A Little News Item

It is official.  After many months of delays in Marrakech, months of working "on a temporary basis" in Prague, Nuala has signed a contract setting into motion a move to the Czech Republic.  (I'm taking inventory of our "stuff" today for a moving company estimate.)  Her contract begins on August 1st, we will be traveling to Barcelona this coming weekend for an anniversary get-away-together, and at some point she will return to Marrakech to assist in the tying of loose ends.

We hope to have our things on their way out of Morocco and have me be settling into the hotel in Prague by the end of August.  There is a lot to be completed, but as with many things, not much we can do far in advance.  We have already given notice to our landlord in Marrakech, who incidentally is trying to screw us out of 400€, we will be arranging for the water and electricity company to provide a final bill to be paid so our deposit can be returned, we need to close our Moroccan bank account (which was of no use since we will be withdrawing the original 100€ we deposited to open the account), finish up any work handover items for Nuala, pack as much into two backpacks and one piece of checked luggage as possible as we will be living out of a hotel and/or apartment with our "stuff" on the slow boat to the Czech Republic, have all of our stuff packed up and moved on toward customs, have our landlord inspect the premises for my cleaning and maintenance abilities, get violent over our deposit, say our goodbyes and fly off for the land of former communists, cheap beer, nice people, equally crazy language of Czech, and cold.

So what can we expect?

Luckily, we aren't moving blindly as we did with Marrakech.  We have, in essence, been living in Prague since January.  I think we have an educated grasp of the climate, both winter and summer, culture, personality, and mores of the country.  I think we know, mostly, what to expect.  Surely, we can't be wholly prepared for this new adventure;  there are certainly facets to life in Prague and the Czech Republic (CR) that we will come to know abruptly.  Who would have it any other way?

There is a ton of bureaucracy in the CR.  Though on the brightside, the Czech people do know how to form a queue and, as far as we know, bribes to public officials are not the norm and daily occurrence that it is in Morocco.

I am sure it will be new and different to be moving away from the land of no OSHA protections, donkey carts, massive construction projects on every block of every street, and into the land of warm weather (see above photo), cool beer, beautiful and old architecture,

a style of architecture renowned the world over and central to Prague,

Nice example of art nouveau architecture in Prague - The Municipal House on Namesti Republiky

super-mega-awesome advertisements,

and the land of sun rays warming your face in a quiet garden tucked away on a hillside.

We are excited.  

This move will afford us many new opportunities that, unfortunately, Morocco was just not able to provide.  First and foremost, it provides stability for both Nuala and I.  We have been living month to month in terms of our expectations.  We knew not where we would be, officially, and we couldn't plan to take language courses for a long period of time, we couldn't plan trips to exotic lands, and we couldn't even provide a well-planned two months notice to our landlord.  (Incidentally, because things were delayed so much with the transfer, we will likely end up paying for our apartment for at least a month that we won't be living there.  Fun, right?!)

In addition to stability in terms of time and geography, it provides stability for Nuala.  Job security.  Without getting into too many details, after delay upon delay, there were and are concerns about job security in the Maghreb.  Finally, Nuala will be able to do work instead of revise Standard Operating Procedures for the umpteenth time,  revising revisions of revised floor plans, etc.  Finally, she will feel like she is working toward something (hopefully?).  Finally, she will be working for an operation rather than dreams of an operation.  Soon, she will be able to make the position her own rather than feeling like she is filling in.

For me, the kept man as it were, I will be looking at my options in the coming weeks.  I think I may see work and/or school in my near future.  Details have yet to be determined.

Of course, not everything about moving away from Marrakech to Prague are positives.  The lifestyle in Morocco, with its annoyingly relaxed "inshallah" way of scheduling life's affairs, the relatively inexpensive groceries and restaurants, extremely inexpensive taxis, and an all around shrug-your-shoulders-and-not-worry-about-it kind of attitude.  Think Spain but with more Arabic, bribes, and one giant siesta called Ramadan.  We are moving away from colleagues of Nuala's, many of whom I can call friends as well.  Also, Nuala and I will be moving away from several very close friends with whom, I suspect, we will be traveling to visit for years to come.  

Bryan, Barrie, Amanda and Liz - Friends from Marrakech and beyond

On the other hand, we have explored our new town and made some new friends.  

Tony and Alex... andiamo.

Not everything is dandy in Prague.  It's not the end all, be all of moves; it's bloody cold, for one.

A warm summer morning in Prague... not really.

We are moving away from 50 degree winter weather and 110 degree summer weather for snowy 20 degree winter weather and 90 degree summer weather.  I'm not sure which is the worse.  Sure, I can't do too much during the summer in Marrakech due to the potential for heat stroke or ending up like Tom Simpson (or a more graphic photo of Tom Simpson's final moments for you morbid freaks).  In the Czech Republic, I have somewhere between four and six months that I wouldn't be able to do much outdoor exercise activity for fear of ending up like Christopher McCandless or this guy:

But worst of all?

The bloody tourists...

Congratulations Nuala!