I was born in 1989 – the year the Berlin wall fell and with it – the socialist republics of Eastern Europe, including my home country – Bulgaria.
I was raised in a poor and problematic family – my mother was a school teacher, and my father, while being a professional chess player spent most of the 90s being unemployed.
Unlike the usual families in Eastern Europe, we didn’t get help (homegrown food or money) from my grandparents, 2 of them were already deceased, and the other 2 were not in a position to provide any help.
So my parents were constantly fighting. It was like growing up in a war zone. The problems at home affected my social life so I was an outsider at school until I was 15.
By the age of 15, I have already passed through a childhood in poverty, school bullies, the divorce of my parents and the death of my father.