Sofia will always have a special place in my heart. As unimpressive as it is compared to most other European capitals, I feel a comfortable warmth when I arrive. Much of that has to do with the people. The details of my arrival help to illustrate why I feel this. When I walked out of customs into the general area of the airport I was theoretically looking for someone holding a sign with the name of the company I was renting the flat from. In reality, and as I expected, I saw a big smile on a familiar face. As we began our trip into the center, he told me that they had changed my reservation. While that kid of news might in many cases create some concern, it simply made me curious. I had waited too late to. Are my reservation to get the place I had wanted, so I had to settle for something that was smaller, less nice, noticeably further from the center but significantly less expensive. His news was that for the same price they had upgraded to their premium property in the optimal location. What a nice start!

Meeting with Biss and Savella was a fine way to start my work there. Biss is almost fully recovered from his previous injury, and is in fine spirits. Savella is still facing a series of challenges related to her health and the difficulties of caring for her elderly father, it is doing reasonably well also. In all we were able to spend several hours together catching up, discussing spiritual issues, and planning for my days in Sofia.  It was interesting to see what a meeting place the local McDonalds has become for older ladies to drink coffee or men to place chess where it is warm.