I just put the kids to bed, and there is plenty to do. I need to clean the dishes, do some laundry, and take a shower. I am trying to get use to the small water heater in the flat. I have not had my shower today because there was no hot water at the time I wanted to take one. I have to be strategic in my planning when it comes to the water. (I know you needed to know that pointless fact. :-)
I thought I would write a quick post and update you on the latest with our ministry. I know that all of my posts have been about living in Prague, but I would like to update you on the real reason we are here. We have not had a real church service yet. John's first service will be on Sunday. (Please say a prayer for him as he prepares.) He is very excited, but nervous at the same time. Everything is new so it is quite overwhelming. Up until now, we have had a couple of meetings and a devotion. It has been great to get to know the members of the church. The hard thing is that it is August, and everyone goes on vacation in August. So, hopefully, we will have more people attend Sunday afternoon service once September arrives. I'll have to blog again to let you know how our first church service goes.
Tomorrow, we go to visit with the moms that are in the mom's group at the church. We are going to what they call a "garden party." We have to take a train to get to the house, so it will be fun for the kids. I am looking forward to getting to know the other moms and make some friends.
Monday, the kids start school! It seems like the adjustments never end. I think the kids are excited. I am excited for them to make some friends. They play together pretty well, but they have more arguments recently. I know I am ready to have a little break from them. :-)
I know this post is a little random, so I will leave you with another pointless fact. Did you know that over in the Czech Republic, they individually wrap their chicken hot dogs in plastic? Neither did I! I actually thought that the plastic was just a hard casing. (They came in a normal hot dog package.)The hot dogs were hard to cut and difficult to chew. Even little Ada at some too. I realised my mistake when we bought a different brand of hot dogs that had writing on the plastic around the hotdog. Oops!
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Adjusting
We have lived in Prague for a little over two weeks. In some ways, it seems like much longer than two weeks. We have done so much and constantly feel like we are on the go.
Going somewhere takes a lot longer than we expect. We think that something will take a couple of hours, and then it ends up taking 5 or 6 hours. We are learning to adjust to how long it takes to get somewhere using public transportation. In the states, I knew exactly how long it would take to get to the church or to the store. However, here we have to plan out trips according to the bus schedule. Thank goodness for lovely apps that help us figure out which bus, tram, and metro to take to get to a certain destination. Even after figuring out what time the bus leaves from our stop, you have to figure in the time it takes to get two children out the door. Don't forget to pack the bags with water, snacks, jackets, and umbrellas.
I have learned that comfortable shoes are a must! We could get by with flip flops or cute shoes for Ada in the states. However, if any shoes cause you the slightest blister, they must go! Ada wanted to wear some of her cute mary jane shoes the other day. After 10 minutes of walking, the shoes were rubbing her foot and causing a blister. The rest of the day was not much fun since she cried every time she walked around. Believe me, we do a lot of walking!
We have learned to be ok with eating hot dogs all the time. I know that once I get more comfortable with the food here and reading labels in the store, I will try my hand at some of our tried and true favorites from the states. However, we are learning that we really need to plan our day out. We have been getting home late and realize that what we planned for dinner will take much longer than our bellies can stand. There are plenty of different sausages here so we are trying them all out!
Life without a dryer, big refrigerator, and microwave has its drawbacks and benefits. I do miss my nice warm clothes right out of the dryer. The microwave is always nice to have to heat things up quickly. Here, I have to use the old fashion oven to warm things up. Having a small refrigerator means more trips to the store for food. We cannot keep things in there for a week. There is just no room. However, having to line dry my clothes makes it easier to put socks together. I also cannot possibly do more than two loads of laundry a day. I don't have the room to hang up all that laundry. So the stress of getting all the laundry done is at a minimum. Not so sure what the benefit is from not having a microwave. I guess it is healthier. Without a big refrigerator, we do not waste as much food. Believe me, I can find everything in the little refrigerator.
Overall, we are adjusting well. I think Eli and Ada are doing better than I am. I have had a few meltdowns in the past week. I miss my puppy dog, Lucy, so much! There are days that I miss our old house. Of course, I also miss all my friends and family. It seems like everything over here is different than in the states. Here are a few that come to mind: time (military time), measuring cups, length (everything is on the metric system), keys to unlock and lock everything (even doors inside the home), the banking system and online banking, different size paper, which store to choose to buy certain products, how to hold a spoon and fork, the need to take off shoes at the door and the need for house slippers in the schools, etc.... The list could go on. We are learning to adjust, but sometimes it is difficult. I am very thankful for the friends that we have made in Prague. Many people have come to our rescue by helping us put furniture together, helping us with visas, showing us where to go for some "american" cookies, and much more. One friend has helped me by setting up an appointment to get my hair cut on Wednesday. She has even volunteered to go with me to speak czech with the stylist. Hopefully, I will come out with a good cut. She did tell me to be prepared that I might cry at first. Hmmm... not a good sign. Let's hope for the best!
One thing that I have loved about living here in Prague is that the kids have grown so close. Ada just told met that Eli was his best friend. I guess Eli is going to sleep in her bed tonight for a little bit. They are so cute. Overall, our family is getting closer in this experience.
Going somewhere takes a lot longer than we expect. We think that something will take a couple of hours, and then it ends up taking 5 or 6 hours. We are learning to adjust to how long it takes to get somewhere using public transportation. In the states, I knew exactly how long it would take to get to the church or to the store. However, here we have to plan out trips according to the bus schedule. Thank goodness for lovely apps that help us figure out which bus, tram, and metro to take to get to a certain destination. Even after figuring out what time the bus leaves from our stop, you have to figure in the time it takes to get two children out the door. Don't forget to pack the bags with water, snacks, jackets, and umbrellas.
I have learned that comfortable shoes are a must! We could get by with flip flops or cute shoes for Ada in the states. However, if any shoes cause you the slightest blister, they must go! Ada wanted to wear some of her cute mary jane shoes the other day. After 10 minutes of walking, the shoes were rubbing her foot and causing a blister. The rest of the day was not much fun since she cried every time she walked around. Believe me, we do a lot of walking!
We have learned to be ok with eating hot dogs all the time. I know that once I get more comfortable with the food here and reading labels in the store, I will try my hand at some of our tried and true favorites from the states. However, we are learning that we really need to plan our day out. We have been getting home late and realize that what we planned for dinner will take much longer than our bellies can stand. There are plenty of different sausages here so we are trying them all out!
Life without a dryer, big refrigerator, and microwave has its drawbacks and benefits. I do miss my nice warm clothes right out of the dryer. The microwave is always nice to have to heat things up quickly. Here, I have to use the old fashion oven to warm things up. Having a small refrigerator means more trips to the store for food. We cannot keep things in there for a week. There is just no room. However, having to line dry my clothes makes it easier to put socks together. I also cannot possibly do more than two loads of laundry a day. I don't have the room to hang up all that laundry. So the stress of getting all the laundry done is at a minimum. Not so sure what the benefit is from not having a microwave. I guess it is healthier. Without a big refrigerator, we do not waste as much food. Believe me, I can find everything in the little refrigerator.
Overall, we are adjusting well. I think Eli and Ada are doing better than I am. I have had a few meltdowns in the past week. I miss my puppy dog, Lucy, so much! There are days that I miss our old house. Of course, I also miss all my friends and family. It seems like everything over here is different than in the states. Here are a few that come to mind: time (military time), measuring cups, length (everything is on the metric system), keys to unlock and lock everything (even doors inside the home), the banking system and online banking, different size paper, which store to choose to buy certain products, how to hold a spoon and fork, the need to take off shoes at the door and the need for house slippers in the schools, etc.... The list could go on. We are learning to adjust, but sometimes it is difficult. I am very thankful for the friends that we have made in Prague. Many people have come to our rescue by helping us put furniture together, helping us with visas, showing us where to go for some "american" cookies, and much more. One friend has helped me by setting up an appointment to get my hair cut on Wednesday. She has even volunteered to go with me to speak czech with the stylist. Hopefully, I will come out with a good cut. She did tell me to be prepared that I might cry at first. Hmmm... not a good sign. Let's hope for the best!
One thing that I have loved about living here in Prague is that the kids have grown so close. Ada just told met that Eli was his best friend. I guess Eli is going to sleep in her bed tonight for a little bit. They are so cute. Overall, our family is getting closer in this experience.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Where do I begin?
Where do I begin? There is so much to tell you! I have been trying to figure out how to tell you about all that we have done this past week in Prague, but it would be quite overwhelming if I was detailed about everything. So, I think I will give you a short synopsis of what has happened. Now that we have internet in the flat (Hallelujah!), I will be able to blog more often and hopefully keep you up to date with our many adventures.
Friday, Aug. 1st / Day 1: We flew to Prague. We had connections in Charlotte and Madrid, Spain. The kids did fairly well on the plane. We were VERY DISAPPOINTED that the airplane from Charlotte to Madrid did not have tvs in the back of the seats. We were kind of depending on them for our long trip over the ocean. All in all, the kids did well and fell asleep on the plane. Changing planes was a little difficult because we had a long lay over in Madrid. It was 1 or 2 in the morning and had to wait for 3 hours to catch the plane to Prague. Needless to say, we were very tired when we arrived in Prague on Day 2 of our journey.
Saturday, Aug. 2nd / Day 2: When we arrived in Prague, our friend Martin picked us up from the airport. He had brought some snacks, water, and a present for each of the kids. He then got a taxi van to drive us to our flat. It was HOT in the van because most everywhere you go in Prague, there is not air conditioning. It was hard to enjoy the scenic drive through Prague because I felt like I was going to get sick. Finally, we reached our flat. All in all, we had 6 big suitcases, 4 carry on suitcases, and 4 personal items (backpacks) to carry up 101 stairs. Thank goodness for Vojta who helped John carry most of the heavy items up the stairs. After taking a much needed shower, we went downstairs to the cafe'/church for some lunch that our friend Silvie prepared for us. There was an array of sandwiches, fresh veggies, and fruit. It was so good. She even bought us flowers for our flat. After eating, we went to Tesco, which is like a Walmart, and got some essentials that we needed for the flat. We also went out for pizza at a restaurant down the street. It was interesting to see the people bring their dogs with them to eat outside at the tables. Ada even got to pet some of the poodles that were at a nearby table. ( It made me sad because we had left our dog, Lucy back in the States with my parents. I know they will take great care of her, but I find myself sad very often when I see a doggy. I always think of Lucy. ) After dinner, we finally made it back to our house to go to bed. After staying up for 32 hours, we were ready for bed!!!!
Ok... so, it looks like I can be a little lengthy with my descriptions. I start remembering the day and then want to share everything with you. I promise I will get better at this blog thing. Instead of going day by day, I think I will just give you some highlights of what has happened this past week.
1. We have discovered juice syrup for water. Yummy stuff. You just put some in your glass, add water, and Bam! you have juice. It comes in all sorts of flavors and doesn't have any artificial flavoring or additives. So good!
2. The people at the church here are amazing. So many people have helped us get acquainted with the area. They have also been willing to go shopping with us so that we could have an interpreter. Everyone has been amazing.
3. We have been able to find some amazing places to take the kids. We have visited 3 or 4 playgrounds for the kids. They love the different types of equipment that we don't have at the playgrounds where we lived in Virginia. We also were able to go to a restaurant that serves your drinks on a train. It delivers them directly to your table. The kids loved it, and I am sure we will go again soon.
4. Things here seem to take awhile to obtain. It took 2 hours at a bank to set up an account. We didn't have internet until just yesterday (almost a week after we arrived). We still don't have beds for the kids or wardrobes for us because we have to go to Ikea a third time. They did not have the wardrobe that I wanted in stock.
5. At restaurants, you can take all the time you need to eat your meal. However, if you are in line at the grocery store, you better be ready to bag your items the minute the clerk scans them. If not, they will just move on to the next person in line and you are frantically putting your stuff into your bag.
6. I love Google Maps. However, it is always fun when you google a certain store that you want to go to and realize when you get there that it is the office headquarters instead of the actual store. Oops! It added on a couple of hours to our adventure in finding the nearest OBI (a store similar to Home Depot).
7. Just so you know, anything goes on TV here! Yep. I got excited that we had TLC (in English) on our TV. As I watched it, I realized that they were showing a man getting a piercing in a place that shouldn't be pierced. Yep.... no blurry parts, or blacked out parts. Nope. Got to see more than I wanted. The kids were also in the room. How is it that you can't find the remote control when you need to???
8. Czechs have great food. I am loving all the fresh breads, ice cream, schnitzel, potatoes, and much more. There are sausages galore. The only hard thing is that we can't buy too much food at one time since we have a small refrigerator. It has been hard adjusting, and we find that we are trying to figure out dinner at the last minute. Sometimes that is not so good since most of the food in the little markets are picked over at night. I am sure we will learn and adjust soon!!!
Well... I think that will be enough for tonight. I am tired and must go to bed. We have to go to Ikea in the morning to add anything we need to the shipment that should arrive sometime on Monday. The kids are excited about having their own beds. I am excited to have a wardrobe so that I can put away all my clothes. Tomorrow afternoon we get to meet the people at our church. We are excited to get started and meeting new friends!
PS: Please excuse any grammar mistakes. I would proofread this blog, but honestly, I am just way too tired. Maybe next time. :-)
Friday, Aug. 1st / Day 1: We flew to Prague. We had connections in Charlotte and Madrid, Spain. The kids did fairly well on the plane. We were VERY DISAPPOINTED that the airplane from Charlotte to Madrid did not have tvs in the back of the seats. We were kind of depending on them for our long trip over the ocean. All in all, the kids did well and fell asleep on the plane. Changing planes was a little difficult because we had a long lay over in Madrid. It was 1 or 2 in the morning and had to wait for 3 hours to catch the plane to Prague. Needless to say, we were very tired when we arrived in Prague on Day 2 of our journey.
Saturday, Aug. 2nd / Day 2: When we arrived in Prague, our friend Martin picked us up from the airport. He had brought some snacks, water, and a present for each of the kids. He then got a taxi van to drive us to our flat. It was HOT in the van because most everywhere you go in Prague, there is not air conditioning. It was hard to enjoy the scenic drive through Prague because I felt like I was going to get sick. Finally, we reached our flat. All in all, we had 6 big suitcases, 4 carry on suitcases, and 4 personal items (backpacks) to carry up 101 stairs. Thank goodness for Vojta who helped John carry most of the heavy items up the stairs. After taking a much needed shower, we went downstairs to the cafe'/church for some lunch that our friend Silvie prepared for us. There was an array of sandwiches, fresh veggies, and fruit. It was so good. She even bought us flowers for our flat. After eating, we went to Tesco, which is like a Walmart, and got some essentials that we needed for the flat. We also went out for pizza at a restaurant down the street. It was interesting to see the people bring their dogs with them to eat outside at the tables. Ada even got to pet some of the poodles that were at a nearby table. ( It made me sad because we had left our dog, Lucy back in the States with my parents. I know they will take great care of her, but I find myself sad very often when I see a doggy. I always think of Lucy. ) After dinner, we finally made it back to our house to go to bed. After staying up for 32 hours, we were ready for bed!!!!
Ok... so, it looks like I can be a little lengthy with my descriptions. I start remembering the day and then want to share everything with you. I promise I will get better at this blog thing. Instead of going day by day, I think I will just give you some highlights of what has happened this past week.
1. We have discovered juice syrup for water. Yummy stuff. You just put some in your glass, add water, and Bam! you have juice. It comes in all sorts of flavors and doesn't have any artificial flavoring or additives. So good!
2. The people at the church here are amazing. So many people have helped us get acquainted with the area. They have also been willing to go shopping with us so that we could have an interpreter. Everyone has been amazing.
3. We have been able to find some amazing places to take the kids. We have visited 3 or 4 playgrounds for the kids. They love the different types of equipment that we don't have at the playgrounds where we lived in Virginia. We also were able to go to a restaurant that serves your drinks on a train. It delivers them directly to your table. The kids loved it, and I am sure we will go again soon.
4. Things here seem to take awhile to obtain. It took 2 hours at a bank to set up an account. We didn't have internet until just yesterday (almost a week after we arrived). We still don't have beds for the kids or wardrobes for us because we have to go to Ikea a third time. They did not have the wardrobe that I wanted in stock.
5. At restaurants, you can take all the time you need to eat your meal. However, if you are in line at the grocery store, you better be ready to bag your items the minute the clerk scans them. If not, they will just move on to the next person in line and you are frantically putting your stuff into your bag.
6. I love Google Maps. However, it is always fun when you google a certain store that you want to go to and realize when you get there that it is the office headquarters instead of the actual store. Oops! It added on a couple of hours to our adventure in finding the nearest OBI (a store similar to Home Depot).
7. Just so you know, anything goes on TV here! Yep. I got excited that we had TLC (in English) on our TV. As I watched it, I realized that they were showing a man getting a piercing in a place that shouldn't be pierced. Yep.... no blurry parts, or blacked out parts. Nope. Got to see more than I wanted. The kids were also in the room. How is it that you can't find the remote control when you need to???
8. Czechs have great food. I am loving all the fresh breads, ice cream, schnitzel, potatoes, and much more. There are sausages galore. The only hard thing is that we can't buy too much food at one time since we have a small refrigerator. It has been hard adjusting, and we find that we are trying to figure out dinner at the last minute. Sometimes that is not so good since most of the food in the little markets are picked over at night. I am sure we will learn and adjust soon!!!
Well... I think that will be enough for tonight. I am tired and must go to bed. We have to go to Ikea in the morning to add anything we need to the shipment that should arrive sometime on Monday. The kids are excited about having their own beds. I am excited to have a wardrobe so that I can put away all my clothes. Tomorrow afternoon we get to meet the people at our church. We are excited to get started and meeting new friends!
PS: Please excuse any grammar mistakes. I would proofread this blog, but honestly, I am just way too tired. Maybe next time. :-)
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Czeching in....
This blog post will have to be short. We do not have internet in our flat yet, so we have to come downstairs to the church/cafe' to use the internet. I had all intentions to write a nice long post, however I got distracted with wanting to Skype my family. I am sure you understand my priorities. Since it is 9pm here in Prague, the kids are getting tired. We have had a long day setting up a bank account (which lasted 2 hours) and going to ikea. Ikea is like a time warp. We have spent more hours there than I need to spend in any store!
Hopefully, I can blog some more tomorrow and give you more fun info on what we have been doing in Prague. We do not have any real commitments tomorrow, so hopefully there will be some down time to write. I am excited to tell you all the adventures we have been on since our arrival. There is a lot to share...
So, I guess this is me "Czeching in" with you and I will tell you more tomorrow.
Sweet dreams....
Friday, August 1, 2014
Leaving on a Jet Plane
Tomorrow, we leave to go to Prague. I have mixed emotions right now. There is a part of me which is excited about the new adventures ahead of us. I can't wait to explore the city and see all that it has to offer. I am eager to use the public transportation. I think it will be fun to be able to get anywhere I want to go without driving a car. I am excited to meet new people and make new friends. Honestly, I am excited about the bread section in the Tesco down the street. Just think of a produce section in the supermarket, but instead of being filled with veggies and fruits, it is filled with bread of all kinds. Yep, my kind of paradise! :-)
At the same time, I am anxious and scared. I know that God is with me every step of the way, but I am still a little nervous about being so far from home. I know that Prague will be home for at least 3 years, but right now that is a little bit hard to fathom. People ask me if I am ready to go. I say that I better be ready since I have no house, no cars, and hardly any furniture in the United States. Our bags are packed and ready to go. Reality has not set in yet. I am sure once we land in Prague, things will get really "real".
I am also sad to be leaving friends and family. It has been a difficult and emotional week. I am mentally and physically exhausted. However, I know that God is good! He will support us through this transition. We have an awesome group of friends and wonderful family members that will be lifting us up through prayer. I can already feel the prayers being lifted. I am so thankful for such wonderful support! Plus, there is a group of people in the Czech Republic that have been supporting us ever since they knew that we were coming. It is so nice to know that things will be taken care of once we arrive. We already have new friends that are picking us up at the airport, that have agreed to help us carry our heavy luggage up 101 stairs, and who are going to watch our kids so that we can go shopping when we arrive. God is good!!!!
Say a prayer for us as we fly in an airplane tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 1st). I look forward to keeping you updated on our new adventure!
Love, Denise
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