Konec/The End

This is the end of my second 'Prague Blog.' Tonight is my last night in Prague. (insert frowny face) My time in Pasecnice felt brief, but was a lot of fun. On Saturday we hung out in Prague at Marie's sister's place. Hanna and Petr have a two yr old son named Simoncek. We took a little trip to a village and walked by a river, went to a park that had some little amusement park rides for the kids, then took a train to another village, feed the ducks on the river, and then came back on the train. We only went one stop on the train so it was only about 5 min each way and we were only at the village for 15 min in between. It was a little silly but an adventure suitable for the attention span of 2 yr olds. On Sunday we took a drive to the Sumava National Park and went for a little walk near a river. (It was really a little walk since Marie and Milan's girls are 4 and 2). Pasecnice is very close to the German border. We sort of made a loop so the scenary was different on the whole drive. We started the day out going to an American restaurant for lunch called "Country Saloon." This place was unbelievable and not what I would expect to find in the Czech Republic. There was a 'petting zoo' with goats outside and also a totem pole. Inside was decorated with cowboy boots, US license plates, and whatever you call the heads of large dead animals hanging from the walls. Then drove to the Sumava area. Then went across the border into Germany and looped back into the Czech Republic after about 30 or 45 minutes. The border crossing is practically non existent. There is the station but it is no longer used and is unmanned so it is fairly anti climactic when you go across. No passport checking, no one to ask about what fruit you have in your trunk, etc. Crossing borders in Europe is easy--nothing like trying to go to Canada. Terezka and Marketka loved the RoboGirls!! They took them with us in the car on Sunday and then took them to bed with them. Terezka is the oldest at 4 and was a bit shy but by the time we were out walking in the Sumava she let me hold her hand even though she still wouldn't talk to me, by the time we got home though she was asking me to play with her and talking to me. They were calling me Teta Ruthie --Aunt Ruthie. Marketka is 2 and I introduced the English term 'terrible twos' to Marie as Marketka cries about anything. She loves to eat!! And she definitely has healthy lungs! On Monday I went to work with Marie. She teaches English at a high school in Domazlice and I was here native speaker for the day. Mostly I introduced myself, showed them on a map of the US where I live and pointed out all the other places I've lived, and then I answered their questions. The questions ranged from the challenging: what do you think about the current political situation in the US, tell us about the different dialects or regional accents in your country to the very specific: how old are you, what is the name of your governor to the average, typical get to know you question: what is your favorite animal, singer, sport, movie, actor, food, etc. Monday evening I went with Marie to her Zumba and Yoga classes. I borrowed some workout clothes from Marie and just did the Zumba in my socks. I've always wanted to try Zumba because I though it sounded like fun. But the truth is, I'm not very coordinated when it comes to dancing or aerobics type classes. Mostly I flap my arms and legs around like an uncoordinated chicken. I had a good time but I'm happy with and prefer my current sport activities of Crossfit , Kettlebell, and JiuJitsu. I thought the Yoga class would be fine but I found it very frustrating. I only did about 20 min of the class before my neck started hurting from trying to look up and see what the instructor was doing. Yoga is meant to do while following along with verbal not visual instructions and this was impossible for me in Czech. So I stopped and just layed (sp) down on a bench and listened to the music and the teacher. In one hour I understood three words "so", "good" and "great." And I learned three new words because she repeated them so many times "breathe in", "breathe out" and "slow." So although my irritation and frustration level peaked and reminded me how I frequently felt that way when I lived here, the experience wasn't a total loss as I walked away with some new words and appreciation for the hobbies I enjoy doing in English. On Tuesday I was sick with a sore throat and nasty head cold. I spent the morning in bed while Marie was at work. Milan was at home with the girls. When I told Terezka I was sick she set about trying to help me feel better. She brought in her Barbie sized tea set and served me some pretend tea. Then she and Marketka started to bring in things for me and soon I had some of their clothes, a ball, dominos, a puzzle and other assorted toys. It was really cute and sweet how concerned they were. I had planned to take the train back Weds evening, but since I wasn't feeling well I decided to come back early with Milan. He is a Forestry professor at one of the universities in Prague and specializes in Forest Genetics. He had some meetings and a class on Weds. So we left at 6 am and got to Prague at 8 am. Incidentally, we stopped at McDonalds for breakfast on the way and that was my first ever McDonalds breakfast. The last time I bought anything at McDonalds was five years ago when I bought a milkshake in Prague. I rode the metro across town and was back to Martina and Petr's by 9. The medicine Marie got for me wasn't really helping, so Petr had me take some product they had on hand. I am always interested in trying alternative medicine and this was Liquid Bovine Colostrum from a German company. I have decided that if bovine colostrum tastes anything like human colostrum then there is a reason why babies cry when they're born -- their first taste of food is a taste of something not that great. I spent the rest of Weds inside reading and sleeping. The last few days have been cloudy and rainy (as opposed to the awesome spring weather we've enjoyed the last few weeks) so I didn't feel too guilty about staying inside. I suppose every vacation needs some lazy days in it, so although unplanned, I got my lazy days in on Tues and Weds. Today I'm feeling better and went into the city. I met Lea for lunch, met Misho in the afternoon who was nice enough to accompany me on some last minute shopping purchases, and a walk around Old Town and the City Library (there is a cool sculpture I like in the library and wanted to see), then in the evening we met Martina and Petr for dinner. Thus, the end of my vacation in Prague. Next is the adventure of getting home on standby from Amstedam which may result in an unplanned for travel route. I feel very satisfied with my time here in Prague. I've seen as many people, been to as many places, and done as many things as is humanly possible. I feel very grateful for the wonderful friends I have here. There is a place in CR called Cesky Raj or Czech Paradise. I think that for me all of Prague and the CR is my Czech Paradise. My heart is full of Czech goodness.