Ahoj!

Ahoj! (That's a Czech greeting, pronounced like pirates saying, "Ahoy, Matey!"). :)

Since last posting, we've had an English Conversation Information night - it turned out great! We had about 11 people there; including 2 kids whose parents came with them. This coming Thursday is our first official English Conversation. Most people rated themselves at a 4-6 on a scale of 1-10 of "how confident I feel using English." So, we've put all the adults in one group and kids in another group. For those that aren't able to make the times/days that we've scheduled, Daniel and I have been offering to get lunch or coffee with people during their breaks or after work hours. In fact, I have 2 "English & Coffee" times scheduled for tomorrow.

English Conversation Information Meeting last Thursday

An epic game of Jenga in action

Some of you have been following our Facebook comments about our interactions with our neighbor, Pavla. You can all put out a prayer for her as she's sick right now. She got drenched in the rain yesterday and woke up with a fever today; she had to cancel our get-together we had planned for this evening. Daniel and I both have been invited over to her flat during the past week. She's always eager to show the lovely view from her balcony, share books and coffee. She even brought by a children's vocabulary book for me during the weekend. It's a fold-out book with random objects pictured and coordinating Czech words below. To go along with it, she brought over a bowl of apples.

Can you see the Czech word for "apple?" It's jabličko.

This past weekend was Lucie's bachelorette party; she and Petr are getting married this coming weekend. There's lots of preparation yet to be done. I'll be helping the girls set up and decorate this Friday, and I'm possibly helping provide lunch for everyone too. Yesterday was Lenka's birthday! We tried to keep things autumn themed, since Lenka loves autumn. I accidentally ripped the wallpaper in multiple places as I was taking down decorations from our living room; thus begins our plans for a "tear down wallpaper/painting party" with Kostel people. :)

Lucie watching video messages from friends

Lenka's birthday

Marketa did a great job with the fun autumn-inspired decorations!

I had a number of meetings lined up for today; all have just recently cancelled. I'm needing some ambivert-recharing time anyway, so I think I am going to go on a short hike; but then again, it's muddy. So instead maybe I'll go get some supplies for our upcoming English Conversation night. I have plans to put English questions or vocabulary words taped to Jenga pieces and play the game as an ice-breaker this week. 

Tonight, Daniel and I are planning on a much needed date-night. He's picking up a "meat tornado" for us. It's basically a giant burrito thing. It's been tough having such different schedules from each other; completely different than the "normal" for us back home. There aren't guaranteed times of seeing each other each day; often it's just in passing as we're waking up or going to bed. But he sends me texts or pictures of what's happening in the office throughout the day; last week, a dachshund visited them. (There are so many dachshunds here)!!! 

Things you can pray for this week:

- Neighbor Pavla's health

- Daniel has some seasonal allergies

- energy and engagement with others

- preparation for English Conversation

- Lucie & Petr's wedding preparation

RANDOM HAPPENING...

Sunday, Lenka came over to our place for lunch. As she got off the elevator, I thought, "Well, she looks extra lovely," (because she did). She explained that Lida had just messaged her to come over to Pikola (Lida works there) for a photo shoot that was happening that afternoon. Lenka, Babu and I all enjoyed a time of chatting, laughing, and drinking coffee together at Pikola; it was great. At the end when we asked what the pictures were for, we were all shocked to learn this was for a Czech chapter of Elle Magazine!  So I guess we're possibly going to be in Elle! :)

Lenka, Babu & I