A Hug Goodbye

This month, February, has a sad undertone for me. It was during the last week of January 2010 that I received the final decision from the Czech government that they no longer wanted me. Not only did they not want me, but they had decreed that by law, I must leave their country within 30 days. I was being deported.

This notification came during one of the busiest times of life at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic. We had a large number of PhD students on site and I was fully engaged in making sure they were fed, housed, watered, and happy. The notification came as an e-mail attachment.

My Czech language skills were functional enough that I had read through the document and understood that this was not good news. Truly in unbelief, I asked a Czech friend and colleague to come read this letter for me. I was certain that I had misinterpreted it, or that there was a byline I was missing that said, "But it's okay, you may stay."

There wasn't.

I sat in my office chair in shock and pain. February 2010 was hard. Really hard. I had worked (with the help of colleagues) for over a year to apply for visa renewal to remain in the Czech Republic. It was a long and tiring journey to try to right a wrong that was made which turned my position from being legal to illegal. Finally, the word came: "Go home."

Go home? I had been in Europe since 2001. One month after I graduated college I packed up and flew across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in this Central European region. Fully embracing the strange land and culture. I had been there for nearly ten years and transitioned into adulthood in these foreign lands. In a way that I cannot explain Europe had become my home. And I was being kicked out.

My dear loved ones in Prague were gracious, kind, and sincere. The memories of this month are bittersweet. Thankful and painful.

So, today, forgive me if I request an extra hug this month. Forgive me if I there's an underlying sadness in my eyes. Forgive me if I can't explain what is tugging at my heart. There is a mourning process that perhaps will never end. There is something deeper inside that is hard to define or explain, but it's there.

We each have our own struggles and heartbreak. I understand. The month of February, when I request a hug - this is why. That's all. I've a lot of my heart and love in a place and in people whom I cannot wrap my arms around today...

'The Prague that I not only love but also fear'

One year ago Franz Kafka and his colleagues in the Czech Foreigners' Police deemed a certain Vanessa L Lake a suspicious character and issued papers to send her packing.

It was not a good day or following month.

Today, I smile knowingly at Kafka and feel he's a familiar character if not a sometimes unwelcome friend, as I may have just a bit more insight into this writings, his thoughts and his questions. Or maybe not.

Nonetheless I'm dressed, fed and up out the door to live in Abraham Lincoln's world today.

"We are as forlorn as children lost in the wood. When you stand in front of me and look at me, what do you know of the grief's that are in me and what do I know of yours. And if I were to cast myself down before you and tell you, what more would you know about me that you know about Hell when someone tells you it is hot and dreadful? For that reason alone we human beings ought to stand before one another as reverently, as reflectively, as lovingly, as we would before the entrance to Hell."

Franz Kafka written at 20 years of age-

Sbohem můj drahý Praha

The sad young lady on the left is holding up her open passport to the page which now has glued to it an 'exit visa'.

Yes, this forlorn figure was unable to secure a visa to remain in the romantic city of Prague and worst the enriching community of IBTS.

She leaves with amazing memories and indescribable experiences with such dear friends that she never regrets for one moment she found her home in Prague.

Not to worry, she is not always sporting this sorrowful expression. She looks ahead to the future - to the exciting adventure ahead of her and the mystery and challenges it holds.

It Continues...

You will recall my day's journey of visa preparation earlier this month. A second stage of the saga took place this last week. Leaving from IBTS on the 05.19 bus on a Thursday morning to catch a train to Dresden, Germany is not my favoured way to start a day - but knowing that this is one step closer to finally securing the long-awaited for visa kept me from complaining too loudly.

It's a looooong tedious story to explain why this trip to Germany was needed, though basically there was a mistake in the renewal process over a year ago and various factors have contributed to the delay up to this point. Nonetheless, endless paperwork, office visits and interviews have just about brought me to the point of surrender.

I guess these offices simply don't understand that:
a) I'm not trying to mess them about
b) I love my job in Prague
c) I still adore their country
d)I'm helping their economy by regularly visiting their local hospodas!

Unfortunately, those questions don't appear on any of the application forms nor arise in the interviews.

Three more months of waiting and hoping...

All in a Day's Work

Welcome to Prague! It's a fantastic city with innumerable sites to see with simple public transportation connections from one end of the city to the other. Why not come and visit?

Oh, and if you plan to be here longer than three months and have any questions about stepping out into the world of visa-attaining you can begin this exciting and never-ending journey by following the blue trail on the map for your first step!

After enjoying your morning cup of coffee, you hop on the bus departing from the beautiful Château Jenerálka and make your way to the farthest point of your journey - the Rejstřík trestů office in Nusle. A lengthy but scenic tram ride will drop you about a hundred metres from the entrance. From this office you can obtain the needed document to prove you haven't committed any criminal offense in the Czech Republic. If you haven't, you hand over 50 CZK and your passport and in return you get a signed and stamped document (Czechs love their stamps!) and you're completed with that step!

Depending on lengths of the line at the Rejstřík trestů, you still have time to visit a few more places before lunch, which by now you are probably already looking forward to. Now to the US embassy (or your embassy of choice).

Another tram ride through the city and a short walk through Mala Strana, you are greeted by four guards at the embassy doors interrogating your purpose to visit this it of US soil. After entering the embassy, abandoning your mobile phone and passing successfully through the medal detectors you make your way up a few flights of stairs to the US citizen services. Again grabbing a number and waiting. Again giving over your passport and some Czech crowns (this time 600 CZK!). Now you have obtained a document which states that you haven't been too naughty in the US.
What else today? Three photos with dimensions 45 x 35mm, take the US Criminal Record to be officially translated and finally settle on a place for dumplings and a good drink ... and breathe!

Don't worry, my dear blog-followers, there is still more to this exciting adventure - so be sure to stay tuned!