A Dinner With The Chulupas #HogsAbroad in Prague

The other night I was lucky enough to be invited by one of the many friends I’ve made here to his family’s house for dinner. His name is Martin Chulupa (pronounced shoo-loo-pa). He’s from the Czech Republic and has lived here his whole life. We met through Nick, for he is Nick’s “Czech Buddy” that he received at the beginning of the semester. 

 

Martin also invited Cole and Nick over for dinner. At first, we were fairly nervous to meet his parents and weren’t sure what to expect. Thankfully enough his parents were extremely welcoming and super friendly the moment we met them. I gave his mother a hug and she said I could call her “mami” (mom) because her first name was too difficult to pronounce for me. 

 

We then met his father and older sister who also greeted us with warm welcomes. Martin’s dad grilled for dinner, which isn’t a traditional Czech meal, but didn’t matter because he had clearly mastered the trade. We had a great night of eating, drinking, and laughing. 

 

Afterwards, we had homemade cheesecake and strudel that Martin’s sister made. We hung out for a little after eating and then said our goodbyes. I promised the Chulupas that we’d be back again soon.

I don’t think Martin fully understands how cool of an experience that was for all of us.

Moments like that are something you can’t pay for or set up with a travel agent. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I can’t thank Martin enough for welcoming us into his house. I really hope we can do it again soon.

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Read more from Corey at https://coreyinprague.wordpress.com/

For more internship and study abroad opportunities within Walton College, visit http://walton.uark.edu/global/index.ph