i don't feel very motivated or impassioned to write a blog entry right now, i suppose because this time in czech is way different than other times.
i arrived here tuesday morning after a short layover in zurich; my first experience in switzerland. the people were grand. i sat on the plane next to a man who spoke british english with an accent who i found immigrated to switzerland from czech in 1965 when the russians invaded. i told him a little about what i would be doing in prague and then my sleeping pill took affect and i was out for the rest of the flight, though this time i don't think i found myself in any embarrassing sleeping positions.
i wrote in my journal later on that this was the first time i flew into czech without emotion. that may have been because i was asleep (the short flight from zurich to prague was almost empty so i took up residence in a whole row and groggily refused beverages and snacks), but i think it was mostly because i didn't know what was waiting for me outside of the exit of the airport. literally. i didn't know who would be there, and i wasn't sure what this school would be like, who i would be staying with, what i would be doing, what i would have time for.
as it was, my co-op, kate, and her husband, garrett, greeted me with a hug and took me to the Chumbley residence. Terry Chumbley is a teacher at my school, and he and his wife Robin have six kids. i asked to stay with a family, and a family is what i got!
i took off for pardubice a couple hours later. disappointingly the train didn't have opening windows that i could stick my head out of, so i ended up falling asleep and awaking several times to my head nodding forward and mouth wide open. i met up with helena, vera, david, and vitek. we ate at a place called the Garaž and then walked around. david took me to a missionary couple's home to stay overnight, and i spent the following day listening to harrel and eileen's stories. they're a great older couple; both are retired and over 70, and they moved to czech to teach english and use a hospitality ministry to reach out to people.
wednesday afternoon i caught a train back to prague and once again i didn't stand at the window. this is a big deal for me because i love standing by the windows on trains and feeling the rush of wind drying my eyes and making it hard to breathe; it makes me feel like i'm in czech or something. weird maybe, it's just a feeling of comfort. anyhoo i made it back here and thursday morning i started new teacher orientation at my school. it's been ok, though not everything has been completely applicable to me.
right now i feel the greatest challenge of being here is that i'm here but not with the people. there's a bit of a Little USA here, and so it's strange for my ministry here not to be to the czech people.
so prayer:
-i'm pretty nervous about teaching (which is still at least two weeks away before I would start) but pray that my nerves would be calmed.
-finding time to see all the groups i've worked with while i'm here
-finding ministry purpose?
-praise: i'm in czech.
pictures to come.
every season of life, i ask myself what the heck i am doing and what my purpose is. as i've been writing back and forth with a friend, i realized that i could be doing what i'm doing here in america. so WHY THE HECK AM I HERE?