Two years and counting

A and me, September 27, 2004, Oasis Beach Resort, Carrascal, Surigao del Sur, Philippines.

Today is our second wedding anniversary. Two years seem to have passed in just a blink of an eye. I can still clearly remember our wedding in my hometown --- sand, sea and a full moon. Everything went beautifully despite the little time we had for the preparation. What mattered most at that time was finally starting a life with the one for me.

Two years. We've been through several bumps along the way. I'm sure there will be more coming but the most important thing is we're still going and will still be going, together. Forever sounds like a long time but I'm all for it with A, only with A.

Scrambled thoughts

A cottage in the woods.
Almost everyone I know in this country has a cottage or a weekend house tucked near or in the middle of the woods. One Czech thing is to rush to the countryside after office hours every Friday. I found this amusing at first. Why would they want to escape from the city or town when you can hardly see people or cars in the streets and the malls are seldom crowded? I mean, isn't it the main reason why we flee to the beaches or to the mountains or to the woods, to escape from the maddening crowd, from the dizzying bustle of commercialism and consumerism? Later I learned from A that the main reason for the perennial presence of cottages in this country is the fact that most people live in flats in the cities, therefore they have no space for gardens or lawns. Simply put, having a cottage in the countryside provides all the must-haves of living that city dwelling can hardly give.

Fall.
Today is the first day of autumn. Wait, I'm writing this past midnight so that makes it yesterday, September the 23rd, as the first day of the season. It gives me mixed emotions when the leaves start to turn yellow or orange. Fall gives me a blend of highs and lows, a sense of romance and melancholia. I guess it's because I'm aware of its beauty yet I dread the coming of winter. Yet it's here again so one might as well savor it.

Jesus on a cross.
I hope it's politically correct to say that most Czechs don't go to church. The Catholic church, that is. Ironic in the sense that churches are everywhere in this country. The kids at school don't even know what praying is. One of them thought that the gesture of praying is due to cold hands that need to be rubbed together especially in winter. I grew up in a very strict Catholic upbringing yet I don't find faults in people who have different beliefs from mine. Just that somebody please explain to me why there are crosses everywhere along Czech roads? From frequented highways to less travelled roads you can bet you'll see several of them along your way. Stations of the cross? Hardly people go to church let alone go on a procession. So what do they stand for? And yesterday when A and I were looking for hazel nuts in the woods, there was even one there. Right, right in the middle of the woods.

There has to be an explanation for this.

My parents-in-law's cottage, a place A and I love to visit especially in spring and summer... One of the many crosses you can see along the Czech roads...Fall is here.

It's late, I gotta catch my beauty sleep. Tomorrow is Sunday and the weekend will be over soon again. Oh well, some good things just never last...

The story of five balls

Nothing much with me these days. I have fallen back into the routine of getting up early, going to work still half asleep, and coming home bone-weary since school started three weeks ago. Sometimes I miss my previous job in Cebu where I would go to work anytime I'd like, if I'd like to go to work at all. Right, there were days when I didn't even bother going to the office. The internet and my mobile phone made working at home possible for me....Oh, I'd just love to whine here and I could go on and on but there's no point, is there? That should have been the title of this entry; "pointless whining."
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I've never been so sickly in my life until I came to Prague. Thyroid, chicken pox, allergies, this eternal cold, possible anemia; all these were nonexistent in my life before Č.R. Nothing to be worried about though. Just that I'm getting sick and tired having to see different doctors almost twice a month for a check-up.
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Speaking of health, Lillian lent me this book written by James Patterson. I'm surprised it's a love story. He's best known for suspense-thriller ones like Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, books I haven't read yet but movies I saw and liked. Anyway, this book has a page which tells about the story of five balls. It goes like this:

"Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you're keeping all of them in the air. But one day, you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls--- family, health, friends, integrity--- are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life."

One reason why I don't like going for a check-up is because I have to skip working hours and I worry about burdening my co-teachers with my loads. So you see, I have yet to understand this story and hopefully, somehow somewhere I will get there someday.

Endings and beginnings

I’ve watched his program on Discovery Chanel/ Animal Planet for so many years. Though I’m grossed out with reptiles in general, I found myself watching his program without fail. I watched with envy at how lucky he was to find something he was so passionate about, how it was so obvious that he loved what he was doing. Now Steve Irwin, the famed "Crocodile Hunter", is gone and this saddens me. Life is so fleeting...

With one ending comes a new beginning.....Our headteacher is tying the knot with her long-time boyfriend tomorrow. It took me a while to decide whether I would attend or not because the wedding is quite far from Prague. It will be at Houska Castle, one of the oldest Czech castles built in the second half of the 13th century. Legend says that the gate of Hell is found there. Fortunately the gate is kept sealed by the castle’s chapel. The bride finds this story cute thus she wants her ever after with her groom to start there. Sweet.

Houska Castle from afar and the unique invitation card made by the bride herself.

Anyway, I’ve decided to attend it . I was mentally selecting from my nondescript wardrobe what I will wear for the wedding and came up with an all-black ensemble; black blouse, black trousers, black boots, black purse. Only when I tried them on (I haven’t worn them for months) did I realize there was no way I could wear the pair. My tummy bulged like a balloon about to burst! I gained weight! When did it happen??!!

So off I went to Centrum Chodov this afternoon right after school to panic-shop. For hours I didn’t find anything. Seemed like all clothes were either too big or too long or too expensive. A shawl costs 700kč. Are you kidding? A nice and relatively cheap blouse has a plunging neckline that would definitely define my Hershey Kisses' nonexistence. The skirts are too long that if I’d wear them I would look like I just borrowed somebody else’s. Now you know why I hate shopping. Finally, when I was about to scream to the high heavens to give me a break I passed by this shop which is having a sale and voila! --- I saw a nice blouse with an even more nice price tag---a glaring,underlined, highlighted 70 percent off! I thought I solved the problem after buying it but then I remembered the weather forecast says it will be cold tomorrow. Waaa, I have no nice jacket to wear! No way I would spend more money for one so if I would be frozen tomorrow, that is because I don’t want to concede to the fact that a wedding is indeed a costly thing.

Then again, I conceded at my own wedding, but that is another story.

The Gingerbread House

One thing about blogging is that you have to be sure about the facts of what you’re writing. With that said, I have to warn you people that my once infallible memory couldn’t be trusted 100 percent anymore since I reached the big three-oh, so I'm not really sure if I could remember this particular experience in detail. I was just viewing our picture files when I remembered about this trip we made with my kids at the preschool during the summer camp barely two months ago and thought I should share this.

The place is called "Perníková Chaloupka" which means Gingerbread House. It is in a small village called Ráby in the district of Pardubice, a two-hour drive from Prague. This is a place best for children as it is inspired by "Hansel and Gretel," the immortal duo who came upon the witch’s house made of gingerbread in the middle of the woods....oh you know the story, don't you?

There is a guided tour inside this big house (no, it's not made of gingerbread at all) which has the following stops:

-the steel bars with attached holes to measure if your fingers are fat enough for you to unfortunately become the witch’s yummy dinner.

- a miniature house made of gingerbread. In this room the children will be told stories and be asked some questions though I didn’t understand anything because it was in Czech. But judging from the kids' expressions and enthusiastic replies, I knew they were having a grand time.

- the witch’s lair. This room is pitch-dark with skeletons and dead people everywhere... Oh, not for real. Just dummies he-he. If your kid is afraid of the dark, better skip this room but none of our kids cried so go ahead, have fun with this one...

- the baker’s room. They will show you how to make the gingerbread with all those intricate designs. I remember the smell of this room. It was heavenly.

- the showroom. Amazing how they could turn a gingerbread into a winter wonderland.

- Heaven and hell. When we went there heaven was still under construction but hell has long been finished. Fabulous. It was soo hot inside this room with red lights and scary-looking "people." My kids' reaction? "It’s not so bad at all."

After the tour each of us was given a gingerbread to eat. What’s good about this place is there is a castle or ruins of a castle on top of a hill which is just a few minutes walk through the woods. There is also like a farm where goats and some ostrich are roaming around. I have to admit it wasn’t just the kids who enjoyed this trip, I had a fantastic time as well.

For more info about this place, visit http://www.pernikova-chaloupka.cz/.