It isn't just in the mid-valley that money doesn't go as far as it once did.

Having to budget on a declining dollar has become a big challenge for Kristi Stahl, a former Albany resident on a Fulbright teaching exchange in the Czech Republic.

"The dollar has lost almost 15 percent of its value against the Czech crown since I arrived in August, and I have to assume it will only continue to fall throughout my time here," she wrote in an e-mail to the Democrat Herald.

The daughter of Ken and Carol Stahl is a 1992 graduate and former teacher at South Albany High School, now employed in Junction City. Because she is paid in dollars, her salary is decreasing proportionately as the dollar declines.

Mostly she notices the difference when traveling out of the tiny town in northern Bohemia where she lives. Visiting other countries to sightsee or conduct business is quite expensive, Stahl said. Poland is the exception because the country has not converted to the Euro.

To stretch her money, she takes advantage of free attractions, eats at low-cost restaurants and stays in no-frill hotels.

"Lodging costs are a killer," Stahl said. "A budget room at 40 to 50 Euros is more like $70 or $80 in American money."

Nevertheless, Stahl said she is having a "fantastic" time.

So far, she has visited Dresden in Germany and Krakow and Wroclaw in Poland. On Friday she leaves for five days in Switzerland with other teachers and students from her school.

As a history buff and teacher, she works to absorb as much as she can during guided tours on the effects of the Munich Pact and the Potsdam Conference in the Sudeten regions of Bohemia.

"I've been surprised at how little homesickness I've felt, and I've made some great friends here, and don't find myself feeling lonely or bored very often."

At her hotel and tourism school, Stahl teaches English to about 200 students. She will be in Europe for about a year.