Almut is pregnant

Well the news is out and probably most of you have heard. Almut is pregnant. We thought that we were going to have a baby while we were on our (long) honeymoon, but we waited to check with a doctor here in the Czech Republic.

Almut would have liked to have found a woman gynecologist, but they are rare in this country. Even rarer are English or German speaking ones. (This was not a good opportunity for us to be practicing our Czech!) We called one woman doctor in Česke Budějovice, but there wasn't anyone in the office that spoke English or German. In fact the receptionist just hung up on us. We then found another doctor who speaks very good German and passable English. Almut was a bit concerned to see him by herself, but he always has a female assistant in the office with him. He seems very good, but speaks very quietly.

This week I went with her and saw the pictures of the ultrasound. Very exciting!

James and Almut

Thanks for all the kind thoughts towards us now that we have SP and are engaged.

Unfortunately we will not be getting married at MTS2. Thanks for the kind thoughts though!

This a photo of Almut and me in Cesky Krumlov during the winter...

Together Again

Hello from Gramshi!
The whole Albania crew is back together again. Kim and I have settled into our own apartment. Su'en, Eun Ha, and Eun Chull are in town for a training day and are spending the night. Yeah! What fun. We are all good and loving life here in Albania. It's cold, but I think you'll cold right? We're heading to bed with our hot water bottles and ten blankets. Naten e Mire!

Albania evangelism event

Hi guys. From the 6th to 9th of March 2006 there will be evangelism with Campus Crusades, Albania with Michael Ramsden as the speaker. He is a very good speaker and I would recommend you go and listen to him if you have the opportunity. He works with The Ravi Zacharias Trust and is also a lecturer at Oxford University.

Puzzled about pictures

Here I am at the internet cafe - again. :-) For some reason I have been unable to publish photos on my blog here. And ... I can't see the photo you published, James. So, I thought I would ask you as the guru of the blog - why can't I post photos? I have so many great ones and I would love to share them. There's some thing in the corner of the screen about privacy settings and cookies... is that related? Will I have to wait till I have my own place and my own internet connection??
Joy of joys (not) I bought a cell phone specifically so I could send SMS messages to my daughter. But I couldn't. The reason (eventually discovered): Moldovan cellphone companies only have arrangements for SMS with one provider in Canada - and it's not the one my kids use!! Of course. :-(
Aside from that things are going relatively well. I think I am at the 'stall' phase of language learning. I just feel so overwhelmed with so much coming at me, that I can't come up with the simplest of phrases or the word I just learned yesterday. I do notice, though, that when I really focus and people speak clearly I can understand some of what they are saying or get the gist of the conversation. I have to believe that is a hopeful sign.
I hope you are all well. Each of you is in my prayers regularly. Thanks for the postcard, Su'En! What a treat! And thanks for keeping us up to speed on Hungary happenings, Jill. I understand Ivanir and Vittor are there this week - how wonderful for them. I can see now that returning next fall will be something that I already look forward to. The Lord's blessing to you all.

Food

Hey all

How is it going?

How are you finding the food?

My house mum cooks fantastic pastries! Look at these Buchti!

Alb anian Check-up

Hello All,
We are here. Actually, only Kim and I are here (Gramsh), but we have heard that Su'en, EunChull, and EunHa are also safe and sound in their own towns. Gramsh is beautiful. It is nestled between small mountains, and there is a river that is not far from town. It use to be a man made lake, but the damn was never finished and there is just a vast expanse of nothing where it use to be. It looks very dry. The mountains are beautiful though and the people are great. Kim is living with a girl named Tasha, but is spending the week with the pastor's family as Natasha has family visiting. I am living with a family of girls. There is a mom and four daughters. It is a busy place, but I am learning a lot of vocabulary. Showers are scarce and warm water is even scarcer. Can't wait for the winter!
Know you are in our thoughts and prayers. May God bless you all,
Micah