August 5, 2014 - Domazlice

This morning, I needed to retrace some of my previous bus journey to get back to Stod, where I was picking up a new bagpipe and leaving my old one for repair with Lubomir Jungbauer. I wasn’t sure if he was meeting me at the bus stop or if I was walking to his house. I had his address and a Google map route for walking, so when he wasn’t at the bus stop, I walked and found it with no problem. Though this visit was a business transaction, I was again reminded of Czech hospitality. Marie Jungbauer served 5 different pastries, as well as a full tray of chlebíčky for our 10 a.m. gathering, and while I wanted to try everything, there was no way I could eat that much, especially since I was supposed to be trying out the new bagpipe and communicating without words about the repairs needed on my old bagpipe. Marie Jungbauer and I finally ended up using a small Czech-English dictionary she had to point to words, so the other would know what we were trying to say. In this way I was able to explain what Minnesota was like and about my grandchildren.

Then back to town to find the location for tomorrow's bagpipe workshop. The rest of the time will be for exploring town and getting used to the new bagpipe before class tomorrow!

Simple victories! Discovered that I forgot to pack a single pen or pencil. I could use the iPad for notes to myself, but seemed rude to me to show up to class tomorrow without a writing implement! I had walked by a large number of shops this afternoon with no success and happened upon a paper goods store and remembered, of course, that would be the place! Mission accomplished! Then had a nice local lunch and remembered to order a salad to get some vegetables besides potatoes!

Amazing when the clock says it's midnight and your body thinks it's late afternoon, how noticeable the town bells are that ring the time every 15 minutes! Last night I panicked thinking I had overslept and couldn't figure out why so many bells were ringing. Got up and checked the clock - it was only midnight! Awake at the same time tonight and surprised not to be sleepy after the missed night Sunday to Monday. Still on Minnesota time for a bit yet. May need to buy a small fan for sleeping in the heat?

My new dudy, picked up this morning. A bit more ornate than the older one. The challenge for tomorrow's workshop is that it plays completely differently than what I'm used to - size of the bag when inflated, amount of pressure to maintain the sound, position of the chanter - so I expect to sound like a rank beginner tomorrow. Argh!!!

Folk Museum closed for renovation - drat!