“On April 25, 1997, my family and I were granted political asylum in America after a seven-year stay. During this time I had days in which I worked 70-80 hours a week. On July 19, 1997, our daughter Sofia was born – a little treasure, and on November 27, 1997, after nearly 30 years in obscurity, I found my beloved brother Nikola – he disappeared in 1969 in Vietnam and did not we knew nothing about him. ” This is what Ivan Todorov from Plovdiv says, for whom 1997 turned out to be a turning point in his life.
Before going overseas, Ivan Todorov was a bartender and restaurant manager in the Balkantourist system, writes “Maritsa“.
“We were young, I had a lot of friends. I started in Balkantourist, then at sea. For the last 5 years in Plovdiv I kept the bar of the lawyers in the center – RSV, on the back of the pharmacy “Maritsa”.
And so, on April 5, 1990, I left for America. I was also a painter in the USA, in the beginning I did what I could find to survive. I am now 67 years old, 31 years working on the maintenance of a huge building – a well-paid job in Chicago. My American dream has come true – I have a three-story house and three cars in the garage. But my heart is in Plovdiv! ”He says.
His childhood passed through the cobbled streets of Plovdiv – between the center, “Antim I” and the fire station.
“My friends and I played football, we swam in the pools. I remember the neighborhood, where “Loko Plovdiv” was created at the time, the center with its craftsmen, restaurateurs, journalists.
His mother and father taught him diligence and perseverance from an early age.
“It is not surprising that in their time in tsarist Bulgaria every lev had a gold cover thanks to these extremely hard-working Bulgarians. My generation – between 65 and 70 years old – also worked from an early age to have our own money – for a watch or quality jeans, ”he says.
Today, returning to Plovdiv, Ivan says that these 31 years abroad have passed like a moment.
“In Chicago, I know different and interesting people – builders, economists, engineers, talented people with golden hands. Like Martin Marty, who is a great computer specialist, Toshko, who makes perfect bathrooms and kitchens, Samuel, who makes the most delicious yogurt in Chicago, or the successful businessman Filip Filipov, who created an empire on several continents – he also grew up in Plovdiv. said the Plovdiv resident.
He himself, with perseverance and perseverance, managed to raise nearly 100 thousand dollars. With them he bought a “building” (a three-storey building), which cost 350 thousand dollars with “downpayment” (initial installment) 90 thousand dollars.
“This can only happen in America, nowhere else – whether in Germany, France, Spain, Italy or England – for an immigrant family to be able to buy a house or a building. The paradox with our “building” was that I, an immigrant with 9 years of work in the United States, became the master of Americans who lived on the 3rd floor and were third and fourth generation Americans who came from Germany and Ireland. ”
For Ivan Chicago, it still remains the most dynamic city in the world. It is home to between 100-150 thousand Bulgarians, there are 5 Bulgarian schools up to 8th grade.
“With joint efforts we are building and buying Bulgarian schools and clubs. I also actively helped build St. Sophia Church in Chicago – we raised it from the ground up, and today it has a banquet hall for baptisms and weddings. Its members are nearly 200 people, and I have been directly involved in the church board for 10 years “, the Bulgarian brags.
Neighbors with Pironkova – both in Plovdiv and in Chicago
“The greatest joy and pride of our neighborhood is the world-famous tennis player Tsveti Pironkova. In June 2010, she reached the semifinals for women at the prestigious Wimbledon tournament – so glorified Bulgaria around the world.
Her father, who is also her coach – Kiril Pironkov, and I lived as children in one house. We grew up together – now Kircho and his family live 50 meters from our house in Chicago, “said the Plovdiv resident.
Chapadjiev treated the nationals to a skyscraper
The Bulgarian colony in Chicago was very impressed by the World Cup in the USA in 1994. All our migrants were looking forward to the football match between Bulgaria and Greece.
“At the match with Greece we were 3,000 Bulgarians, and the Greeks – 30,000 people. And for the first time we would be 4-0. My son and friends were there at the stadium. After the match I drove on the highway my” Oldsmobile “Delta 88 – alone among the hundreds of Greek cars from which the Greek flag fluttered.
Although they fell from Bulgaria, the Greeks were happy because they were at the World Cup for the first time. After the match, the players came to our church “St. Sophia” and the report blessed them. And in the evening, the Bulgarian with a big heart – Shefket Chapadjiev, gave dinner for the team at the top of the skyscraper “John Hancock”, where there is an apartment, “he said.
Photos by Ivan Kirev and personal archive
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