Wednesday, August 26, 2009

A Quick Update & World Blog Surf Day

Hi Everyone,
Entrecard seems to be having some troubles lately--at least I'm getting this impression from other bloggers who have written about it. This morning I logged into my account and tried to begin the dropping process, but for some reason the widgets are not recognizing me. I've written to Entrecard to let them know, and I will begin dropping again once this problem has been fixed. Thank you to all of you who are still dropping!

The only other news is that I'm still having allergy/asthma troubles--nothing is wanting to loosen up. So, this will be an added adventure for when I head back home later this week. By then it's possible this current attack could be on the mend, but if not, my fear is that someone at some airport here or in the EU will believe I'm sick with H1N1 (Swine Flu) and pull me off the plane!!! I carry doctor's letters when I travel stating I have severe allergies/asthma...so hopefully they will listen. Otherwise, I might have some interesting tale to tell you after I reach Prague...time will tell!

One more note--it looks like there is still enough interest, from other expat bloggers, to warrant having another World Blog Surf Day! So, I'll begin working on putting everything together. WBSD will be on October 31st. I'm going to also put together a survey so we can vote on the topic for our next WBSD. I'll have that ready, along with the sign-up sheet in the next week or two. I'll make sure to put an update here and on Twitter when these are ready to go!

That's all for now...you all have a great day!

God bless,
Sher :0)

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(c) 2009 by czechoffthebeatenpath

Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Expat Spirit

Hi Everyone,
It's been a while since I've written a post, but there's a very good reason for that! Things have been particularly busy since coming back to the States for a visit with my family. We've been on the go much of the time--running to Texas for a graduation party for my eldest daughter, Beka. She received her Bachelor's degree and is now heading off to grad school. We had a fun few days in Texas with her and our friends and family who live there. On the way back to New Mexico, my parents and I stopped to drop my youngest daughter, Samantha, off at her university. We made sure she was settled and had groceries, etc. before heading back to the Enchanted Circle. What a whirlwind these days have been! Along with this, I've been sick with allergies and asthma to the point I've had to resort to using the nebulizer, prednisone and other meds to try to recover. What a bummer (frustrating)! Even so, I've been able to have a wonderful and very good time here at home with my parents and friends.

There has been a lot going on beneath the surface of my life on this trip, too. My traveling here has been very cathartic on many levels. Being the reluctant expat that I am, it is nice to have the opportunity to "regroup" at home where people know and love me...and understand my Americaness. I am most fortunate to have parents who understand Europe from travels and times they have spent there, and who have dealt with many from all around the world in their business connections. My folks are not ignorant and are open-minded about other countries and cultures. On this trip, they have been allowing me to tell them about some of my experiences in the Czech Republic--things I would not want to write about here for they are of a too personal nature, not interesting for you readers, etc. I've had so many experiences in the past months which needed to be sorted out and put into perspective. This has been a time of insight, healing and gaining perspective for me...also learning more about myself...things I had not realized before...good and bad. These insights have brought some calm to my soul and will allow me to move forward into the next phase of my expat life. Where that will lead, no one knows...especially not me...but I'm very thankful to have had this time of renewal for my expat spirit.

Another aspect of this trip is that it has given me time to read! I am a voracious reader--devouring books of all kinds--everything from fiction to non-fiction, covering subjects from to the spiritual to astronomy and many in between. One of the most remarkable books on this trip has been one called "The Shack," by William Paul Young. Young presents the story of a father who loses his daughter only to find the Lord and a journey to healing and a better understanding of his own place in the realm of eternity. The story is not trite and pithy, but rather it is one of great spiritual depth. Young has crafted a story that deals with spirituality rather than religion. The author is a fan of some of the greatest spiritual writers: George McDonald, A. W. Tozer, C. S. Lewis, Khalil Gibran, and many others. These are also some of my favorite spiritual writers. You can find their influence all throughout the story--which reads like a wonderful narrative. I would highly recommend this book to you all...and you can find it in my Amazon store listed in the left side-bar and at the end of this post, as well as in the link here:



The next few days will be busy again with me trying to recover from this current allergy and asthma flare-up, hopefully managing some shopping for necessary items to take back to Prague, and have some more fun with my parents before heading back to the Czech Republic. I would like to apologize about the Rome pictures. This is still a work in progress due to the fact that my regular computer is waiting for me in Prague--and it has the program necessary to process the pictures! I will be working on those and will upload them to share with you all here once I'm back home.

One other note--would you still be interested in participating in World Blog Surf Day? Hospitalera and I were working on that when we both had things come up that needed our attention. I'm not sure if she would still like to be involved, but if enough of you are interested, I would love to hold WBSD again. My thinking is that it would probably have to wait until the middle of October, but it could still be put together by that time. And we could do another near the holidays--if you would like. Just let me know and we can go from there. The last two WBSD's were a lot of fun and very interesting--and I would love to do another--but only if there's enough interest. Please drop me an email or leave a comment if you would like to see WBSD be held again.

That's all for now...I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

God bless,
Sher :0)

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(c) 2009 by czechoffthebeatenpath

Monday, August 10, 2009

The Joys of Being Home

Hi Everyone,
My trip from Prague to the US was pretty smooth. There were four legs to my trip--which makes for a very long traveling day. I was on the go for about twenty-two hours all told. And boy, did I feel every one of them. 


The last leg of my flights was late in the night on Thursday (which would have been Friday morning in Prague). The flight was completely full--hard to believe that late at night. My seat mate was a guy who wasn't too tall or huge, but he was one of those guys who has no conception of personal space, and who takes up all his own space, and yours, too! That was annoying, of course, but something I've learned to deal with when traveling. 

The worst part about sitting next to this guy was the snack he chose to bring on the plane. It was salami, which I've come to enjoy in the Czech Republic, but the salami of my seat mate smelled to high heavens. That salmi actually smelled like road kill that's been out in the sun for about ten days! I was feeling pretty nauseated from the long trip--and then to have this road kill salami being eaten next to me...I thought for sure I was going to lose all I had eaten at supper. The stewardess brought me two ginger ales and I also put on my allergy mask, and had a barf bag ready just in case. I really felt that bad. To top it off the flight was a bit bumpy! Well, somehow I survived...here I am safe and sound in New Mexico once again!

It's been a year since I was home last, so there have been some issues with culture shock after complete immersion to life in Prague. The first awareness of culture shock for me was how huge everything is compared to Europe. Everything is bigger here in the US! The next thing that hit me was sensory overload from all the colors, lights and English that was bombarding me after deplaning. Prague has some colorful places, to be sure, but nothing like here in the US. And as for the language--in the Czech Republic I can pick out the Czech I understand and ignore the rest. The bombardment of English language which hit my ears was really overwhelming. Over the next few days I'll be able to ignore things that don't apply to me--it's only a matter of retraining!

Being back with my family is wonderful! I'm with my parents and my youngest daughter, and of course, with Pal and Jade (the pups)! Everyone is doing great and there's a lot to catch up on, even though we talk online every day. The mountains are as beautiful as they always are, and I'm enjoying this pollution-free air, the dryness and coolness that are found at high altitude. We are currently at about 9,000 ft--the air is rarefied at this height. It's great for my allergies and asthma...I'm getting a good drying out--just what the doctor back home recommended!

Back home, in Prague, Jiri, Pepa and Ota are all doing well!

That's all for today! Here's a link to a post about the Enchanted Circle of New Mexico, which is where our family home is located. I hope you enjoy the tour of the Enchanted Circle over the next few days! Also, I'm working on getting the rest of our pictures from Rome online. That is a task that will take some time as I'm using my old laptop and it's pretty slow. But I'll have these pictures up over the next few days!

You all have a great day!

God bless,
Sher :0)

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Sher's Stuff

(c) 2009 by czechoffthebeatenpath

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

What's Been Happening



Hi Everyone,
I've been very busy and have been in the midst of a writer's block due to so many things going on at one time. It seemed better not to write up a post that would be rambling with no particular point. The break has helped, and some of the issues have been resolved. Be sure to visit Hospitalera's blog for some tips on how to deal with writer's block.

There have been several things going on simultaneously in the past couple of weeks. One of the issues I've been dealing with since just before our move was the lack of a high-speed Internet connection. We lost our T-1 connection at the old flat during a horrible storm. Then we moved and had to get new service set up. Finally we have a high-speed connection once again which is also WiFi capable! Wow, Jiri and I have entered the twenty-first century and can both be online at the very same time. This will be a huge blessing when Jiri's in one of his vortex of work times.

Speaking of Jiri--his hand is now completely recovered from the accident he had at work. He was supposed to see the doctor last week to have the stitches removed. Well, my husband, being one of those DIY (Do-It-Yourself) guys, removed the stitches himself! Thankfully the cut is healing very nicely and looks pretty good. Jiri is back to doing most everything, again, except for helping with the dishes--he says the cut needs to further heal before he can help with that chore on a regular basis!

A couple of other things that have been going on are the loss of another expat friend who is moving on to new pastures. I'm very excited for her, but will feel her loss very much. One of my kids has also been ill, but is now doing OK and receiving the proper treatment. And then there was our move, too. Well, I've survived very nicely to this point, anyway. This is called Life! And I've been living it to the hilt!

Now that things are getting more or less back to normal here, the next bit of news is that I'm preparing to go home in a few days--back to the US to see my family. It's been one year, almost exactly, since I was last home. So hard to believe it's been that long, but it's true. I'm in the midst of getting everything together for the trip--have already ordered my gluten-free meals, gotten the necessary gizmos together, and tomorrow will start the actual packing process. With all of this going on I'll not have time to post too much this week. Next week I'm going to run some posts about my home in New Mexico, in the Enchanted Circle area. I'm looking forward to some time at high altitude to dry out from the current allergy and asthma flare that has been going on the past few days. Dry air does wonders-it's also a good place to wear off calories. I inevitably shed almost ten pounds on a visit back home. My Mom doesn't like that--it sounds terrible! She's a wonderful cook, but the difference is the low-fat, no salt diet, plus the high altitude. I'm looking forward to Mom's cooking, to losing weight and drying out my allergies and asthma--plus seeing my family!

I'm trying to decide what to do about the stories and pictures from our trip to Rome. That is very old news now. Do you have any suggestions? Should I go ahead and post these at a later time or just skip them for now?

This brings you up-to-date with all that has been going on since my last post. Just normal Life. Well, at least normal for an expat!

You all have a great day!

God bless,
Sher :0)

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Czech Off the Beaten Path Website
Czech Off the Beaten Path T-shirts & More

Sher's Stuff

(c) 2009 by czechoffthebeatenpath