Month: April 2018

16-ти октомври 2014

Тичах аз, тичах в града голям,

при теб аз да стигна.

За миг да те погледна

и да ти се усмихна

 

Градът голям всякаш ме бе погълнал.

Тичах аз, продължавах аз да тичам, блок след блок.

Подминавах сграда подир сграда.

Слънцето скрило се бе вече от хоризонта.

 

“Продължавай, тичай, тичай” — изрече ми някого тихо.

С походка ускорена и усмивка широка,

вървях аз по улиците прашни

и си шепнех, че до теб аз ще стигна.

 

Стоп. Спрях.  Огледах се.

Кръстовище. Сграда. Хотел. Бях стигнал.

Сърцето ми затуптя звучно.

Поех дъх аз и се затичах отново.

A journey full of thorns

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It was February 11, 2008. It was freezing outside, and I had woken up early to go to the capital with my grandfather. I was a junior in high school, and he was taking me for an interview at the Bulgarian-American Fulbright Commission. I had applied for Fulbright’s United States Achievers Program. I mailed in the application at 5 PM on December 31st, right before the post office was about to close for the year.

I was selected as one of the 46 high school students from 18 cities and 24 schools across the country. I was one of the 22 candidates invited to the interview. I was the only representative from my high school. My mom was working in Spain at the time. My father was unemployed. I read the email one more time in the morning before I left:

PAZARDZHIK
Georgi Kardzhaliyski (SEPTEMVRI)
“Konstantin Velichkov” High School of Mathematics

My grandfather came to my room and asked me if I was ready to go. I looked around the room, my brother was sound asleep. I looked at my watch, gazed at my grandfather, smiled, and grabbed my bag. We were out the door. He braced the cold with me, and we left to catch the train. Little did I know that he’ll be taking me to the Fulbright Advising Center on a regular basis during the school year.

Script Writing W1: Episode One Pitch

I’ve published the pitch for episode one. I welcome comments and feedback. Here is the pitch:

The first episode takes us to the protagonist’s junior year of high school. The episode starts by showing Gogata in his surrounding environment through the eyes of his classmates: shy, stubborn, quiet. In one word: an outsider.  Yet, this boy distinguishes himself by winning competitions and scholarships on national levels. Coming from a middle-class family with no college graduates, he constantly looks for opportunities and considers applying for colleges abroad. His first thoughts are to stay close to his family and apply for schools in Europe (Denmark, The Netherlands, The UK); this changes when Gogata hears about the Fulbright Commission’s United States Achievements Program. The protagonist applies at the very last day and gets invited for an interview.