We’re still new to Czech. We’re still new to this town. Some might call us so new that we’re “green.” You know the phrase, “He’s a little green.” It means you’re a novice or a newbie. Tonight we felt a little “green” walking around our little town. Now, we were the only family walking around the “farm festival” with a John Deere wagon. I guess we’re a little John Deere green.
At the suggestion of our friend Rachael, we went for a little walk from our place over to where the path along the river on the Poland-Czech border. She texted us a few photos of a little festival that’s going on right now, complete with tractors, live animals (cows, rabbits, chickens, sheep, etc.), dancing, food, and a man playing some bagpipes that looked like they were made out of a goat.
Our plan was simple: take the kids on a long walk which would eventually tire them out and secure a good night’s sleep, and bring along their wagon to pick up a pumpkin from a local farmer. Both were a success, but what we didn’t realize was how much we would stick out. I guess not everyone has a green John Deere wagon in Czech. As we walked along the path looking at all the fun things, all I could understand as people passed and stared at us was “something something something something John Deere something something something.” At one point a little Czech boy was staring at the wagon until he finally kicked the tire. I guess he’s in the market for one?
It probably didn’t help that we took this photo below, but I really don’t think you get this kind of opportunity often.
While purchasing the pumpkin we picked out, we were having trouble communicating with the store owner and a nice Czech lady standing there said in English, “Do you need help?” “Yes, thank you,” we told her. She helped us buy our pumpkin and leaned over to Bethany and said, “That’s quite a carriage you’ve got there.” She was talking about the wagon.
After we finished buying and loading our pumpkin I turned around to where a lady was selling what looked like some amazing Czech pastries. I was eyeing what looked like jelly filled doughnuts with powdered sugar on top. When my cravings finally gave in to my flesh, I said kindly to the lady in the best Czech I could muster, “Sorry, I don’t speak Czech,” but motioned that I wanted two of those white covered goodies. She told me, “I speak a little English,” but promptly continued speaking a lot in Czech and continued packing my little bag with a lot more that 2 doughnuts.
As she would pick up each pastry and put it in she was telling me stuff in Czech. Finally, when the bag was full (as well as my brain), she handed it to me and I said, “How much?” She just smiled at me and said something nice and patted my arm as if to say, “For you… no cost.” I said to her, “No! I will pay” and she just kept smiling. She insisted on giving me the whole bag at no charge! I told her she was so nice and we said goodbye, and she sent me on my way with my bag o’ goodies. And goodies they were! The doughnuts were filled with apricot and the fruit pastries were otherworldly. When I showed the kids the bag they started jumping up and down and we got this photo of Avery holding the bag and Titus dancing a happy dance.
Here’s Avery stuffing her face. Each pastry was different than the next and we ate all but two before we left.
We had a great time and the kids thought it was really fun. The rain started coming down as were eating so we started making our way back home. It was actually a pretty good walk and thankfully the rain didn’t really start coming down hard until we got closer to home (we actually had forgotten our umbrella). Our pumpkin made it home safely and even though the wagon brought on some stares I think it was worth it. Here’s a few more photos of our little outing.
ok….Hands DOWN…my favorite images of Czech to date!!! LOVE!!
THOSE PICTURES. Priceless. They should be in John Deere’s catalog.