Coyans in the Czech Republic

FUN WITH FRIENDS

Today (Monday) we met my friend Katarina and her mother Jaromila. I had met Katarina briefly last year here in Brno and Krista and I had been communicating with her for the last year via email. Over that time we have built up a nice friendship, which is so hard to do here in the Czech Republic. One thing that is said about Czechs is that it is very difficult to become their friends, but once you do you have a friend for life. That seems to be true, as Katarina has been a great friend for us, even sending many gifts for us and the children at Christmas.
We met Katarina this morning in her town of Vyskov, which is about 30 minutes north of Brno. Brno is the second-largest city in the Czech Republic (about 500,000 people) and is where we are staying for four nights to meet some friends. Once we met her, she took us to the elementary school where her mother works. We met several of the teachers, as well as the director of the school, who was very interested in what we thought of his school. We sat in on one English class for 8 year-old children, and were so encouraged by what we saw. We had heard that Czech schoolteachers are ultra-strict with their students, but this teacher was very nice and her students were bright and well-behaved. The students greeted us in English, and found us very interesting. After this, we were the “guests of honor” in Jaromila’s class. We sat at the front of the class, and the children asked us questions in their halting English. They were interested in American culture, and also in sports. We were able to teach them a song, and handed out lollipops from Sees Candy, which made us a big hit. It was a really great time and we felt very welcome their.
After this, Katarina took us to a village in the nearby mountains where she is building a house with her boyfriend of 7 years, We met her boyfriend’s parents, who in typical Czech fashion treated us like royalty, bringing us delicious sandwiches and sweets. We talked with them for about an hour, with Katarina translating, and were so impressed with their warmth and hospitality.
Leaving this village, we returned to Vyskov where Katarina took us on a tour of her coty (about 30,000 people). It is a lovely city, with a nice town square and with some of it’s original medieval walls still remaining. She took us to the town museum, where her “aunt” (which is not really her aunt – but is a term on endearment for an older female friend) met us. The museum was closed, but her aunt opened it up for us and gave us a free private tour. We spoke with her in Czech, and were able to understand some of what she said. Again, we were blown away by the friendliness of the people, if you have your “foot in the door”.
Finally, we went to Katarina’s apartment for the evening. Katarina is 25 years old, and lives with her mother and father (until her house is finished in a year or so) in a typical Czech “panelak”. This is a communist-era apartment building, built of prefabricated panels. They are small but quite cozy. The bathroom is really different and tiny, with the washbasin being just a small bowl above the bathtub, using the same faucet as the bathtub. Katarina presented us with many Czech gifts, and again we were blown away by the generosity. Then Jaromila taught us how to make buchty, which Krista has made for our Czech dinners. She carefully walked us through every step, and we helped her put together each delicious buchty (which is like a small pastry filled with cream chese and topped with blueberries). She also showed us how to make houba polevka (mushroom soup), which she made from mushrooms they pick in the wild and then dry. It was perhaps the best soup I have ever tasted. Then we spent some time together talking, watching Czech television (many reality shows), and eating the just-baked buchty. Mmmmmm it was a delicious ending to a wonderful day.