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 Bulgaria ? By showing his friendly, human side, what the Puerto Rican actor Osvaldo Rios has made for himself in Bulgaria is undoubtedly the understanding of a people who do not speak the same language.
For this reason, from every one of his comments at each event, people could little by little discover a surprising person possessing a rational way of thinking far different from the characters he portrays on TV. And next to all the people turning their ears towards him, his words were in Spanish (with an interpreter, of course) and not dubbed into Bulgarian as on TV.
With interpreting as his weapon, Rios had a variety of experiences. Like other people, he is easily hurt, contradictory, passionate, and?according to his confessions?gluttonous and quick-tempered. By showing fans this side of their idol, Rios clearly showed them the similarities between Bulgarians and Puerto Ricans. And this is why all around him were transformed from solemnity to frenzy.
One particularly wonderful moment occurred when he visited the first capital city of Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo, which was built in medieval times. As part of a memorable night spectacle, Holy Icons and Sounds, he visited an old wooden monastery with several religious murals preserved in their original form. With the first reverence that he felt in this place, Rios became convinced for the first time that people are capable of respecting other people.
 This is why, in accordance with the main purpose of his visit to Bulgaria, Rios collected funds for the Asen Zlatarov Orphanage. Located in the Nadazda district of Sophia, this orphanage is home to several hundred kinless children living here together. Through this experience, Rios?who is a psychologist as well as an actor?was able to be directly involved in social issues as well. Every day he visited village after village, traveling by a variety of means.
After several days, however, he was greeted by the largest crowd of people who had been waiting to see him. When it was announced that he would attend a mass last Sunday at St. Alexander Nevsky Patriarchal Cathedral Stauropigial Memorial-Church, no one could have imagined that thousands of people would crowd to see him.
His fans followed him everywhere.
Controlling the crowds to allow Rios to proceed required the full-strength security of the Palacio Jrankov Hotel, his burly private bodyguard Scorpio, and a 50-man strong national police guard. The confusion washed even into the cathedral as the mass was in progress, forcing the priests of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to halt the mass in the solemn cathedral in order to quiet down the several thousand excited people.
No longer controllable, the crowd continued to surround Rios, and it was necessary to fend off the crowd numerous times before he and his companions could safely get away. The idol received a similar welcome in Nadezda; here poor people awaited him with the same excitement and love.
The magazine Paralleli, celebrating its 100th issue, had already published a biography of Rios that included family photographs. More than any advertisement, this article moved people and even children wanted to meet the artist’s son, Giuliano. They gave Giuliano dolls and letters, cards, and pictures they had drawn on thick paper, asking him to make sure his father took them back to Puerto Rico with him. Rios, whose character in La Viuda De Blanco (Blanco’s Widow) belonged to a people of the Columbian Plains, also accepted a diversity of gifts from Bulgarian religious pictures, books on the history of the monasteries and the national religion, paintings by famous artists, and wine to blessings and even an old handcrafted musket.
Within this sphere of activities, Rios’s mysterious travels continued; he even visited parliament. There he went so far as to say that during his brief stay in Sofia, he had not once seen a sports ground or any place where young people could enjoy sports. After several hours of friendly conversation with Bulgarian president, Petar Stoyanov, Rios suggested, “Children not receiving enough love will produce social problems.”
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