Tuesday morning, Mark took us to Prague 13, a very different neighborhood than the one we live in. We learned that a large percentage of Czechs live in “panelaks,” pre-fabricated concrete high rise buildings that are a product of Communism. It's so different to see a neighborhood filled with these industrial looking high rise buildings, compared with the quaint little part of town where we live.
Yesterday afternoon, the girls got to go out to our favorite cafe
with Sonia, a Russian girl that we just met this past Sunday who studies at the university in Prague (that's the three of us with her in the picture).It was really interesting to hear her talk about her Greek Orthodox religious background, and how different that was from her experience visiting our church here in Prague for the first time. She explained how strange it was to see women wearing pants, to see women without their heads covered, to sing worship songs and hear a sermon in English. She also had an interesting perspective on America, based on her love of American television shows. She said that the typical Russian idea of America is what they see on shows like “Desperate Housewives” and “Friends”....that we're basically all wealthy and independent and lead dramatic lives. As she put it, “We think everyone in America has a pretty, two story house, right next to one that looks just like it, with a green lawn all around it and a fence and two or three kids and they're all very happy and rich.” We explained that our lives were definitely nothing like that version of the American dream!
Last night was amazing. For Family Night, Joanna fixed an Indian feast. It was so incredible, and the girls even got to hel
p cook, which was exciting. I need all the cooking practice I can get, seriously. Then for dessert, she made chai-infused syrup which we poured over vanilla ice cream- best dessert ever. After dinner, we all went out to see a guy from our church playing in his band at a local music club. Get this: it's a Czech reggae band, called “Afro-disiac” (I felt the need to hyphenate to accentuate the word pun). And yes, please mull over the phrase “Czech reggae band.” This is what happens when Jamaica meets Prague. Anyway, th
e band was really good, and we all had an awesome time listening to them jam. We went to see the band with our new friend Lucie, a beautifully sophisticated Czech girl who spent her teenage years in Canada. She offered to drive the girls in a car, and it was such a wild experience driving down the streets of Prague! For a few minutes, I honestly felt like I was back in America (minus the crazy narrow cobblestone streets). After several weeks of public transportation and walking everywhere, I totally associated being in a car with being in the States, and it felt incredibly strange. Lucie is a fast driver, and I could imagine for a moment that I was in one of the Jason Bourne movies, recklessly speeding past shimmering castles through a gorgeous European city in a high speed pursuit. Ahh, the good life.
My late night killed me (as I knew it would), because I got up at 7:00 to go work at Nadeje, the homeless shelter. Thanks to espresso and the grace of God, I stayed awake, and actually had a really good morning. A lot of the homeless people were quite friendly, and several even tried to speak English with me. One asked me where I was from in America, and kept saying “No or Soo?” After about 10 times, I realized he meant North or South, and of course, I proudly said the South. I got three different people who told me I spoke good Czech, and that was exciting, even if they were just being nice. I would point to myself and say “Spatne cesky!” (which could mean that I speak bad Czech or possibly that I'm a bad Czech person, I suppose, but lets hope they took it the first way). One man who spoke broken English told me he had a dream to live in Las Vegas and work at a casino. Another man who could manage a few words in English said as I gave him his food, “You have most beautiful smile. So beautiful.” About an hour later, he came back and looked at me, sighing as he shook his head and said, “Your smile...really, most beautiful I ever see in whole life.” They know how to dish out the compliments, let me tell you. I really do have to use my smile a lot at Nadeje, because it's the only way I know how to communicate sometimes. So then this afternoon, I was buying food at a Vietnamese grocery store, and when the cashier realized I didn't speak Czech, he started talking about me in Czech (I guess he thought I wouldn't understand anything) and I caught the words, “Heska americanka” (pretty american girl).
I also got TWO letters from friends in one day.
Apparently, I'm a big hit in Prague today.
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