January - One Third of our Project

     The first month of our adventure at Camp Loma De Vida in Edinburg, Texas, is over. I'll summarize with some highlights, and pictures to go with them.

    During the month, I did a variety of work assignments, like helping to bake thousands of cookies. Terry and the other guys appreciated the cookies that didn't work out. Now we have to make more next month to make up the deficit. 

    Then Cheryl and I inventoried the nurse's station and counted t-shirts and tidied cupboards. 

The very last day, I got to try something new. Some of us sanded down the wooden railings on bunk beds by hand, because of reports of splinters from the wood. On the last day, I graduated to a palm sander! I don't think I operated it correctly, but it was sure fun!

  

  Finally, at the end of the month I bought two sizes of plates and some bowls at the thrift store. What a pleasure to abandon the flimsy plastic bowls, not meant for constant use, but too good to throw out after one use. I quite like our new dishes.

    Much to our amazement, our group leaders, Don and Cheryl Delaschmit are birders, and we'll be with them for the month of February as well. It's been great, their knowledge has been a big help in identifying birds. Here are some of the birds we've seen.

Green Jay

Ringed Kingfisher

Common Pauraque

    

    

    

    

    

This is such an interesting example of camouflage. You would never see this bird even if you walked right by it. It was pointed out to us a couple of feet away from the footpath in Estero Llano Grande State Park. Then it was obvious that a barrier of piled up sticks had been placed at the edge of the path to discourage people from disturbing the Pauraque's sleep. This bird is on permanent night shift; it sleeps during the day and hunts for insects at night.

I was glad to get such a good look at him up close. Last week Terry flushed one up out of the brush when we were chasing another bird, but I didn't get to see it beyond a flapping of wings. 

Roseate Spoonbill

What a surprise to see this pink bird in a marshy area, which we usually optimistically call a pond as we drove around one afternoon with our friends. The Roseate Spoonbill forages by wading in shallow water, swinging its head back and forth to sift the muck with its slightly open spoon-like bill. Sensitive receptors inside the bill detect vibrations given off by prey. When a small fish or aquatic creature touches the inside of the spoon, the bill closes on it quickly. 

What a way to get dinner. 

It's been a great month for birding! 

Kolaches

 

On our week off between projects we visited our Korean friend, Bongwol, in Houston, TX. We had met at YWAM Lausanne, Switzerland in October, 2012, when we were both Mission Builders there.

     We had a great visit. Bongwol served interesting things for breakfast: This is fried cabbage, with an egg is hidden in the middle of the “nest”. It was surprisingly tasty!

    On the agenda, of course, was bird watching. Terry didn't know I had another agenda, but he soon found out I was interested in seeing where Czechs had settled in the latter part of the 1800s. Many towns between Edinburg and Houston had been settled by Czechs and Moravians, and we noticed businesses with Czech names.

     Since my mother was born in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, and my father came from Moravia, I found the fact that many from this country had previously emigrated to America fascinating. Why did they do it? Freedom. In the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, before it was united as Czechoslovakia in 1918, farmers were still under the feudal system. The availability of land in America in the Blackland Prairie region, as well as the political situation, drew them to emigrate by the thousands.

    Czechs brought with them their culture, a part of which brings me back to my story

    I have been to the Czech Republic ten times, and I am well acquainted with the koláč.

    It's a yeast dough pastry with a filling of fruit, quark cheese, or a paste made from poppyseeds. My parents even had these traditional delicacies at their wedding. Here's a picture of a Moravian variety Terry and I sampled in 2018. This pizza-sized one was sold with various flavours on the same plate. Tom is cutting them up so we could taste them all.

My cousin's husband, Tom

     I found out the koláč came to America, too. I knew it wouldn't be the same, but I was eager to taste-test this American variety, called kolache. We managed to track some down at Prasek's Smokehouse in Sealy, TX. They were displayed with meat pastries that looked like pigs in blankets, also called kolache. [Technically incorrect! Czechs don't call meat pastries by that name.] I carefully chose my apricot kolache. I found the name amusing. The plural form of koláč in Czech is koláče, which is what Americans call one pastry. I carefully carried the little white paper bag out to the car, and happily anticipated our lunch dessert.

    Meanwhile, Terry was on a mission. He was trying to find a certain state park, but the GPS was not co-operating at all. We kept travelling down secondary roads, back and forth, until lunch was long overdue. I have to eat pretty much on time, so I wasn't happy. About an hour and a half later, I couldn't stand it any longer. “Just eat, then,” said Terry.

    “But I wanted to eat the kolache with ceremony,” I explained. It was not to be. I ended up eating my kolache, while Terry focused on the road. I took a bite before I remembered I was supposed to photograph my kolache, sitting on the dash looking fresh and delicious.

    I'm so grateful to Terry for stopping to find the kolache. We had in mind to stop at another bakery the next day which was famous for achieving the “best kolache” award, but we never got there. The next morning a winter storm warning sent us straight home to Edinburg, instead of exploring yet another state park we had in mind,and stopping at the bakery.

That's ok. I sampled my American kolache.

 We both decided it wasn't at all the same as a real koláč. It was lighter, the dough fluffier, and the filling much sweeter. Delicious, but definitely not a koláč.

Here's a picture of some soup noodles I bought as well.

And the delicious soup I made from them. Just the thing for a cold winter's day!