I have much blogging to make up for so here comes a doosey of a blog. ahem.

defenestration alert: there has been another victim of the kitchen window- my minced garlic. I had bought some very fresh (and potent) garlic from the corner store and had the brilliant idea to chop it all up so that it would be ready to hop into my pot at a moments notice. The unexpected side affect of this action was that the flat reeked and everytime you opened the fridge our eyes watered. Hmmm. I fought for the garlic but the vote was cast and it was sent flying to its doom in the garden. alas.

I was thrilled to note (on our first week of arrival but i have failed to write about it) that the intersection that we live on is Baranova and Kristanova. That’s right, someone in the clever Praha government knew of my arrival and named a street after me (they are so sweet!) even if they did spell it wrong. Thus I have a little bit of fame in Praha 3.




You know you are in Praha when…..you are riding on the tram and someone starts playing the accordion! We were packed on to tram 30, heading into town (i mean packed, like I was getting to know the people of Praha because I was in their face and there was no personal bubble) and all of the sudden this adolescent girl starts up a tune. It was quite soothing and people obligingly slipped coins into her plastic cup tapped to the side of her instrument. Sadly, she only rode for three or so stops, but I think her profits were good, so perhaps she will return to serenade us again.

Two weeks ago the girls and I did a walking tour with a man (slightly crazy) named Stephen. He was once a professor of History in Germany and apparently is in Prague working on a book or a movie or something. It was one of those unforgettable tours, but due more to the personality of our leader than the amount of information learned. It was wearying, however, for four of the five hours were spent walking. I really don’t know what I could say to give you the full experience of Stephen, its one of those things you just have to see for yourself. Stephen is a big softy, I think, under his gruffness, and today is his birthday. Happy Birthday Stephen!







So we get really excited about American food in Prague, you know, the things that they don’t do quite the same. For example, they don’t have Oreos here, they have to be sent from family or bought at exorbitant prices. We went with the Davis’ to a place called ‘Red, Hot, and Blue’ and they have a little cache of American delicacies, like mac and cheese, hard to find brown sugar, Oreos, Cheerios, and the like. I don’t have to describe the delight of Clark and Lucy at having more mac and cheese, the pics say enough.






Owen, Lucy, and Clark are possible the only people who love ice cream more than we three interns. Owen loves it so much that he has made up his own name for it and everyone is baffled as to its origin. To him, ice cream is ‘Ahmaney’ (I am spelling phonetically, since this word does not exist) He is starting to just say ice cream more, but Ahmaney is still strong in his understanding of a frosty delightful treat. This story is really just an excuse for me to put up cute pictures of all three eating Ahmaney at the pool.

Today was Jan Huss Day! Hooray! It was the anniversary of Jan Huss' martyrdom, a man who stood for church reformation, advocate for both the wine and bread elements of communion being given to the congregation and was against the church owning property among other things. We went to his statue and handed out fliers about who he was and his role in history, for the tourists but also the locals, because very few people know the true role of Jan Huss, as his role was manipulated by many a communist regime to represent different aspects of their agenda. Anyway, it was a beautiful day and some interesting conversations resulted from the pamphlets. Clark and Lucy were there, as well as Phil, Shanna, Sunny, Micheal, and Lauren, and these cute kids were quite the dynamic duo in handing out fliers. Who can resist these charmers, really!

After lunch, Lauren, Micheal, and I went to the clock tower and climbed to the top, for a great view of the city. Then we walked around on the other side of the river, enjoying the beautiful day.

Poor Becca has been sick the past three days, so she has be re-couping in the flat, but I think she is on the mend, so soon the three of us will be on the town again!

words in action

As many of you know I am a fan of big words, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered that Prague is the city from which the word defenestration was created. This word has always been one of my favorites because it single-handedly expresses a dramatic action,as it literally means 'to throw out of the window.' Its so great, it allows for smooth articulation of a threat, like "Hey buddy, you better watch yourself or I'll defenestrate you" or can expediently express an emergency situation "Oh No! She has been defenestrated!" Apparently the Czech people have had many incidences within their political history where they felt it was necessary to express their opinions or disagreement by housting those in disaccord out the window. (For another fun random fact, window is one of the few words I know in Czech, it is 'okno'). I believe once the initial defenestration occurred, the results were so satisfactory that whenever an appropriate occasion presents itself, Czechs cannot help but follow the same course of action. These people are brilliant, I think they invented the rubix cube as well, and contacts lenses.

We have had several defenestrations of our own since we have occupied our new flat a couple of stories up from our first flat. I believe I have already mentioned the defenestration of our poor sunflower. And last night Becca and Lauren had another defenestraion, this time the victim a helpless but hefty watermelon rind that had been eaten that afternoon. I do not know all the details since I was in bed when this occurred (though I did hear the whisper 'shh, quickly, before the logical one wakes up') but Lauren heralded the watermelons fall with a loud shout 'Ahoj down there!' and gleefull laughing and screaming as the rind plummeted all four stories. I can only imagine that the Czech's defenestrations were as successful.

Last tuesday we went to this amazing pool (see pictures on the Davis' blog, they go lots) and it has this incredible slide and no lifeguard so we can do whatever we want. All three of us girls would go down together, laughing and screaming. Unfortunately, the liberality of pool rules enables other people to abuse slide privelages as well, so our mini-slide train was constantly being followed by this other czech girl train of 7 to 8 teen girls. I was always the caboose and I can tell you there is no scarier thing than realizing that your train is too slow and there is soon to be a mad collison on the giant slide. Thankfully we always managed to spill into the pool, a mish mash of arms and legs, just before true disaster struck.

The Davis' good friends (you know, the really wonderful friends that you count as your family) Scoot and Cindy were here this week. They are a really great couple who have spent the last year in Rwanda, volunteering with a relief and development organization. I loved hearing their story and thoght it was so cool that here in Prague I have met so many people that have interests similar to mine in what they want to do in the world and how they want to help and impact the world.

I think now is a good time for my list of things I love in Prague:

1. There is no air conditioning so everyone leaves their windows open all the time, so we do too, which always creates a great breeze through our flat. Also, everyone has beautiful lace curtains in their windows, which always leaves beatiful shadows across the floor. But what is my favorite thing is when the breeze is blowing so hard that is pulls the curtain out the window and then brings it back into the house again. Its not a violent breeze, but want to suspends the curtain in the air so that when we are sitting just beneath the curtain it is like we are in our own lace tent. (even if this phenomenon is responsible for pushing our potted sunflower out of the window and onto the pavement four stories below us. ouch)

2. I love getting up early and walking all the way to the other side of the river. I don't know how far it is, but most mornings there is still a cool breeze and it is not very crowded and then I can go to kafico and sit and drink a whole entire pot of tea (usually Assam).

3. I love all of the parks that are tucked away in places you would never suspect, hidden behind walls, so that I can always pretend I am Mary in 'The Secret Garden'

4. I love Cream and Dream. Last night I had mixed berry, coconut, and yougurt. YUM!

5. I like being able to ride the metro without having to hold on, it doesn't always happen, but I like it when I can pull it off.

6. I love when it rains in Prague, whether I am riding a tram or leaning very far outside of our window before an afternoon shower breaks.

7. I like that the sun doesn't fully set until 10 pm and it is up by 5 am.

8. I like how everyone has dogs.

9. I like wearing skirts everyday.

10. I like the smells of fresh baked bread that are everywhere.

Thats all for now- until later...

I must apologize for the lapsed time between my last post and this, especially upon announcing that I did get my long awaited americorp job in Colorado. I am very excited about my job there and the program, but am trying not to get too ahead of myself and am trying to stay focused here, on life in Prague.

but now for a very long, detailed, and excellent blog to make up for lost time.

um, where to start. Monday.

On monday night we met our Prague friend Micheal at Cream and Dream for a little late night snacky snack of the ice cream variety (though i hate to say we go too often, the staff is beginning to recognize us due to our frequent visits). After our ice cream fix we met up with June, a young man from Japan that lived in the U.S. but is now studying in Italy, that we met at the U.S.A vs. Italy world cup match that we were all watching at the large screens in Old Town Square (note: he was not rooting for the Italians, he says they are mean). We wondered the Streets of Praha on this beautiful night, crossing the Charles Bridge when it was not crowded and searching for the John Lenon wall, which was elusive and we could not find it. It was definately one of our best nights thus far in Prague.



Me with my treasured ice cream and my smart new hat, very newsies, eh?




Tuesday was a exciting and long day, as it was the day of our first cookout at Sir Toby's. We got there early and cut up the watermelon and all the rolls (because they do not have hotdog buns) and then at the appropriate time fired up the grill and threw on the dogs. The crowd slowly trickled in and I would say we had about 30 people there for dinner. There was also live music, which was great and lots of fun. I was manning the grill and brushed aside Lauren's well-meant critic of the dogs appearance, for the dogs were all splitting wide open from the heat. Becca and I both teased her for interfering in the affairs of meat, since she is a vegetarian. Well, it was only after we had fed the hostel guests 50 of our 60 hotdogs,that we realized that the hotdogs were individual wrapped in plastic!! And we had been cooking them with the plastic on!! And people were eating them!! Including me!! I don't know if that is a testament to the Czech's ability to create a good hotdog, because people gobbled them up despite the plastic wrapping, but GOOD GRIEF!! In classic intern style we just tried to poison all of our new cookout friends!! well, reports are in that no one died or was violently ill, but I have a renewed belief that I need to learn as much Czech as possible so we can discern those key phrases on food packages like "peel off plastic before cooking."

This weekend Lauren and I hopped off to Cesky Krumluv, a picteresque town about three hours south of Praha by bus. Becca stayed in Praha in order to have some time to herself and enjoy the empty flat. Lauren and I had a true cultural experience getting to Krumluv, because we know no czech and, um, had no idea what we were doing. We got to the bus station and when we inquired about tickets, the lady just pointed us to one of the bus pick up stops. and we waited for the bus, with out any idea if we could still get on the bus and anticipating much confusion when we tried to get on without a ticket. Traveling without knowledge of the language is really like playing a game where you don't know any of the rules. Well, we watched everyone in front of us, gave the driver money, and purchased ourselves a standing spot on the bus. Thankfully we didn't have to stand all three hours, after an hour and a half lots of people got off and we were able to sit down. But we were still wondering what was going on because we had no idea where to get off and the bus kept stopping and starting again, the bus driver would talk and we had no idea what was going on. but we made it. amazingly enough.

Cesky Krumluv is a great little town, the main attraction (in my eyes) is that the historic part of the city is surrounded by the Vlatava, so you can canoe or float on innertubes around the little island city. and it has a castle and lots of beautiful scenery. The houses are all so tiny and cute, like little hobbit homes. We stopped by the Krumluv house hostel first, because it was recommended to us but we ended up staying in the Ryba hostel, which is owned by an eccentric, non-english speaking crazy woman. It was great. We stayed in the attic with at least 16 other people--truly I was able to become Cinderella for 24 hours, attic room, castle, gorgeous old town-what more could a girl want! (I was tempted to sub in the hostel owner for the scary step-mother, but for all her oddities was was way too nice to do scary.) We finally got to our hostel (our progress was only slowed by our exclamations of delight and our stopping to take pictures every five seconds) and then went to a great vegetarian restaurant and were able to sit right along the river.




me in my bed




Then we walked a bit and went to bed. We woke up early the next day, shopped a bit, and then hopped on inner tubes and floated around the river. It was great fun, but now it is good to be back in Praha with Becca-the trio is reunited!!

places we floated:

I got the Americorp job in Colorado.





And I just went outside and danced in a Czech thunderstorm.





Hoorah!!

The Vlatava















old town square 'Go USA!' (this is supposed to be a video, is it playing?)















Saturday night was free museum night in the city of Prague and it was great! Phil, Shanna, Chris, Laura, Becca, Lauren, Michael, Sunny, and I whizzed through a photography exhibit, then stuffed ourselves (literally) onto buses out to old castle grounds to see a gothic cellar exhibit (the view of the Vlatava from the hill was great, i think this old castle was where a certain czech princess/prophetess stretched out her arms and declared "...and here will be created a city to be called 'Prague'" or something of that sort) then onto another crowded bus back to old town for cream and dream (the best ice cream ever, we go as often as possible, like tonight as well). Then we went to Old Town Square to watch the USA world cup match against Italy (at least the second half) because huge screens are set up in public places for everyone to watch. It was super fun, though we tied 1 to 1. boo.

This Tuesday we are doing a free cook out at Sir Tobys, we will be cooking up free hot dogs while there is some live music (some guitar dude). We are really excited, hoping for a good turn out (yay for free food!) and lots of good time meeting and hanging out with folks.

Oh, we also met some girls from Clemson that we hung out with last Friday, it was great to hear that good ol' southern accent while abroad. It was quite funny actually, because we three interns had eaten breakfast at Sir Toby's on Thursday and had seen these four girls there, commenting to ourselves how they looked nice and we tried a couple of times to strike up a convo but we always chickened out. Then that night, two of them walk into Bible study at the Davis'! All of our jaws dropped in astonishment. The girls actually know some young guys who are planning to come out and start a hostel in Prague, with intentions of using it as a ministry, and these guys had spent time with both the Davis' and the Syvertsons and so the girls searched out the Bible study. It was hilarious, well at least to the three of us, because we had discussed them amongst ourselves that morning, how we wished we had been brave enough to make friends with them. And then here they were. We told them all about our silliness and made plans to hang out with all of them the next day. We toured Prague castle (or at least walked around the grounds, we haven't quite figured out this castle yet) and then ate a delicious dinner at Bohemian Bagle. We had a really really good time. I wish I had a picture of them but I don't. and I vow from now on never to chicken out when my instinct tells me to go make friends...

Our friend the peacock, whom we now call Ferdinand. Regal yet sassy.
view of Prague from old castle stairs

Lauren and I

another picture from the park

The other day I was walking through a beautiful park that is my new favorite place in Prague. But I guess that is what is great about Prague, that we keep discovering new places that are beautiful and that we love. But this day was really hot and I has hiking through the hills of this park and there are all these little paths, trails made by other park lovers, that lead to wonderful vistas and you feel like an explorer in a vast forest. It was beautiful! I can't even describe the feelings of happiness and contenment I felt as I traveled through this park and through my thoughts.

It has been really great to explore the city by myself as well as with the girls. I think I am really a person that needs time to talk to myself to sort out my mind and my thoughts in order to maintain my sanity. I love the parks for this reason, there are parks tucked away everywhere, behind walls, in between houses, and they are all amazing. The park near the Davies house and ruins and (get this!) a vineyard and a wine bar where they serve the wine that is created by the vineyard. and it is beautiful.

We are moving to our new flat tomorrow and it is amazing because it has an extra room so Lauren won't have to live in the kitchen anymore!! we are so excited!! This Saturday we are going to go to the Pilsner Brewery and then the Free Museum Crawl that is going on in Prague, where all the museums are free!! woo hoo!!

Another exciting note, is that this Sunday the team is going to start their own church services, which is really exciting to see and is really exciting to be a part of, to see the beginning of a church, even if it is a small, somewhat internal beginning.

Oh! and I finally had my americorp interview. I have been calling Fanny (the lady who would be my boss) over and over and finally got a hold of her. I was really myself and this I expressed myself well (if anyone does not know, I am applying for an Americorp program in Colorado that would begin in August, working with homeless families) so now its just up to the Lord. We will see what happens. It is in between me and one other candidate. Please pray for me, my decisions, but it is really hard to (and kind of a bummer) to think about this while here, so I am hoping to not stress over it and to be here in the moment.

We have been hanging out at the pub and meeting people and listening to the God and praying a lot. It is good. I hope that gives you a glimpse of what is going on, I feel very comfortable here already, I am learning to love the pace and style of the city. There is much to learn here and much work to be done.

Today Laruen and I were walking in a park and we found a peacock. yes a real one. hanging out in the park. It was so unexpected and so cool. I will try and get pictures but it is so long to post them. We also saw some churchs, St. Nicholas' and Bethleham Chapel, the latter were John Huss preached. John Huss is a reformer pre Luther and I believe motivated/ inspired by John Wycliffe and was killed for his beliefs.





the end, love christa

Lauren in a park, taking a picture.














a little side street that my favorite cafe is on, Kafico. Its on the opposite side of the river than we live on, on the side of the castle. Speaking of the castle, I think we have decided to go see James Blunt perform there, in light of the lack of quality local music outside of the classical and jazz genre. i am not a big james blunt fan...but hey, its in a castle.

Oh my friends, I am sorry for the long delay in postings, but my computer is fickle and I am dispised (or I dispise) chezch keyboards, it seems that they will not allow me to sign in any of my passwords (or my one password I use for everything) to get to my e-mail and blog. so. here i am. but i have made a list of things to talk about. so i begin. 1. In Prague one must remove your shoes once entering someone's home. Generally people have their indoor shoes and their outdoor shoes, because everyone walks everywhere and the streets are really dirty (dust, dirt, lots of dogs and no pooper scoopers) so it is polite to take off your shoes before entering. Its fun. 2. In Prague it is appropriate to eat ice cream any time of the day. Children will be walking down the street at 8 am, with their mothers, eating a cone. I ordered waffles for breakfast and they had a scoop of ice cream on top. I knew I loved this country. Ice cream anytime. 3. Our grocery shopping/ cooking experience in Prague has been very interesting. Prague is the mecca of yogurt but that is one of the only things we know that we can buy without getting any strange surprises. no, we are doing pretty good, but I must say the first meal we cooked ourselves was eggs, broccoli, and bread with nutella. for dinner. (On that note, thankyou Shanna for the leftover lasagna which sustained us this evening). Again, yay ice cream! 4. The metro system here is pretty easy, I think we have it pretty much mastered. To get to the metro one must travel down an escelator (sp) that is much like a windtunnel, alarmingly fast and steep and windy. Apparently the metros require these crazy escelators (sp) because the metro stops also doubled as bomb shelters when built. huh. note: beware of skirts in the wind tunnel. 5.We went to the communist museum the other day and it was so interesting to learn more of the history of this area. I learned so much and my favorite part was the footage of the riots and velvet revolution that led to the overthrow of communism here in 1989. It is so amazing that these events were so recent and still such a part of the lives of people here. and it explains much of the society, like the complete lack of any worthwhile Czech pop/rock music, because it was all banned during the communist era! (some underground bands exsisted, most well known the Plastic People of the Universe, which, from the clip, were not of high musical caliber, besides the fast they were mutilating a cello. so not cool.) 6. Apparently everyone in Prague has sword. We have seen numerous people (well, three, but we are keeping a running count and other people have their own sword accounts as well) carrying sword under their jackets on the metro or strapped on their back on the tram. i am looking for my own, so I can truly adapt to this culture. enough said. 7.I really wish I had brought my cello. 8. One day we went to the Louvre Cafe, we had hot chocolate, which is melted chocolate bar in a cup and after out yummy treat we were taking a picture of the outside of the building. A gentleman came up to me, asked me if I was American. "Um, Yes" I said, thinking oh gosh is it that obvious (its not because today someone asked me for directions in Czech, mistaking me for a native, haha!) and then he asked if I could kick. "Um, kick?" "yes, kick," he replied. "um, yes" He continued, "I will give you 100 crowns (four dollars ish) if you kick my hand" "what?" "100 crowns if you kick my hand!" I said no confusedly, and he walked away sheepishly, but I have no idea what his motives could have possibly been. i have no idea. 9. Today the three of us girls went our seperate ways for some alone time and personal exploring time. I found my new favority cafe, Kafico (sp) where I read and had tea and honey cake. it was marvelous. 10. Last night the girls and I shared our life stories with Laura and Chris and it was great because I had not even heard the testimonies of Lauren and Becca. It was wonderful to hear how God had worked in their lives and how we were all coming from hard places, how God was changing us and using us in our imperfect, broken states. His grace is so big. 11. I am doing okay, though am a little restless today, having to adjust to the slow pace of the city. I am also beginning to miss talking to my family and friends. I was walking around by myself and just thinking about what I would say to each of you. But I definately feel I am supposed to be here and cannot wait to see what each day brings. the end for now.

Becca vacuming in the pub.


Yesterday, The third of June (Happy Birthday Katrina and Ellen!!) we slept in (until 12.30-1pm), went grocery shopping, and walked from our flat, through old town, across Charles Bridge (beautiful but such a tourist trap, we barely looked around for racing across the bridge as fast as possible because we all dislike slow walkers and crowds), explored the other side of the river (called the Vlatava), walked along the river, explored all the parks we found, ate dinner at Einstein's pizza (yes, like the inventor) and then headed to Sir Toby's Hostel and Pub. The Hostel is owned by a German guy named Mathias (who has a wife named Carrie) but the pub beneath is leased by the other missionaries here, Chris and Laura. It is beyond cool. Chris and Laura are just going to start managing another pub/hostel called the Check-in (get it, Czech, Check), so pray for them as they take on this huge new project. We will be helping in the pub in various ways, organizing events, cleaning, helping out, especially as Chris and Laura find their time crunched by their new commitments. I also tried my first glass of Prague (Bernard) beer (don't tell anyone, but I still don't like beer, Becca had to finish my glass, what a pansy I am! maybe I will like beer by the end of the trip...) We chatted it up with some patron/hostel folk, though it was a slow night, some folks from Ohio etc. It was really fun. Then we headed home for the night (we have pretty much mastered the tram/ metro system) and then two watched Gilmore girls episodes (season two) and ate nutella toast before going to bed.

Today we went to church at Antioch Church (a Church of God International Church, very small, cool people) and then had a team meeting with Chris, Laura, Phil, and Shanna. The week after next the team is going to start their own Church services, which is so exciting (next week we are going back to Antioch and they are going to pray for the team as they begin to start this new stage of their ministry)

I just want to say I love the girls I am with and it is so evident to me that God has all brought us here as messy, imperfect individuals to seek Him out, listen for direction, and share the Gospel with those we meet. Hooray. There are many great things ahead.

The First Prague Blog

Becca, Lauren and I before heading to the airport.
Hello Friends! I am now in the beautiful city of Prague, just having completed our first full day. So much has already happened...i don't know where to start. so I will just go and see what comes.

I arrived at the Philly sending center of WHM at about 2.10 pm on Tuesday the 30th of May. All the interns were there (the girls I will be in Prague with, the kids in Uganda, Ireland, and Romania). We discussed more of what WHM is about, some cultural issues we will encounter while abroad-just the discomfort of culture shock and such things-which was really great. There was time spent sharing among all the interns which was really helpful in establishing that we were all on the same page as far as fears and worries and hopes. My fellow Prague interns, Lauren and Becca flew to Frankfurt with the Romanian interns (KJ and Mary) on Wed. From there we took another shorter flight onto Prague while KJ and Mary went on to Budapest and then on to Romania.

Our flight to Frankfurt was about 8 hours long, plus a three hour layover there before heading on, so to say the least we were so tired! I got the most sleep on the plane, four hours- thankfully Phil Davis ( Our fearless leader in Prague, along with his wife Shanna) met us at the airport. We are staying at this cute little flat for two weeks and then we are moving to a larger one upstairs. The flat is great but today (you will not believe this) Lauren got locked in the bathroom for a n hour and fifteen minutes when the door got stuck and the latch broke. After many attempts to open the door the screwdrivers a brilliant Czech man was summoned who opened the door instantly. Lauren was a little claustrophobic, but we made it. It was bizarre to say the least.
We also met some other folks here, at the Thursday night bible study the Davis' have weekly.

Today we got metro passes, explored, ate pizza, Lauren got locked in the bathroom, rode the metro by ourselves, had dinner with the Davis' and discussed the summer. Since the Davis' long term goal of planting a church has not been acheived yet and we are the first interns here, so this summer will be a lot about building realtionships, experiencing the culture, listening to God, and getting to know the Davis'. I am really excited about being here (Understatement).

okay thats all I have for now, I hope it makes sense. I am trying to post some pictures.

This Becca's blog, please feel free to read it to fill in any holes from mine :)
www.outsideofkarma.blogspot.com

So tomorrow I leave to go to Philly and from there I will go on to prague. It is still surreal. But as I am finishing packing, organizing my last things I realized that this will be the last time I will ever sleep in my bedroom in this house. My wonderful jungle green room with my mosquito netting princess bed and all my pictures and things everywhere. and if I get the job in Colorado I will be permenately moved out of my parents house. So really, what is going on here is a lot more than a trip across the atlantic to another country. This is the leap of a bird from the home nest, a spreading of my wings. (but don't worry Mom I may be a yo-yo bird, I may pop right back to the nest again!) What great people and adventures lie ahead!

i have let you down megan, i am sorry. but if it makes you feel better, all i have been doing is painting and packing really. i constantly feel like there is tons of stuff i need to do so i have been compulsively writing and re-writing lists. but as soon as i finish an entire list, a new one is made and looming over me.

i am doing really good right now (because a. i am going to prague b. i am really going to prague in just over a week) and have so much floating in my head i can't possibly write it all down (thats what i get for waiting so long to blog, overload, lost stories) but oh well thats life.

i have to go get stuff done, but first a quick Bible verse interpretation by Hallsey the magnificent (age 4) :
'The faithfulness of brothers and sisters, if you have them, you can hit them'

preach it sister.

This evening I was watching children at the church while some sort of leadership meeting went on. The children were picked up in stages and with the last couple kids we played four corners, but with colors, because we had these giant foam squares in primary colors that were perfect for the game. well, some more children left and only little Parker was left (he was four or five) and he liked four corners so much he insisted we continue the game. He placed the four squares next to each other the told me and the other teacher to walk while he counted.
"forty-two, forty-five, forty, forty...., forty-five--Boo!"
"okay pick a color Parker"
"purple!"
"There is no purple Parker, you have to pick red, yellow, blue, or green"
"uh, lellow"
"Oh you got me, I was on yellow"
"okay Parker count again"
"forty-two, forty, forty-three, forty-five...Boo!"
"What color Parker?"
"purple!"
"There is no purple, pick another"
"Blue"
"oh, no one is on blue, try again"
"Purple!"

and so on. He even made sure that Miss Lindsey and I both had turns counting. what a great little boy.

nothing has happened yet today.

today my dad and i painted...a lot. and there is still lots to do!! but i really enjoyed it, because painting is one of those activities that does not take much talent, is condusive to thinking, and you can see the results of your labor very quickly. or quickly enough. so as i was painting the house my parents are going to move into i was thinking about when we built the house we are in now, how, before the dry wall was up, we placed pennies from that year in the walls, sort of like a mini time capsule to the future and a blessing on our new home at the same time. this made me very very glad that i could help my dad get the house ready, paint, redo cabinets and the like, so that i can take part in this new home i probably won't live in, because it is still my home because my parents are there and with them resides the heart and hope of our family. Have you ever watched swiss family robinson? I love that movie and watched it a lot when i was little (one of the few films that me and my brothers could agree to watch, that and Cheetah)-if you have seen it, do you remember the part where they have finally finished building the tree house and they blindfold the mother and walk her through their new home, showing her the luxeries they had eeked out of the unknown, to comfort them and shelter them as they try to survive in this new, unknown environment? That is what I felt like Dad and I were doing for Mom today, creating a new, beautiful place for her, because she has worked so hard, sacrificed so much of herself for our family and we love her so very much. i think my mom is one of the bravest people i have ever known, in life or fiction.

i love rainy days. today, while starting the atrocious task of packing up my room, i opened my blinds, something i rarely do because they are broken and take forever to coax them to let in the sunlight. but today i just took them down and delighted in the sunlight that managed to weasle its way past the clouds. My favorite part of having the windows open on a rainy day is that from my window you can just see the corner of the roof that covers the bay window in the dining room, and i love watching the rain stream down the roof, in the path created by the roof tiles, and gush into the gutter. i don't know why but i like it, maybe because its like my own personal suburban waterfall.

so my parents are moving to a new house--one closer to the university, so we are starting to clean out our house. well, in the attic mom found a victorian barbie, still pristine in her box. she asked me why i never played with it. I responded, surprised, that I was under the impression that i was not allowed to play with the doll, because it was a collectors item and therefore I had resigned myself to only stare at her through the box. well, said my mom, i don't think i ever said that but what do you want to do? do you want to give it away? save it? Heck no! said i as i began to tear through the box. So, after years of waiting, I finally get to play with my victorian barbie (and she has a real bustle!!!)






side note-what happened at the end of the Wagner opera?

i have found the calling of my youth...I will be a dectective.












or a puppeteer.














or a cook. (thats my grandma)











or a hiker.







(bear with me, i have too much free time and a scanner)


now for a quick montage of my beloved late puppy, Lady.




























and a final shot of myself to satisfy my vainity.


As a very sophisticated and blase fifth grader (really i have no idea how old i am here) Disney World had no claim on my interest. I am completely absorbed in my book, having just put out my ciggarette in the ash tray I am hovering over, my straw hat hiding my disdain for mickey mouse. and my brother is confused.

today i put a pear in my purse to eat during my break at work. and it got smushed. all over my library book.

after work i called my Dad to let him know my plans and i caught my parents while they were talking to my brother and sister in Japan. They held the phone up to the microphone so i could talk to them (which didn't really work) but in my attempt to communicate I shouted 'I love you!!' in the Borders parking lot, quite loud so the sound waves could make it all the way Japan. My cry was so convincing and full of feeling that some pedestrains misconstrued my meaning and shouted exclamations of love back to me.

I have been listening to the book 'Sister Carrie' on tape for the past two weeks. It is a very long book and I won't bore you with the details of the plot, only to say that I am hooked enough on the story that I am going to finish wading through all twelve casettes. The reader is a woman whose voice I find kind of annoying, especially when she tries to do men's voices, I can't say what bothers me, but something does. The tapes are really old some parts of the recording are damaged, but I think the damaged portions are my favorite. One minute the heroine is arguing with her lover when suddenly they are underwater! After a few minutes the waters will subside, only to suddenly engulf them when they are parting in anger! What an unexpected plot twist! Then, in casette seven, there is an echo and each line is repeated by a chorus of ghosts, mimicking the reader's voice. It is so eerie and I completely loose interest in the story, turning up the volume so I can hear the secret message the ghosts are trying to relate through the speakers. In the pause between each sentence you can hear warped fragments of what had just been said and I get goosebumps every time. I wonder what casette eight will bring!

I figured out how to post pictures!! This is a group photo from Lexington, Va, where I met all the folks with World Harvest Missions that are involved in the summer internship program. Can you find me?

Trust walk in the snow--isn't it beautiful!

Today was a wonderful day off, I finally took care of lots of things that needed to be done, like laundry and taxes. My Dad was helping do my taxes, poor man. 'Daddy,' I would ask winningly (though probably more whine-ingly) 'What does this mean on line 8a?' In the midst of his patient explanation I will interrupt suddenly and snap, 'okay okay! I've got it!,' growling as I continue on with the tax form, 'Don't be so patronizing!' My grumbling would go on until the next problem, 'Daddy? line 10?' Basically it comes to this, even when I ask for help, I hate being told what to do. Especially by my parents. Its like there is a light switch in my head and when any kind of didactic information flows from my parents mouth I turn into mr. hyde-christa, having no patience or curtesy at all, lashing out like a crazed hyena. And then I get over it until they try to tell me to do something again. Thank goodness for reverse psychology otherwise my parents would have given me away long ago. My Dad comments that his 'revenge' will be that I will marry someone just like him (goofy, warm-hearted, generous, kind) so that I will have someone to tease, tell me what to do, and drive me crazy all the time. What a charming karma!! (love ya Dad mwah)

ha and i blog again.

It has been two weeks since I have watched children at church or at the lovely home of the Fergusons, due to spring breaks and such things and it was wonderful to be back with the kids again. At church I helped watch the four and five year olds instead of my normal one and two year old crowd. It is so much fun to be around kids who can talk instead of just cry and point and poop (though, do not get me wrong, the sweet babies have their charms as well) but i really enjoyed listening to the long monologues of these budding orators. The gorgeous weather drew us out to the playground where a boys vs. girls game of tag immediately commenced. I, new to the group, had no idea that this had occured, that the boys were dubbed The Bears and the girls Baby Cheetahs, and that I was in the midst of a fierce battle. I was just running from anyone who roared at me, which was everyone. An astute girl, named Emily, sensing my confusion and fear, came to my rescue. 'Don't worry teacher, I will scare them off for you,' and she ran off singing at the boys who had cornered me, 'Will you come and dance with me? Will you come and dance with me?' I was dumbfounded by the innate intuition of this girl who knew that asking a boy to dance would indeed scare him soundly and cause him to flee. And flee they did. (though later Emily explained that it was her great speed that scared them off and she was just singing to make me feel better. Still, the image was quite funny). And so Emily and I, in addition to a little girl named Natalie, formed a third coalition in this animal war, the Peaceful Parakeets, and we cheeped and tweeted our way around the playground, flying out of harms way when necessary.

At work a customer brought me a book that they had found mishelved in true crime. It was President Clinton's book 'My life.'

Tonight with the Ferguson kids, we danced to veggie tales (I have to buy myself a cd!) and played with a long cardboard box that we cut eye and arm holes into, at appropriate heights for both Haywood and Hallsey. Oh how I wish I had a camera so you could see their thrilled faces as they tottered about in this box, shuffling their feet so that they were constantly knocking themselves over. Ah, the simple joys of cardboard.

***for my previous blog a new acronym has been suggested Many Atrciously Retched Christa Hours, please note this improvement*****


so i am going to buy a digital camera and am very excited about the possiblity of having lots of pics to post on my blog. i am doing my father proud by reading consumer reports and doing internet research and all those things that smart consumers do. i think i am going for a canon.

Tonight after the store closed the phone rang and it was a customer who was outside the door demanding to be let in because her clock just read 11 and we should let her in because we closed early (which we hadn't, it was clearly five after) but she was really angry, hung up on me, and i must admit i was a little afraid going out to my car that she would attack me. she didn't. i was mentally preparing my defensive retaliation just in case.

I have to get up early tomorrow and have a crazy day, child care from 9 to 11.30, Borders from 12 to 6, and babysitting from 6.30 to 9.30, and i am not tired yet. but i think i must go to bed or tomorrow i will die. will keep all posted on how i survived my crazy day (which, really, is nothing compared to school schedules of the old days) but i am an old fogie now and cannot handle such demanding constraints. thank goodness I will pass a carribou twice in the day ( the coffee store, not the animal)

i ran 7 miles today and must say I am immensely proud of myself. and it was very hard. well mi 1 and 2 were good ( and hilly), 3 and 4 hard, 5 and 6 okay, 7 very hard. thankfully the voices in my head kept cheering me on. heaven knows how i will manage 8 next week!

ok i really am going to bed now.

so it has been almost a month since my last blog. an awful month. and i will say no more about it, but thank goodness it is over! and now it is April and with April comes glorious spring and my last month working at Borders! I love Borders and books and the people there but I am very very very excited about doing something new. And I am hatching lots of plans of what to do if I don't get the job I want (really! really! want) in Colorado. bicycle across the US. Go to South America. Teach engrish in Japan. Live in a tent in the woods indefinately. do nothing for as long as possible. or do something I am passionately obsessively passionate about. I like the last option best. Because I think March (My Atrociously Retched Christa Hours) was awful because I allowed myself to become isolated from people and things I love. I allowed myself to become overcome by mundanity. and I want anything but to be stagnant--peaceful, yes, stagnant, no. And I was so consumed with my own emotions and self, so consumed with the lies about who I really am, that I stopped seeking out People. And People are essential. I love People. And to all of you that still have People surrounding you and you don't have to go far to have someone to be with, to talk to, do not take it for granted, relish in it. because People need People.

today when i was helping a man at the registers, I heard him lean over and speak to his son who was playing with the magazine rack. I didn't hear the whole conversation but caught the youngsters name, which was Copeland. I expressed my admiration of the name to the father and asked if he was called after the composer or was it a family name. He responded, both-the composer was in the family. i should have gotten the boy's autograph :)

i am grumpy today and the fact that i cannot pinpoint a reason why, other than the blasted wrong side of the bed must be harrassing me again, just augments my hatefulness. i cannot even stew in my meaness without being plagued by the knowledge that many more people have many more reasons than i to be grumpy. but, thankfully, i have reached deep within myself for hidden resources and have carefully sheilded my negativity from all thoughts of attitude being the paintbrush of life or other such nonesensical quotes that haunt my memory from middle school, and am still unabashedly a grump.

Favorite book titles of the day:
'The day my butt went psycho,' a book title not to be outdone by the other titles by the same author, such as 'Butt wars: the final conflict' and 'Zombie butts from Uranus,' titles surely to appeal to the 8-12 year boys they were intended for....um....and me.

'I will never not ever eat a tomato' another book from the childrens section. This is amusing simply because it reminds me of a time, when i was four or five, that i was staying at a friends house while my parents were out of town and i refused to eat my sandwhich at lunch because i did not want the tomatos. i was forced to sit at the table for HOURS until i ate it. i don't think i ever did finish the sandwhich. I am sure i was a snot about the whole episode, very much deserving the weighty sentence, but at the time, even at my young age, i felt the event quite unjust and was filled with all of the righteous indignation a five- year-old can muster. Not only did she want me to eat tomatos, she wanted me to drink fruit juice too! me, a girl who from birth only drank water, milk, apple juice, and the occasional hot cocoa. I think my dislike for plain, raw tomatos continues to this day out of sheer stubborness.

i am feeling bloggish.

word of warning: never get between a Yuppie and their coffee. bad things happen. very bad things.

so its amazing how you have mini-moments with people. sometimes, not often, but sometimes, in the time it takes me to find a customers book and give it to them, a connection is formed between me and the person i am helping. for me, these moments generally happen with old women, as it seems i have the same tastes and preferences as women of 60+ years. A few days ago i met a woman looking for a nat king cole cd (i love nat) and so as we headed over to the easy listening section, i asked if she wanted a particular album. She responed easily, no i just want something with ramblin' rose on it. I told her i knew the song and continued chatting and come to find out the reason she wanted the cd because her husband had passed away (bless his soul, said she) and she wanted to listen to his favorite song while thinking about him. She wasn't sad, she just stated the facts, and we found her the cd. we talked a few more minutes and she went happily away, saying that she would now think of me too whenever she listened to nat. i guess in my romantic nature, i like and find it beautiful that she can think of her husband who is gone without extreme sadness or bitterness, bitterness often seems closely tied to death. instead, she is able to remeber the time they had with joy. my written account does not capture the sweetness of this woman and even 'sweet' seems to be a word too saccharine and cliche to describe her, she was true, simple, honest, vulnerable, and loving. i liked her a lot.

so i spent at least a half-hour writing a lengthy and, dare i say, brilliant blog when i scooted my computer too far forward and -poof-it was unplugged and all was lost.
i fear i cannot muster a full recreation, but rather an abbreviated blog-ness.

I think each day is full of humor and awkwardness and things that make me laugh. Unfortunately, the little happenstances that make me smile and giggle ususally occur when i am by myself with no one to share it with, or no one understands why i find these things so delightful in the first place. What follows is a list of things that make me laugh or i just really like:

-my red cross shirt that says 'give a gift from the heart' ewww.

-climbing the ladders in the store, i love being high up and looking at everyone. i don't know, its fun.

-speaking of ladders, when i am an 'adult' (ie own land, have disposable income) the first thing i am going to do is build a tree house. Its going to be amazing, i am going to build it myself. And i will have an orchard, garden, and...Huge aviaries filled with birds. Maybe. When i have my tree-raising party you will all be invited.

-i like knowing where i book is without having to look it up on the computer.

-i like reading, so much that now i always have at least two books with me at all times. A consequence of my job, i suppose. i admire anyone that can convey a clear picture or emotion through a simply gathering of words-i myself am prevented from doing so due to my verbosity.

-i like walking from one side of the store to another in the most linear path possible.

-i like how everybook in the store has a spot, even though the books are always shifting and moving, as people take things out and put things in, they all still have their proper place.

-i like banging the espresso mush out of the espresso thingy-me-bob and scaring all the people around me. and i like putting whip cream on things.

-i like listening to my blinker click consistently against whatever music is on, slowly transitioning in and out of sync.

- i want to hike the AT sooooooooo badly. that is all i am going to say about that.

- i love organic peanut butter.

-i like watching other people trip and try to act like it didn't happen. don't think you can pretend it away! clumsy -ness is God reminding us to have a sense of humor. er, well me anyway.

-I like meeting people that you instantly have something in common with, its like an instant understanding of someone's soul, and then you never see them again.

-i like being the first one up and moving through the house, or driving, or walking when no one else is around.

-i like to walk or see other people walking or riding bikes instead of driving. i wanted to look at bikes today, to buy one, but the store didn't open until 11 am! i was there at ten and didn't want to wait. oh well, next time.

-i like changing my voice when i answer to phone at work, or changing the way i pronunciate words, thus throwing the customer off-guard, gaining the upper hand, and forcing the customer to buy books i love, all before they know whats hit them.

the end.

pink martini

So last night i went to a concert with my Aunt and Cousin. I had no idea what to expect and was doubly skeptical because the band's name was Pink Martini. hmmm. but i shall waste no words in telling you that it was amazing! It is a 12 piece cuban/ 30s crooner/classical group and I am in love with all of them (especially the cello). They played their own original compositions as well as classical works by cuban composers (except for balero by ravel, gorgeous), words fail to describe how much I enjoyed it. I bought a cd and talked to the band and had them all sign it afterwards. My friends, i cannot write more because the cd is playing and I have to get up and dance. I will make anyone a copy who wants it, so i won't have to dance alone.




www.pinkmartini.com

So today I went running for the first time in weeks! I have been an absolute bum and today I was like dude enough of this its time to begin again. so i did. and i remembered how much i love to run! yes, i am slow, but its like your lungs get cleared out and the brisk fresh air fills them up and you push yourself further than you expected you could go. And I just had to share, that as I was running, I came to that mental bridge that I have to cross every time I run, where I say to myself, okay you have gone far enough, and i let myself walk. But today I pushed on, said to myself 'I really am a NINJA!' and went on. Today three miles down, soon to be more and more.

I overheard a co-worker ranting about how silly Christmas is, that the romans just took over a pagan religious holiday a be-jillion years ago to show power and thus this holiday it simply a political power-play and that Jesus was really born in June etc etc. I think, for me at least, the historical development of this holiday is somewhat irrelevant and it doesn't matter when exactly Jesus was born, because really Christmas is a reminder of God's greater plan! That he knew that redemption for his broken servants (us) could only be granted through blood and a perfect sacrifice. And so, in His perfect plan, he gave us his son, the exact representation of Himself in human form, so that we can return to him. And the story, the story of Christmas, of Jesus' life, is all part of this plan that is necessary so that we can see God's greatness, His plan, and Praise Him for His mercy, grace, and power. So Christmas is just the beginning of that plan, the first light of hope for sinners, the dawn of a new covenant, a new law, the gospel. I know I can't express it as well as others, but this realization makes me want to shout and dance and sing! For God is so Good to us! And we know that His plan has already been completed, the sacrifice has been made and Jesus has already sat down on the throne beside the Lord, signifying his victory over death! Rejoice for we have been redeemed! Amen!

i was at my church orchestra rehearsal last night when one of the pieces struck me as oddly familiar. this familiarity was not of the "oh-this-is-my-favorite-hymn-which-i-have-heard-all-of-my-life" variety, but a far more unsettling "this-sounds-like-some-random-song-from-an-inspirational-movie-possibly-one-with-woopie-goldberg" familiarity. the song is titled "Glory to God" and has a reggae-esque (?i dunnno, beachy perhaps describes it better...iam not known for my musical accuracy) beat to it. well, i finally placed where the familiarity origniates from. Its a dead copy of the theme song from Free Willy. Yes, the movie about the whale. now, i ask you, how am a supposed to keep a straight face during the Christmas program with this mind association firmly planted in my brain?

Hallsey, one of the three adorable children i sit for, and i had a tea party tonight while her parents and older brother went to see narnia. One of my favorite things about her is that she answers all my my playful, teasing questions with a straight, serious (while slightly questioning my intellignce) tone. i attempted to capture some of her funnier moments in prose, but erased them when they fell shamefully short of campturing her truly inate sense of humor. all this to say, she is a riot. She names all her dolls and animals frivolous names like Annika and Serefina (names gleaned from barbie movies i gather) and dresses up in a princess costume evertime i come over. we tell lots of stories, her sweet voice always chiming in when she feels an elaboration to my plot is necessary. she went through this one morbid (and very funny) stage when she would make all the characters in the story die. I would have the princess in the tale living happily ever after when suddenly Hallsey would declare that, no, the princess fell violently ill and died. i hope all these deaths weren't due to her dislike of my impromptu fairy tales. she is as cute as a button.

look at me, just blogging away. (this is for amy's benefit).

so pride and prejudice was super good! very prettily filmed, lovely music, and, of course, a wonderful story. the best part was my grandmother's commentary and her swooning over mr. darcy every time he came onto the screen. ah i love that woman!

um. today is my day off and i usually begin my tuesdays with a list of things to accomplish. and generally they never get done. so it goes today. what i really think i need is a nap. :)

um, i think i am going to prague. stay tuned for more details.

i have been lax in my posting.
but, frankly, there has not been much to write about, though this is not a negative or sad observation, i have just been in go mode for the past few weeks.

blog topic #1: just home from a fantastic weekend at Chapel Hill. What a wonderful and talented group of friends I have! Amy- You had a fantastic, magnificent rectital; Jon- You were amazing(!!) in the cradle will rock! You owned the role. Matt- Congrats on winning the concerto competition, i cannot wait to hear you perform at the concert.

and Elisabeth is 21-hooray!
This is a very insufficient sum-up of the weekend, but i am an a concise mood. final statement, i had a wonderful time, i love seeing all of my dear friends!

blog topic #2: it is very difficult to soak your ear in salt water.

blog topic #3: be expecting an e-mail about a fantastic party. my mom's only condition about holding it here in charlotte is that everyone brings their instruments and that we all sing Christmas carols. i am not kidding, bring your instruments or my mom will jetison us into the cold.


Tonight i am have a date with my grandma for dinner and a movie. i am excited, there is no one i like talking about jane austin with more that my g-ma. can you guess what movie we are going to see? stay tuned for my next blog in which i will give a detailed analysis comparing the film to book versions and A&E movie renditions.

note to self:
in order to go to bed in a timely fashion, do not 1. take a long afternoon nap 2. drink a higly caffienated drink.

disregarding these suggestions will inevitably result in lack of sleep and late night blog entries with many misspellings.