Doreen and Nancy

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Doreen, a very friendly young Arab Christian woman from Israel, asked Nancy to edit her with her paper on Christians and divorce. Doreen came to our room about seven and working together they finished about two hours later. Doreen had written a very good paper. Our long time working together wasn’t a long time in correcting errors. It was a good long time of my learning more from her about marriage and divorce as it is seen in the eyes of people from the Middle East. It was also a painful time of seeing how our casual attitude toward divorce in the Western nations looks to an outsider. I talked to her about how divorce impacts families, churches and society in general in the USA. The impact is very different from what happens in a Middle Eastern community but I think she got a slightly different view from me than what she might have thought knowing that 34%!o(MISSING)f all Americans are divorced and 33%!o(MISSING)f all Christians in America are divorced. I learned a lot from her. What a privilege it is to get to learn new things from people who live in countries I have never visited or known about. It makes each day a valuable lesson learned in a classroom where the teacher becomes a new friend. In the morning at breakfast I had a half hour to talk to a Lebanese man who gave me many facts about the Syrian occupation which I have never heard on TV or read about in the press. I also got his views on Americans and their current role in Iraq. I got to hear how he views what is going on both in Iraq and Lebanon. I was totally surprised by almost everything he said to me. In one day I learned more about Israel and Lebanon than I had learned in years. I also saw my own country through eyes other than those of a reporter. It was amazing. At once I was shocked by my country (divorce issue) and stunned to see the positive light in which my country is held on other issues. This is my Ph. D. in world affairs.

I finally have my new Blue Cross insurance card. I turned 65 in early February which means I had to change to MediCare with a MediGap policy from Blue Cross. The card did not arrive before we left for Prague. A week or so ago Nancy sent an e-mail to one of her former co-workers asking that she get in touch with the insurance office and request a card for me. The card was mailed on the 8th and arrived yesterday. I’m glad to have it and hope I will not need to use it.

Do you ever wonder why HE writes so much and I write so little? I’m busy cleaning up the dishes, washing the clothes, putting away all the things that get scattered around the room, scrubbing the bathroom floors (which is actually FUN) and doing all the things necessary to keep our room and our lives in order. He is the ‘sitter and typer”. As soon as I get all the things done in the evening or in the morning, it is time to go to sleep or time to go to chapel and then on to work. Bill and I have divided the tasks. He is the teller of tales and I am the worker bee. He still prepares the supper and does the shopping, etc. He’s not being lazy. He just types and types and I just busy bee. I should tell you how to wash the bathroom floor. Perhaps I have done before. If so, skip this part. Our room is a room for a handicapped individual or family. Our bathroom has a shower but no stall so you could roll a wheelchair in and shower without having to move unless you wanted to sit on the seat which folds down from the wall. To ‘scrub’ the bathroom all I need to do is use the handheld shower and wash all the floor with it. The dirt goes down the drain, the fuzz balls get caught in the drain and I put them in the trashcan. I either dry the floor with the bath mat and scrub it or I let it air dry. Since the humidity is around 20%!t(MISSING)hat just makes the air in the room more comfortable. I am also trying my best to read some of the best books from the library. The enormous window ledge of books I mailed from the USA is largely unread. I finished one book and am part way through two others from home. In the meantime I am devouring good books I find in the library. What a pleasure!!!! Bill has also read a book or two from the library. We will be heading downtown tomorrow to get another haircut. We can tell we have been here two months since we have needed two haircuts. Saturday will be 2 months. Our friend Cheryl gave us the business card of the place where she gets her hair cut. Since she always looks perfect, I am HOPING they cut mine as nicely. She also wears a short haircut. This place charges a little less than half our former haircut price. We enjoyed the luxury of the other hair cut but it cost 3 times as much as any hair cut Bill had ever had in the USA. Gone are the days of our fantastic Chinese haircuts (some of the best skilled cutters either of us have ever been to) which cost around 10 cents for Bill and 20 cents for me. Prague is right up there in the top cost market for such things. Also for tourists, gone are the days when prices of almost everything in Prague were a bargain. The plunging dollar and the rising economy here have made this more on the par with prices in the USA. That must be tough for workers here whose pay has not climbed as costs have climbed. Well, I need to get back to my reading. Bill just walked up the hill to the newly built gazebo which we can see from our window. He said it is cold and very windy when you get to the top of the hill. But the snow is almost melted! That makes me sad. But I saw flowers blooming yesterday and I didn’t have to wear a coat. Those things may make up for my sadness in losing all that wonderful snow.

I’m trying to find a hotel in Krakow to stay in over the Easter weekend. Thankgoodness for the Internet as it makes searching easier. I have send contacted to six or seven hotels requestion a room. So far I have receive one reply, “All our rooms are filled.” I realized it was a rather late date to decide to travel and that it might be difficult to find a room.

Footnote-Thursday a.m. Bill checked the internet directly after breakfast and learned we HAVE a hotel in Krakow. That will be nicer than sleeping on the street. I will tell you more about it tomorrow.

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