From Friends to Cyber Friends

What are friends for? If I start breaking it down for you, you might get offended for having to read things you were thinking about in your early teens. But one of the coolest things about your friends is that you know you may have lost touch with them for years and then, just in a single conversation, you can get back on track, like the time gap was a mere shortage of breath.

After having lived in Vegas for six years now, I’ve stopped with the day-to-day communication with my closest friends. Ironically, we are all in there on Facebook, but apart from the occasional “like” button, there’s often not much other communication going on. Oh, how I miss the parties and jokes and acting stupid with them, how I miss getting drunk at a lunch picnic and sobering up on the beach in the early afternoon, so you can get home at nightfall like nothing happened! The endless conversations and the desire to share all secrets.

Ever since we left Bulgaria, we’ve been back there three times. The biggest accent of every one of those trips was always hanging out with the old friends and it was never disappointing. Every one of those times it seemed like the connection was reforming in an instant. And I knew why I felt the love and respect for those people.

Living in this faraway land, we somehow couldn’t fit in with anyone here. Either growing up together really matters, or the cultural differences between us and the Americans are vast and uncompromising. Whatever the reason, I can’t keep but noticing that we crave intelligent communication with people close to us, who can truly understand our problems and dilemmas. I guess that’s why I’ve devoted so much of my time to writing, because with every word I reach out to my friends and close ones, so they can keep the communication open if they have the patience to read.

Unfortunately, I believe I have found out that friends are one of the main reasons why I feel far from home and as an emigrant in this place – so, not having them here has become my anchor back in Bulgaria and made my heart stretch out across the ocean, unable to feel home at either place.  And sadly enough, I’m not sure that if we were to go back, we’d find them there.

It looks like the prediction of the science fiction books that I used to read as a kid has come true. Now all my friends are on my lap, in my laptop, drinking a beer with me as I write this. It’s kind of lonely, but kind of beautiful. I can be in touch with everyone I care for through this weird cyber-space transporter. I just wish I could give you a big hug and tell you that you matter to me! Oh, well…I guess I’ll do that when Skype, Facebook and Wii come together. Until then, keep reading. You may figure out some day that I’m talking namely to YOU!

Love!

S.