Well, it's 11:00 pm here on Thursday evening. Grant, Phil and I are wrapping up our second full day here in Bardejov. I slept great again last night, going to bed around 12:30 and waking up around 10:00. Since I was wide awake all day today I'd say I have officially conquered, defeated, mastered, and overall just put jet lag in it's place!
We all had a very relaxing morning and early afternoon with Ed, Wendi, Jalen and Shaylee. Since it was absolutely perfect weather once again today we spent a lot of time out on the trampoline either bouncing with the kids or longing around enjoying conversation with Ed and Wendi.
While Grant napped this afternoon, Phil and I walked with Ed down to Gage's school to escort him home. Most things in Bardejov, I've discovered, are within walking or very short driving distance. It's one of the many nice things I've noticed thus far about the city.
About mid-afternoon Ed took Grant, Phil and I along with his three boys to a park on the top of the hill (most of the city is in a valley). There was a basketball court there, so we decided to play a couple of games of H-O-R-S-E. Ed won every time (we're chalking it up to home court advantage) but we all had a great time playing on the Slovakian hoops with chain metal nets (gave it a very European feel in my opinion).
As we were getting ready to leave, Ed started into a conversation in Slovak with several of the kids who were playing with Jayce and Tate. I've learned maybe ten Slovak words since I've been here (maybe two of which I remember) so I tried to listen in on the conversation to see if I could pick up anything or discern what was being spoken about from body language, expressions, etc.... It's really an interesting feeling to not have a clue what people are talking about in a conversation unfolding right in front of you.
We arrived back at the Rumbold home for another amazing dinner that Wendi had prepared! If you guys don't recognize me when I get home because of a few extra pounds, you'll know why (and it'll be well worth it!) We are eating VERY well!!!
Phil, Grant, and I sustained a sound beating from the Rumbold children today in the after dinner Bible story quiz game. To the victors go the spoils, so we ended up doing all of the Rumbold kids post dinner chores! A well deserved break for our younger hosts as they completely spanked us in tonight's game. We're definitely bringing our "A" game tomorrow!
This evening, after the kids went to bed, we went with Ed to his Thursday evening men's soccer night. There was about 8-10 Slovak guys there besides us, playing indoor soccer in a basketball gym. It was a blast! We played for over 2 hours and I used muscles I don't think I've used since the last time I played soccer, maybe 4-5 years ago.
I had another humorous language moment while I was sitting on the bench with one of the Slovak guys during the game. Ed had earlier in the night explained to me how to talk about the score of the game in Slovak. Since I was sitting by this guy in awkward silence with each of us well aware that we didn't speak the same language, I decided to try out a simple conversation. I tried asking him what the score was, but I think all I really got across was something along the lines of "for us or for you". Of course this guy was very confused and gave me a sideways look that expressed exactly how he was feeling. Since my plan A didn't work I decided to fall back on plan B before realizing a slight problem.......I didn't have a plan B. We looked at each other for several seconds while I thought about what to do next (you can't really ask about the score of the game with hand motions) then he finally spoke up and said, "in English....go slow". Turns out the guy knew a little bit of english (probably about as good as my spanish) and we carried on a slow simple conversation for the next several minutes.
Now we're back at Ed and Wendi's place winding down for the evening. Day #2's been a blast! Can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.
Until next time, this is Ben signing off from Bardejov.
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