In the heart of art (and Havel)

In the late 1990s, former Czech President Václav Havel and his wife rescued a deconsecrated and dilapidated church and transformed it into an international spiritual center called Pražská Křižovatka (Prague Crossroads). According to the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97, the concept was:

"to respond to the now widely felt need for open-minded and creative dialogue among people of different faiths, convictions and professions about the present state of our civilisation, the dangers threatening it, and the hopes for the future."

Brilliant! Thus, what a fitting place for a week-long celebration of the arts.

Three phenomenally talented colleagues and I spent months planning and executing an arts week in honor of our school's "Arts for Life" focus this year. The result was four days and nights of stunning exhibitions, workshops, lunchtime concerts and evening performances filled with drama, dance, music, poetry and visual arts (and even some catering by BW!). 

The calm before the storm:

And then the implosion of art:

My heart overflows with thankfulness for the beauty that children can create, for the hope that our future holds. Unlocking and sharing the gifts of so many young people is a tremendous privilege.

...Aaaand, on the topic of arts, our Fall production, "The Government Inspector" by Nikolai Gogol, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, is now on Youtube:

The Government Inspector, Act I

The Government Inspector, Act II

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Dogs on rafts

A post by Jayda. Woof.

With mom feeling down this Spring and dad and me tiring of our same walking route, I felt it was time to get out of the city. So when my friend Ferris's mom suggested a rafting trip, I yipped until we agreed to go - even if there was a forecast for rain.

We squeezed four adults and me and Ferris into a rented Skoda Fabia (a smaller car than mom had paid for; I should have piddled on the Budget Rental guy's foot) and drove south to a place called Kemp Vltavan.

Squished.

Our friends set up tents in the drizzly weather and we (thankfully) had rented beds in the dining hall-cum-hostel attached to the campground. Cousin Liv joined us, too, from Vienna, and I was so happy to see her I did my helicopter tail. It rained all night but I was nice and snuggly-warm.

In the morning, we got rafts and life jackets from Ingetour, and we set off down the Vltava River. See Ferris on the left?

All the humans were bleary-eyed and chilly, but we dogs were ready to party.

We paddled to Český Krumlov and stopped for a shivery lunch. 

But it's never too cold for a pivo!

The afternoon warmed up a tiny bit and here dad is chiding mom for her wanting to take over the steering of our raft, as we seemed to zigzag all over the place. 

Picture with the ladies! I'm the cutest one, no?

Within 5 minutes of reaching our rafting our destination of Zlata Koruna, it started to downpour! We got van rides back to camp and had big plates of schnitzel and played charades.

Would I go again? Two paws up!

The camp on a sunny day (ingetour.cz)

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