Bulgaria...

About two months before exactly one year ago I was driving back home. The traffic was horrible that afternoon. It was already 1.5 hours on the road and still quite far from turning off the engine. Somewhere in the middle of traffic jam my phone rang, the caller ID started with +359, Bulgaria. It was a phone interview from Orange BG, the company which I would then be working for.

The next day Ivo called me back and told me that they decided to have me working in the company. And so the visa process started...for two crazy months.

Exactly one year ago, December 6th 2007, I finally arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, after flying from Jakarta - Hong Kong - London - (and then) Sofia. And so another life story started....for six crazy months.

In AIESEC, there's a very nice writing tradition in every conference that's called sugar cube. usually the organizing committee of the conference will put open envelopes on the wall, each with the name of every single person attending the conference. Everyone can write whatever they want to whoever they want. These envelopes is called sugar cubes.

But there's an unwritten rule about reading your sugar cubes. You can only read it when the conference is over, maybe when you're on your way back, or when you're home already. The idea is to have something nice to read, something to bring you back those nice memories from the conference.

Two days before I finally left Bulgaria there was a joined party from both AIESEC members in Sofia and my coworkers in Orange BG. It was also when the time when the AIESEC members in Sofia changed their executive team. One of the most memorable nights in my life.

But there's another thing that the AIESEC members there did that night. They put a big envelope with my name on it on the door of the refrigerator in the apartment, for people to write whatever they want to write for me, and for me to read when I left Bulgaria, my sugar cube.

I still kept all my sugar cubes since I was a new member in AIESEC. Sometimes when I don't feel really good I randomly take one of those envelopes, and smile when I read them again.

When I finally arrived back in Indonesia, for a reason I don't know my self, I didn't open that big sugar cube from Bulgaria. I thought, "not now..."

Just a few hours ago I finally opened it...

All memories start rushing back , flash back mode is on...

I smiled and I cried reading those letters. I look back and see my life when I was there.

My experience in Bulgaria was a mix of both extreme happiness and sadness, dying and reborn, which made it a landmark in my life's journey.

Friends, that friendships. Nature, being amazed by our mother.

My experience in Bulgaria was a mix of both extremes, which made it one of the most valuable lessons I've learned about life and it's people, about me...and I'm forever grateful for every single organism that's been part of my experience in Bulgaria.



with smile,
ali