Finding our way

I haven't had much to write about this week, so I will try to summarize the things we've done to keep us busy since the last post.
Last Thursday, Andrea, Connor, Heidi and I set out to explore the town of Čelákovice, the small town where we are staying for school. We walked up and down the main street of town, looking at the stores, figuring out what they sell and what their hours are. That kept us busy for a few hours, and then because we were quite cold after spending that much time outdoors, we stopped in a Greek restaurant for some hot chocolate and lattes. They cost about a dollar each, which gives you a nice portion.
On Friday, the whole class went into Prague for a scavenger hunt. We were split into small groups of 4 or 5 people (husbands and wives were split as well) to answer as many questions about Prague (3 pages worth of questions, activities and challenges) as we could in 2 hours. We were a bit sluggish because of the cold, but we had fun in the process. One of our challenges was to find out how many stairs there are in the Prague replica of the Eiffel Tower. You could use a book, search the internet, ask someone, or go there and find out for yourself. Our team decided to go there. It's all uphill getting there, and then there are lots of stairs to climb (completely frozen stairs, I might add). But, we trekked about so we could have the pleasure of finding out for ourselves how many stairs there are (1046, if I remember correctly). Also, we got bonus points for taking a picture once we got there. So, that was the gist of the scavenger hunt. I think the team I was on came in last. Our prize was a pair of fuzzy socks for each of us. The team Geo was on came in second or third to last; they got some warm gloves. The rest of the teams got various warm items, like a beanie, a scarf, and ear warmers. The winning team got a bottle of sparkling wine each, and they were kind enough to share it with the whole class at our magnificent lunch we had after the competition. We went to a restaurant where the menu was already ordered for us...a nice big salad, a special Czech entree of beef with bread dumplings and a sweet, rich gravy, and apple strudel for dessert. I didn't have to eat again the whole day...
After lunch, which was actually a very late lunch or a very early dinner, we took a walking tour of the "mysteries of Prague". It was mildly entertaining to hear our local tour guide tell the old "ghost" stories of Prague. But I should have known better to sign up for an outdoor walking tour after dark. At least it wasn't snowing! After the tour, we went to another restaurant (people in the group were actually hungry) and we ordered a light snack, so we wouldn't go to bed hungry. We got home around 10:30 pm, so it was a full 12-hour day of fun in Prague.
Saturday we intended to do laundry, so we sat around our apartment the whole day while we waited our turn. It was later revealed to us that a staff person had the key to the laundry room and there was no way to get ahold of her. So, Geo made the best of the day and studied all day. He got a lot done. I sewed a lot. It snowed mostly all day, but it stopped long enough for me to go to the grocery store. It was about an inch of snow by the time it was finished snowing. Later that evening, Geo and I went out for crepes.
On Sunday, we finally got the laundry key, so we did one load in the early afternoon. Then we went in to Prague for church...we found a group called Prague Christian Fellowship. They meet at 4:30 pm. That part is the best. It was a nice service, and it was really nice to be back to church, since we hadn't been since Christmas morning. After church, Geo and I went out to dinner in Prague--the Pizza Coloseum. We had delicious pizza and pasta. And tiramisu and ice cream :)
Geo doesn't have classes on Monday, so he had more time to prepare the rest of his homework. A lot of his classes are only 5 weeks, so he really has to get moving! In the afternoon, I did a little research with Andrea about the possibilities of going to Italy for the Olympics. Then we ran to the pharmacy (Connor seems to have pneumonia, poor little guy) and then to the store for food for dinner. Geo studied and ran, and studied some more. He's starting a club here that will set up touring the Central Banks of various countries and maybe the whole EU. We had to do a little bit of advertising and planning to get the club charter turned in by today.
So, that's an update. I guess we did a little more than I thought. Now I'm doing another load of laundry while Geo's in class. Tonight we go into Prague for "First Tuesday," a Thunderbird get-together that happens all over the world. Students and alumni (and sometimes potential students) gather for some sort of social activity. I think it will just be appetizers tonight.
Friday we're going to tour a beer factory. I'll summarize that over the weekend for you.
It snowed again this morning (another inch) and snow/rain is the forecast for days. Temperatures today are about 36 F (feels like 24, says Yahoo) and shouldn't be over 30 the rest of the week! Brrr...