Another reason I love it here...

As I went into the pet shop today I was once again reminded why I love it here. While Prague is a big city it often feels like a small village. I walk around our neighborhood and I say hi to random people...the security guard at the bank, the lady from the butcher, the lady from the hat store etc. Would I ever recognize someone from the supermarket in the U.S.? Probably not. Here it is different. You see these people on a regular basis and you get to know them in a way. They speak Czech with me and suffer through my responses graciously. They include me in their neighborhood by saying "Dobry Den" (Good day/Hello) when they see me on the street. It gives me the sense of being part of a community even when we are separated by language. Anyway, I stopped into the pet store today to order Watson's food. The pet store does not normally stock Watson's food but offered to always order it for us when we need it. It is nice since the pet shop is just down our road. When I stopped in today the owner asked me if I could please check our bank statement to see if the payment for the pet food we bought in August was on there since they cannot find it on there records. This would never happen in the US b/c 1. you wouldn't remember what the person looked like a month and a half later and 2. a company wouldn't ask you to go back and check your own bank statements. They would just eat the cost of the food. I think it is great that the owner of this small shop asked me to help him out. I expect to pay for the food we buy so if we didn't pay him last month I will gladly pay him and if we did may him and the bank didn't send it on to his account I want him to get the money. He is nice enough to order special food for Watson whenever I stop in and he tolerates the girls coming into his shop all the time just to look at the animals. So once again I find myself loving Prague and the people who live here.