Saturday, April 08, 2006


Saturday Morning (4.8.06) Update

So it has been a while since we last updated, due to some sketchy internet access. I will give you a brief summary of what has happened the last few days...

Wednesday (4.5): Krista was a little sick on Wednesday, perhaps from all that rich czech food. It was a cold (about 38 F) rainy day, and we went to the shopping mall in Brno to meet our friends Katarina and Inka (it was our first time meeting Inka face to face, after communicating only in email). The bad weather kept us from seeing the outdoor sites of Brno, such as the castle and cathedral, so we spent the afternoon in the mall, mostly chatting over coffee and lunch, and later ice cream. At lunch, Katerina's friend Tereza arrived with her sister and her nephew Nikolas (who is really cute and less than a year old). Tereza and her sister are roma (gypsie), although it is not readily apparent. I did notice at one point little toddle Nikolas approach a little boy with a big smile, but the little boys older sister quickly grabbed her brother and pulled her away from Nikolas - a not-so-subtle example of the feeling people here have towards anyone with dark skin.
That evening, Krista and I had a small dinner at the hotel restaurant and were surprised to see about 15 very thin young women come into to restaurant and have dinner together. We found out that they are the contestants for the Miss Czech Republic contest, which is being held at the hotel we stayed in Brno tonight (4.8). I think some of the onlookers thought Krista was a contsant also, but maybe I am a little biased...
Later that evening our friend Anicka, who we spent some time with last year, met us and we talked and caught up on things until almost midnight. Anicka will be moving to Australia next year, to get married to an australian man and start a new life there. It was interesting to hear her compare life in CZ and life in Australia.

Thursday: This was mainly a travel day, to return to Ceske Budejovice after 3 days with friends in Brno. We had a nice drive, had lunch at a very high-tech McDonalds, and got settled in at the OM base. After we were settled in, we took a trip to Cesky Krumlov, considered by many to be the most beautiful city in the Czech Republic. The city is less than 30 minutes from the OM base, and is breathtakingly beautiful. There is a huge castle that sits on the cliffs above the river, and I kept thinking the whole place looked like a real Disneyland. Afterward, we went to new new super store Tesco, a british chain similar to a super-WalMart, which had just opened in Ceske Budejovice that day. We decided to buy all the ingredients for a "picnic dinner", and found bread, some strange ham-like product, mayonnaise, ham-flavored chips (!), and some "Pepsi-Max". It was a nice experience, and we had a nice little "picnic" back at the OM base.

Friday: This was a very productive day, as we began by visiting a very nice Skolka (kindergarden) where Roxie would possibly attend. We met with a techer who gave us a tour of it - it was really nice and clean, and the children seemed very happy. We were told there is a waiting list to get in, but they seemed very interested to have an American child there. Following this, we looked at two houses - one a "row house", which shares walls on both sides with another house, and after that a house we had looked at last week. While we were looking at the second house, Pavel the OM field leader, spent about 30 minutes discussing the gospel with the landlord and real estate agent. We were able to understand some of the conversation, and both the landlord and real estate agent were very interested in why we would give up a nice life in America to come here. We were able to tell them our story, and the real estate agent commented that she had spent the last 20 years trying to find a purpose to life. The landlord, an nice man of about 55 years, commented that he knew a presbyterian missionary from australia, and was still "searching" but not fully ready to accept the christian gospel. We will continue praying for both of them, and Pavel invited them to both his church and to bible study. We thought later that maybe God led us to this house just beause of the landlord....
Pavel later took us to some car lots, where we looked at some used cars that he suggested. It is funny, because here something like a Toyota RAV4 is considered a really high-end car, but a BMW is considered an everyday commonplace car. We plan to buy a used car when we come here, so it was nice to see the price ranges (higher than the US, but not as bad as I thought it would be).
Friday night we spent at english-language Bible study, which was a really fun time. It is offered by OM to anyone in the city, as a chance to converse in English for free, while at the same time presenting a Christian message. It was an easter theme, with plastic eggs filled with treats and bible verses. We spent perhaps three hours there, and really enjoyed talking to the czech students (ranging from teenagers to about 60 years old). Following this, we had a nice chat with the team leader, James, who later took us to his flat. It was a typical panelak, but laid out really nicely. It was in a nice part of the city, and had a great view from the balcony. We rally enjoyed talking with him.

Saturday: As I write this, it is Saturday morning about 11:00. We will soon be leaving the OM base and heading to Prague, where we will stay at a hotel at the airport, because we need to be in the terminal at about 5:00 Sunday morning. Then we have a long (3 legs) flight back to San Francisco, where we will drive back to Salinas (hopefully by midnight) and collapse (since our bodies will think it is 9:00 AM).

No comments: