Yesterday, we attended my husband’s company ball. Since it was a one time event, I figured I wouldn’t buy a new dress and just look for some clothes in my closet that may fit the occasion. Alas, I found a simple black dress.
Us in 2012
Three years ago, I wore the same dress to another company event. Back then, I was a tad lighter, stronger and younger. I also didn’t have a child and lived in another place and time. What a difference three years make. Physically, I look older and heavier.
Us in 2009
However, I am happy. Happiness is being able to fit into the dress which reminds me of warm & sunny days when we were young & free.
If I were to describe my role as a mother, I would say I am a transformer. One day I’m an airplane, next day I’m a dog, maybe tomorrow I will be a horse. As my son is getting more and more active these days, I constantly need to find ways to keep him entertained by playing whatever game he feels like playing at the moment. Plus, I have to get him out of the house twice a day to get him tired so he will be able to take his nap or sleep at night. It is tiring, I tell you and it has a lot of quirks too.
One day while having lunch with a friend and her daughter, Jakub shouted “Kaka” (Czech word for “poop”) in the middle of a bustling restaurant. Now that I have started potty training him, he has figured that the best way for him to get released from his seat is to shout the magic word. I felt a little bit embarrassed, but I guess people treated it like a regular thing because nobody seemed to mind. On another instance, while walking on the streets, Jakub pointed to a guy’s truck and said “garbage.” It was because it resembled a garbage truck and he loves watching the garbage truck from his bedroom window. I’m not sure if the guy understood. I hope he didn’t.
Yesterday at Sokol, as we were exercising with the other children and their mommies, he collided with another child. They both cried and they both had noticeable bumps on their foreheads. The irony was, I had Jakub wear a shirt that says, “I want to rock.” The other child on the otherhand, had a shirt that says: “Here comes trouble.” The other mom and I just looked at each other and sighed. That somehow explained the whole situation.
This past week, we had been having great spring-like weather. The farmers were out on the square selling flowers, and people were out and about.
This was what it looked like yesterday.
But this was what greeted us this morning. It snowed again.
This is what it looks like today.
My husband told me that this kind of weather is very common when the seasons start to change. No wonder the weather report is so important for Czechs. But for someone who is from a tropical country and spent some time in California, I don’t pay much attention to weather reports since I’m used to fair weather and almost consistent temperature.
I intended to just wear a long-sleeved shirt today but I guess it’s not going to happen. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.
It is pretty interesting how different cultures spend their weekends. In the Philippines, most people flock the malls. Our main activity is going shopping or going to the movies. Growing up in the countryside, I used to look forward to Saturdays because that meant going to the big city for our big shopping day. I remember being excited by the hustle and bustle of the city.
In California, there is a good balance between those who prefer the malls and those who prefer the outdoors, be it at the beach or in some hiking trek.
Here in Czech, the cities and towns are mostly abandoned during the weekends. Most Czechs prefer to go to their weekend houses or spend their weekends in a cottage in the woods. This past fall as we were visiting my in-laws for the weekend, I was really amazed at how they love to spend time in the woods. Instead of going there for an hour, we spent 3 hours. Since it was a good season for mushrooms, the short walk easily turned into a mushroom picking activity.
mushroom, mushroom, where art thou
Given this, I am easily able to predict how my son will spend his weekends. One weekend he will be at some mall. On another, he will be in the woods. We’ll see. Maybe he wants to go to the beach or to the desert.
We have been having great weather these past few days. The ice has melted and the ducks and the swans are out.
We still have low temperatures (zero to 10C). Albeit, after enduring the sub zero temperatures of winter, bright and sunny days are a welcome reprieve.
It’s interesting how 6 centigrades already feels warm. I guess that after enduring -18 centigrades this past winter, anything higher than zero is warm enough. It’s all relative. I have acclimatized.
When it comes to food, the Czechs are never outdone in terms of flavor. Among all the dishes I’ve tasted, there is not one dish that I didn’t like. But I would say that their best specialty is in baked goods. I love their cakes, pastries and biscuits. However, this good flavor comes with a price — a good load of calories.
One weekend, my boys and I were taking our afternoon coffee and it was then when I realized how much calories those good stuff contain. Take for example this tiny wafer, which is almost the size of a quarter, has a whopping 200 calorie load. They come 5 in a pack. Two packs of this and I’m done with my calorie requirement for the day.
"sinful" delight
When I was in California, I was working for the top producer of baked goods. No bias, but we/they do make the best baked goods in America. Hoho, one of our/their top-selling line, has 330 calories in a pack. Size wise, the cake is twice the size of this cookie. We almost got crucified for making a product that is loaded with too many calories. Back there, never mind the taste. It is the calorie count that matters.
Albeit now that I am here, counting calories is not one of the things I consciously do. When cooking or baking, flavor is all that matters …. no wonder I am not losing weight.
When we were still living in the US, I only had 3 months of maternity leave. Thus, on his 3rd month, Jakub went to Day Care. I have to admit, that was one of the most painful emotional events in my life. I can still remember that day. Two days prior to my actual return to work, I left Jakub at Daycare. On his first day there, I stayed half a day just watching and observing. I wanted to make sure that his crib was well made, he was fed at the right time, his caregiver held him correctly…. all the things that I should be doing but couldn’t. I remember crying the whole time during the 20min drive back home. When I picked him up later that same day, I was glad to know that everything went well. The following day, it was a little bit easier to leave him there knowing that he got the kind of care that I had expected.
Jakub with his day care buddies
Jakub’s day care was good. I was quite satisfied with the care he was given. I was also glad that during the earliest stages of his life, he was already able to socialize with other children. Whenever I picked him up, his teacher would always tell me stories about how he played with other children, what time he slept, how much he ate. His daily report card always had a big smiley with a statement that says: “Jakub had a great day.” I can see it was true because he had always been very sociable. I believe his day care stint helped a lot with his social skills.
Today he had his first Sokol experience. Sokol is a physical education movement here in the Czech Republic. It is what YMCA is for the US. Eight months after spending all of his time with mommy, he is out in the company of other children again. I am still not sure if he really liked it. His reaction was funny. During our way to the gym, he was excited. But the moment we got there, he almost turned back after seeing too many kids and parents running around. Albeit after a few minutes, he blended seamlessly into his new environment. He is indeed Mr. Congeniality.
As a mother, I am always worried about how my son will survive in new environments. But time and time again, he has proven that he can handle it. I remember a short conversation with his former Day Care Director. I would ask: “How’s Jakub?” She would jokingly reply: “Jakub is fine. But mommy isn’t.” I wonder if I will be having the same conversation with his pre-school teacher as well.
If I were to describe the Czech language, challenging is an understatement. It is totally different from the languages that I know. They have words without vowels. My first encounter of a challenging Czech word was with “zmrzl,” the Czech word for frozen. With the difficulty of this language and the sub zero temperatures we’ve been getting, I’m zmrzl.
When winter came and the air started getting dry, I went to an electronics shop here in Kolin and went looking for a humidifier. With my limited Czech, I asked a salesperson if they had a humidifier. I didn’t bother to find out what the word for humidifier was because I thought it would be the same thing. The sales person didn’t know what I was talking about, so I went on to explain: “voda na vzduch” (water for air). Still didn’t get my point across. Maybe it was my accent. I went home frustrated and explained the whole situation to my husband. He said he’ll buy it for us. As it turns out, there is a Czech word for humidifier: “zvlhčovač.” Who would’ve thought.
I’m glad that my worst mistake in the Czech language happened in a private conversation with my husband. In an effort to help me learn Czech, he would oftentimes speak to me only in Czech. One day after coming home from a trip, he asked: “Honey, mame jidlo?” (Honey, do we have food?) I cooked lentil soup that day so I replied. “Ano, my mame kočka.” (Yes, we have cat). My husband’s expression was beyond explanation. The Czech word for lentil is “čočka”, and because of the similarities in pronunciation, I said cat instead of lentil. When we discussed it later on, he jokingly told me: “I knew what you were talking about but I wanted to make sure. You told me that in the Philippines, you guys eat dogs. So I wasn’t sure what else you eat.” I guess he does have a point.
I knew he was the one when he patiently took my hand as I was nervously getting down from that waterfall I once bravely climbed. I knew he was the one when we passionately talked about six sigma, lean manufacturing and all other Quality tools without ever getting bored. I knew he was the one when he played the guitar and sang with it. I knew he was the one when he ran and exercised with me. I knew he was the one when he ate rice, adobo, afritada and mangoes with much gusto.
I know he is the one when I can just talk to him about anything under the sun. I know he is the one when he knows when to push me when I’m slacking off. I know he is the one when he comforts me when I’m at my lowest point.
I know he will be the one when we watch our children grow. I know he will be the one when we grow old together.
I knew he was, is and will always be Muj Milacku.
The Miracle
I didn’t know it was possible to love somebody else more than myself. I didn’t know how to be a mother until I had him. I wasn’t sure miracles still existed until he was born.
So we did it. We finally took the trip out to Stara Lysa yesterday. It was great! The place was beautiful. Our friends brought us to an artificial lake which stretched out to almost 2km. Everything was frozen, so it was the perfect skating spot.
One of the areas that people converted into a hockey court.
Prior to going on the ice that day, we had lunch at our friend Hanka’s place and I had 2 glasses of wine. It must be the wine, but when we went there, I felt braver than usual and immediately went on the ice with Hanka. After skating hand in hand for about 1km, she finally let go of my hand and voila! I skated by myself.
Jakub was very curious to see mommy skating.....those magic shoes.
Jakub himself had a lot of fun in the snow too. His daddy was pulling him on a sled.
Having the time of his life.Jakub with Majda on a sled.
Hanka’s husband Marek was kind enough to clear out a space for us. So we had our own skating spot.
Now I know why Czech people love snow. With good food, good friends, good wine and a perfect pair of skates, even sub zero temperatures can’t prevent them from enjoying the outdoors.
Czech the Flip 