I know I know I have not blogged in a very long time but I have been trying to store up and savor all of our last moments here because we leave TOMORROW!! I cannot believe it. so update.

On the 19th we went to a business and ethics forum and heard a man speak on micro credit groups in Bangledesh and the work they are doing there to help the people become sefl-suffficient and proactive in becoming economically stable. It was very good but sweltering in the room where wee were meeting. That seems to be the key here, it is always hot. Apparently its the hottest summer since 1932.

The Davis left on Tuesday so last weekend was so busy, trying to sqeeze in as much time as possible. We had our farewell dinner/ brithday for chris and laura celebration Sunday evening, going to our favorite restaurant Ambiente. Laura and Chris gave us all cute bracelets and Phil and Shanna had made us t-shirts with our nicknames on the back!! They are so cool- I can't wait to rock out my Praha style in the States.

Last night Micheal played in Toby's pub and Lauren made tons of brownies and cookies that we served while he played. It was an amazing penultimate evening in Prague-so much fun! They seriously would not let Micheal stop playing, the kid pulled a marathon set, taking requests until it ended up as one giant sing along. It is now one of my top nights in the city.

What does one do on a last day in a city you love full of people you love? We are meeting Micheal for lunch, walking the city, saying goodbye to the Syvertsons (tear), and staying up all night since our first flight leaves at 6.55 am, so we will be up early.

see you on the flip side.

Today we went paddle boating!! It was so much fun and so cool on the water. As usual, we had quite the adventure, with Lauren steering us into some shallow water where we got stuck on the rocks. Thanks to Becca we were able to shove off again. Highlights included encounters with another paddle boat in shape of a giant swan!

I got a new haircut (shocker!) from Mr. Chan of the Blue Elephant salon. It was super fun and I really like my slick new bob; no more hot hair days for me! Becca went with me for moral support and too make sure that too much was not chopped off the top!





We took a girl's weekend in the spa town of Karlovy Vary this weekend (you know, the town from Queen Latifa's film 'Last Holiday' check it out) It was lots of fun, with bizarre mineral springs, quaint scenery, and lots of shopping and good company. um, also lots off chocolate, check out this shop we found. check out Laura's blog for an in depth description of activities.

i forgot something that happened...this past week we three girls got really really excited about the opening of pirates of the Carribean here in Prague. We talked about it so much and arranged a huge group of poeple to go see it on saturday night...lo and behold, on the dawn of saturday morning we realize that it is not coming out here...until August 3rd!! Oh our grief!! we went to dinner and elvis hamburgers instead (see Becca's blog) but giant tears are welling up in my eyes as I recollect the evening. sigh. i must go, my sorrow is too too great.

While Becca was in bed last week, Lauren, Michael, and I went to the top of the clock tower that is Old Town Square (every tourist gathers on the hour to watch the hands of the astronomical clock strike the hour and certain symbolic things happen, like little people pop out and move around briefly, its actually very anticlimactic and on Stephen’s tour we watched the tourist instead of the clock because it is more entertaining to watch the disappointment and realization of how little this much talked of clock does than to actually watch the clock). The view was great and there was a band in the square playing jazz.







Last night we were at Sir Toby’s, playing cards and hanging out (it was really really hot down there) hoping to strike up a conversation with some guests but it wasn’t really crowded, so we were chillin’ on these long benches and tables that are in the anteroom to the pub. We were on the right and on the far left were a group of Brits and Aussies hanging out. We had been eavesdropping on and off, listening to their opinions of Bush and how to spot an American, when I heard one Aussie say “You remind me of a man” pause “A man with a power.” None of his friends responded so I shouted across the room “the power of Voodoo!” Becca and Lauren look at me quite puzzled, I think, as the Aussie, quips “You know that jingle?” I continue “You remind me of a man, a man with a power, the power of voodoo, who do? you do? I do? You remind me of a man…” (each phrase is supposed to be passed back between two people at rapid speed, continuing on and on). “Yeah, I didn’t know the end,” said the Aussie, and each table went back to their own conversation. Um, I learned it from the movie the Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer, Cary Grant and Shirley Temple. Tiffany Verch, where are you when I need you!! Ok, I know, I am a dork, certified, notarized, signed, sealed, and delivered. Add that to the list of how to spot an American.

Like just mentioned, it was really hot yesterday, so when we got home at ten-thirty or so, we were still sweating, even our flat was sweating and there was not even a breeze to stir the stagnate air. The only cure for these moments is an ice cold Magnum bar (the perfection of ice cream on a stick), just like the only cure for cultural dissonance is cream and dream. Lauren had bought me an incredible Magnum, Dark Chocolate and Coconut, which I decided to munch up last night. It did the trick, but while I was eating I noticed that the actual name of this magnum was ‘Dark Coconut Sound’ and the package claimed this treat was ‘the best of 5 senses.’ I am just amused by the fact that the marketing team thought if they put the word ‘sound’ into the bar title then that accounts for that sense being satisfied in their claim to be the best of all 5. Really, I can understand taste and sight, even stretch touch if you count how satisfying it is to bite into something cold and smell because it’s chocolate, but sound…um…does the bar sing to me? Does the bar have musical or oratory talents of any kind? Unless their argument is that silence is the best sound (wrong on so many levels), they have some major false advertising going on. I think I need to write a strongly worded letter to the Magnum Corporation, I have been misled and this wrong will only be righted with a life-time supply of chocolate ice cream bars.

Exciting up coming things:
-I am in charge of organizing a distribution of lunches to some of the homeless folks in Prague, I am hoping some hostel guests will come, and some other non-Christians, so that it will be a ministry on many levels. Please pray that I will remember all the details and remember its not about the details.
-Wednesday evening the girls and I are attending a business and ethics forum that meets every so often here in Prague, listening to a speaker and having dinner. It should be really interesting and I am very excited.


I don’t write a lot about what is going on in my heart on my blog, but let me just say I have been really aware of my weaknesses and feeling like I am plagued by old wounds and insecurities a lot this past week. I have learned a lot this summer about community and the need to share your life with people, as imperfect as your life may be, because that allows God to work more in you and allows Him to love and comfort you through other members of the body of Christ, while also allowing Him to use your life, my life, to reveal His glory in our weakness. World Harvest is really good about emphasizing that we minister through our brokenness and I am so glad because I am really bad about putting pressure on myself to perform and understanding God’s grace. Our brokenness enables us to see God more.

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.