back to life

it has been over two months since coming home and it has been a really hard transition for me to make. i never could have imagined how hard the change from czech culture to american culture could of been. i spent my entire summer immersed in a culture that is almost opposite to the one i was raised and live in. the change at the beginning of the summer into the czech culture was very subtle and honestly i never noticed a huge difference. i mean i realized the major apparent differences, one example is when you are out in public everyone is generally extremely quiet and composed. in america everyone talks loudly and is extremely exuberant in public. the change at the beginning of the summer was an appreciated change, but re-entering american culture drove me crazy. people are so loud in public and honestly i found myself wanting to disengage from people in public all together. when i was out with friends and they were all talking over each other i found myself wanting to leave my group because i felt embarrassed to be around a group that was being loud. this is not written to complain or to bring others down, but to attempt to process what i am going through to help myself work through the issues coming up in my life due to my mini-culture shock.

The Last Supper

Our team just ate our last meal together......It was a dinner mixed with heartfelt love, anguish, and excitement. We ate dinner on the roof of questionably the nicest restaurant in prague. We had a breathtaking view from our table of the Old Square, the Astrological Clock tower, and Prague Cathedral. We looked at each other as the sunset with eyes that showed happiness that we were together, anguish that we were soon to be separated by hundreds and thousands of miles, and excitement that we were all going to take our experiences to build ourselves and others up in Christ. It might have been the hardest dinner I have ever eaten, the food and company was incredible, but the stark reality that "real life" is just about to creep above the horizon.The last picture of our Intern team taken...

Debriefing is Such Sweet Sorrow!

Our awesome Intern team: Team Hotness!

So the past two days have been such an amazing time of learning and growing. We have had a couple scheduled times where we have met as a whole group to debrief and talk about our summers. It has been an awesome time to process thoughts and the good, bad, and ugly things of the summer. We have done a ton, and sometimes everything seems to be a blur of a memory, where everything is remembered and forgot at the same time. Nate, the leader of all Czech camps, has helped prepare us to integrate back into american culture and american life. I really don't think it will be too hard, but it is something that seems like I will appreciate knowing what he has to say later rather than sooner. After our meeting today our team got to explore prague together. It was nice because all of us have been to prague before and so we got to skip the normal "touristy" spots of the city! Although we still did stuff that was a little "touristy", paddle boats are not fun unless you jump from one to the other, FYI!

Yeah, there we are!

Dan and I getting ready to board the USS COX!

Leah commanding her vessel!

Off to Prague We Go!

So after a couple`of hours of traveling and lugging all of our things around for a while, we are safe and sound at the CzechInn a famous hostel in Prague. All the Interns ate together for the last time at a really modern restaurant inside of a hotel.........it was really interestingly decorated, but I don't have any pictures of it! Above: is a reflection of most of the interns, I am in the front left!
Below: is a picture of our table at the restaurant.

Free as a Bird

I am sure you are all waiting for the conclusion to the epic cliffhanger I left you at with my last post. Well our landlord Mr. Davish ended up being outside in the garden courtyard of the apartment building. I shouted down to him from a third story window in broken czech if he could come up and help me. Well he did, and he wouldn't stop laughing at me when he realized what was wrong, and after he opened the door.

So I guess what happened was there was two groups leaving at two different times, and each group thought I was with the other, and no one bothered to look down the hall into my room where my door was open to check if anyone was left. Anyways I made it out and down to the field where follow-up was taking place, just in time for the sports part to end........o my! All in all the follow-up night went pretty well, it was a good time to re-connect with the students and get them plugged into the local youth group and Church.

Locked Inside

So camp has ended and the true hard responsibilities of my team have ended. We can finally take a huge breath of relief now that the only real task ahead of us is to spend two more days with the students of strakonice and then head to prague for debriefing. Well I guess my team really feels like they can relax and have no more worries. Currently I am writing this entry from inside a locked apartment that I cannot get out of, I will tell you the series of events that led me to my prison. We got back from Church this morning and we got back to our apartment. We had about 1 hour until we needed to leave to start our follow-up program for camp, so I decided that I would read a book until we had to leave. I went into my room laid down on my bed and started reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, next thing I know I woke up to a silent apartment, I look at my watch and realize we should have left a half-hour before. I started calling for my teammates asking why we haven't left yet......no reply. 'That's okay' I think, 'maybe everyone is at the apartment across the hall'. Well they might be, but to my surprise the apartment door is locked, what is the big deal you might be thinking? Well the lock can only be locked/unlocked with a key. Each side has a keyhole and only a keyhole. So hear I am, I am not sure how I will get out, but I hope I will soon!

Strakonice Hike

The hike day for Strakonice camp was a little wet, it had just rain all night and the morning of, but thankfully it stopped in time for us to start it. Dominik, a local student from strakonice, planned and led the hike. It was an awesome experience for everyone! The hike round trip was 9 miles long. At the half-way point we ended up at the peak of a mountain where there was wild blueberry patches all around. We rested, took pictures, and ate blueberries for the better part of an hour before we headed down. Once again the hike is used as an avenue to bond with students so that we are able to invest in their lives in a deeper way, and I believe that this trip really conquered that goal!