Weekend with Gigi and Family

Gigi and Sasha

Friday evening Gigi and I spent some time at her house getting ready. First we got changed and then we went downstairs to warm up some dinner. There was some leftover soup that they had put outside since there was no room in the fridge. So of course when we got the soup it was frozen. We had made plans to meet up with Sasha to hang out before the concert. Since he was out of data we couldn’t miss our bus and be late. Gigi also lives in a village, so it takes a bit to get to the city. As we were boiling the water for the spaghetti and thawing the soup we quickly realized how fast we were running out of time. As soon as the soup was hot we served it up and ate it as fast as we could. We both definitely burnt out mouths pretty bad. As soon as the soup was gone we decided that the noodles were done enough. The sauce was definitely warm, so we served it up and somehow managed to eat it all in 3 minutes (yes we were timing ourselves).

Gigi went downstairs to get her shoes since she had just washed them. She was taking awhile and we were already 2 minutes late. So I went downstairs to see what was up. She found her shoes, but her shoe laces had been moved and we couldn’t find them anywhere. So we decided that there wasn’t enough time to continue looking. We ran upstairs and ripped the laces out of another pair of her shoes and shoved the laces in her pocket. We threw our jackets on and started our run out the door. As soon as we left the house we ran into her host mom. Her mom was concerned that Gigi was going without shoe laces but we assured her that we had laces, but we were just running late. Normally it is a 7-10 minute walk to the bus stop from her house, but we only had 4 minutes.

After saying goodbye to her host mom, we set off running as fast as we could. Halfway down the hill to the bus stop I heard Gigi yell that she was stopping. I heard the bus in the distance and since I’m terrible at running I kept going. I soon heard the sound of Gigi’s bare feet slapping against the cold sidewalk. We made it to the bus stop at the same time as the bus which was on time for the first time ever. We jumped on the bus as the doors were closing and we sat down. Once we were on the bus Gigi pulled the shoe laces out of her pocket and tried to lace both of her shoes before we got to our stop. She got one and a half done and had to tuck the laces in and get of the bus to switch to the tram. While we waited for the tram she finished lacing up her other shoe. We took the tram to meet Sasha to hang out before our concert.

We hung out for a few hours and ended up being a little late to the concert but it was still really fun! Gigi had been wanting to see this Canadian rapper for years and she had finally bought the tickets! After the concert we took the tram and one of the night buses home. We finally got to her house around 12 or 12:30.

When we got home her host mom was still awake. She came and talked to us for a little while before reminding Gigi of the trip they were going on the next morning. We were going to have to wake up at 6:30 so that Gigi could pack and they could get on the road at a decent time. We went to sleep immediately and slept until all of our alarms went off.

Saturday morning we were exhausted and 6:30 had come way too soon. As she packed and I got my things together we stayed silent because we were too tired to talk. When we went to brush our teeth we looked out the window and saw that it had snowed! We went downstairs and had some tea and a roll for breakfast before helping get everything into the car. They drove me to the tram stop where I had to run to catch the tram that would get me to the train station just in time for my train home. I hopped on the train and switched to the bus half way home for breakfast.

After breakfast I had some time to hang out and rest from the late night and early morning. After everyone had had some time to themselves my host parents came and asked me if I wanted to help them make vanočka. Of course I said yes because I love baking, and I want to learn how to make as many Czech foods as possible.

Vanočka is basically a Czech Christmas braided sweet bread with nuts and raisins. We made two loafs of the bread which took a few hours, but by the time we were done baking the house smelled amazing.

Zora packed up one of the vanočkas and we got our jackets on to go down to the village Christmas workshop. There, I decorated cookies, made a candle, and a candle center piece for the holidays. I was twice as old as most of the kids there, but it was still a really cool experience. Some of the little village kids knew me and were so excited to see me there and make things with me. We hung out for awhile and got some snacks before going back to the house to get ready to go to the theater.

I had been really cold so I wore two pants and two shirts along with my jacket and scarf. We all got in the car and drove to the city to go to the theater. When we found a parking spot we waited for Ruda to join us and change into a nicer shirt. Then we all walked to the theater together. Once we were inside we put our jackets in coat check and found our seats. We had pretty nice seats that were right in the middle. The show was called Beatles, so all of the songs they sang were Beatles songs. The whole show was in Czech, so I did my best to try to understand. Most of the jokes I didn’t get or understand, but I got the physical jokes and it was cool to hear them singing English songs. Over all it was a really cool experience, and I hope that the next time I go to the theater I am able to understand more of it.

The show was over around 10:15 in the evening so we got home around 10:45.

We were all exhausted after a kind of late night and a long day so we all got some much needed rest and slept in until 9:30. For breakfast we ate the other vanočka that we had made. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it since I don’t usually like nuts in stuff or raisins, but I’m really happy I tried it because I absolutely loved it.

After breakfast Robert began to cook a big lunch since Zora’s parents were coming over. He cooked for a few hours, and I helped a little by peeling the potatoes. We had a huge lunch with meat and potatoes and drinks. It was absolutely delicious and I was completely stuffed by the end.

After lunch we made our way to the living room for some coffee and talking. Then it was time to say goodbye to Zora’s parents. Once they were on their way home I went and took an hour long nap because I was still tired and in a bit of a food coma. I watched a movie in bed once I woke up because I was so warm and comfy.

Later in the afternoon after my movie, Zora asked if I wanted to come and help her bake some gingerbread cookies. Of course I said yes, and I had so much fun picking out the shapes baking together. I had a little flashback to baking in the US when Ruda came in to see what we were doing and then quickly snatched up a little bit of the extra dough. My little sister Nora would do the same thing every time I baked in the US.

In the evening we had some dinner and then I checked my email to see that the district had approved my travel request! I immediately got on my computer and purchased my train tickets for Poprad for later in the month.

When my parents got home from the club, they told me that there was freezing rain at the moment and they weren’t sure if we were going to make it out of the house the next day for school. So I went to bed that night secretly hoping that it would be frozen and we would get an extra day at home.