Choir Trip to Czech Republic

Maybe when I learn how to put this blog site together, I will be able to get my pictures where I want them, Oh Well! I'll bet you can figure them out anyway.

Last Sunday, October 25, we went with the church choir to a concert they presented in a church, in Tranovice, Czech Republic. Tranovice is in the SE corner of the Czech Republic, not too far from the Slovak and Polish borders.

Brenda and I had decided to give the choir a try right after we got here. While they really wanted us to sing with them, we decided not to this time, since we had only sung through the songs one time in practice. They did a fine job. I enjoyed it even though I could not understand what they were singing.

Our singing in the choir gives a whole new meaning to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord." I do believe that someone in the distant past told the vowels in this part of the world go on vacation to Hawaii, and they liked it so well they stayed. You should try singing four or five consonants all in a row. In fact some syllables are composed of just consonants, I'm sure. They must have some rule for this, but I have not learned it yet.

The church was much more modern than than one in Martin. We got there in time to worship with them. Our choir presented the special music in the worship service, and a concert later that afternoon. The day was beautiful, and it was all topped off by various members of their church taking members of our choir home for dinner.

We had four generations around the table, with a multitude of languages being spoken. We were assigned this family because many of them understood and spoke English. In fact, two of the sisters taught English and both of their husbands, one Polish the other Spanish, spoke English as well. The husband from Spain was actually a Baptist preacher, but currently out of work and living with his in-laws. They had three little boys, one 3 year-old and a set of twins who were 1 year old. The Polish husband's mother and grandmother live close by and joined us for Sunday dinner as well. There were 14 people around the table.

We counted up the number of languages spoken or someone having some academic knowledge and came up with: English, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. Plus a dialect that the husband from Poland said he grew up with which was really a mix of both Polish/Czech. It was a mini United Nations.

With three families living under one roof, it was a bit crowded, but it really was a joy to see the multi-generation interaction. The father of the sisters owns the house and about 12.5 acres which surround it. He also enjoys raising horses and has a couple of horses which are of a rare Czech breed. The view of the surrounding country was beautiful, the interaction was wonderful, and our time with the family came to a close all too quickly.

The choir presented their concert in the afternoon, and the church provided yet another meal of sandwiches and desserts before we had to leave and come home.

All in all it was a wonderful time to get to know some of the choir members better as well as worship with another congregation and spend time with a wonderful family.