We are here! It's been 3 full days and I think the jetlag is wearing off. We've been running around like crazy which has been a great thing- all the emotions swirling around in me make idleness dangerous. It's strange to leave family and friends, the people who love you the most, and then arrive in a new land where you don't really know anyone and you don't really seem to fit. This wasn't a surprise, thanks to our time in Belgium, but knowing that something is coming doesn't make it all that much easier when you hit the ground.
A few updates.
One, I found the next installment of our team challenge to capture eachother's names in graffiti.
It's not the correct spelling, but phonetics count in this game. Only 10 more to go :)
We house hunted on Friday and saw some options for our team. We saw some great stuff.
Yesterday we wanted some adventure! So we rented a Smart car and drove to Cesky Krumlov!
In the summer, this city is a huge tourist magnet for it's kayaking, camping, and brewery tours. In the winter, it is an ice village with fewer people but is just as beautiful.
This is the same river that flows through Prague, the river Vltava. Can't wait to go back and kayak this summer!
This is a picture to give props to Clay for all the weird food he has to eat with me as I figure out how to eat gluten free in foreign countries. He is a champ.
We walked the city. It was so gorgeous.
We set out Friday and some of today to do some grocery shopping and have been really encouraged. This living a big international city is going to be pretty fun. I actually started singing "I think I'm gonna like it here" from Annie today in the grocery store :) So many options!
Favorite finds so far? Dried beans at a Lebanese store (black beans that are currently in our pantry to be turned into soup tomorrow), a canned gluten free soup (Lentil Bacon, yum) which I went back and bought two more servings of, and a really great Indian gluten free frozen meal.
The whole gluten free thing has been really encouraging so far. There have been a few times when I felt like crying, but for the most part the options are pretty good. We went to our storage unit and picked up a few kitchen things that will make preparing our own food really convenient. And this is good considering we are starting an intensive language program next Monday and energy for the kitchen will be scarce.
Even eating out hasn't been so bad. Yesterday was one of those days that I was feeling overwhelmed with the huge task of figuring out what to eat. (Those of you with strict dietary needs know what I mean by overwhelmed. It's so all-encompassing sometimes!) We walked into a mall food court, and I was just so sure we wouldn't be able to find anything. I was prepared for defeat.
Then we almost walked into this sign.
Ya'll, I started crying. God is so good to us! We couldn't stop laughing. He was telling us that he is taking care of things and that he loves us. And we are so thankful. And I ate pasta :)
So. Things have been hard at times in the last few days. But we feel his presence and we trust him.
Tomorrow we head off to the immigration police to hopefully get registered to live here.
Keep the adventure coming!
Love you guys!
