A New and Better Way

Not much to report. Took the train for the first time yesterday, great scenery. The rest of the staff for the first of English camp start arriving today. I'm tired from staying up late reading the other night (silly me). Right now I'm visiting a TEAM missionary, Amy, in Podenbrady. It's a spa town outside of Prague. Very pretty. Its great to finally be around someone my age!! And I'm excited that camp starts next week! But I'm fighting some nervousness and fear too. Worried about energy levels and diet and such. I've been so blessed meeting the TEAM missionaries here. What awesome people! It's so cool to see God at work in this country. Progress is slow but they have such a vision, it's really neat. Not sure I could do it long time though. People really aren't overly friendly or open until you know them. Learning a lot about myself with this whole experience. I really am a people person and traveling with company definitely beats traveling alone. Tha

Yesterday and today have been full of firsts. I took the metro by myself for the first time yesterday, had my first Czech language lesson today, bought my first meal on my own today and slept through the night for the first time last night. I also ventured into downtown Prague on my own for the first time yesterday. What a gorgeous city! I'm sorry I couldn't post more photos. I think I'll have to get a Flicker account. I'm attempting to post some on Facebook so you can check them out there too. Last night I went to Alpha with Mark. We stopped by a little local grocery store to get the food for dinner and then headed out to the church. As I mentioned the church is held in an elementary school. Making dinner was quite the adventure. Here I was with two Czech guys in a semi-equipped kitchen trying to make a meal. Pastor Robert had it all planned out, he used to be a cook in the army so the plates of "cold dinner" looked great. We mostly used gestures to communica

Ahoj! This is my second day in Prague. I arrived at 1 o'clock (Czech time) on Saturday afternoon. I have already had the chance to do some sight seeing and this evening I went to the local church. Sadly, the Southcity Church (which meets in an elementary school) is the only evangelical church in the Southcity side of Prague's 4th district. There is one Catholic church also but that's it. This means there are only 2 churches for 45 thousand people! Can you imagine? On the way to the service Mark Potma (missionaries I'm staying with) told me that Czechs don't even use churches for weddings and funerals! But I was going to talk about my flights. Wow! I could totally tell you guys were praying. Everything went so smoothly. I also got to have some really neat conversations with the people who sat next to me. From Chicago to London I ended up sitting between two University of Missouri students. They were also on their way to Prague for an exchange/study abroad program. Jo

Greetings from Chicago!! I must say that the city lives up to its name. Yesterday when we toured downtown it was quite windy so I got to sport the windblown look for the evening. Chicago also has great older buildings, amazing deep dish pizza and a gorgeous sky line! I took a ton of pictures and really enjoyed being a tourist for the day. I'll post some of them when I have some more time. Training here at TEAM headquarters in Wheaton has been fairly intense. We have breakfast at 7:15 and start sessions at 8 a.m. Its a pretty non-stop day. Really relevant info for the most part though. We've learned lots of good safety travel tips, what to expect if a TEAMserve missionary gets kidnapped, how to avoid being pick pocketed, etc. I don't think I'll have to worry about the kidnapping stuff but there is a gal going to Eastern Asia so that stuff is relevant. Also learned about TEAMs history as an organization, what to be aware of as far as knowing our own expectations, the best

It's been a full week! Lots of last minute coffee dates, phone calls, and shopping trips. I do believe I now have everything I need (that I'm aware of). I'm also all packed. I managed to fit everything into one suitcase and one backpack, and there's even some room to spare! Please pray for safe travels. Thanks Meliss for the tips and heads up about the London airport. One bag only! ;) Here are some pictures of the last week and a bit. Quite a few of these were taken by Martha, you can see some more pictures she took at http://www.flickr.com/photos/trippykel/sets/72157600324864649/ Next time I post it will be from Chicago or Prague!!!

Wow! Time has really flown. Today is my last day being the marketing assistant at Company's Coming. I've really enjoyed working here, the people are really great and the pace is relaxed. As usual I'll be missing the people but not the work. I'll especially miss visiting the candy dish in Gail and Blair's offices. Chocolate fix anyone? Thank-you to those of you who have been praying about the health issues. I am feeling somewhat better. I went back to the medicentre last week with a pretty high fever and the doctor reassured us that the dizzines and other symptoms are just due to a virus. Apparently I caught a second one on the tail end of the first. The dizziness is practically gone but I'm pretty fatigued still. Would definitely appreciate continued prayers. Traveling when you are sick is no fun, but hopefully everything will clear up before then. Only 12 more days! Now that I am done work I'm trying to do all the last minute things. Resting, shopping, pack