"Salinas Family Heads to the Czech Republic"

Check out the article written about our family in our local Salinas newspaper "The Californian". It is well done, although the writer used a picture we sent him of Cesky Krumlov and he called it Ceske Budejovice, and I don't think Ceske Budejovice is a university town...but it is a nice article and a cool way to get our info out there...we are hoping it spurs some interest in what the needs are in the Czech Republic...you can click on the link to the right and see the full article!!!

Czech Visa Update...
We are so stoked...our visa applications have made it to Prague after many weeks of delays!! Now we play the waiting game to see if the immigration officers and the Czech police will let us in to the country....our super nice lady at the Czech consulate in LA says she can't tell how long it will be..."It depends on how nice immigration will be" she says...we will keep you posted!!!

LOST IN TRANSLATION
When learning a foreign language there is no shortage of ways to make yourself look like an idiot. One such faux-paus made by foreigners in CZ involves the traditional toast of “na zdravi” (“to your health”) that Czechs like to make before every meal. I responded to one such toast with “nadrazi” – which looks similar but unfortunately means “train station”. I got more laughs than puzzled looks from that. Another time, one friend of ours sent Krista a skirt from the Czech Republic as a gift, and Krista really liked it. I sent our friend an email saying Krista was very “vzruseny” about the skirt – which according to my dictionary was one of several Czech words for "excited”. Our friend could barely contain her laughter in her email reply – it seems “vzruseny” actually means “aroused”, and the correct word was “nadseny”. Now I am very careful to translate words back into English if I am unsure of the meaning. Of course, it can be funny for us to see the reverse, when I see Czech translated back into English. One friend was asking me if Americans like to wear shoes with “dry zip”. I could not figure out what she meant, until she sent an email with a picture of Velcro.

Lang: Czechs don't understand terrorism
Jiri Lang, director of the civilian counter-intelligence BIS, believes most Czechs are not yet fully aware of the danger of terrorism. "When there is a bomb attack at a seaside resort, other foreigners do not visit the location for some time. On the contrary, Czechs go to this particular site because the prices of the stays fall," Lang said.

Maybe Lang is right that Czechs aren't worried enough by terrorism. Or maybe they are taking exactly the right approach to it. Terrorism is only effective when people are scared...

Rebekah's Update

Rebekah had the opportunity to speak at her midweek church program, VIP, this past Tuesday night. She gave her testimony and talked about our mission trip. It was really neat as her mum to watch her in front of all of her peers and the adult leaders. Rebekah said that she was nervous at first, but soon after you could tell she was really enjoying herself. I was so proud and really amazed at this cool kid telling her friends about her relationship with Jesus...

here's an excerpt...

Raquel (the VIP leader): "Bekah, tell us how you came to know God."

Bekah: "When I was three years old my mommy always read this book about God to me. And I wanted the Holy Spirit and so I asked God into my heart and I have been his friend ever since."

Let me ask you a question...are you a friend of God?

Weird, I was reading the obituaries yesterday (I don't normally do this, I must have been bored)and one stood out to me...a woman of 93 years had died and the obit went on to describe her life, briefly mentioning her husband, kids, and grand-kids. It then went on to talk about her hobbies, shopping, antiquing and her favorite TV shows...man, it really struck me that this is not what I want my obituary to say. I don't want to be remembered for my shopping habits or my favorite TV programming. I truly want my life to be meaningful, even more than the "loving wife and devoted mom" you see on headstones. Don't get me wrong, I want to be anawesome wife and a mum who loves her kids and helps them know Christ, but there is more for me to do. And I want to do it...just gives you something to think about, doesn't it?