I'm the awkward middle child on our team.
We have four students, girls, ages 16-18.
And we have the 25-year-old and the 30-year-old who have the biggest bromance I've ever witnessed.
And I really love them all.
But I've had very different life experiences than all of them, and it's difficult to relate.
It's difficult just to break in, to be honest.
So, last night when Kyle announced that outsiders weren't allowed to join us on our free day, I did not have a positive reaction.
(He already knew that I was in a bad mood, which happens after travel day/two weeks of having every moment planned out for me.)
A while later, as we were walking to our meeting, he gave me the option of spending the day with people I might have connected with.
It was the best thing he could have said to me.
You see, at training in Malenovice, we met this guy Matt.
I know what you're thinking: "Yeah? This guy? Tell me about him? Is he cute?"
He's just a guy and he's closer to my age. And sometimes it's refreshing to have someone like that to talk to.
Because sometimes I forget that I need filters when talking to 16-year-olds, because I don't spend time with them.
Last night, I asked Matt what he was doing today.
We agreed to hang out.
"What's up with you and Matt?"
Nothing. We're friends.
More like acquaintances, at that point.
I suppose you could call us friends now.
I ended up tagging along with his team.
They're from San Antonio.
And they rock.
Four of us (me, Matt, Rick, and Amy) started the day at the Charles Bridge, which was super crowded.
And then we wandered in and out of shops, mostly jewelry shops that offered the exact same things.
(Matt and I both wanted rings. We didn't find them until we had twenty minutes at the very end of the day. Mine is a black band with the Lord's Prayer in Spanish, with separate gold bands on either side.)
The team was meeting up with a couple intern teams for lunch, so I awkwardly stood around before deciding to check out the shops nearby.
After lunch, all but two of us went to the Palladium, which is a giant mall.
I got my house shoes, which I'm wearing right now.
Matt tried to find some sandals, but couldn't.
At this point, we were allowed to break off from the rest of the group so I could help him find the shoe store.
It was 3:30.
And then we had two hours to wander around, looking for what we wanted to buy, and getting lost.
He made one too many jokes about us being in a relationship, so I owe him a punch, which I hope to deliver next summer at intern training.
(That is another post, after I process for a few more days.)
At 5:30, we reconnected with the team under the clock tower, after becoming so desperate for food that we grabbed some pizza.
This is apparently a famous landmark, so we're in a ton of pictures that people from all over the world will put on facebook or in their scrapbooks.
I love that about travelling in big cities.
Dinner was had at a Czech/Viking restaurant. It was super cool, and I hear the basement was like a dungeon.
I only ate some potato pancakes, which were disappointing.
We all had a few more stops to make before heading back to the hotel, and this is when we found our rings.
And now I'm sitting in the lobby of the Hotel Krystal, using the last bit of battery.
This was a day that I will not soon forget.
I made friends, who I will not likely see again on this Earth (*mumbling about various eschatalogical views*).
I came back with some very dirty feet.
A guy I had known for a very short time read me faster than anyone.
And I fell more in love with this country.
It is now time to go upstairs and repack for the last time, wait for my team to get back, and go to bed.
We leave for the airport around 6:30, our flight leaves around 9:30, we have about an hour at Charles de Gaulle, and we land in Detroit around 1:40 local time. I will be headed to Granger and my parents in 24 hours.
The past two weeks have been filled with frustration, bitterness, impatience, tough love, tears, lessons, joy, grace, heartache, and a strange feeling that my work here is not done. (Again, another post.)
Good night, friends.
We have four students, girls, ages 16-18.
And we have the 25-year-old and the 30-year-old who have the biggest bromance I've ever witnessed.
And I really love them all.
But I've had very different life experiences than all of them, and it's difficult to relate.
It's difficult just to break in, to be honest.
So, last night when Kyle announced that outsiders weren't allowed to join us on our free day, I did not have a positive reaction.
(He already knew that I was in a bad mood, which happens after travel day/two weeks of having every moment planned out for me.)
A while later, as we were walking to our meeting, he gave me the option of spending the day with people I might have connected with.
It was the best thing he could have said to me.
You see, at training in Malenovice, we met this guy Matt.
I know what you're thinking: "Yeah? This guy? Tell me about him? Is he cute?"
He's just a guy and he's closer to my age. And sometimes it's refreshing to have someone like that to talk to.
Because sometimes I forget that I need filters when talking to 16-year-olds, because I don't spend time with them.
Last night, I asked Matt what he was doing today.
We agreed to hang out.
"What's up with you and Matt?"
Nothing. We're friends.
More like acquaintances, at that point.
I suppose you could call us friends now.
I ended up tagging along with his team.
They're from San Antonio.
And they rock.
Four of us (me, Matt, Rick, and Amy) started the day at the Charles Bridge, which was super crowded.
And then we wandered in and out of shops, mostly jewelry shops that offered the exact same things.
(Matt and I both wanted rings. We didn't find them until we had twenty minutes at the very end of the day. Mine is a black band with the Lord's Prayer in Spanish, with separate gold bands on either side.)
The team was meeting up with a couple intern teams for lunch, so I awkwardly stood around before deciding to check out the shops nearby.
After lunch, all but two of us went to the Palladium, which is a giant mall.
I got my house shoes, which I'm wearing right now.
Matt tried to find some sandals, but couldn't.
At this point, we were allowed to break off from the rest of the group so I could help him find the shoe store.
It was 3:30.
And then we had two hours to wander around, looking for what we wanted to buy, and getting lost.
He made one too many jokes about us being in a relationship, so I owe him a punch, which I hope to deliver next summer at intern training.
(That is another post, after I process for a few more days.)
At 5:30, we reconnected with the team under the clock tower, after becoming so desperate for food that we grabbed some pizza.
This is apparently a famous landmark, so we're in a ton of pictures that people from all over the world will put on facebook or in their scrapbooks.
I love that about travelling in big cities.
Dinner was had at a Czech/Viking restaurant. It was super cool, and I hear the basement was like a dungeon.
I only ate some potato pancakes, which were disappointing.
We all had a few more stops to make before heading back to the hotel, and this is when we found our rings.
And now I'm sitting in the lobby of the Hotel Krystal, using the last bit of battery.
This was a day that I will not soon forget.
I made friends, who I will not likely see again on this Earth (*mumbling about various eschatalogical views*).
I came back with some very dirty feet.
A guy I had known for a very short time read me faster than anyone.
And I fell more in love with this country.
It is now time to go upstairs and repack for the last time, wait for my team to get back, and go to bed.
We leave for the airport around 6:30, our flight leaves around 9:30, we have about an hour at Charles de Gaulle, and we land in Detroit around 1:40 local time. I will be headed to Granger and my parents in 24 hours.
The past two weeks have been filled with frustration, bitterness, impatience, tough love, tears, lessons, joy, grace, heartache, and a strange feeling that my work here is not done. (Again, another post.)
Good night, friends.
1 comment:
Your thoughts and experiences remind me so much of a young woman I knew 37 years ago (me--different continent and country, but...)...This has clearly been (and will continue to be)a life-changing experience for you, Hope! So proud of you for embracing it all.
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