Dobry Den!

Oh my goodness, I can't believe we've already been here for 2 weeks and we're already at our Traveler's Retreat. But I must start where I left off!!

From Berlin we traveled to Prague, which I was anticipating with high expectations, having never been to the Czech Republic and having heard so much about Prague. Sadly, I was actually disappointed by Prague. It was beautiful, and it had the appearance of a fairytale land, but it was super touristy, crammed with people everywhere and it lacked the simple beauty of what I was expecting. In a way it seemed like a European Las Vegas to me, people crawling all over the city and little touristy shops on every corner. To be honest, Prague was one of the hardest cities we had been to yet. We met very few people there, and the ones that we did meet left the next day each time. We were able to share the Gospel with some of the travelers, but it really was just in passing about our own lives, as it seemed no one was really interested in listening to us. Team stuff was also really tough there, we had a couple team conflict talks which drained us all completely. I had actually had a feeling that Prague wouldn't be the best city, that it would be one of those draining difficult cities, but we made it through! A few good things we got to do while we were there was climb a hillside park to a monastery and walk down through the palace. I got to see the main square where part of the movies Les Miserables was filmed, and some of the smaller canals. We also ran into some Wheaton people who were doing Arts in London, and that was pretty fun to talk with people who we knew and were familiar with. To be honest, I really don't have much to say about Prague, so I'll move on to more interesting things!!

From Prague we took a train to Cesky Krumlov, a smaller, slightly touristy village in South Bohemia in Czech. Getting there was quite interesting, we took a train to Cesky Bujedovice (where Budweiser originated, apparently, the US company and the Czech company keep suing each other) and followed a lady to a bus area, and took a bus to another train station, and then took this tiny tiny local train to Cesky Krumlov!!! That was definitely an experience, and let me tell you, my bathroom experience on the small train was just that.... an experience. I was desperate to go to the bathroom, so when this little train started moving, I went inside the little room that said WC. Honestly, I've been in a lot of sketchy bathrooms, but this was definitely #2 worst. The first was at the circus in Armenia, and it was just a hole in the ground with 2 feet holds. Ok, so I went in the WC and surveyed the area. It was extremely dirty, and if I had any lower tolerance to dirtiness I'm sure I would have puked. So I meandered over to the toilet, trying not to touch anything, and looked down because the room felt surprisingly breezy. I was shocked to see a gaping hole from the toilet to the tracks. I could actually see the rails and gravel passing by underneath me. I quickly did my business and got the heck out of there, grabbing my camera to take a quick picture and then sitting down in my seat for good.

Once we arrived in Cesky Krumlov, we walked a bit down from the train station and were welcomed by the delicious smell of grilled foods and amazing buildings guarded by a huge castle. It was filled always with the smell of wood fireplaces and fresh air, coming from the littel homes along the river and the nearby wooded hillsides. It was crisp and cool, so refreshing from what we had in Prague. Later after taking a delicious nap, we met up with Sarah and Heather, our YHM leaders and officially began our Travelers retreat!!! It has been incredible, beign able to relax, walk around on my own and sit for hours and hours journaling. It has definitely been a welcome break. An interesting thing happened yesterday, as I was sitting on a park bench overlooking a great view of the castle, a small violin quartet and a wedding party came and I saw teh entire wedding ceremony right there in teh park!!! The exchange of rings, the crying mothers, and the first kiss as a married couple. I felt privileged, and slightly embarrassed that I was watching the whole thing, but it was so fun to watch.

So that's where I am now, looking forward to 2 1/2 more days of relaxation and peace before going out again. Thank you again for all your prayers and support. Please pray that we may find rest in God, so that we are rejuvinated again to go out. Pray for us as we grow stronger as a team, and please pray that God prepares our hearts and the hearts of those we are going to meet in the cities ahead.

I love you all and highly recommend Cesky Krumlov if you every need to go to a small, beautiful yet slightly touristy Eastern European village!!