December 2023
Friends and fellowship
It was a blessing to be able to be around fellow Christians during the holidays. We loved having Gabe and Naomi over and experiencing a “traditional” Czech Christmas with them. We spent just under a week in Prague to show them the city and meet some of the Christians, then we headed back to Olomouc to get to work (and have some fun of course).
Meeting the people is the best way to get to know the culture of a location. So, once in Olomouc, we introduced Gabe and Naomi to as many of our Czech friends as possible. We went to the movies, out for dinner, out to lunch, and had people over for dinner, games, and worship.
The Great Czech Bake Off
Baking traditional Czech Christmas cookies (cukroví) is not only a classic holiday tradition, but also a national sport. Women spend days cooking 10+ different types of cookies to share with friends a family. Some women even trade with one another to show off their cookies and baking abilities. Naomi and I met up with our friend Eva and she showed us how to make three different types of traditional cukroví.
To get in all the Christmas cookie fun, we baked some typical American cookies (chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, double chocolate, gingerbread, rice crispy treats) and shared them with our friends and community. Since most people are getting plenty of Czech cookies from friends and family, we figured we should give them cookies they might not get as often and share in each other's culture. We baked nearly 20 boxes of cookies and gave them to our friends, the local pharmacy, and hospital.
