Hitting the ground running...

Police and tear gas in the centre of Ljubljana

So much has happened in the last two weeks that it's hard to know where to start. As I wrote last time there have been protests in Ljubljana every week for the past month. On Tuesday last week different EU leaders arrived in Slovenia for a summit to discuss the entry of Balkan countries into the EU. The protestors decided to take advantage of the media spotlight on Slovenia. I won't go into the details but sufficed to say the police used tear gas and water cannons again. Unfortunately for me, I happened to be in the centre of Ljubljana that night for a choir practice. As we cycled together to practice, my friend said to me "are your eyes stinging?" The tear gas the police were using spread throughout the entire centre and permeated the building we were in. It was an interesting rehearsal with the sound of the police helicopter reverberating around and our throats and eyes being affected by the gas. None of us knew exactly what situation we would be going out into when we left. Fortunately the streets had quietened down at that point and although there were lots of police officers around I got home easily. There was another protest this week on Wednesday but it was quieter and much more contained than the previous couple. I expect these protests to continue so please keep praying for the country and the political situation here. 

As for me the last two weeks have been non-stop. I started my language course and I'm really enjoying it. I'm in the top group and there are only 4 of us in the class in total. It's hard work but I feel like much of what I had learnt previously is coming back to me. With my language classes, homework and Cornhill work I certainly have enough to keep me busy but I'm enjoying everything I'm doing and I feel like I'm learning lots. This next Wednesday I need to give my first talk for Cornhill this year. It's on 1 Peter 4: 1-11 if you're interested. Please be praying for my preparation and that I would be learning from the feedback I receive. 

On top of all this I'm still dealing with all the practical issues of moving to a new country. I've had fun organising the shipping of boxes and they've mostly arrived in one piece! Last Friday I attended an interview at the town hall to file my application for residency. It was a bit more complicated and stressful than I was expecting but the application is now in and so I just have to trust God and the process. I have a very official letter that says I'm not allowed to leave the country until I get an answer as to whether my application has been accepted or not. This shouldn't be a problem although I am praying that it will be organised sooner rather than later as I would like to be able to go to the UK for Christmas. I have been told that it will take at least a month but I'm hoping it won't be much more than that. 

It's hard to believe that I've been back in Slovenia for a month now. The time has gone so quickly and yet God has blessed me so much through his provision of accommodation and friendship and fellowship at church. Last night I hosted the Ladies' Bible Study (and will continue to host every other week). It was so nice to be able to meet in person and to be able to share what God has given me. Please continue to pray for me. Give thanks for all that God has given me but please be praying for me as I continue to settle in and deal with all my new responsibilities and workload.

Living in the New Normal...

Sunset from my balcony

Since I last wrote 2 weeks ago, things have gone a bit crazy here in Slovenia. I'm not going to try and give an opinion on anything that's happening only try and explain as best as I understand recent events. Slovenia currently has one of the highest Covid rates in Europe and as such has been put on Europe's dark red list (this is a different list to the UK one). As a result of high rates of cases and low take up of the vaccine, the government introduced new measures 2 weeks ago. Here it's called PCT (preboleli, cepljeni, testirani) and it essentially means that to use most services one has to prove that they have been vaccinated, have tested negative in the past 48 hours or have recently recovered from Covid. This affects everything from sitting inside in restaurants, to going to most shops to even meeting together as a church. As you can imagine there are a lot of people who are not happy with these new measures. Every Wednesday since they were introduced there have been protests and demonstrations in the centre of Ljubljana. The first one descended into a mini riot with police using water cannons and tear gas. The protest this week seemed to be even worse and lasted around 7 hours. They marched to different parts of the city but eventually they moved back to the centre. Some journalists were attacked and again police used water cannons and tear gas. I'm not sure how long it would have continued if that evening Ljubljana hadn't experienced one of the biggest storms for many years. According to Slovene news, more rain fell in a short period of time than had fallen in the previous 2 months combined. It was pretty impressive to watch! Anyway, this seemed to discourage the protestors and they eventually dispersed. I'm close enough to the centre that I heard some sirens and the helicopter flying around but it didn't affect me otherwise.

For me, the PCT conditions are more of an annoyance than anything. My NHS pass is valid here and most places just glance at it and it's all ok. However I'm never quite sure how the different security guards will react to it, especially if they try and scan the QR code, which won't work because it's not an EU pass. This led to me having an argument with one security guard. Eventually he let me in, mainly because he couldn't speak English, my Slovene was bad and I think he got bored!

Coffee on the hob

Apart from getting used to these conditions, I am feeling very at home back here in Ljubljana. I have been welcomed back by the church with open arms and it's been great getting to spend time with friends here again. I'm also getting to know new people and I have joined a choir. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to do something musical outside church and to get to spend time with non Christians. I continue to feel blessed by the flat I've been given and have been working to make it feel like home. I even bought a Slovene coffee pot so I can make it on the hob.

This week I started Cornhill online. It felt a little bit strange just watching videos and not interacting with people but I'm looking forward to getting stuck in. I also had a placement test for my language course which starts next week. I found out today that I've been placed in the upper intermediate class which I think is a fair reflection of my abilities. Please be praying for me as I start these courses, that I will be learning what God wants to teach me and that I would be a blessing to the people around me.

Overall, please be praying for the country of Slovenia. It's feeling very disunited and there are obviously strong feelings on all sides of the debate. No solution will ever please everyone but I really pray that God would be working in the hearts of people and that they would be able to come together peacefully to discuss the issues.