Prague Journal

Monday, December 27, 2004.

As promised, Mr. Halle and a plumber showed up at precisely 8:00 this morning to fix the toilet. The apartment is small enough that the sound of the toilet running was quite annoying, not to mention my concern over the wasted water. Living on the third floor buffers us from most street noise, so things are usually pretty quiet around here.
This evening we had dinner with Ales Drapal and his wife Marta. Rick has spoken of Ales many times, but I had never met him. Ales was Peter’s professor, when Peter was a student at Charles University, and has visited him in Denver. The Drapals have four children, two of whom still live at home, but they were off with a group of friends for a few days, so dinner was just the four of us. Marta is an excellent cook and a charming person. She teaches people to work with disabled teens and adults. We felt privileged to have been invited to their house. I only wish we could reciprocate. Our flat is meager, and we hardly cook, other than throwing a roast or chicken in the oven, adding water to a package of instant soup and/or putting together some veggies for a salad. Now, if I had my trusty gas grill here, that might be another story. On the other hand, we only have four plates, four bowls, and four cups, two mismatched wine glasses, a few pots and a very small kitchen.

posted by JWinn @ 9:18 PM