First Day ---- Groceries are Needed

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Nancy -- You can’t imagine how wonderful today was .. and how cold. Yesterday Bill saw one friend from last year Vanessa and the two of us saw Kris. That was fantastic. We also ate breakfast with a returning lecturer Andrew who we had met last year. We started to get to know Mark, Bridget and their lovely extroverted 13 months old Sophie. I saw Bridget’s necklace and said, “You’ve either visited New Zealand or you are from there.” She had told me she was from New Zealand. Her Sophie looks so much like the daughter of our friends from Auckland when she was a baby! Same red hair and same big smile. So we were off to a good start. But today was even better. We got to see those folks again but then we started to see one after the other of folks we knew and loved last year. Dejan first, then his new wife Daily, then Timofey from Moscow and his new wife, then on and on as we got to church and we overwhelmed with how much all the children have grown, how MANY children were at church, that Parush had returned from his time with family in California, that the Smith’s were here with Peter serving as worship leader (but that Jason was in their rooms with a broken leg in a cast!), then Peter and the children and Toivo preaching and his older son massively grown and his middle son quite a lot more mature also. But we could find Enike and Tipsy. Sadly after church I learned they were at the hospital with Tipsy in preparation for surgery on his hip this week. He’s a very darling 6 year old and something had happened to his hip and he needs intervention to prevent a crippling leg problem in the future. Thank God for doctors and nurses who will care for him and restore him to good health. Please pray for this dear family and all their concerns this week. Peter, Katharina’s husband, and their son and daughter were there with the son reading scripture for worship today. Children are active participants in all the services. We didn’t even get to talk to Keith (the rector) or his wife during church time since they were both busy helping with children’s church. The crowd was so overwhelming that Keith cared for Jason so Denise could work with the SEVEN toddlers who were there for Crèche. Joe-our guide to how to understand a Scot’s Man when he speaks and his wife and kids were there. I finally got to see Vanessa (who had worked hard to arrange everything for our arrival-our room, our keys, our meals, etc.) Matthew and his wife (who read the other scripture) and Matthew and Olivia and their two. I didn’t even recognize their baby daughter who was so tiny when we left last summer. They told us Chris Matt’s cousin is back in the USA in school. Lina was playing the piano and started with music our church has learned to love this 6 months while we were home. It was from the Northumbrian community-Lord you have always promised. Debbie and the two kids were there but Greg was off in Berlin (or somewhere). We told her how we had found a connection to their family at Christmas. Two of our friends from our early days in Annapolis are members of Greg’s home church which helps sponsor their work in Prague. The world seems mighty small sometimes. Wes was back to lecture for intensives with the good news that his wife’s health has improved. The after service refreshments were as good as ever and the faithful Russian family who do this as a service to the community were there with welcoming smiles on their faces. I am sure I am forgetting a number of folks. There have been too many for me to even remember who we were glad to see and who seemed to be equally glad to see us. Now about the temperature. I have no idea what the thermometer said today. But it was cold this morning. Then we went downtown ALL the way to the center of the city to buy some things like hangers, placemats, etc. at Tesco. I put on a Chinese silk undershirt, a t-neck, and a wool sweater, tights and thick corduroy pants, wool socks and boots, cotton gloves and a short polartech jacket with hood, plus a lightweight scarf for around my neck. That was fine going down. Then when the sunset around 4:14 p.m. it was like a rock had dropped. We were pretty cold getting back. That is definitely the last time we go downtown without our long coats on until late March or early April. When I went downstairs to iron some wool slacks that have some BIG wrinkles in them from being here folded up for 6 months, I met our next-door neighbor. He was shaking with cold since he had just come in from outside. He said this is REALLY cold now as cold as the coldest days at home. I asked where Home is. He said, Canada-New Brunswick. He said the temp outside was the kind they have on the COLDEST days in New Brunswick. He felt with the wind it was at least -20. The weather report was for -10 as a high today -12 tomorrow and -14 the next day. I don’t know if it will get to -22 like the Russian temps which are pushing this cold on us. If so, it will be about the coldest we have ever been. Maybe it was that cold in Montana one Christmas when we visited Virginia and Ovis and maybe it has been that cold at my brother’s in Vt. But I am sure it will be COLD enough for me. We saw about 5 minutes of snow showers during breakfast. The snow is almost melted from their last one before we arrived but the ice is nicely in place.

Bill - Interestingly when I saw Bridget I also said, “You have either visited New Zealand or are from New Zealand.” Her distinctive necklace was the clue. As Nancy has already said, Bridget, Mark and their daughter Sophie are from Auckland.

A word of advice, when buying an uncut loaf of bread do not, I repead, do not run it through a bread slicing machine if the bread is still warm. Why? Because it squishes it entirely out of shape and compacts it into a much small loaf. How do I know? Because that is exactly what I did at the grocery store today and that is exactly what happened. When I got to the checkout counter the lady looked at the bread, gave me a puzzled look … there was a big question mark on her face. I held my hands out indicating it was supposed to be a round loaf. She shook her head in understanding and rang up the “round” now multi-shaped loaf of bread.

Bill has headed off to bed. I need to do the same. More later from your two travel bloggers Nancy and Bill.

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