends, and so forth. It was a carefree time, to say the least.
During our time together, Ruben and I delved into discussions about what it meant to live and immerse ourselves in a city where we were both guests. Where do we find the balance between immersing and inviting? How do we navigate the cultural differences we encounter each day? And most importantly, how would we remember this improbable time that we were living through once it became a thing of the past? I found solace in the (non)answers we came up with — if anything, it was reassuring to know that there was another individual so close to me who was pondering similar questions, and that was comforting enough.
My last memory of Ruben in Bulgaria was when we took the BDZ train for a day trip to Varna. On our way there, I received news from Fulbright that the grantees were being recalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Damn,” I said to him. “Damn,” he replied. We had one last meal in Varna, hopped on the train to head back to Stara Zagora, and bid each other farewell.
That was the last time I saw Ruben, already four years ago. The last I heard, he stayed in Bulgaria for a few more months, met a girl, married her, and moved to Armenia to be closer to her family. I still hope we get to reunite one day to catch up on all the things we didn’t get to talk about in the past few years. Here’s to my friend Ruben — I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for keeping me anchored.
Andrew Kim – Fulbright to Bulgaria 2019