AHOY!

So this is Jessie! I am in the CzechRepublic, i ahve been for almost two weeks and have two and a half months to go! So 'hello' in Czech is 'Ahoy!' Just like the pirates!

Teen challenge started in a basement in New York 50 years ago, and is now in almost 70 countries. It's aimed at people with addictions like drugs and alcohol. I am here to work with them for the summer. Things are going good! I'm staying in a little town about thirty minutes to Prauge called černuc. (chair-newts.) This is where the woman's house is, which has ten women of all ages (19-51) and two interns, me and another american girl, living in it. Dude, all ten of those girls share one bedroom and one bathroom. Luckily, my roomie and i haave two girls in a room and bathroom to split between us two. We work all day in a town called Postovice, (post- oh- vits). It's really cool, the center is kinda set up like a ranch, the buildings are an old monestary from the 11th century. Since then it's been a farm, a furniture warehouse, and now a Teen Challenge center. They've done an amazing job restoring all of the buildings while keeping the old, original stone intact. Everyone helps everyone out. The girls (and I) do all of the laundry every day. Tehy also peel aaalllll of the potatos used fo reach meal and clean all of the bathrooms and kitchen each night. I get to bounce around from job to job, filling in where I'm needed. The boys do all of the manual labor... of course... and run a pallete shop to make some money. I am slo expected to conform to the rules of the program with the girls. So about half of my clothes are not allowed, i had to take all of my piercings out, and am not allowed to show my tattoos. It's like I'm in the program. Joy, eh? (dad... i need to tell you something... i'm in rehab.)

I also get to work with the girls one on one, counseling kinda stuff. Which is weird, becuase we need a translator. and the translator girl could just say what I'm saying wihtout me saying it... if that makes sense. The girls are a blast, I am learning Czech! I spent a week here with no one else that spoke engligh, i thought i was going insane, but I'm still alive. no worries. I read Twilight twice and watched Xmen 2 about four times the first wek before my roomate got here. Who is... unique. We are opposites. We went shopping in PRAUGE (!!!!!!!) last night, and she got excited over one of those weird stores filled with dorky teacher clothes. HAHA.

Prauge is amazing. I've been there a few times, but got to go shopping for the first time last night. I got a hot pink leather jacket for 20 bucks! awesome! It's a beautiful city, but there is graffitti EVERYWHERE. it's kinda cool at times, adds character i'd say. But they have adds for 'neon club' which is a strip joint spraypainted everywhere. Cheap advertising i guess.

We 'hit the streets' the other night to talk to junkies abou their lives and God. I watched one guy role joints for about fifteen minutes as he listened and asked questions about God. I also witnessed one guy whip out a bong and start puffing away. And one guy even shot up as we were talking to them. This is all happening on the sidewalk too! Right out in the open! the law about any kind of drugs in Prauge says 'a little is ok'. No joke, they don't have a set amount on what 'a little' is. drugs are bad. Well, Czech is the second most athiest country in the world to Turkey, and now i can see why. Drugs and alcohol are widely accepted here. You can buy alcohol when you!re 18 here, and it's widely availible. No such thing as a liquor store, there're more booye in a gas station than gas. It's so sad to see and my heart goes out to these people. Needless to say, the day that we walked and witnessed downtown... I lost my appetite.

All in all my trip has been awesome. Stressful at times, dull at times, mostly fun, and mostly exciting. I keep telling myself it's an adventure. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to the 'send Jessie to Czech' cause, I will keep you as updated as i can!
xoxo
Jessie