CzechHartmans: Sunday Morning at ICBP

Ths morning Liz woke up very early again so we had coffee and granola for breakfast. We watched a little news on TV and we both worked on some school lessons. It was quite chilly this morning. Weather Underground reported the temperature in Prague to be 42 F. Hence I scurried around to try and figure out how to make the heating system in our apartment work. We have hot water heat that circulates through registers in bathroom, both bedrooms, the living room and the entry hall. I easily found the dial to turn on the hot water heater and cranked it up a bit and waited for the warmth to permeate our apartment. It soon felt really great in our bedroom and the living room, but no heat came out of the hall or guest bedroom registers. A little investigation turned up dials to turn on those registers to let the warm water flow through them. Mission accomplished - we shall be warm this winter!

We got ready for church way before it would begin so we took a walk to help wake us up. It turned out to a most fortuitous walk. First, we found a little VietNamese run shop that we had been searching for for about three days. Liz had bought a thin, cotton sweater there and wanted one in another color as it is just right for teaching and is washable. We have been searching for three days off and on when we are out to find the shop, but it appears to have disappeared. On our walk this morning we went farther east than we thought it could have been and found it. So we can return there when it is open this week and see what other colors there are. We then walked to Alberts, our nearby grocery thinking about some pastries to eat before church. Would you believe, hot pastries were just being placed on the pastry racks, so we lovingly chose four of them and headed homel. I made a stop for bananas at our local fruit and vegetable shop and Liz headed straight home to make coffee.

Coffee has caused us some consternation as Czech coffee is more bitter than we like. However, last Thursday afternoon Vera took us on a tour of Zizkov (where we live) and was pointing out to us the various shops and types of restaurants near our place. We came upon a shop selling some African things so I went in to peruse the wears. To our good luck, there was "mild", organic coffee from Mexico. The word mild was too much to pass up so I bought a bag. We made it for the first time to have with our pastries and it lived up to its billing - very good.

Rae was off to ICP with other young teachers, but we chose to try the International Baptist Church of Prague again. See http://www.ibcp.cz/ for details. The worship is very good and some of my favorite students go there. Also, the English pastor is good. This morning was very good. See the picture below that I got off the web site to get an idea of what the inside of the building looks like.

After church we walked to our local Mall - Flora - to eat with the IMB crowd. The two pics below give you an idea of what a check mall is like - just like an American mall. We are in the food courts. There is KFC as shown in the background, a McDonalds, a Thai place, a Subway, a Chinese, pizza, etc.

Jessica (7th grade) is taking a bite of corn-on-the-cob. Her Dad is to her left and Hannah (10th) is to her right. Hannah is on the worship team at school and at church. The next visible person is Stephanie who works at the IMB office and does some teaching at the school. Lauren (10th) is next. She is a great bongo player both at the church and the in the school's chapel. Going around the table you see a bit of Joshua, then a bit of Caleb (brothers) and they most of David - brother of Lauren and Jessica. Then you see a bit of their little brother - Andrew I think and then their Mom. Hannah's mom and Liz are not visible in the pic, but there. So is Stphanie's sister who is visiting. Liz and I chose Thai and were able to bring half of what we ordered home.