Tag: dinner

Hanging With Zach and Kara

Post author By Shay
Post date July 25, 2014
2 Comments on Hanging With Zach and Kara

We had a pretty full morning today complete with Czech lessons and a trip over to the bank to sign what must have been at least a dozen documents. Our lessons went really well, but it’s a constant reminder that we need to study our notes daily and just keep up on our Czech vocabulary. It’s not any easy language and I feel like even though were just scratching the surface I’m starting to feel fatigue.

Tonight Zach and Kara invited us over for dinner at their house in Havířov which is about 20 minutes from our place. I’ve known Zach since the 4th grade and his family is near and dear to my heart. Zach and Kara have been here full-time in Czech for almost 2 years now, but Kara has been living in Czech much longer and Zach has served on many other short-term trips. We had a great time seeing their place for the first time and just catching up. They served us an “American dinner” (cheeseburgers!), complete with real American cheese. After being here for a month I can tell you that American cheese is not easy to find!

After dinner we took a walk down to a nearby park (just like we did yesterday). It’s seems to be a normal and fun thing to do after dinner, especially since it’s usually a little cooler outside than inside. Unfortunately the mosquitos were out in droves and that cut our time a little short, but that didn’t stop the kids from checking out yet another amazing park.

While we were outside we stopped in a town square type area near Zach and Kara’s place. They saw some young people that they knew so we met and talked with them for a bit. But in that square is a large metal arrow shaped thing above a fountain that swings. I just thought it was an art piece and a fountain, but Kara told us that there used to be a statue of Vladimir Lenin in that square and it was replaced with this crazy arrow thing.

We stayed a little later than we should have because the kids needed to get to bed, but we were having a great time just hanging and laughing together. I think we left a little after 10pm, but Avery was still trying to keep the party going. Here she is with a kazoo and a shaker. I honestly have no idea what’s going on in this photo, but I think it’s awesome that my daughter loves music.

Thanks Zegan family for having us over tonight! It was really fun seeing you and I’m sure we’ll be able to do it again soon.

Tags dinner, friends, Kara, Zach

365 Czech Republic Friends

Another First: Dinner in a Czech Home

Post author By Shay
Post date July 24, 2014
1 Comment on Another First: Dinner in a Czech Home

This is what I saw when I walked in to the Creative Communications office this morning. Water…and lots of it.

All over the desks, on the keyboard of one of the computers, and on the floor. How did this happen you ask? Our office is on the third floor and the ceiling slopes. There are no windows on the walls but they are ceiling windows that open. They were left open all night (not by me, but I’ll protect the guilty on this blog). It was raining pretty good this morning so when I got there you can imagine my shock. Thankfully and amazingly nothing was broken! But still… talk about an early morning heart attack. Yikes.

Earlier this week we got invited by Marcel and Silvie to have dinner at their house. They live in our town and had already invited Yorman family over (American missionaries) so they asked if we wanted to join them. Marcel and Silvie are part of our church here and Marcel has been helping me get our Internet upgraded at our apartment. They are a sweet couple and have two little ones, Dennis and Julia. Here’s a picture of all of us (minus me, of course):

We enjoyed a great time tonight just talking and enjoying the time at a Czech home. Believe it or not, this was the very first meal we have ever had in a Czech home. Silvie made a delicious dinner. I have no idea what’s it’s called but she hand made this piecrust-like bread filled with eggs, ham, cabbage, cheese…mmm, so good–I had 3 helpings! Here’s a few photos of the all the food and the amazing vine covered patio area:

Before and after dinner the kids played in the beautiful back yard. There was a great swing set and lots of toys to play with. Behind their property were turkeys running around so I had to get a few shots of them too!

Marcel thought everyone had eaten too much and suggested a walk to the nearby park with all the kids. We all agreed and off we went! For the kids it was more of a run than a walk, but I didn’t expect the incredible park we went to. One of the things we’ve loved about Czech is just how kid friendly things are and even how there are parks with lots of things to play on that you won’t find in safety conscious America. Merry go rounds, zip lines, teeter totters–this park had it all!

Here’s a video of the kids and me on the merry go round (I gave it an old-timey feel because it felt like a blast from the past):

It was a really fun night with Marcel and his family and the Yorman family. We’re so thankful for their hospitality to us tonight and for making us feel welcome here in Czech!

Tags Czechs, dinner, first things first, park

365 Czech Republic

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

Post author By Shay
Post date June 28, 2014
1 Comment on Early to Bed, Early to Rise

Benjamin Franklin said, “Early to bed and early to rise makes and man healthy, wealthy and wise.” But I don’t think our man Ben meant rising at 1:30am because our family tried that today and it really doesn’t feel healthy, and I definitely don’t feel wise. We did, however, find it a great time to get some email done and do a little more grocery shopping!

We literally went to the grocery store at 6am today, right when they opened. Since we had breakfast around 3:30am, we had plenty of time in the morning to get ready and leave the house. Sadly, because of our early day, the kids weren’t as cheery about it as we were and they were starting to get tired by the time we got there. Bethany knew we at least needed some lunch food and so we prepared ourselves to just buy one meal and leave, so that’s just what we did.

Our afternoon was quite uneventful. We put the kids down for a nap around 8am and Bethany and I were working on communicating with our shipping container company and even finishing up some last minute details that we didn’t do before leaving the States (like canceling our U.S. cell phones). Bethany got a little laundry done, but there is no dryer here so she put out the washed clothes on a drying rack (below) and set it near a sunny window. Don’t worry, we’re just airing out our clean laundry, not our dirty laundry. Dad joke.

Tonight was really the highlight. Our friends Mel and Amy Ellenwood who have been actively helping us during the transition invited us over for dinner. It was a great meal complete with red quinoa, noodles with balsamic vinegar and veggies, bratwursts, amazing pork chops, and chicken hot dogs for the kids! The Ellenwoods even have a nice garden in their backyard where the kids got to pick and eat fresh raspberries off the vine. It truly was a fun night and we’re so thankful to have other missionaries near by to help and support us and occasionally throw in a pork chop!

I’ve driven in Los Angeles enough to know that you need to read the signs. Sometimes you can’t park on one side of the street on the 3rd Thursday of every month, other times you can only park between 1-2pm, and just this week I read about a “1 Minute Parking” sign on an L.A. street. Needless to say I know I’m supposed to read the signs. But what if the sign is in Czech and it lists numerous times and days!? I stared at the sign below for a while before finally deciding we were fine to park there on Saturday night after 13:00 (aka 1pm). Was I sure? Nope. Is that just life right now? Yup. Now back to bed!

Tags dinner, raspberries, sign