[caption id="attachment_1032" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Nevski in August "]<img class="size-medium wp-image-1032" title="Nevski in August " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/dsc03718.jpg?w=300" alt="Nevski in August " width="300" height="225" />[/caption]

I was walking to work today and thinking about Sofia and this year.  It's been a really wonderful, crazy and mixed up time.  I frankly I'm not sure that I could have enjoyed it more than I did.  Well I caught a glimpse of Nevski today and realized how lucky I've been to live here in this city, to work at the First English Language School and to be able to walk down Shishman in the mornings and see the light on the church.

[caption id="attachment_1033" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Nevski in January "]<img class="size-medium wp-image-1033" title="Nevski in January " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/dsc05312.jpg?w=225" alt="Nevski in January " width="225" height="300" />[/caption]

There's something surprising and breath taking every time you see it.  Rain, snow or sunshine.  I realized how easy it is for me to take these things for granted especially when the uneven sidewalks or the honking traffic distracts.

[caption id="attachment_1034" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Nevski in April "]<img class="size-medium wp-image-1034" title="Nevski in April " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/dsc06296.jpg?w=300" alt="Nevski in April " width="300" height="225" />[/caption]

I thought: I'm missing you.  And yes, I mean that in two ways.  First: I am missing out on seeing this beautiful thing because I am preoccupied with other things in my life--other things that seem more immediate, more important, more pressing.  And second I thought: I miss you--I am here right now, in this moment, and I miss you.  Even though I am standing only blocks away there is a piece of me already longing for you.

[caption id="attachment_1035" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Nevski in June"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-1035" title="Nevski in June 2" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/dsc09987.jpg?w=225" alt="Nevski in June" width="225" height="300" />[/caption]

A piece of me that knows my year here is coming to and end and that I will not always be this close, that I will not always walk this way and that the next time I am here, it will not be the same.  I will not be the same.  But there's something comferting about knowing that Alexandar Nevski is there.  This place, this sight and the streets around it are as much Sofia to me as anything else.  And I find myself missing you.  I don't think it's the worst thing in the world to miss something before you've gone--in face, I think it helps you appreciate it more.