Mom's Club Garden Party

Last week, we were invited to a "garden party" hosted by some of the moms in the Mom's Club at ESUMC Prague.  We were excited to meet some of the moms that we will be working with this year.  We had met some of them when we came in April to visit Prague and see if we wanted to move here.  I was eager to see how Eli and Ada would get along with the other children.

To get to the garden party, we had to take a train out of town.  Eli was thrilled to ride the train.  He had never been on a train before.  One of our friends had written down in Czech what tickets we would need.  That way if the person at the ticket counter would understand us even if they didn't know English.  Of course, the lady at the counter didn't know English, so I just showed her my little piece of paper.  She gave us some tickets and we were ready to go.  With about 10 minutes until the train was to arrive, we tried to figure out to which platform to go.  We could not figure it out.  We finally asked a young lady if she new English.  When she told us where to go, she said our train would come in 30 minutes.  The train we were suppose to take was to come in 8 minutes or so.  It took us a little time (and a little arguing between John and I) to figure out that the ticket lady gave us the wrong tickets!  With 4 minutes left, we hurried to the ticket desk.  With some gesturing and pointing, she realized she had made a mistake.  She quickly gave us new tickets, and we ran to catch the train.  They only give you 1 minute to board the train.  As we got to the platform, the train arrived!  Whoo!  We just made it in time.

The train ride was fun.  The train was a double decker so we rode on the top level.  The kids loved it. The view was beautiful as we watched the countryside roll by.  When we arrived at the train stop, one of the moms met us at the train stop.  She drove us to her house in the little village in which she lived.  It was great to be in a house again.  It really made me miss our house in Virginia.

We spend the majority of our time at the house talking and eating.  It was so nice to talk to other moms in English.  All the moms were great!  I can see myself becoming friends with them quickly.  They were also able to answer my questions like... Where do I get good quality clothes for the kids?  Where do I buy inexpensive, but good quality shoes?  The moms were so supportive and kind. The kids also had lots of fun playing outside.  Eli was able to play with a wooden sword and shield.  Ada found a new friend close to her age.

One of the highlights was eating dinner.  Our hosts had a swiss grill.  It is called a Raclette grill.  It was awesome.  As you can see in the picture, you can grill veggies and meat on top and cheese on the bottom.  We seriously are thinking of buying one.

We ate for a couple of hours just snacking on different types of cheese (some were stinky cheese!), veggies, and chicken.  It was definitely relaxing and enjoyable.  We felt right at home.  They truly knew how to make us feel welcome.

I can't wait until the end of September when we meet again.