Tommy's rotary exchange

      This last weekend was 4 days long due to a holiday so Mr. Debef, Alan, and I went for a bike trip with some of Mr. Debef's friends. We loaded our bikes up after school on Wednesday and took off. The goal was to bike to where the Doubrava river joins with the Elbe and be back by Sunday.     We managed to bike to the village of Uhrinov by dark and slept outside (we didn't pack tents). Fortunately, it did not rain, although it was rather cold in the morning.   We spent the whole day biking, only stopping for drinks and snacks (don't worry Mr. Barak, I didn't drink any beer). We eventually stopped by a campground/lodge that was by a pond to sleep. In the evening I was surprised to see many bats flying over the lake to feed on the insects. I had only seen bats once or twice in my life prior to this, so it was entertaining, especially when they flew right up to us.     This night was much warmer than the last, and we slept facing the moon, which was full and very bright

      I am back.  Sorry for not posting as frequently, I have been busy and forgot. I will just get started.     Over the weekends I have been going to more orienteering competitions with my host family. One was near Nachod, which is near the Polish border. We visited a nearby castle that was under restoration. It had been mostly buried underground for about 500 years but was excavated in the 80s. We also went to Poland for about 45 minutes, making it the shortest international trip inside the longest international trip I have experienced.     The next weekend we went near Brno for the national championships. Obviously I didn't compete with them, but some of the members of our club are at the national level so we cheered them on. We also tried running a longer course. I think I am better at running the shorter ones because there is less room to get lost. We also picked apples and foraged for mushrooms that weekend. I think it is easier to find the edible mushrooms here than in Alas