Days 7 & 8

Today we visited Primda Castle, either the oldest or 2nd oldest castle in Bohemia (there seems to be some debate over this in the literature).  It dates back to the early 1100's and was built by a German nobleman and was then conquered and ruled by the Czechs for about 400 years before falling into ruin.  It is only about 20 minutes south of Tachov, so it was an easy mid-afternoon Saturday excursion.  Most importantly, though, the nice English speaking Czech couple there told us it has the oldest toilet in central Europe (consisting of a hole in the stone wall with a chute out to the outer castle wall - yet another reason not to storm a castle).  We each had the privilege of sitting on (but not using) this toilet.  Just think of the 1000 years of knights and noblemen we now have an intimate connection with!  After we left, Daniel proudly announced that he had sat on the oldest toilet, because he was last, and it was even older by the time he sat on it. 

Ok, now for the firemen I've been alluding to for so long.  One morning a week the firemen have an English class with Pastor Milan.  It started with the incident commander coming to classes at the church, and asking for classes to be taught at the fire station for his crew as well.  Phil was invited to come along as usual as the resident "native speaker."  The firemen are not as advanced in English, but their sense of humor easily made up for it.  They have a brand new fire station (only about 6 months old) and much of the lesson was spent comparing (in broken English and irreparable Czech) fire department procedures between Tachov and Sterling.  Good thing Phil's had some opportunity to talk with Ken Krohn and Jim Talbert about these things.  They were most proud of their ladder, which extends 23 meters.  We emailed Ken Krohn and discovered that Sterling's ladder extends 104 feet, or 32 meters.  When I shared this with the Tachov firemen their ladder immediately grew to 35 meters.  Boys will be boys.  They invited our whole family back the next day for a tour of the station.  Next week's class will be at a local pub, so the lesson will likely focus on food and drink.  We must say, after getting to know these guys, we feel much safer about living here.  They are all top notch.

For tomorrow we have been asked to give a short presentation about Sterling UMC and our ministries there.  That's what we will be working on tonight. 

Next week will start quietly around here.  Tuesday and Wednesday are national holidays, and school is now out, so many people are heading out of town this week, and the church will be closed for a few days.  With the exception of the English classes (including one student who requested private lessons from us) there will be little activity around the church.  We will take Sunday afternoon - Tuesday afternoon to visit Phil's aunt and uncle in Germany, and we will be back in time for an English lesson on Tuesday night.

Here are some more pictures from our first week in Tachov.

Our apartment building:
Our "flat" is the three 2-pane windows on the lower floor (below the flower boxes).

 Phil and Daniel teaching Virginia History at the high school:

 The ladder truck:

A fireman in full gear.  The main difference between Czech and American gear is the helmet:

 

Pastor Milan and his wife Dana:

 Some of the students in the high school class:
(Note, we asked their permission to snap this picture, but we don't have lots of pictures of our classes and students because it is sometimes a bit awkward to pull out the camera during these events, and we're not certain of the protocols surrounding picture taking, so we've erred on the side of caution.)

 A hunting lodge from the 1600's:  (this is another fascinating story, see below).

Remember the blacksmith who is a member of the church from a few days ago?  This is his house.  Pastor Milan and Dana took us to visit there.  His wife and 2 children were home and showed us around.  The house sits deep in the woods, several kilometers from any neighbors.  It was built by a local nobleman in the 1600's as a hunting lodge.  When the communists came into power in the 1960's, they seized it (and all private property) and made it an encampment for lumber workers.  The home quickly fell into disrepair and almost total ruin.  After communism ended, many people had land claims dating back to precommunist times, which the government had to sort out during a reconciliation process in the 1990's.  During that time Jan and his wife were able to trade their alloted parcel for this property.  They have been painstakingly restoring it by hand using traditional methods ever since.  Even the scaffolding is hand-made from lumber in the forest.  It seems everything here has a complex history.