Innovations in the grill: the trash bin

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I think this is a good example of the gritty Czech ingenuity. What you are looking at is a converted trash bin. Yes, someone saw a trash bin one day and let a thought linger. That man was the brother of Hanka, a friend of mine. Hanka’s brother is a butcher in the shop below his lodgings. It’s a relatively small ‘reznictvi’ or butcher’s, but he wanted to smoke some quality pork. So one day as he likely was waiting for a bus his gaze fixed upon a disused trash bin and a light flashed. Yes, its dimensions could suit smoking pork quite nicely. All it would need is a spit(rod) and an engine to rotate it slowly. And there you have a basically free, helluva grill to cook a whole pig if you wished. So he did it.
Now, when Americans say think outside of the box, they don’t realize that outside their box is another, slightly larger, but equally constricting box. The boxes of our perception are sadly endless. When it takes our heads entirely too many seconds to think of someone’s name, that is our brain awkwardly moving from one box to another one.

Hanka herself has an interesting life-story. She nearly got me to ask for her hand in marriage the day I met her when she told me of what was dug in her family’s backyard the day that she was born. Somewhere, amidst the plentiful garden with rows and rows of delectable veggies and flowers is a sack with 30 bottles of slivovice(this is basically plum moonshine. 50% atleast. Gets you nice and blind drunk). When she marries she will reveal to her husband where the treasure is dug. Legendary stuff that is. Slivovice is tradition, especially to the Moravians(Hanka is) and Slovakians.

Once Wernie related to me the story of an old lady of about 70. She was perfectly healthy, had no problems.. until a few years back she went to the doctor to report she was feeling ill. This new doctor said there was nothing wrong with her. Then a month later again, then again, and again. Many times over the next few years she would have to go there to stay in the sick bed for a few days. Finally she became mysteriously ill while the new doctor was also and an older one replaced him. This new doctor was more intrepid and realized that age had done a lot of harm to her memory. So much so that she was forgetting that she had already taken her one shot of slivovice for the day… It’s a story that is hard to believe, but I’ve witnessed so much of the strange here that I believe it. I certainly believe the tradition of taking the one shot a day. Out east its like religion. And all this is homegrown. That's my story for the day. Ciaooo

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Photos

The pork removal process
Its a three person job

The blazen pranksters
It was getting cold outside so Hanka kindly lent or gave Wernie and I some clothes.

Comments

[Luis]

of Nathan and other stories
So, came the 5th week in Churchill House, things weren't getting any better or less stressful. All the best people had gone: you, Ally, Ralph the Aussie, Vicky... There was one teacher who was finishing and wanted to stay on, so I said to Nathan and Richard B. "I'll swop". Nathan wanted me to stay on but come Sunday morning there I was with my bags packed. I shall never forget Nathan's face when the very last thing I did was run to my bags, pulled out a chess set and told him it was my personal gift to him. PS I got paid for half of the final week...just don't ask. PPS It ws great knowing you Chris, next summer I'll most probably be going to Millfield - apply.