by Tracy A. Burns The legendary Jára Cimrman Theatre is in mourning this summer as actor Bořivoj Penc died at age 82 on June 26, 2018. A member of the famous theatre group for 35 seasons, Penc performed in 13 of the 15 plays. He had known Zdeněk Svěrák, the co-founder of the theatre…
Category: Culture
Želary, část druhá [part two]
Část první [part one] is located here. My cousin (4th cousin once removed) Josef Petr in Trojanovice – who is just as much into genealogy as I am – gave me some really great answers to some questions, which I am sharing (with permission). The only problem is that his answers have sparked 10,000 more…
to tykání, or not to tykání…that is the question (for Czechs)
At this, the close of my first week of actually making a real and concerted effort to study Czech the language (though I have made several other really casual attempts before), I have to take a minute to write about a huge cultural difference that I have noticed: vykání vs. tykání. Of course, this concept…
Were my ancestors virgins when they were married?
I’m working on a transcription of a Czech marriage contract from 1794. Here is the paragraph: Ve jménu nejsvětěšjí trojice, Amen.Dnes níže psaného dne a roku staly se smlouvy svatební stalé, a v ničemž neporušitedelné, mezi dobře zachovalým mládencem panem Francem Michnou vlastním synem P: France Michny městianína Frankštadseho jakožto ženichem strany jednej, a dobře zachoval[o]u…
Mozart lived closer to my ancestors than I do to my parents
My kids have been listening to “Mozart’s Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through the Magic Flute.” I keep finding songs from it stuck in my head. “Pa-pa-pa-papageno!” and the Aria of the Queen of the Night. Which my kids ask me to perform for them, and I gladly oblige. Haha. I began reading Mozart’s wikipedia page. The film…
Kolaches
Today I made a ton of bread and kolaches. Technically these are klobasnik, but in Texas Czech culture, they are called kolaches. Aka pig in there blanket. I used whole wheat flour. It is definitely not as silky delicious as a traditional kolache dough, but healthier and still very, very tasty. The sausage was from…
Czech out this house!
This is a picture of me with my daughter (then 2) and my son (then 1) at the Hluchanek House located in the Czech Village at the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center in La Grange, Texas. My husband took the picture and was holding our other son (then 0 years old). I really feel a…