Sometimes it's hard for me to imagine life somewhere else. Right now for example, I'm in Walla Walla and it's 6:30am and it's difficult for me to imagine what my day would be like if I were in Sofia at 4:30pm rather than Walla Walla. I am here in Walla Walla and because of this Sofia seems to be a world away.

It's even harder for me to imagine what life is like in a city I've never been to before. I've done a lot of traveling over the last three years and I love to read about places before I go. Still I can't imagine these places and I can't put together a city in my mind until I am actually there. Then a city only comes together in bright snips and clips--the highlights, the best of and a vague impression of the mood and temperament of a place--is what's left in my memory after the trip.

[caption id="attachment_5200" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Main Street, Walla Walla"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5200" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5200"><img class="size-large wp-image-5200 " title="Main Street, Walla Walla" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8516-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

Now that I am back in Walla Walla, I've been struck by this feeling of out-of-place-ness. <!--more-->The streets haven't changed but the content has. My friends are more ore less gone leaving Walla Walla for greener pastures like Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco. On Main Street, there are more wine-tasting rooms than ever before. The downtown is chocked full with new bakeries, new shops, new bars and restaurants.

Now, I think this is a good thing. A really good thing. Cities that don't change and adapt will die.

Luckily, Walla Walla has a history of reinvention. From <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/record_tribes_041_13_30.html" target="_blank">Lewis and Clark's first visit with the Walla Walla Indians</a> to<a href="http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/whitman.htm" target="_blank"> Marcus and Narcissa Whitman's Christian mission</a> and their failed attempts at converting the Native Americans to Christianity which resulted in their deaths, to the growth of <a href="http://www.wallawalla.org/attractions.cfm" target="_blank">the first commercial banks in the Washington territory</a> thanks to the gold rush in Idaho and later on to agriculture and wheat farming. Today? Enter, wine and tourism.

There have been plenty of articles over the last 10 years about the death of the small American town. I am incredibly glad that Walla Walla is not one of them because had things gone differently, I think that we could be.

The thing is, it's hard for my memory and imagination to catch-up with all of these changes. So today, I see glimpses of my childhood Walla Walla but now there's plenty of the new Walla Walla left to discover (or to re-discover as the case may be).

What it comes down to is this: this isn't the Walla Walla I've been imagining for the last few weeks before this trip but that's a good thing.  Sure it gives me a sense of being out of place, of being a little turned around and of being disoriented on streets that I know I should know but I know that this is for the best.