Was going
to write in my journal most of last evening but we got talking to our very
nice hosts so I didn't quite make it. The hockey game was a pretty typical
evening with a lot of people drinking and getting silly. During the game
the Czech team was losing 2-0 up until the final period. Somehow it was
tied and the game went into overtime. It was during this time that I was
kidnapped by the Czech and I partied with them at one of their reserved
seats. During the overtime or the sudden death the first team to score
wins, the Czech scored first and the place went nuts! During the celebration
the Czech guys would take off their shirts and wave them around their heads
in a circle, so I had to do that as well. After the game, Sanna and I drank
more beer and Frankie and George wanted us to go to another place since
the current place was closing down. Frankie and George are some local youths
we were partying with and having a great time. We tried to go to another
bar but they were either closed or wouldn't let us in. Eventually we made
it back to our accommodations, but not before we did some pushups in the
street and other silly things. After getting inside we made some tea and
happened to meet Petr coming home from his meeting. Kosaku, Sanna, Petr
and myself hung out and talked about Broumov and volunteerism until 3:30am
and then we pretty much crashed and fell asleep.
The next morning we were up at 9:30am
eating some breakfast and getting ready to do some work. At this point
I was getting my clothes pretty dirty and Monday morning was no exception.
Well at least I was majorly dirty. I don't recall what we had for dinner
that evening, in fact I may have helped Sanna cook dinner. If we cooked
dinner it was some vegan food with meat substitutes. We also tried to make
the meal special for everyone by having some fresh flowers at the table
and we also bought some candy for everyone as a surprise. Everyone was
pretty tired after working so we all pretty much just ate. I'm not sure
what we did that evening, possibly we went out and did some light drinking,
but probably not since everything seems to be closed on Monday. The people
in the camp are really very cool. I am the oldest with most everyone else
being 19 or in their early 20s. During the work we sing songs and try to
make the time pass. In the morning I greet the women with a good morning
sunshine which they seem to enjoy very much.
Tuesday we headed to a special area
of Broumov with very nice rock formations. We hiked most of the day in
the rocks and had a good time. We had to stay in a town down the road for
a few nights, since our original accommodations we were using had already
been rented out prior to our arrival. We stayed in a pension in one large
room. I unrolled my sleeping bag and ground mat for the first time. My
bag was in pretty good condition after being placed in the stuff sack for
so long. My sleeping pad was having some issues inflating. I don't think
it likes being in the stuff sack for extended periods of time. Anyway the
pension had a library and an internet connection which Petr let us use. The first night I didn't use the Internet and we all pretty much just hung
out and talked and walked around town to check out all the closed shops. From the town we were taking a bus into Broumov at 9:50am so we were getting
up early so we could shower and eat and get ready for work. On Wednesday
the brewery, pivovar, had an inspection of some of its structural components.
We mostly waited for instruction from Petr to do some manual labor which
included exposing some more support beams or removing stuff that wasn't
supposed to be in the floor. I also accidentally broke an ax handle while
trying to break apart some rotting wood, ooops. After the inspectors left
we finished up some work and we got to hike 12km back to the pension.
We started out at about 1:30pm on
our hike. The first part was very easy and flat with very nice countryside.
The trail was fairly well marked and easy to follow. While walking in the
Czech countryside we would frequently come across a monument, a statue,
usually secular. Right in the middle of nowhere. The most difficult part
was climbing the hill between the two towns. Since we did not have a large
breakfast and the day was wearing on, the climb was difficult. I also think
I am not accustom to the vegan food, as well as the other non-vegans in
the group, we did not feel as strong as we should have been. At the top
of the hill we ate at a nice restaurant. We were all starving and a little
frustrated with the difficulty of the climb. When we arrived at the restaurant
it was about 4pm. I washed my hands and face in their WC and then we ordered.
Lien helped me order since the menu was in German. I actually just ordered
what she ordered, it was very good. It was pork on a stick with fry's and
salad. We also had a general good time. Fortunately Sanna was not at hand
to witness us falling off the vegan wagon. The food and beer was very good
and it restored our strength.
We left the restaurant sometime after
5pm and made our way down the hill towards the pension. On the way we took
a wrong turn and fortunately figured it out in time. We finally made it
back by about 7:30pm. My feet were killing me so I washed them in a pot.
That night we had some more great vegan food called Seitan, a bread-like
meat substitute with potatoes and salad. It was great! Later I checked
e-mail and some pictures and slides one of the locals had left for me. A lot of the pictures were of items we saw on the trail from
Broumov. It
was getting really late and I was very exhausted from the walk so I crashed
up stairs at the pension.
We were just having a picnic and
I wrote a poem:
There once was a peep named Frank
His mother who would often spank
And then one day at a quarter to
three
He had some beer which he drank
We are back in the kindergarten hanging
out drinking the remainder of the wine. In a few minutes Sanna and I will
be making some bread, but first I might get some wine.
I just ate way too much rice and
I feel like I am going to explode. Thursday morning was brutal. I got up
super early and showered, shaved and packed so we could make it to the
bus on time. The first thing we did was make our way to our new accommodations
in Broumov, a doctor's house. After we dropped off our packs we headed
to the brewery and worked for a while. Later on that evening we headed
out and did some light drinking and tried to get into bars before they
closed. I think starting that evening we decided it would be better to
buy our beer and drink at the good doctors house because a lot of bars
close at 11pm. Actually that first night the good doctor was feeding us
fruit and meat. We also made plans to meet with his family the following
evening. I have just been corrected on the order of events by Lien and Marieke. Thursday evening we met with some local high school students and
talked with them about a variety of things. Friday we went back to Vegas
for a dance party and had a blast. Saturday the good doctor cooked us some
meat and we had a great time talking to him and his family. Anyway, back
to the students, they were very nice and polite. It was kind of a forced
meeting so it didn't go as smooth as it could have gone. One of the students,
Michelle, a very tall lady will study economics in Praha. She was pretty
cool and spoke English very well. She as also wearing yellow pants and
a yellow hair thing, it was silly.