Hope and Beauty

Ahh, Thursday was amazing. Probably my best day thus far. Thursday mornings are the one “protected” free time for interns, meant to be used as a spiritual retreat and a time for rest. I got to sleep in for the first time since coming here, and then I went to a little sidewalk cafe for a couple of hours where I finally had time to journal and pray and think (all while drinking espresso and eating pastry, of course). It was nice to have some alone time...the introvert in me needs it.

Then during the afternoon, we took a gorgeous two hour walk along the heights of Prague. We started at an old Jesuit (or maybe it was Franciscan?) monastery/brewery, and then walked through over a mile of orchards and a rose garden, all overlooking the expansive, majestic city of Prague. I had my breath taken away so many times!

The female interns had a girls night at Joanna's, and she fixed us a lovely dinner of herbed pasta, fresh tomatoes, and goat cheese, which we ate out on the terrace as the sun went down over the beautiful old buildings and the sky turned purple. We sat talking late into the night and had some wonderful fellowship (and great pedicures)! This is a picture of the girls having some delicious European ice cream bars in the rose garden.

Friday, Hannah and I spent most of our day at Nadaje, the homeless shelter. Nadaje means “Hope” in Czech. It was hard, but really rewarding. After spending so many days looking at all the beauty in the city, it was eye-opening to see the other side....the poverty and the pain. The director explained to us that the homeless aren't just a bunch of drunk old men (though there are some of those).....there are young people who have addictions or addicted family members, former prisoners who are blacklisted from getting any work, and elderly people whose families have abandoned them. We brought food to them as they sat down at tables, gave them hot cups of tea, and washed dishes. Working with the homeless is definitely a crash course in Czech- they all want to talk to you, and I would have to shrug my shoulders and say, “Nerozumim!” (I don't understand). They would look at me with confusion in their eyes and then I would point to myself and say, “American, American” (Amer-ee-chan). At this, some would roll their eyes and grunt and mumble...Americans are not regarded too highly here. Some would smile and say with a heavy accent, “Thank you very much” or “Good bye!” A couple of the homeless men kept pointing to me and Hannah and saying something to us, and finally I pulled in the young director, Adam, who spoke a little broken English. He asked them in Czech what they were saying, and translated back to me “They say.. that you and your friend are...beauty. Great beauty.” I laughed and said “Dekuju” (thank you).

My fellow adventurers:

Will, Jeremy, Lindsay, me, Hannah, Michael