Prague Random

Random stuff posted mostly for me - last post about Prague for a while.

+ Prague is cheap - London is expensive, almost exact opposites. For the second summer in a row, I've used the Chase Sapphire card for anything I can because there are no foreign transaction fees. I did, however, have to pay about $50 in foreign ATM fees. Even though Prague is cheap, not everyone takes credit cards unlike other parts of Europe that I have been to. So you have to be prepared with a good amount of cash on hand. Especially when buying lunch for a ton of students.

+ The night we spent with Andrew and Debbie Jones was also the night we met the owner of Sir Toby's hostel, who also happens to run a series of hostels in Prague and one in Accra, Ghana. He is a serial entrepreneur and uses revenue from his businesses to help fund missional stuff all over the globe. He left that night for Accra to spend some time looking into a public sanitation initiative.

+ The students we hung with use Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. Snapchat continues to be a messaging platform for a lot of kids. I don't know why. I actually used Facebook Messenger while away because it was easier to use than anything else to connect with people overseas. Three of our team, including me, had overseas data plans for our phones.

+ The Charles Bridge and the Old Town Square are packed with tourists. I never felt unsafe in any of those parts of the city.

+ The Prague metro is super easy to use.

+ Security at Heathrow was a hot mess. I had my whole carry on bag inspected which I don't normally get bent out of shape about. But it took forever. While I was getting that done, our team was together outside a store when some random guy dropped a suitcase next to them and walked away. They got security right away.

+ Our hotel in London was in East London, right next to a large Mosque. Budget cost, teeny rooms but more than adequate. Easy walk to Tower Bridge and a great ethnically diverse neighborhood. This is what global cities look like.

+ Lots of our kids had a little insecurity about being the same age as the kids they were 'leading.' In actuality, teams like this have a certain 'gravity' that attracts others. Roles don't matter but this gravity does.

+ The emerging generation wants 'programming' that is organic.

+ In December, when we got the invite to help run Camp Juice, Emily said, "Wow, The Ember Cast will be a real missions organization after this!" Fake it until you make it, Ember spawn.