Alisha and I have taken the approach of "adventure now, sleep...sometime." So while the others slept in, we rode bicycles with our host to a local lake and went for a quick swim. I am so glad we did!
I have never swam in water so calm and clean. And, while it was quite cool, it felt wonderful in contrast to the intense heat and humidity we have been experiencing so far (which has been exceptionally intense for this region). Filip and I swam most of the way across the lake and back and Alisha spent her time in the shallow area trying to sneak up on/"make friends" with some ducks.
We had lunch and left for the English Camp at 1 p.m., driving northeast of Poděbrady for over two hours until we reached our destination. Interesting fact: the countryside we drove through often looked (and smelled) like the countryside of Pennsylvania. Lots of rolling hills with fields and small farm houses. As we neared our destination, Chata Jedlová, the hills became much larger -- I dare say "mountainous."
Our new teammates. We spent the afternoon preparing for the students, who will arrive Saturday afternoon.
We met the groups we will be working with at the camp: Josiah Venture, an international mission agency consisting of interns from the U.S. and Czech team members and focuses on empowering local churches in Eastern Europe, and a church group of young adults from Portland, Oregon. Josiah Venture attempts to connect individual churches in the Czech Republic with individual congregations in the U.S. with the goal of the U.S. church committing to serving at their sister church's English camp over the course of several years.
Our group doesn't fit in this typical formula, but they are excited to have us (they affectionately call us "the Mennonites") and we are excited to be with them. As soon as we arrived, we all found the roles we would be filling very quickly. Specifically, of the 20 staff that are here, I am the only person that can play guitar, so it looks like I will be leading music. And Alisha is going to take charge of the craft activities along with the other girls from our group.
I will go into detail tomorrow about what our daily schedule looks like. The students will arrive this afternoon (Saturday) and be tested to see how proficient their English is.
Let the wild rumpus start!