The Bus and Car Rental

On Friday we decided to go to the airport and find out about renting a car to go see the places where my father went during World War II. He showed the towns to me on a map, and we have found them on our maps here. It took a while to find the car rental place. There were ten companies renting cars, but only one that might meet our needs, and they had no car available. So we went back out to the bus stop and got on our bus (No. 119). Except everyone kept getting off until it was just Lloyd and me, and then it pulled into a bus parking lot. I said, "We have to get off." Lloyd said, "We are not getting off. This is the right bus." So there we sat, the two of us alone in the bus while the driver spoke sharply saying ??xxyyzz?? Finally I jumped up and went to the driver telling him our bus stop. He shook his head and motioned for us to get off the bus. By then Lloyd was willing to do so. So here we were out in a bus parking lot, wondering what to do next. Since our bus driver is Czeck, he would not point or show us where to go, except off his bus! Lloyd happened to notice a bus stop across the parking lot and we went to it. Luckily this was not only the bus with the right number (119) but also going in the right direction! The buses do not loop around, but stop when they get to the end of their run, so you can't "ride forever neath the streets of Boston" here. In fact, at the end of each metro/subway line a recording comes on that says in English "Please leave the train." When we hear it we laugh, since it is the only phrase spoken in English. We have visions of Americans like ourselves, sitting there refusing to leave. Yes, that's us all right!

Thanksgiving

My favorite holiday (except Holy Week and Easter). My college class meets on Thursdays from 9-12, so I taught on Thanksgiving for the first time in my life! I dismissed the class at 11:30, and we trooped over to our apartment for a Thanksgiving dinner. I had set the table and put a verse about thanks on each plate, along with the five kernels of corn, which each person used to tell 5 things he/she was thankful for. The students had brought a delicious whipped cream type cake which was put with the two pies we got at Red, Hot, and Blues, an American restaurant. The students needed to take an exam at 1:00, so we were finished by 12:40 and off they went.

Lloyd cooked a goose that afternoon, and that evening three of Jose's friends came for another Thanksgiving dinner.

Then on Saturday we hosted 17 professors and family members who are part of IICS, our sending organization. They came around 2:00 and stayed until 7:30. We had a really good time together.

A special Thanksgiving treat was a phone call from my brother and sister in Albuquerque NM. Our connection wasn't the best, but it was so very nice of them to call!

Book Group

I went to my Book Group yesterday, studying Henry Nouen's Gracias!
Transporation is a problem. I decided to take a taxi this week, so as to get there on time. Except the taxi took longer than the metro. And the whole time I was thinking: How much will this cost? Do I have the right change? What if my purse opens and spills out when its time to get out? What if he can't find the place? What if he just drives around for a while so as to jack up the price? Why am I so neurotic about taking a taxi?!! Then after Book Group I had to walk to a deserted bus station after dark and wait 10 minutes (it felt like 10 hours) for the right bus. My nice husband met me at the Metro stop near home (his idea, not mine) so the last leg of the journey felt safer. Is this Book Group worth the transporation stress?

The two hours are wonderful. We were asked, What was your call to Prague? Describe your call. Each of us believes that we were sent to Prague to learn new skills. This cross-cultural experience, being surrounded by six other IICS families, has taught me so much. I have begun putting it in writing. But none of us feels in our hearts that we are meant to spend the rest of our lives here, even though one of the group came with that in mind. We each described are sense of why we are not meant to stay permanently. For me, it is the harshness of the person on the street. I am just too sensitive. A bus driver or store clerk can reduce me to tears with a curt word. And I was surprised when another of the group described similar problems at the doctor's office etc. Henry Nouen writes that when we go to a new culture, we regress to that part of our childhood where we have unresolved issues, and have a chance to re-do it in a better way. That would make me emotionally five, concerned about having the approval of church leaders, and witnessing public "rebukes" of myself and others. I hope to re-do that more positively, but am not sure I am succeeding. Then we shared what we like about the Czech culture: the friendliness of our students and people we have gotten to know, their love of small dogs, their love of nature -- wealthy people have huts in the woods that the go to on holidays, their stamina to survive oppression, their lovely church buildings and architecture, etc. I was surprised at our commonality in the book group, even as each added perspectives I knew nothing about.
I have to laugh at the difference between this book group and the one I ran. I had written out thought-provoking questions, made copies and distributed them. This group leader said, "What do you want to talk about from this chapter?" Very nice!!

Pre-Thanksgiving

Thursday was a busy day. Jose's friend from Mass Art flew in for a couple of weeks to do a film. We are happy to have him here. Our landlord flew in the same day from Texas, and we spent time going over apartment issues together. He is very nice, and we enjoyed his company. We also had movie night for UNYP students, watching "I am Sam."

Mid term grades and mid term exam grades were given out. UNYP students are doing very well in the course. They are working hard. One said he spent 14 hours on the mid term (a take home.

Friday was the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in 1989, and also the anniversary of the day when the Nazis closed all universities and executed 7 students in 1939. We found no ceremonies, but went to Wencelas Square where these things took place, and prayed for another Velvet Revolution, a revival.

We watched a movie about John Hus with our IICS friends. John Hus, a Bohemian/Czech, was the originator of the Reformation, not Martin Luther.

On Saturday Lloyd and I went to the Castle District and St. Vitus Cathedral. It is awesome! A study in Christianity, all through art!

That night Jason, Jose's friend, treated us to dinner at a restaurant where cavemen were the theme. The restaurant was decorated as a cave, the waiters were dressed as cavemen, and the names of the dishes fit the theme. Interesting!

Sunday Lloyd went to a Sports Bar to watch the Patriots play. He enjoyed himself!

I am feeling better, still coughing some and constantly using tissues, but not as drained. Six more weeks!

Busy Week Then Crash November 12

This was one of those weeks that just got too busy and I didn't know how to stop it. In addition to teaching at UNYP and at CISP, and tutoring 2 students, I started going to a Book Group on Henry Nouen's book Gracias! It is held in the apartment of a missionary at the International Baptist Seminary, who is an international consultant on prostitution and human traficking. There are 7 of us in the book group, and it holds promise. I especially wanted to see how someone else does book groups, because I have never been to any other than my own.

Wednesday I attended an evening "Faith and Learning" monthly meeting for college professors. A Czech student presented from her dissertation at Charles University on the Moravians and Christian education. It was interesting. We got to ask her questions after her presentation. It was held in the home of Bill and Lisa Miller, who are here with IICS,like us, and they are very hospitable.

Thursday I interviewed the Vice President for Academic Affairs at the International Baptist Theological Seminary, regarding programs they offer.

In addition, grades were due at CISP, and mid-terms to correct at UNYP.

By Thursday evening I was ready to spend a few days of rest. So Lloyd and Lance left on the train Friday morning, to spend the weekend in Vienna, Austria. (When we got flights to come here, we did not know that we could only stay for 90 days, and we will be here 93 days, so both Lance and I have to leave the country at least once before December 18.) Vienna is a $40, 4-hour train ride away, and if I had felt well enough, I would have gone with them, but instead spent a weekend at home trying to get well. I feel better and they will be home in a couple of hours!

Agape Meal

We went to church at the International Baptist Seminary on Sunday and they had an Agape Meal afterwards. It was potluck, but began with the breaking of the bread, eating, then sharing joys and concerns, and then a passing of the cup. They had prepared milk and honey for the children! It was really a nice service.

Water

Yesterday I invited two women who are also here with IICS to lunch at our apartment. I asked if they wanted ice water (no one drinks ice water in the Czech Republic), which they did. One is from Dallas, the other from Hickory North Carolina, so I knew what they would say. Ice water is a southern thing. So I got a bottle of water and poured the water over the ice in each glass. The guest from North Carolina says, "What is this stuff swimming around in my water?" The one from Texas says, "Its swimming around in my water too." At this point I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself. I said, "I just pulled those glasses out of the dishwasher. Maybe the glasses are dirty. Maybe the dishwasher doesn't work. Maybe the ice has something wrong with it." What kind of a hostess am I?!!! I got them new glasses of tap water with no ice, and we had our meal. When Lloyd got home, I told him about the water. He got the bottle out, and examined the label carefully. In small print it said Voda y lime. Since we can't read anything on anything in the grocery store, we hadn't bothered to read the fine print. But he cleverly turned to the women and said, "You should have drunk this. It would have kept you from scurvy!"

Saturday November 4 Sad Saga About Money

During the first few weeks we were here we just took the bills/receipts and paid them. Then we took them home and studied them, only to find that a) we couldn't read their numbers because they write them differently; b) they don't always itemize; 3) we were paying more than we thought we were paying.

Then we read an article in The Prague Post stating that they are charging foreigners (especially us Americans, since they think we are all rich) extra, that we should always check receipts and refuse to pay when we are overcharged. We have noticed that even Czechs stop to study their receipts after they have gone through check out.

But we have got to start writing down everything we buy or order and how much it costs, BEFORE we get to the cash register.

Yesterday we puzzled over the bill and got the waiter to read the amounts to us. We found that our drinks cost 3 x the amount of our dinner! My glass of water, a very small bottle, was $4.50. Lloyd's glass of beer was much cheaper! I'm glad I didn't ask for another glass of water!

We don't want to be cheap skates or pinch pennies. Neither do we want to waste money. Please pray that we will be both wise and winsome as we represent the USA here.

All Souls Day

Today, November 2, is All Souls Day. My Czech friend, Blanka, came to my house and we read the Bible together, both in Czech and English. She is a Roman Catholic nun, so she explained to me that November 1 is All Saints Day, when we pray to the saints to help us, and November 2 is All Souls Day when we pray for those who died, so they can get from Purgitory to heaven.

Last night we went out to eat with two of our professor friends from IICS (our sending organization), and I was telling them about what Blanka said. I told them that we always treated November 1 as Necromancy Day! One of them said, "Necromancy! That's having sex with the dead!" We couldn't find a dictionary, but Lance says necromancy is something to do with magic! And I just remembered that it is Necrology Sunday when we honor those who died over the past year! So which are you celebrating? necrophilia? necromancy? necrology?!! I did have a wonderful vision of Mom and Aunt Marion having one of their chats! We miss them both.

What's New Thursday November 1

Today we talked about childhood psychopathologies in my College class, so, of course I had to use illustrations from my own family: my sister's separation anxiety at school! my daughter's difficult birth! bonding with my son! nieces, nephews, and the whole lot. There is nothing my class doesn't know about us! (if I didn't speak too fast or use too many English words they have never heard before!!) I even handed out examples of children's drawings, one by Chad when he was 5, etc. etc.

Next week is adolescent psychopathologies, and I wish Dr. Jenkins (!) could teach that class for me!

Their first assignment was to design an Intake Form to use when interviewing potential clients for the first time. One student e-mailed me that his Intake Form would be short because he had already decided that his hypothetical client wasn't very ill! (I had to respond by asking what his logic was, diagnosing a client before meeting him/her.)

Yesterday we finished our unit on Tom Sawyer at the Christian International School (middle school). So we had a "Game Show" with the review questions. It tended to get a little on the rowdy side when we put a team of boys against girls. The students didn't think I would be able to see which team raised its hand first to answer the questions (since I was reading the questions), so we appointed a "watcher" who would let us know whose hand went up first. But she wanted a friend to be a watcher too, so between them they divided it up and one watched one team while the other watched the other team!! What's wrong with this picture!!

On Saturday we are having a Singing Prayer Service at our apartment. Please pray that the right people will come and it will go well. I am pretty excited about doing this, having always wanted to do it in the U.S.