Sitting in Starbucks :)

Hi Everyone!

I'm having a relaxing afternoon, sipping my vanilla latte at a table in Starbucks, on the main street of Prague - Wenceslas Square. The buildings are huge and gorgeous on both sides of the wide street with people bustling about everywhere. And no, I don't feel bad about the little taste of Commercialized America. :)

Let's see. This past week was a very nice one. Talitha had a friend visiting for a few days, which ended up being a very enjoyable experience for us all. We had a holiday from school on Friday which I used to finally shop for and buy a pair of winter boots. :) And we had a fun dinner with the Pastor and his wife of our church who Talitha works with (a young American couple with 3 young kids). That was really fun - the first question they asked us was "Do either of you play Blokus?" :)

We also had an interesting experience while dropping Talitha's friend off at the airport Wed. night. A girl in her twenties approached us and asked if we had any spare change. We talked with her for a while and came to find out that she was from Prague but had been traveling around the past few years, and lived with her boyfriend in France until a few months ago when they broke up. She's been living in the airport since then, without a job. She said she goes to the library to look on the internet for jobs, but hasn't found anything yet.

That morning in my quiet time I was thinking and praying about how I wanted to be more open and aware of situations in which God could minister to the people around me - it's too easy for me to just breeze through the day without really taking the time to see the people I come in contact with, you know? So, anyways, at the risk of being too "American" or "Christian-y" in this extremely different culture in Prague I asked her if I could pray for her. She looked at me like I was crazy :) so I just said something like, I wish I could help you more, but I also know that God cares about and loves you, and I'd like to ask him to help you too. She said yes and just stared at me, so I just kept my eyes opened and talked to God for a few seconds. Talitha also asked her if she would be interested in meeting for coffee the next day which she said she would.

To make a long story short, Talitha didn't see her when she went in the afternoon, but we went back together that evening and did run into her. She introduced us to another friend of hers and we sat and talked with them for a while. We also bought her two bus tickets to meet us in the city for breakfast on Saturday. She said she'd be there, however, we didn't see her then either.

And that's the story up to this point. It was all very interesting to say the least. I hope and pray that the little bit of time we did spend with her encouraged her and gave her a small glimpse of the love that God has for her and her life.

We have another holiday this weekend: Wednesday - Friday. I think it's fall break for most of the schools here. I was hoping to go to Rome with my friend Sarah from CCU who is in Germany right now. That didn't work out for this weekend (maybe in Nov.) but I am planning on going to Berlin with Michelle, the other teacher in my program. I'm excited about seeing everything there, and celebrating my first birthday in Europe! :)

I also have more pictures to put up. Some are of my kiddies and our flat, which you should be able to see from the links I posted a few entries ago. I just added them to the school and Praha 6 albums. The others I'll post the link to here as soon as I get them up.

That's all for now. Love and miss you all!!!!
Steph
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