Tour de Czech

Ahoj! Lindy and I have been very busy these past few days. Everyone here has had lots of things for us to do!

Saturday we went on a 20 KM bike ride with our host family, the pastor and his two sons, and the brother's family of our host family. It was so much fun!!! The views here are incredible. My pictures do not do them justice. Lindy and I had a joke going, bless her heart, she fell off her bike two times. We said that trees were the only fauna (sp?) she had not hit yet! HAHA Although, I am not going to lie, the first four hills they had us tackle were let's try O Hill times 5 or for you Martinsville folks, imagine Clearview. Believe me it was rough for the first part, but definitely worth the rest as we biked through the country. It made me really wish that we had more parks like these near by. Although, it did remind me of beautiful Virginia and our skyline drive.

Sunday we went to church where Lindy and I were able to introduce ourselves and tell a little bit about our trip and time with them. We also performed two praise songs during the service. Although the service for the most part was in Czech it was still wonderful to attend church. That is one thing I am enjoying, being able to hear the prayers of people with a different language. It meant so much at dinner one evening when one of our family's children prayed. I may have not known exactly what they were saying but at the end they said "Dreama and Lindy. Amen." It really meant a lot. I don't know maybe it's just me, but there is something beautiful about hearing prayers to God in different languages. It just seems to reveal part of the awesomeness of God - being able to listen no matter what language.

Sunday evening was the trip to Praha. (Prague) It was so gorgeous!!! I loved getting to see all of the beautiful government buildings, the catherdral, and so many other things. Yes, I went picture crazy. I loved going across Charles Bridge, which was built to connect the old and the new portions of the city of Praha.

Today was our first day of English Classes. I was a little nervous, but I think that they went very well. The one difficulty that I am having is trying to be everything to everyone. Because I have the Intermediate Class, I have all levels of children and adults who have had various backgrounds in English. For some the class is hard and for others it is too easy, but I keep telling myself that this is Conversational English and I must stick with those goals and just do the best I can to challenge those more advanced.

If nothing else my Czech vocabulary is definitely increasing while my hand gestures, grunts, and pointing are also becoming quite a large part of my vocabulary. Although, I must admit and apologize that my English seems to be taking quite a hit. Complete sentences and large words no longer exist but are traded to phrases lacking in articles and sometimes verbs. Haha

Oh, this afternooon was amazing. I went for a run through the country while Standa (the oldest son) rode his bike beside me. It was incredible. I ran to the top of this one overlook that was just breathtaking. Then after dinner Lindy and I took on Luky in the backyard in Soccer. Let's just say that the Czech Republic may have beaten us in the World Cup, but America was victorious in the backyard. And yes, I do realize it was two grown women vs. a ten-year-old boy, but that's not the point. I stink at soccer, so ha! No, it was a lot of fun. Then Luky and I took on Lindy and Standa and won. Good times!

Well I am up late finishing some preparations for tomorrow, so I will head on to bed. Goodnight!