Blogs from Prague, Czech Republic, Europe - page 184

In this city of buildings and churches that date back hundreds of years there is one church that, from the front, appears new and modern. In actuality the front is new and modern in design, but the rest of the building is quite old. This is the Emauzy Church. Emauzy is Czech for Emmas and this church is named for that Biblical town. The Benedictines founded the church in the 14th century and the monastery that stands beside the church. During World War II the Naxis gave complex to the Red Cross and during the Communist era it was used as governmental offices. A friend here gave me much of this information. Late during World War II, February 14th, 1945 to be exact, the church was damaged during an American bombing raid. There must have been ... read more

To all you good folks at Broadneck, here is Helle who taught me to make Estonian pancakes. She is a masters degree student here and will graduate in May. Helle is not only a heavy library user during her study time, but as part of her scholarship here she works in the library. ... read more

It is fascinating talking to people about what it used to be like when the country was communist and it is interesting to see how it still affects the city now. Like there is at least a small potravany (grocery store, that sells cheese, meat, bread and other things but is pretty small) on every block. Also there is at least one bar on every block. There are two big stores that sell everything. They are worse than target and costco (they are always so crowded) One fo them exciting were a building for the communist used to be. I have met some awesome people on this trip and it is always fun meeting other people from the states in Prague who are not on this program. If someone is speaking English that is enough to ... read more

The last three weeks a group of us have gathered together each Monday eveing to discuss a book. Before each session we are to have read the selection for that week. The discussion is a very informal one. Someone makes a comment on the reading or asks a question and away we go. We are working our way through Henri Nouwen's The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God Through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence. It seems a bit condictory that we sit in a group and discuss the value of solitude and silence. Silence and solitude are not well practiced in our Western culture. Most of us are uncomfortable with both. Try ten minutes of silence in a worship service and see how uncomfortable people become. Nancy said, "Ten minutes, try five and watch people frown." ... read more

In our entry of January 25th we talked about moving all the books to relieve areas that have become crammed and to make room for new books. Well, phase one of that project was completed today. We still will have a lot of books to move when the eleven sections of new shelving arrive and are installed. So, a little rest for the weary ... It is a shame that we cannot take in information by osmosis, that is it is a shame that when we pick up a batch of books that we are moving that the information in them is not automatically transferred to our brain. Wouldn't that be great? On the other hand if Sherlock Holmes was right and our mind is like a blackboard and will only hold so much chalk writing ... read more