Musical Instrument: Violin
Hobby: Animal Whisperer

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When Esme first sees 14-year-old Asen in Kurkle’s music, she can literally feel a sense of kindness coming off him in waves. Bending over a little dog, whose dangling leg he had deftly snapped back into place, his thoughtful eyes express the maturity of someone who might grow up to be a doctor or a vet. But his circumstances, a child living in a Roma settlement in rural Bulgaria, doesn’t seem consistent with the quiet hope he projects. Mesmerized by the young man, with his knowing smile, his wild, dark hair and kind, brown eyes, Esme has a strange but wonderful feeling that Asen is someone who could become a close friend.