Hody Hody Doprovody

Hody hody doprovody

Dejte Vejce Malovany (Give me a painted egg)

Nedate-li malovany (If you don't give me a painted egg)

Dejte aspon bily (At least give me a white one)

Slepicka vam snese jiny (The hen will lay another)

Now here is a different tradition...On Easter Monday, men and boys set out in search of girls, in order to hit them with their Easter wands (Pomlazka), which are braided from four, six, or eight willow branches and decorated with one or more colored ribbons. Czechs thought that it was good luck and healthy for the girls to be hit with this stick! (Guys, don't get any ideas) During this carolling and whipping, the girls present the boys with eggs - painted, colored, or even just white.
In the homes, men also receive something besides eggs - alcohol. So on that Monday you will see many very drunk men.

Easter, just like Christmas, is a "religious" holiday that continued to be celebrated even in socialist Czechoslovakia. It simply acquired a slightly different interpretation from the years 1948 to 1989 - it was celebrated officially as a holiday of spring.

Sir Larry, lord of the forest

For several months, Larry has been attending the Myslivost class so that he can get his Czech hunting license. The class has been (of course) taught entirely in Czech, so Larry has been working very diligently to translate and to understand the curriculum. (The textbook was several inches thick-full of information he had to know.) Saturday, March 8 was the day of the exam. All of the students went from one teacher to the next in order to answer questions orally.

After the testing was finished, there was a ceremony. They actually knighted (with a sword) the new "graduates". So now you must address Larry as "Sir Larry, lord of the Forest" The leader gave a speech saying that Larry was the first American to take and pass the test.

Červinka

Here is an article for all of you cow lovers. I thought it was interesting.

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/101597

English Club to McDonalds

This last month at English Club we taught the children how to order food in English. The last week of the series, we took them to McDonalds so they could practice ordering in English. The children loved it. (Fortunately we went to a McDonalds where someone actually understood English!!)

This month (March) we are teaching them about Easter! Most of these children have never heard about Jesus (except at English Club). There are about 30+ children and it is such a sweet group of children (ages 5 to 16).

Classes for the adults: While the children are downstairs, having lots of fun, learning lots of English, and hearing about God, many adults are upstairs in English classes. Many of the adults really appreciate this because knowing English is helpful in their jobs. The classes have grown so much this year that they have split into 3 different groups: beginner, intermediate and conversation. Larry has recently begun to help teach the intermediate adult class. He is enjoying this and it is a great way to learn some new Czech words at the same time.

Grandma in Prague!

We just had a wonderful week with Melissa's mom (from PA) and her great friend, Cheryl (from VA).

We walked miles everyday, but thoroughly enjoyed every minute. We, of course, took them to Prague Castle, Old Town and Charles Bridge. We walked up 299 steps of a tower to see an absolutely amazing view of this city. The beautiful and amazing architecture never seemed to end.

We (the girls) rode the train (along with some other Americans) to a small Czech town to a factory crystal shop. While we were there, I (Melissa) got brave enough to ask in Czech for a tour of the factory. The tour guide was so kind. She patiently waited while I tried to translate what she was saying.

On Sunday, my mom and Cheryl went with us to English Club. It was McDonald's night when we took all of the children to McDonalds and they had to order in English. Mom and Cheryl jumped right in to help out.