Week One in a Nutshell

Ahoj from Klenčí! I feel like I don’t have much time to write, but in reality I’ve had many opportunities, I just can’t get myself to sit down and do it. I want to experience and see everything! So for these last few days I'll just  summarize.

Day 1- Pavel (the dad) picked me up from the airport in Munich and we got coffee at a café in the airport while we tried to speak broken Czech and broken English. (Story of my life right now!) We then drove to Domažlice where Martina (the mom), Eliška (the daughter, 17), and Jan (the son, 13) were at the music school where the mom teaches and the kids take lessons. We went home for a while (where I met the family’s friendly Irish Setter dog Cvrtek, which means cricket) and then back to the school for a concert of all the professors. I enjoyed a beer during the concert. :) It was outside in a courtyard type of place at the school. I met several prominent musicians. It was wonderful. When we came home Jan and I played some dudy, we all talked and got to know each other better, and then went to bed.

Day 2- I slept in while Pavel went to work and Eliška and Jan went to school. Martina only worked in the afternoon. So we went to Domažlice around noon, ran some errands, and then went to the music school. Jan had exams for guitar and dudy (Czech bagpipes), so he practiced and we listened. The whole family plays multiple instruments and are very very very talented! Then Jan and I climbed up the 194 narrow steps of the tower near the church in Domažlice. It was so beautiful, and you could see so much of the Chodsko region. He pointed out some landmarks and we made our way back down. Eliška joined us for a trip to the Chodsko museum. She used to work there, so she explained some things. I asked lots of questions and tested her English. J We then came home for dinner (potato, lentil, and mushroom soup, and things similar to crepes/pancakes with homemade raspberry jam). Jan and I decided to explore, so we took bikes up Čerchov mountain. Note: I haven’t ridden a bike in YEARS. I had to get off and walk a few times. So we went through a few other towns on our way up the mountain, did a little off-roading in the ‘český les’ (Czech forest), stopped at a small lake filled with a bajillion tadpoles (see pics). Jan took a dip in the lake while I took pictures of the beautiful view, and then we finished our trek to the top of the mountain and found the statue of Jindřich Šimon Baar, who I believe was an author in the area. It was a long way up and down the mountain, and I definitely will wear different shoes next time, but the view really was great and I liked going with Jan because he kept making me be adventurous on the bike. He kept saying “rychle, Carrie!!” but I made him go slow. J When we got back to Klenčí Jan and I were talking (in my broken Czech) about church and priests (I told him my friend Taylor is studying to be a priest) and once he understood that I am Catholic (they are too!!) and I go to Mass he motioned for me to follow him and we went to the priest’s house for me to meet him, but he wasn’t home. Jan told me the priest is around 32 years old, and I was surprised that he would be so young. I guess I’m not really sure why. So then we went home and I went to bed because I was so tired after that long bike ride.

Day 3- Once again I slept in while the family went to school/work. What a life! J I had some leftover soup for lunch and read a chapter of the only book I brought (I already regret not bringing more) on the deck. When everyone got home from school and work we went swimming at a lake. Their family friend owns a vacation house for Czech police, and we got to go there because the family has a key. Jan and I took out the kayak/canoe thing for a while, and then I just laid out and got a tan. Pavel gave me a cell phone he got through his work that I am going to borrow while I’m here. It was quite difficult (language wise) to make sure everyone understood the agreement of the cell phone and money exchange and everything. But overall it was fun to just hang out with the family at the lake. After that we drove home and saw the family’s boat on the way. They take the boat to Croatia for vacations. Then we drove back to Klenčí and stopped at Martina’s parents and aunt and uncle’s house. I got to see Martina’s mom and aunt in kroj (Czech folk costumes) because they were going to Plzen to sing. At Martina’s parents house we all helped Liska, Martina’s cousin, (picture me doing this…I think its funny because I’m a “city girl”) rake and rake and rake hay (dried cut grass) from the field across from their house, then we used a pitch fork to put it in a cart, and drove the cart down to Martina’s grandfather’s house where he has rabbits and chickens. Eliška and I kept raking more hay at Martina’s grandfather’s house, while Martina’s other cousin and Pavel and Jan pitched the hay up to the loft. I feel like I did some real Czech labor! It was very hot, so I’m not sure I would call it fun, but I was happy to help and I felt accomplished. :) Eliška and I went home a bit earlier than everyone else so we could start grilling for dinner, but they didn‘t have any wood cut, so Eliška and I walked down the street to the pub to get some beer for dinner, and waited until Jan and Pavel came home. For dinner we had salad, bread, and three different types of sausages. Then Jan and I played some dudy duets outside by the fire and he taught me how to trill better. Jan and Pavel decided I didn’t have the right amount of pressure on the bag of my dudy, and I said the bag was kind of big for me because playing Jan’s dudy with a smaller bag was easier. So right then and there Pavel called up his friend Miroslav Janovec, the maker of my bagpipe, and some day soon I think we will take my dudy to him and see if I can get a smaller or different bag so it will be easier to play. Knowing that the maker of my dudy lives just a few minutes away from me is amazing. I never thought that would happen! We played and worked on the dudy until it was too dark outside to see, and went to bed.

So those were my first few days in the Czech Republic! Complete with crazy fast drivers, lunch meat for breakfast, socks with sandals, and a language that I, for the most part, can't understand running through my head constantly. It's been wonderful so far!