Village life is perking along quietly and peacefully, and I expect to be here another 2-3 weeks before my new place is ready. I spent some time in the ČEA office, got my keys to the office AND a work email address! We began discussing ways I might get plugged into the work--an ongoing discussion I look forward to! In the meantime, they are giving me the space to make language learning my priority over the coming year.

Language school is going well but getting more intense; a young woman from France said aloud, "please tell me I'm not the only one who finds this difficult!" Even the Ukrainian guy, who has the advantage of already speaking a Slavic language, finds it perplexing. So that gives me a strange sort of comfort!

Jana, a colleague from the ČEA, lives in Radonice, and her landlord's family owns a "fotbolgolf" course (think putt-putt golf, but with soccer balls). She took me over there one evening to try it out, and the owner's young son, Ben, accompanied us. I enjoyed making a general fool of myself, both with my soccer and my language skills. On our way back, Jana pointed to a stone tower amid a cluster of buildings across the field, and asked, "Have you visited the castle?" And I'm thinking...wait, what? There's a castle?

Well, of course there is. The Czech Republic is the most densely castellated (it's a word) country in the world. So the next evening I had to go see if I could get close to it. And there it was, in all its 14th century glory, a leisurely 15 minute stroll from where I live!

We're moving into a heat wave this week, and my little desk fan, which for all the noise it makes, is about as effective as a sheet of paper being waved by a bored toddler. I've been trying to minimize the accumulation of the general "stuff of living" while in a temporary place, but it's time to invest in a beefier fan!

Thanks, all, for the prayers! Please keep them up. I'm scheduled to have a phone consult with a lawyer concerning how to resolve the issue of receiving the funds from the house sale (which closed last Monday--hooray!) Please pray for a speedy and straightforward resolution to this.

Blessings...until next time!

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