Moments

As my time in Czech Republic is going fast on the down-hill slide, I find myself constantly reflecting on all of the many day-to-day moments that I simply love.  Many of them are insignificant or even kind of silly, but these small moments play a big part in creating the sweet memories that I will take home with me and cherish forever.  

Those moments when...

• you have to run to catch a tram/bus and you get on before the doors close!
• you say "dobrý den", "děkuji", and "prosim" without even thinking about it.
• you get to the store right as the baker is bringing out hot, fresh bread.
• someone starts speaking to you in Czech and you stare at them awkwardly and finally interrupt them with, "nemluvím česky".
• you exchange smiles and giggles with a baby on a silent tram ride.
• you catch the magic tram (a tram that changes numbers so you don't have to change trams) and it is going exactly where you need to go! 
• you start referring to home as "back in the States..." 
• people think I am from Scandinavia...until I open my mouth.
• you come back from a trip and it feels so good to be home in Brno.
• the sun comes out and warm weather arrives after a much too long winter and everyone's moods are instantly lifted!
• you are walking down the street and smell the sweet heavenly smell of cinnamon, but can't always tell where it is coming from.
• you can wear sunglasses because there is sun!
• you actually know what the words on storefronts, signs, and menus mean!
• you hear someone outside of Vinarska (my dorm) speaking English.
• you hear someone outside of Vinarska speaking American English and immediately want to know where they are from.
• you make an awesome meal on the hotplate.
• get lost.
• you realize you have know idea what movies are out or what is going on in the world.
• you wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt due to laziness or lack of clean clothes and receive judgmental looks because people here don't even dress this way when going to the gym.
• you try to ride the tram without holding on to anything and fall over.
• you walk through Vinarska or down the hill to the tram stop and get stopped many times by people you know and you realize that the people here have become your family.  

Celebrating Easter: Czech & Slovak Style!

The week leading up to Easter, Brno had an Easter market in the main square.  After experiencing my first Easter market in Budapest and falling in love, I, of course, had to visit the one in Brno...3 times.  Being the major foodie (or maybe fatty is a better term) that I am, one of my first thoughts upon arrival was, "how in the world am I going to decide which food to try?"  I have asked myself this question while in the U.S., but here I ask it much too often.  When there is fresh, homemade, hot traditional Czech food all around that I may never have the chance to try again, it presents quite the dilemma.  To solve this issue, my fellow adventurer, Scarlett,   and I decided to embark on the journey of trying nearly every food there.  In an effort to convince you that we aren't complete fatties, I would like to point out that the portion sizes were pretty small and we shared everything.  (Okay, I don't know if that was to convince you or myself more.)  It was so worth it though.  All of the food was delicious and it was so fun taste-testing!  

Brno Easter Market

Beautifully painted Easter eggs

Czech halušky and French style potatoes and sausage

We actually did go for more than just the food though.  There were lots of great handcrafted items including the famous painted eggs.  Pomlázka, the Easter beating stick, also was readily available at the Easter market and throughout the city!  Even though the pomlázka is for the guys to whip the girls, I went against the rules and bought one for myself as a souvenir.  The guys take this tradition pretty seriously so I received some judgmental looks. The best consequence to my action though, was when I came back to my dorm and Mr. Dobry Den was working the desk.  He saw the stick and and in his broken English told me that it was not for me, it was for him.  He then proceeded to hit me with the pomlázka hahaha.  If you knew Mr. Dobry Den, this story would be even better.  Backstory: The desk workers here aren't students, but are usually older.  Dobry Den means "good afternoon" and is just his nickname around here.  I'm not sure what his real name is.  He gets a bad wrap around here for busting parties (he apparently has never been to my floor though), but I think he is great.  I guess I shouldn't feel bad for not knowing his name, because he doesn't know mine either.  Every time he sees me, he says "Hi U.S.A."!  :) 

I also learned that the Thursday before Easter is called Green Thursday and everyone is supposed to wear green.  On my way back to room, I saw that the Brno brewery was having a big concert and offering green beer ha!  I guess it is a big deal!

On to actual Easter weekend...

 My sweet friend, Natalia, invited me to spend Easter with her and her family at their home in Bratislava, Slovakia.  For those who don't know, Natalia was an exchange student at my high school and we became good friends that year.  She is from Slovakia, but is currently studying in Prague.  It is so crazy to be in the same country again!

I left a once again snowy Brno on a Euroline bus to Bratislava.  The trip was a short hour and a half.  Natty picked me up from the bus station and we drove in a CAR (after only traveling by foot, trams, and buses, riding in a car is reason for excitement) to one of the malls and enjoyed some delicious sushi.  

Next we headed to her beautiful home which is in a small village right outside of the city.  I was welcomed so warmly by her sweet mom.  I was treated like a princess all weekend long!  I was so spoiled.  Her mom is an amazing cook and I got to try traditional Slovak halušky, homemade dumplings, as well as many sweets.  We had a really relaxing weekend which was so needed and appreciated.  We watched lots of movies which I loved because I haven't done that at all since being here!  We even had popcorn during one!  On Saturday, Natty took me to see some cool views of the city and to Old Town.  

Bratislava

Old Town

I stayed with Natalia and her family through Tuesday morning.  One night, Natty went to see of her friends who she hadn't seen in a long time.  She asked if it was okay and felt so bad for leaving me, but I was totally fine staying at her house and resting some more.  :) I watched a movie/enjoyed using wifi.  Later, I wandered downstairs and found her mom welcoming me with desserts...plural.  She had made 5 different desserts and brought me samples of each.  If I come back fat, just know that it was not entirely my fault. ;) Thankfully, through the language barrier, she was able to tell me that they were made with "no fat".  They were delicious though, and that made me feel a little better.  One of the other days, she brought another dessert and said "only fat".  We all started laughing because she meant to say "no fat" haha!  Up until this point, Natty had translated all of our conversations.  Since she wasn't there this night, we were left to use the little bit of English that she knew, the VERY little bit of Czech I know (she speaks Slovak, but it is almost identical to Czech), and hand motions!  This was such a fun challenge! :) We ended up talking and laughing at the language barrier for probably an hour and a half.  I absolutely loved this time!

In Central Europe, they celebrate Easter on Monday.  I was warned many times about their Easter traditions, but was looking forward to experiencing them!  Like I mentioned earlier, one of the traditions is for the boys and men to whip girls with a braided stick with ribbon on the end.  As they whip the girls, they say a chant.  The other tradition is to sprinkle or soak (depending on how nice the guy is) the girls with water.  Both of these traditions are to bring the women health and beauty.  Since the guys are so generous with these "blessings", the women are supposed thank them by giving them eggs- chocolate or hand-painted.  Sure enough, Natalia's neighbor boy came in the morning to bless us girls with health and beauty.  He was very nice about it and did not hit hard. :) I was a little worried when I saw the super-soaker water gun he brought in though.  Luckily, I think that was just to scare us because he did not use it! 

 I got whipped and sprayed with water from water bottles many times this day.  I am really hoping that all the health and beauty they gave me worked because I really needed it after all the food I ate that day.  While I was warned about the "beatings" and the water, I was not warned about all the food which was much scarier.  

Death by chocolate

We had cake when the neighbor boy and his mom came over, then we headed to Natalia's grandma on her mom's side.  She had lots of sweets sitting out and also served me lunch.  Had I realized the amount of food that was getting ready to be thrown at me, I would not have eaten lol!  Next, we headed to her grandma on her dad's side.  She had even more food ready for us!  After that, we went back to Natty's house along with the rest of her family and her mom had another feast plus literally fifteen different desserts waiting for us.  Ahhhh I have never seen so much food.  It was all so delicious though and I'm SO thankful to have gotten to experience a real Slovak Easter with a family who treated me like family. :)