Paris!!!

Written by Jadon

Well if you read last week’s blog, or have been in contact with us in some other way, you probably know that we just got back from a 4 ½ day vacation. To Paris!!!

All this week we have been blessed with a vacation from teaching, because it is Fall Break at our school. So last Friday, after school, we dashed home, packed our bags, and headed to the airport to catch an evening flight to our holiday destination. We didn’t arrive to our hotel until at least midnight, but our taxi ride from the airport gave us glimpses of beautiful Paris lit as it is at night. Just enough to get us even more excited for the next day.

Saturday morning, we walked about 15 minutes to Notre Dame, and though we were really excited to see it, we decided to grab some breakfast first—from a French café with the cathedral just outside our window, of course! During breakfast it started to rain, and then stopped, and then started to rain again, and then stopped. And of course we were enjoying delicious croissants and freshly squeezed orange juice, so we didn’t mind much, especially since it had stopped raining “for good” by the time we were finished.  But the loitering/indecisive/camera-clicking tourist of course all started heading into Notre Dame, so we decided that it would be better to come back later.

 

View of Notre Dame from breakfast

So instead we got on a sightseeing bus.  You know, one of those buses with open-air seating on the second floor ideal for viewing the city, and if you plug in your headphones you get to learn interesting facts about the city around you. This gave us wonderful views (though a bit gloomy due to the overcast background) of the city and many for her sites.

That evening we headed back to Notre Dame, and this time went inside. We tried to take some pictures, but they don’t do any justice to the beauty that you can see in person, and hear—the pipe organ and the cantor…beautiful. More of that later. Anyway, we had also booked a night tour from the same sightseeing bus, so after dark we climbed back onto the bus and braved the cold to see Paris lit up at night (and also to see the Moulin Rouge, which wasn’t part of the daytime tour).

Day Two!! Sunday we woke up early and headed to Notre Dame again (it was a favorite) this time for the Sunday morning service (mass). We arrived early so we walked around the grounds a bit, and discovered, that Notre Dame not only still functions as a church with regular services and a priest available for confession, but it also has a small tent at the back of the grounds, removed from most of the tourists, where it serves at least a breakfast to the poor.

After the mass at Notre Dame (one of the major highlights of the trip), we headed to the Eiffel Tower. If we had planned a little better, we would have known to show up first thing in the morning, but as it was, we stood in line for at least two hours just to get to the second floor! Then probably another 45 minutes or so in line to get to the top. It was fun to be in the Tower, but the long line really put a damper on it. So if you go, show up early! Then Sunday evening we took a small boat cruise which this time was expertly timed (on accident) to be during the sunset. Afterwards, we explored the Latin Quarter until bed.

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

 Day Three!! Learning from our mistake with the Eiffel Tower, we arrived at the Louvre fairly early, and basically walked right in with no wait whatsoever. Deciding to press our luck, we headed straight for Mona Lisa, and though it was still crowded, we actually got quite close without too much trouble. We also got to see Venus de Milo, some Monet, some Michelangelo, and so many other wonderful and beautiful pieces of art. But the Louvre has over 16km worth of galleries, so it was a big day of walking.

With the Mona Lisa

That evening, we explored the booksellers who line the outer banks of the Seine—the river that flows through the center of Paris—bought some Parisian chocolate, and generally just enjoyed ourselves.

Day Four!! Tuesday we woke up really early to meet our tour bus, which would take us to the Loire Valley, a region in France known for its castles and (like the rest of France) its wine. It was a long day, and half of our time was spent in the bus just getting to our destinations, but it was well worth it. We got to see three very different castles:  Chateau de Chambord, the man’s (or hunter’s) castle; Chateau de Nitray, where a family still lives. And they served us lunch! And finally Chateau de Chenonceau, the lady’s castle.

Map of our trip from Paris to the three castles

Chateau de Nitray, the family castle

 Day Five!! We didn’t really do much on our last day (half day). We slept in, went back to our favorite café, enjoyed to beauty of Notre Dame once more, and finally headed to the airport to catch our plane home.

Until next time, Paris!

  We of course took lots of other pictures, which you can find here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.922954370577.1073741839.69601108&type=1&l=3f368f58fb

Praises:

-Neither of us has been sick for some time now! (An extra blessing since we were so excited for Paris)

-Despite a setback or two, and with some answered prayers, we had a wonderful time in Paris.

-We still have a few days of vacation left, and we are enjoying them.

Prayer Requests:

-In just a few short days, we (and a teammate) will be heading to Berlin to try and get our Visas sorted out. So please pray that we are able to gather all the needed documents, and accomplish our goal in one trip to the embassy.

-After a week long holiday, and great trip to Paris, it will be really hard to get back into the teaching and planning routine.

The Visa Saga Continues

Written by Brittany

Many of you followed our visa journey back in August as we tried to get our visas to leave on time for the Czech Republic. Well, now that journey continues, and it's just as crazy as last time.

When we were preparing to leave, we did not have much time to acquire our visas, so we got visas that lasted for only 90 days, because they had the fastest turn-around time. These visas expire on November 20. We thought renewing our visas once we were here would be much easier than acquiring them in the first place, but a law change that happened at the end of June changed that.

According to this new law, 90 day visas cannot be renewed in country. Which means, we will have to leave the Czech Republic and go to a Czech embassy in a different country to apply for long term visas and employment cards. When we first heard this, it was definitely overwhelming. We thought our visa frustrations were over, but as we are quickly learning from other ex-pats, these frustrations never really end.

Thankfully our supervisor, Jessica, knew of a consultant, Richard, who we could hire to help us make the appointment at an embassy, figure out what documents we need, and all the other details. Jadon, myself, and our teammate Annie (who is in the same situation) hired Richard, and he has already been a great help.

So what we know as of right now: The three of us have an appointment at the Czech embassy in Berlin, Germany at 1:00pm on November 10. We're still waiting to find out exactly what documents and other things we need.

Please keep us, Annie, and our other teammate Dennis in your prayers as the four of us try to navigate these confusing visa waters. We are so grateful to have Jessica for her practical and emotional support.

Unrelated to visas: This past Saturday, Jadon & I traveled to a small town called Český Krumlov, about 2.5 hours south of Prague. The whole town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (a place that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as of special cultural or physical significance). Which basically means that the sites are preserved for their value. 

View of the town from the Castle

Our bus left Prague at 8am, and we were in the town from 11am-8pm. We were able to explore the castle and the many winding streets, as well as enjoy some delicious food, coffee, and just relax in the perfect weather. It was one of the best days we've had here so far. (To see more pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.919632976677.1073741838.69601108&type=1&l=81de5de8b9)

Praises: 
- Fixed washing machine AND a microwave!!
- Health. After a full month of sickness, we are both finally feeling back to normal! (And prayers that we continue to feel that way.)
- We leave for Paris in FOUR days!!!
- Our health insurance cards are finally here! It seems like many things we have been waiting on are coming together.

Prayer Requests:
- Obviously the visas are our main request right now. That we do everything correctly the first time and that we can remain peaceful and patient as things get figure out.
- Traveling. We will be flying to Paris (!!!) on Friday and returning next Wednesday. Prayers that everything we've booked works out and for safety as we travel.
- Our oven is still broken. We aren't sure where we're at with that, but hopefully it will be fixed or replaced soon.
- We are starting our Bible study with two of our friends here tomorrow, so prayers that the Lord can use that to strengthen our personal relationships & our relationships with Him.

Adding the Extras

Written by Brittany (Sorry if this post is weirdly highlighted. I can't figure out how to fix it.)

Since our last blog post, we have managed to keep ourselves pretty busy. Settling into a routine here, and finally adding "extra" things to our schedules. Between the 25th-30th of September, we went to a classical music concert, sightseeing at Prague castle, our first Sparta Prague hockey game, and a Shakespeare performance. (To see pictures of our busy week: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.912944754927.1073741837.69601108&type=1&l=9465abf401) We also began drama club, and I began meeting with some students after school. This has been a fun week adding in all the extras, and also a pretty big "oh yeah, this is what it's like to have a busy life!" Jadon adds tutoring this coming week, and then I think we'll have all the main extras added in.

Prague Castle

English Drama Club met for the first time for a little over an hour on Wednesday afternoon. It was a great experience! There are some students who have graduated from the high school, but continue to come back for drama club (they go to nearby universities). They, and other younger students who have been in EDC before, are a great resource for us, as they know how everything works. We played a couple "ice breaker" games with them, and finished with an acting game they chose. It seems like this is going to be a wonderful way for us to get to know students better and to build connections.

Cultural Tidbit: Nearly every Czech female has a last name that ends in "ova." It essentially means "belonging to." So the female "belongs to" her father/father's name. And when you get married you'd have your husband's last name, plus "ova." So if you had a brother and a sister (or husband and wife), they would actually have different last names. It would be something like Dan Mifka and Denise Mifkova. Interesting, isn't it? We have also seen the last name changed with non-Czech names, like book authors or fictional characters. Here's a "real world" example for you: 

Praises:
- Drama Club! We are really looking forward to how this shapes our year & our relationships.
- We have one full month of school under our belts! Only 9 more to go ;)
- Making time for fun extras (hockey games, Shakespeare performances, etc.)
- In under three weeks we will be traveling to Paris for four days!!

Prayer Requests:
- Our stove and our washing machine decided to quit on us this week. Our landlord has been to look at them, and hopefully they will be fixed soon. (Silver lining: we are supposed to be given a microwave to tide us over until the stove is fixed! We have really missed having a microwave!)
- Health. We have been passing colds back & forth the last few weeks, and Jadon currently has a cough he hasn't been able to shake.
- Visas. There were law changes this summer, and the way visas & employment cards work has changed. Thankfully we have experienced people working with us, but it looks like getting our new visas & employment cards may be more complicated than we expected. (Though with our Chicago visa history, we really shouldn't be surprised.)
- Health Insurance Cards. We still do not have cards for our Czech health insurance through the school. All the forms have been sent in, so we're just waiting for the insurance company to send them back to us.