Prague Journal

Friday, May 27, 2005.

Another day in paradise: warm weather and sunshine! Unfortunately, the tourists have arrived in Prague in droves. All the streets and squares are packed with hoards of people cheek to jowl.
This afternoon I went downtown to sit in on part of Veena and Richard’s conference, “Bringing the World Home,” coordinated by Americans for Informed Democracy (AID). This is one of a series of weekend retreats in Europe for Americans who have finished study abroad programs, focused on techniques for raising global consciousness in the U.S. This Prague retreat was held at the Pedagogical Faculty of Charles University, whose building is behind the Roman Catholic Church of St. Thomas on Lazarska, just across the street from Chez Amis. The conference attracted a good turnout – at least 30 attendees. I came for the introductory remarks at 1pm, and had intended to stay for a panel discussion which was scheduled to begin at 5pm, but instead went home after a short shopping errand at 4.
Rick and I went together to services at the Spanish Synagogue, which were led tonight by Cantorial Soloist Coleman Reaboi from Florida. This time Coleman is here with his wife Julia and year-old son Leo for an extended 3-week visit. Coleman conducted the service was which absolutely lovely. The singing was interrupted only by a few silent or spoken prayers and a short Dvar Torah. There were only about 20 or 30 people in attendance, a relatively small crowd, mostly locals, which seemed nicely intimate.
After the service, we went to Charlotte and Bruce’s flat for dessert. Charlotte had made fruit dumplings – potato dumplings filled with whole strawberries – and we all had ample portions topped with cheese, sugar, and melted butter. Charlotte is a wonderful cook, but of course the real reason to meet them for dessert is for their company. This evening was special partly because they have just celebrated their third anniversary this week, but also because Bruce had won several trophies in a golf tournament this afternoon.

posted by JWinn @ 7:50 PM