My boss
called me into his office one day toward the end of 2008 and informed me that
my job was being relocated from Tel Aviv to Bulgaria. If I didn’t agree to relocate, someone would be chosen
to replace me. I thought it was too late in my career to consider an offer of
relocation, so this took me by surprise.
I told my wife that we needed
to talk.
At the time, I was a division
manager in an Israel-based company providing marketing and support services in
the online gaming sector. I had been working at the company for four years. “We
have one week to decide whether to relocate,” I told my wife.
Being forced to make a
life-changing decision in such a short time was the deciding factor. If we had
more time to think about relocation, we would have probably rejected the offer.
After all, my wife and I had aging parents to care for and we couldn’t see
being away from our children, even though they were already adults. And what
would we do with our house? Our cats?
Bulgaria. We had never even
considered traveling to the country on a vacation, less moving there to work. In
a quick, somewhat impulsive decision, we accepted this once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.
I relocated to Sofia in
January 2009 and my wife arrived three weeks later, in the midst of a ferocious
snowstorm. Our new lives were about to begin.
Working
in Bulgaria, Touring in Bulgaria
All my tasks and
responsibilities as a division manager moved to Bulgaria with me. But now, I
was managing my team in Tel Aviv remotely from Bulgaria.
My coworkers in Sofia were
Bulgarians, but everyone spoke English in the workplace. They were all much
younger than me – the age of my children. They spent their nights at Sofia’s
bars and clubs, and their weekends on the ski slopes in winter, and on the
Black Sea beaches in summer. My wife and I utilized our free time to explore
the country.
We visited the picturesque
villages. We learned about Bulgaria’s colorful culture and history. We toured
Plovdiv and Varna, and the famous Rila Monastery. We dined on nutritious
Bulgarian cuisine and made many new friends. And all this without learning anything
more than basic Bulgarian.
And then before we knew it,
our two-year contract ended, and it was time to return home.
In My
Writing, I Return to Bulgaria Every Day
After resuming my job in
Israel, I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about Bulgaria. But I soon found
that I was able to return to Bulgaria every single day – in my writing. I grew
up with the dream of becoming an author. Even today I write all the time. And it was my writing about Bulgaria, based on my
experiences there, that really got my creative juices flowing.
I published my novel Valley
of Thracians (January 2013). The book
is a suspenseful tale of a Peace Corps volunteer who goes missing in Bulgaria,
and of his grandfather who launches a search for him against all odds. My
second novel The Burgas
Affair (published in Bulgarian in
2016 by Ciela, and in English in 2017) is a fictional account of the aftermath
of the 2012 terrorist bombing in Burgas, in which five Israelis were killed in
the blast, along with their Bulgarian bus driver.
Rakiya – Stories of Bulgaria
I am proud to announce the
publication of my new book, Rakiya –
Stories of Bulgaria (GenZ Publishing, June 17,
2024). In the eleven stories of Rakiya, you'll meet a mother
pickpocketing tourists in order to support her daughter. An elderly war veteran
ashamed of his actions during the Holocaust. Two brothers hunting a killer
bear. A Syrian refugee working in a Sofia bakery. A femme fatale disappearing
at an international writers’ conference. And two neighbors competing to see who
makes the best alcoholic drink.
In Rakiya you'll hear
the voices of native Bulgarians as well as see the country through the eyes of
those visiting Bulgaria for the first time. You'll experience Bulgaria's unique
rich history and traditions and explore the country's picturesque villages and
stunning nature. You'll get a virtual taste of Bulgarian cuisine topped off
with the country's traditional alcoholic drink – rakiya.
If I had
not accepted the relocation offer and had not worked for two years in Sofia at
age 52, I would never have become a published author!
Order
your copy of Rakiya –
Stories of Bulgaria today!
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