Just Czech-ing In

I'm loving essentially having Wednesday-Sunday free to wander the city with David. It's pretty much perfection.

Here's a picture of us on the bridge just south of Charles Bridge on the Charles River.

On Friday, we went to the farmers market that my roommates and I walked to the week before. We bought goulash, potato dumplings, and potatoes with sausage from a woman tending incredibly large cast-iron skillets. We sat on a bench in the park next to the market and marveled at how outstandingly fantastic the potatoes tasted. Then we tried the goulash and we died a little bit from the delicious-ness. Immediately, we deemed goulash at the market a Friday afternoon tradition. Though my stomach later made me severely question that decision, we'll definitely be going back next week.

Goulash on the left in the back and potatoes with sausage on the right in the back. The front two dishes are meat of some sort, but I'm not sure exactly.

 Saturday was David's 20th birthday! We met up in the afternoon and went to the mall near my house because I wanted to show him this giant Darth Vader made of LEGOs that was just hanging out in the toy section.

LEGO Darth Vader at Tesco

Afterwards, we wandered over to explore a LEGO store that I had spotted on my way to school. It's an unassuming storefront, and I assumed that it would simply be filled with a lot of cool LEGO sets that David would enjoy coveting. As soon as we walked in, our senses were overwhelmed. To get inside the store, we passed under a LEGO arch and to our right there was an entire wall made of LEGOs depicting a mock photograph, with a running LEGO train at the base. Just below the LEGO wall we noticed a set of stairs accessible through a turnstile. Ahead of us there were hundreds of LEGO sets and thousands of loose LEGO pieces that you could buy by the gram. David's approximate reaction was this:

David in awe of the LEGOs

David looking down the staircase in front of the LEGO wall/snapshot

LEGO truck running up the wall above the staircase

After David has preliminarily absorbed the store, we went and asked the cashier what was down the stairs. He informed us that they led to a three-story LEGO museum. He also told us approximately how many models and blocks the museum contained but David was already drooling so we decided quite easily that his birthday present would be admission to the museum. We spent about two hours marveling at the countless models and displays, which included many trains that visitors could control, as well as the release dates and block counts on each model. I chronicled the experience with David's camera, which his parents had, appropriately enough, given to him for his birthday. One of the models on the basement floor was of a Star Wars ship (David would know the name). There was a sign on the display that read something to the effect of, "For the full Star Wars exhibit, see the 3rd floor." David's eyes widened upon reading it and it took a moment to convince him not to bolt up the stairs immediately.

When we did reach the third floor, it did not disappoint. As soon as he walked in, the Star Wars theme started playing. The room was practically overflowing with Star Wars models. I think we spent about 30 minutes in those two adjoining rooms alone, and I was taking pictures pretty much the whole time. (David is currently having a difficult time sifting through those pictures to choose which ones to post on Facebook.) After looking at all the models, we headed back down to the basement to play with LEGOs they had sitting out at little stations throughout the exhibit. I built David a birthday cake (note the Napolean Dynamite reference), and he built a house that quickly turned into a mansion.

LEGO birthday cake (with 20 LEGO candles)

When we left the museum, it was 6:30 and we realized that our plan to shop for and make dinner was no longer viable. Instead, we decided to go to the Indian restaurant I had found the previous week. David got fried cheese, a mushroom and pea dish in tomato sauce, and garlic naan, while I got vegetable soup, spinach with homemade cheese, and jasmine rice. Everything was absolutely delicious (again). I'm thinking that we'll need to take my family there when they come, even if my mom and Grace claim they aren't big fans of Indian food. If any place could win them over, it would be this one.

David's mushroom and pea dish, served over a candle to keep it warm

My spinach and cheese dish with jasmine rice

 On Sunday, I met David at his apartment and we ate breakfast before taking a bus to a park by his house that he had discovered. It was a brisk, sunny day and the park was absolutely lovely. We sat in the grass to meditate and write in our journals for awhile. It was so wonderful to soak up the sun and be in nature. We stopped back by his apartment before heading to the Olympic Park. We had both heard a lot about the park and, since the Olympics ended Sunday, it was our last chance to go. For a minimal fee, we got to wander around this enormous park devoted to the winter Olympic events. There was a huge ice skating rink/maze, a cross-country skiing/biathlon arena, a curling sheet, and a snowboarding hill where youth snowboarders were showing off their skills. All the snow was fake, of course, since it hasn't been nearly cold enough for the real stuff, but it was great to see nonetheless. David and I tried a "trdlnik," which is a common Czech pastry. Long strips of dough are wrapped around a metal pole and dunked in sugar before being slowing rotated over a charcoal fire. Once browned, they are dunked in cinnamon and sugar again, and are then served warm. Unsurprisingly, it was absolutely delicious.

Curling sheet (I learned that term while writing this post)

Part of the ice skating rink/maze

Trdlnik just beginning to cook

David trying his trdlnik (it looks like too many consonants, right?)

 After the Olympic Park, we caught public transit back to his apartment, stopping at the grocery store along the way. We made lentils and cabbage and tomato soup for dinner. It was all delicious. We also tried a bottle of white wine we had bought for David's birthday dinner that we didn't end up cooking. David hadn't tried wine before and was pretty excited to try it. I was almost positive I wouldn't like it, but figured it was worth a shot. One of David's roommates (who are all much more experienced in the realm of wine-bottle-opening than either of us) helped him with the bottle opener and he poured two glasses. While we were eating, we decided to try it at the same time. We smelled it and agreed that we didn't particularly like the scent before each taking a sip. Immediately we both grimaced and decided we were not wine people. Luckily, his roommates were happy to have the free bottle of wine.

I'm realizing that the next few weeks are going to be quite busy compared to the last few. This Friday I'm hoping to be able to tag along with David's study abroad program on their trip to Terezin, the Czech Republic's most infamous World War II concentration camp. Then the next Thursday I leave for my program's 4-day excursion to Krakow, hopefully with David tagging along, though that's yet to be fully worked out. When I return, my family will already have been here for a day (woohoo!) and they'll be here all week. And David and I have been talking about independent travel we want to do soon. We're thinking trips to the Alps and to Copenhagen on different weekends before we activate our Eurail passes at the beginning of May, with which we'll go to France, Italy, Croatia, the Netherlands, and Belgium (we hope) before ending Greece. I can't even believe I can write that sentence. Life is just outstanding sometimes.

Lots of love to the Austin and Greensboro and Savannah (and wherever else you may be reading this from, perhaps Wisconsin?)!

Update on the Prague Life

Alrighty, I need a break from my homework so it's time for an update. I'm currently halfway through my second reading about eugenics pre-WWII, and it's not exactly the most light-hearted topic. So let's talk about something else!

On Monday, I went on an excursion to a monastery and brewery organized by my study abroad program, CEA. What they didn't mention when describing the event was that, in order to get there, we would be hiking up this huge hill. The experience would have been lovely had my knee been healthy, but as it turned out, I was honestly quite miserable. In hindsight, I really just should have turn around when I started feeling my knee twinge while we were walking. But I had seen these beautiful pictures of the library in this monastery, and I'm just so used to being physically able, and I'm exceptionally stubborn.

I'm sure that the monastery was even prettier than the pictures, but I just sat down as soon as I got to the top of the hill and tried not to cry, because I couldn't really do anything else. (I know that sounds melodramatic, but it's totally true.) I managed to compose myself in the monastery, and then we headed over to the brewery across the street. Apparently it's a really old microbrewery and they make really good beer. We got a free beer to taste, which I used to discover that I really truly don't like beer at all. (Luckily, one of my roommates shouldered the burden for me.) Afterwards, we got a tour of the brewery. They said stuff about wheat and hops and fermentation and temperatures and dark versus light beers, and I pretty much had no idea what they were talking about the whole time.

When we were done, I ventured down the hill slowly and my knee hurt. At the bottom of the hill, there was a conveniently-placed Starbucks.* I sat in the Starbucks and rested for awhile before I got my over-priced-but-so-worth-it Americano. Armed with caffeine, I caught the tram to the library where I had my evening class. In the library, I sat and sipped coffee and ate snacks and read "The Hiding Place" (kudos to Brittany for giving me this excellent book before I left). Of course, after my fairly hellish day, I was to give a 30-45 minute presentation in my Holocaust Seminar. I was nervous, but the presentation went well and I managed to make it through Monday.

Tuesday, thankfully, was a much calmer day. I had Czech language class in the morning, in which we learned a new Czech song. After class, I took the tram home and made some lunch before I got to talk to my awesome dad, who woke up at 6am his time to talk to me about my knee. I explained what was going on and he recommended I see an English-speaking physical therapist while I'm here. I did some research later that day (during my Anthropology of Religion class) and found two places I could go. After emailing both and getting price estimates, I am going with the one that has a student discount, which makes each appointment about $25 (go lower health care costs). The only problem is that they don't have an appointment until March 3rd, which feels quite a long ways away at the moment, given that walking is really becoming not fun at all.

On Tuesdays, I have class from 2:45-9:15pm, which passed fairly uneventfully. I did realize that I'm currently spending $8 per week on Starbucks though, so I'll need to figure out a different way to stay awake during my evening class.

Tuesday night we got an email saying that bedbugs had been found in parts of our building and that people would be coming to inspect our apartment the next morning. We were told that we would either need to be out of the apartment for one hour (for preventative spraying if they found no bedbugs) or for six hours (for fumigation if they found bedbugs).

With the way the week had been going, I should have expected them to find bedbugs. When they told us the next morning, though, I was rather unprepared. I packed a bag for the day and headed to the gym. After the gym, I went to the mall and wandered around for awhile, stalling to make sure that David would be at his apartment when I got there. After taking a tram and a bus, I made it to David's apartment, where I finally got to shower before we headed to the grocery store. We made beans (they didn't turn out as well as we'd hoped), and sauteed veggies. David swore he hated cabbage, but we decided to try it because I wanted to. He braved a taste of it raw while we were cooking and the look on his face was hilarious. He was trying to convince himself it tasted terrible, but as the seconds ticked past, it became clear that he actually liked it. It was fun to watch.

I should probably give David some credit here. He is having to deal with a rather unpleasant version of myself right now. Not being able to run/elliptical/bike was difficult. Not being to walk very well is just compounding the problem. I am basically a big ball of stress and issues, ready to unleash on him at any time. It's just so disheartening to feel like I'm being blocked from this part of myself. I identify deeply as someone who is active, and to not be able to pursue that in the ways that I want is extremely frustrating. (I can't help but notice the rather cruel irony of this in relation to my last post.)

On a related note, I feel like I've been getting an itsy-bitsy peephole view into how disabled people are treated. When I'm walking with a group, I inevitably fall behind and it's easy to feel socially excluded and awkward. When I'm getting in and out of the trams, I can feel the rush of people behind me and I feel pressured to go faster than I know is good for me. It is clear to me that people look at me differently in the gym than when I was healthy. Just to be clear, I am totally not saying this to equate my knee injury with a long-term disability. I'm just trying to say that I had no idea what people with disabilities were dealing with on a day-to-day basis. I can't say that I have any constructive suggestions on how to solve this problem; the extent of the problem is just astounding.

*Normally, I avoid American companies while traveling abroad, but this particular Starbucks is also close to my school and I'm afraid if I go to a local place, I won't be able to get a big enough coffee to sustain me through my evening classes. So I am consistently breaking my own rule.**

**I am shamelessly stealing this technique from Becca Kempe.

There I Am

One of the things that people warned me about as I was preparing to go abroad was a tendency for students to confuse their sense of identity. They told me I would likely question what it really means to be American, female, short, a student, etc. In sum, that I would begin to wonder what really defines Katie Fullerton in this new, foreign landscape and culture. I'm essentially experiencing the opposite of this.

Displacement to a different city along with a couple hundred other college students from various parts of America has drawn into stark relief what exactly defines me. I feel independent and unique among peers. Those essential characteristics that distinguish me remain the same as I navigate these new situations. I still love to exercise, cook and eat healthy food, sleep late, and read. I'm still not a fan of crowded places. I still can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke or alcohol. I still draw comfort from music, walking, and yoga. I still value integrity and the ability to listen, to others and to oneself, most in people. I still love the same people that I loved when I was in Austin and Greensboro.

It is deeply affirming to realize that I am a constant in this new climate. Living in a foreign city tests my values and priorities by placing me in new situations. My familiar reactions in these unfamiliar circumstances point to the definitive aspects of my self. Some of these characteristics I was already aware of. I knew that I wasn't into partying and that I liked to workout, for example. Other characteristics, however, I have been pleased to discover. I've been surprised by my sense of comfort, ease, and independence here when exploring the city on my own. I've been happy to find that when my roommates go out for the evening and I stay at the apartment, I am not doing so out of judgement or social anxiety, but out of a genuine desire to stay in.

It is such a pleasant experience to find myself at home in my own skin, my own decisions, and my own life. I wonder at myself in awe, the way that a child might repeatedly try to squish an ice cube they saw first as water. How did that amorphous blob that was running every which way and filling every crevice turn into this, a solid object with defined edges and dimensions?

It is usually fairly obvious when people have a firm concept of themselves. They carry themselves with more confidence and seem to view others as they view themselves: non-threatening, interesting, and important. But, from within, I can't say that it was obvious to me that I was becoming more of a solid concept. It is still a surprise to me when I feel my feet touch solid ground beneath this abyss of a world I am treading in. Each time, I am awed, thinking, "Aha, there I am." And I filled with relief and gratitude for this ground on which I am to wander.

David's Arrival: An Adorable Puppy, An Unfortunate Shopkeeper, and Wheel-less Luggage

Well, David's first foray into international travel was quite a doozy. His flight from London to Prague was delayed because the pilot apparently didn't show up, so he arrived an hour and a half later than he'd expected. We didn't particularly mind though. I just did homework at the airport and he lost a few more hours of sleep. Also, someone had brought an unbelievably adorable Beagle puppy to the airport so I had entertainment. What we didn't know at the time was that this delay was merely the foreboding sign of more to come.

When David stepped through the arrival door separating the baggage claim from the waiting area, he was talking with a woman from London and her son, who were making sure his party was there to pick him up. (I learned later that David made friends on pretty much every flight on the way here. Why am I not surprised?) We excitedly exchanged hugs and kisses, before I began regaling my master plan of how to get us back to his apartment. I had two 90-minute public transit tickets, one for each of us. First, retraced part of my route back to the middle of the city. We took Bus 119 from the airport to the green metro line, which we took to meet up with the yellow metro line. We got off at the closest metro stop to his apartment, which is called Florenc. After that, it would be easy, I had thought. We could only be a few blocks from his apartment and we had a few maps, though I had forgotten my favorite one in my coat pocket at my apartment (I had purposely left my coat out of a over-developed sense of confidence in cold weather and a masochistic drive to freeze my fingers).

As you can probably guess, we had absolutely no idea where we were when we got out of the metro. No idea which way was North or South, let alone which direction his apartment was in. Suddenly a few blocks felt like quite a long way to walk, especially with me carrying both mine and David's backpacks and him carrying his 45 lb wheel-less luggage over one shoulder. (Why wheel-less luggage? I asked that very same question.) We ended up just picking a direction and walking until we realized we were wrong, twice. We stopped into a convenience store once to ask for directions and a very well-intentioned Vietnamese man who spoke a little English tried exceptionally hard to help us but only left us more confused.

Finally we walked far enough in the wrong direction to hit a major street marked on our map. By this time we were cold and tired and pretty discouraged. We just set the luggage down and I told David about Grandmother and Papa and I trying to find our hotel in Fiesole over the summer, and how we basically spent a whole day caught up in things like this. It was helpful that one of us hadn't just gotten off an overnight flight, so we were both completely and totally brain-dead. Once we had regathered our strength we started trekking back the way we had come in hopes that we'd finally found the right direction. David had called his study abroad company and someone there had told us to catch a bus from the metro stop to his apartment,, but he wasn't too clear on where, not to mention that our transportation tickets had expired (and mine had fallen out of my pocket). After deciding to just walk the rest of the way, we found that we were following the buses we were supposed to be on, so we knew we were going in the right direction. When we finally found his street, we got very excited for about 5 seconds before we realized that the street numbers on opposite sides of the street didn't match up and we didn't know which way to walk. Even numbers are one side and odds on the other, but on side would be in the 40s and the other would be in the 70s. All very convenient. After calling David's study abroad company 3 more times, we found ourselves walking alongside increasingly odd numbers until we got to Husitska 65, where a college-aged guy was poking his head out of the doorway. I think we were briefly in danger of hugging him and regaling our long, arduous, and rather boring story to him right there on the sidewalk, but the desire to set our bags down overtook us.

Once we made it up to his apartment, we met two of his three roommates and collapsed on the couch in their living room. After we had regained our senses of space and time, we noticed that his apartment was actually quite nice. The couch was pretty comfy, the kitchen is much nicer than mine, and there is even a TV. His roommates went out after we got acquainted a little, and I headed out a few minutes later. In order to leave his apartment building, I had to go through two doors. The first opened with no problem and then locked behind me. The second, I needed a key to open. I promptly realized that my phone and computer were both dead, and that I had no way to get out of this tiny hallway. Panic gradually wracked my body. I resorted to pressing every button in the hallway and got the attention of two guys standing outside by knocking on the door. They tried to open the door for me, but it was locked from the outside too. Then they resorted to laughing and periodically looking through the window. I was very much on the verge of crying in this little hallway. My last ditch effort was to pull as hard as I could on both doors. The door to the outside showed no sign of movement. Then I resorted to yanking the door back into the apartment building and to my utter shock, it opened. I had no energy left to question it, and I just started sprinting up the stairs to David's apartment. I think I completely freaked David out standing in the doorway panting and on the verge of tears. After I caught my breath, I explained what happened. David sat me down and volunteered to come with me back to my apartment once I'd calmed down. We took the metro to my apartment and David dropped me off around 1AM. I climbed the stairs, scarfed down food, and fell asleep. I learned this morning that the metro closed before David got back to the station, and he ended up walking all the way back to his apartment.

Honestly, I couldn't believe how well David handled all this, having never been in another country. I had experienced things like this on trips before and I know that they do not ruin the experience, and even turn out to be good stories. David, on the other hand, just had to take my word for it. He did such a great job staying calm and composed. I'm so excited to have him as my travel buddy for the next few months!

//

In other news, I made an excellent pot of beans yesterday afternoon. They're better than canned ones and I am absurdly proud of them. The last few days before David got here have kind of blended together, quite honestly. They have been filled with exercise (finally), working on rehabing my knee (accidentally over-stressing it, and now trying to take it easy), finishing "Book Thief," grocery shopping, steamed cabbage, roasted potatoes and beets, and whole lot of reading about the Holocaust.

Roasted potatoes, beets, mushrooms, and spinach. It just too beautiful to eat...without taking a picture first.

View of the famous "Dancing House" on my way back from the gym. The lot stayed vacant for decades after the US accidentally bombed it 1945 (whoops). After the lot was cleared, Vaclav Havel (the man who Prague's airport is named after) lived there for most of his life. The Dancing House was built between 1992 and 1996.

I also spent a few hours at this coffee shop called Globe that is just a couple blocks from my apartment. I met a classmate there to work on a presentation we have on Tuesday. It definitely caters to Americans. The waiters speak English and multiple menu items contain the word "American." Independent of that though, I can't help but love it. The front window is filled with books, and when you walk in there's a little bookshop to your right. If you manage to pass the bookshelves, you come to a wood-dominated room full of tables and chairs. Once you fully enter the room and turn around, a huge projection of the Olympics appears on one wall. It's an excellent study place and I imagine myself spending a lot of time there, if I can manage to get over the smell of smoke (see Addendum of my last post).

This sign outside Globe reads "Books, Coffee, Internet." What more do you need in life?

Learning to be a Follower

Pedestrian behave differently everywhere. In Austin, cars most definitely have the right of way. Pedestrians are cautious and make absolutely sure drivers see them before they begin crossing (and, if they fail to do so, they are yelled at or worse). In Manhattan, cars are second-class citizens on the road. Drivers try to assert their dominance by speeding between traffic lights but it's clear that pedestrians rule the streets.

Prague, I am learning, is somewhere in between. Pedestrians technically have the right of way on the ubiquitous black-and-white striped "zebra crossings," as the English-speakers here call them. However, tourists tend to be hesitant to assert their right to cross and end up waiting for all the cars to pass. Locals, on the other hand, pay almost no attention to the zebra crossings. They pretty much cross wherever they want, even stopping halfway across two-way streets to wait for oncoming traffic to fly by.

I'm beginning to master the art of crossing the street here, but I still have to remind myself to look around and see what others are doing. I often find myself standing at a crosswalk waiting for the little red standing person to turn to the little walking green person, only to notice that everyone else has crossed already, or that they never bothered walking to the crosswalk in the first place. This is where I am learning the value of being a follower.

Although I know this will shock anyone who knows me well, I am actually quite stubborn and fixed in my ways. I'm used to waiting at crosswalks, so I just assume that's what everyone does here too. Looking around me, though, it becomes clear that standing there watching for the little lighted person to change makes me stand out like a sore thumb. In the slow process of assimilating ever-so-slightly into this culture, it is vital for me to look to locals for guidance. As soon as I open my mouth, it is clear that I am not a local here. But, up to that point, I'd like to blend in as much as I can.

Hence, I'm trying to be more assertive about crossing the street. I'm trying to speak as much Czech as I can, and I'm trying not to inadvertently over-tip. At the end of the movie I saw last week, I sat in the dark and watched the credits roll like everyone else. It's not that these changes take a lot of effort on their own, but that remembering these small things is the most difficult and most important part of immersing myself in this new place.

(Addendum: I have definitely not become assimilated to the smoking inside thing yet. I'm not sure I will, but I suppose I'll have to keep trying if I want to go to any restaurants or cafes while I'm here.)

Let the Business Commence

Well, suddenly I got busy. The bulk of my classes are on Monday and Tuesday, so I've been reeling in the mini-sea of homework today.

Monday I had two classes. First, Folklore & Mythology, which was great. I have a total nerd-crush on my teacher. He's won two Fulbright scholarships and has taught in something like 4 or 5 countries. (Also, he was born in Bridgeport, CT, the location of one of the naturopathic medical schools I'm considering. And he now lives in Portland, OR, the location of the other one. Weird, right?)

The view while walking to class Monday morning.

It's hard to believe this sight will be on my to school for the next 3 months.

Between the main class building and the library there is this gorgeous park, just sitting here like no big deal.

Between classes I had a four hour break, during which I roamed the streets. I got caught in a tourist trap of a cafe, where I ended up paying 70 Kc/$3.50 for a cup of tea. I took both my unused sugar packets in a vain attempt to make myself feel better about getting ripped off. I also stuck around and watched the Olympics while using their wifi to find a distinctly non-touristy restaurant. I ended up eating a late lunch/early dinner at Golden Tikka, an Indian restaurant just far enough off the beaten path to keep tourists from stumbling upon it.

Front of the restaurant

I stepped into the heaven-scented restaurant at 4:15, and was greeted by a waiter who was somewhat confused by my timing. After being seated, I asked my waiter, who spoke minimal English, how to say something in Czech, to which he replied, "I don't speak Czech. Only Indian." He told me the dialect too but I've forgotten now which it was. I imagined that must be a pretty isolating experience, living in the Czech Republic and only speaking Indian. He explained there there is a small but meaningful Indian community, and I was reminded that a Kazak student who is in two of my classes and said that Prague contains a lot of foreign communities. It's cool to be studying abroad in such a diverse place. I primarily took two things from our conversation though. First, that if my waiter permanently lives and works in Prague without speaking Czech, I will be fine for one semester. Second, the food was probably going to be excellent.

I was right. My cauliflower and potatoes arrived doused in a mild red sauce with fresh grated ginger resting on top. Jasmine rice came alongside, and each dish was served in a steel bowl that matched the pitcher of tap water the waiter had brought me. It was fabulous, and I ate every last morsel. Luckily, the restaurant was mostly empty at the time so I am fairly certain no one noticed me scrape the leftovers from the inside of the bowl and lick them off my finger. When the waiter returned to take my dishes, I attempted to explain how delicious it was, but I think my empty plate was a clear enough message. I'll definitely be going back there again, although I decided the sentence, "I will come back here" contained too many iffy verb tenses for my waiter's English level. I'll just prove it to him in the coming weeks.

I only remembered to take a picture as I was leaving. Whoops.

After my meal, I trekked uptown to the library, where my Seminar on the Holocaust takes place. I hadn't realized that one of my roommates would be in that class with me so I had the pleasant surprise of a familiar face. It looks like this will be my hardest class by far, with lots of reading and student-led classes. I took a leap of faith (or stupidity) when I volunteered to go first and lead class next week, meaning that I actually have to do the 481 (count 'em) pages of reading. Luckily, my roommate volunteered to go the same week so we can split the bulk of it. The second half of class was spent watching a BBC documentary called "The Final Solution" that left me deflated. Monday nights are going to be a challenging time for me this semester.

Tuesday, I had three classes. First, Czech language in the morning, which I also had last Thursday. We spent about 30 minutes of our class learning to sing a Czech song with two other classes, which was way more fun (and catchy) than I was expecting. After class, I came back to the apartment and ate some lunch. While there, a different roommate realized that we had both of our evening classes together that day. First, we had Anthropology of Religion, which felt huge at about 40 people, and is all female, which just feels weird. But the teacher is so energetic and happy to be teaching, you can't help but get excited with her. It looks like we'll be covering some stuff I've done before (we'll be focusing on gender and religion one week and shamanism another), but that's not a problem for me. I was feeling ambitious and volunteered to present next week in this class too. Yay for getting work out of the way early!

Anthro of Religion ended early, so my roommate and I walked to the nearby Starbucks. About an hour later, armed with a Grande Americano, I walked back to school with her and we went to our first Literature of Prague class. The teacher was interesting and intelligent. Our main textbook is an anthology of Prague prose and poetry, which he edited (and translated a fair amount of too). I'm looking forward to immersing myself in this city's culture and history through its literature...which I realize must sound like a cheesy, nerdy, fake sentiment but it's entirely true.

Once we got back to the apartment, I make mashed potatoes, made some significant progress on "The Book Thief," and fell asleep.

I woke up this morning at 11 because I don't have classes on Wednesday. Afterwards, one of my roommates and I walked to a gym to explore. There's a certain brand of gyms that CEA recommends but they're pretty expensive and I figured there had to be cheaper options, so we went to scope out this one. I ended up purchasing a 3 month membership for 2300Kc/$115, and I'm really excited about it. There are tram and metro stops nearby so I can easily use public transportation to get there from my apartment and from school. It's simple but they have everything I need. It was just so nice to get back to a real workout today. (I even tried the elliptical a little and my knee didn't completely freak out. Dad, you'll be happy to know that I stopped as soon as it twinged, even though I'd only been going for like 7 minutes. We'll see how it feels tomorrow!)

Happy selfie at the gym. Glad to be back in my element.

Rowing sculls on the Charles River!

Afterwards I came back to the apartment and made some linner of lentils and steamed cauliflower greens. I completely burned the bottom layer of lentils but the rest turned out okay, so no harm done. And the cauliflower greens are good! I remembered being in Swaziland and having my Grandmother explain to me that Africans eat the green parts and not the white parts of cauliflower. I thought it was weird at the time, but now that I'm paying for groceries, it seems even weirder to throw away perfectly good veggies.

I also got to talk to Sam and Eleanor today, which was awesome, even though they were a little sleepy since it was 10am their time. Also, apparently it's snowing in Greensboro. I think that I just bring warmth with me wherever I go. Locals here keep telling me this is the warmest winter they've had in years. I guess I should start telling them they've got me to thank for that.

I'm off to sleep now. Na shledanou!

Sunday: Church and a Walk

One of my roommates has an uncle who is a missionary, and his friend started a church near here. This morning, all my roommates and I went to visit. It was more high-church-y than I'm used to, but it was a fun experience nonetheless. Afterwards, we were about to sneak out before a woman came over and invited us to a social hour. We decided we'd go for a few minutes, and ended up staying for the whole time. Out of about 15 people there, three were from Texas and one was from North Carolina, so I had plenty to talk to them about. Plus, they had french press coffee, which never hurts my chance of liking people.

After church, we came back to our apartment, ate lunch, and read some. It was a fairly chilly overcast day, a perfect curl-up-under-the-covers day. We decided to take a walk after a little bit though. First, we practiced walking to school once more before most people's first full day of school tomorrow. Some of us also have class in the library, which is farther north than the main school building, so we headed up there next. We stopped my a little beach area on the Charles River and took some pictures, before heading in the general direction of David's apartment-to-be. On the way, we passed through Old Town Square, arguably the tourist hub of the city (in competition with the Charles Bridge). In the middle of the Square, there was a guy playing guitar and singing American hit songs. We stopped and listened for awhile, as he was pretty talented. I realized I'm definitely a live music snob though, because I was rather unimpressed that he wasn't singing original songs. I guess that's what growing up in Austin will do to you.

On the way to school. There's Prague Castle in the background.

I look so tiny in front of my school. That's the main building of AAU.

View of Charles Bridge from the small beach area where we stopped

Old Town Square

Guy playing guitar in Old Town Square

For dinner, I made some soup with the rest of those beans, mushrooms, and cabbage. It was definitely a success and a repeat. I've got some leftovers too, which is excellent since I'll be in class until 9:15pm both tomorrow and Tuesday night. Most people usually complain about starting school again, and occasionally I tag along. But, to be honest, starting new classes always gets me really excited. New things to learn! New people to learn from and with! New notebooks and folders and textbooks! Oh, it's all so much fun.

I am such a nerd. I love it.

Saturday at the Park

I slept in this morning, had some oatmeal for brunch (breakfast at noon is brunch, right?), and set out on my adventure. I caught the 24 tram up north a bit and before connecting with the 26 tram, which I rode to the end of the line. When I got off the tram, I was a little confused. I couldn't tell where the park started. Then I realized that the park was the whole expanse in front of me. The tram line just ends at this park. It was so cool.

View from the tram stop (also note the puppy)

The cool-ness was slightly lessened by the looming Golden Arches. When I went in to use the restroom though, I discovered that McDonald's really are much fancier here. They have separate McCafe stations that look like Starbucks, and the smell inside is an absurd mix of fast food and fancy coffee. There was an breathtaking view out the huge window facing the park, and for the first time in quite awhile I was ever-so-slightly tempted to sit and relax at a fast food restaurant. After another whiff though, I was easily convinced otherwise.

This paved path leads to the park. It works better if you just ignore the McDonald's.

Inside the park, there were paved paths that people rarely adhered to and that were liberally covered in leftover icy snow. It was about 40 degrees (my mind is still stuck in Fahrenheit) and sunny so there were a ton of people out roaming the park with their puppies and their kids. I sneaked a picture of one that I especially wanted to take home with me. There were two of them and it reminded me of "Where the Red Ferns Grow."

These guys were bounding all over the place.

I tried to stop on a bench to write a bit but I got too cold pretty quickly so I kept moving. There was just so much to explore. The park is enormous! I wanted to see more than I got to, but I made myself turn around as soon as my knee started feeling funny. I still got to walk for about an hour, but in a park that big, an hour didn't feel nearly long enough. I'm very much looking forward to going back. Once I get my Open Card it will be free, but it only cost me $3 round trip so I didn't exactly break the bank today.

People were biking all over the park and I kept picturing my dad doing the same.

Some firemen and policemen were doing some training in the park (or just enjoying the view I suppose) and that's them in the background. I got scolded in Czech for getting too close to them.

View of city from this little hill I climbed

People on top of a huge rocky hill that my knee prohibited me from climbing

Cute little snow-covered gazebo (that also happened to be covered in graffiti)

"Did you see that sky today? Talk about blue."

My cooking results tonight were excellent, though the process was a little iffy. I made boiled cabbage and roasted potatoes. I had a lot of cabbage, so I was sauteing it in batches before adding it to a pan to boil. But I kind of forgot about of the batches and left it on the stove for way too long. Once I smelled the burning, I rushed over and turned on the fan that is graciously placed above our oven before examining the damage. I ended up just tossing that batch in the trash and taking it down to the dumpster. The smell was pretty atrocious. The rest of the cabbage turn out great though. I'll definitely be making it again. I even used the green parts of the cauliflower I bought today. I felt very thrifty.

The roasted potatoes were intended to be french fries, but I discovered that the ketchup I bought from the supermarket is absolutely disgusting. It's translucent and tastes way too acidic. I guess my thriftiness went a little too far when I opted for the store brand ketchup instead of springing for the Heinz. Oops.

In other news, I finished "Far From the Tree" by Andrew Solomon last night, which you will recognize as a rather large accomplishment if you've seen a copy. I got it for Christmas in 2012 and I thought it would take me years to get through. It's such a great book though so I couldn't wait. My mom often praises books and movies by saying that everyone should be required to experience them. I sometimes remind her that if everyone were required to experience everything she deemed worthy, they would do nothing else their entire lives. But I do feel that this praise applies to "Far From the Tree." I don't particularly feel like writing a book review here, but take my word for it: it's worth your time.

*This was supposed to be posted yesterday but my internet decided to stop working. The joys of crappy wifi...

Farmers Market and a Movie: My Kind of Day

No one in my apartment has Friday classes so the weekend started today. We all slept in, before walking to the adjacent district to visit a farmers market. It totally made my day. It was about 40 degrees here today so it was absolutely gorgeous. On our way to the market we stopped to take some pictures of a couple beautiful buildings that we wished we knew more about.

Gorgeous church on the way to the market 

Mystery building and adorable puppy next to the market. The market is just the left of this frame.

At the market there were booths selling hot traditional Czech foods that looked and smelled delicious. I tried some sausages that were yummy, and I bought some delicious cheese from some a Slovakian man who did his best to sell me everything at his booth. (At the moment, I'm actually eating some of that cheese grated over a bowl of tomato soup that I made using the beans I botched rather badly yesterday. Yummmm.) I also got some carrots, beets, and cabbage (also in the soup).

Fermented foods at the market

 Bread at the market (there were lots of booths like this one)

On our way home, we stopped at a mall and discovered that it contains an enormous supermarket. I'd been worrying about how I was going to adjust to the rather small offering of ingredients at the store closest to our apartment, so the aisles and aisles of choices were very comforting. Everything is still different, but there's a much wider variety there. And you'll never guess what they had in their international section:

I almost bought it out of Austin pride, but it was $8.50 and that was a bit much for me (though really not expensive considering how far it had to travel).

 

Pretty view on our walk back from the market. That's Prague Castle in the distance.

Prague's main train station. If you look closely you can see "PRAHA" written on the side.

Beautiful building at the north end of Karlovo Namesti park, which is one block from my apartment.

After we returned to out apartment, I decided to go on an adventure on my own. Part of our orientation was a tour around our neighborhood, and on it our tour guide (named Vitek) informed us that the mysterious-looking building two doors down from our apartment was an independent movie theater that often showed popular American movies. I stopped by a couple days ago to pick up a copy of their schedule (in Czech), and discovered that they are showing a bunch of movies that I want to see (The Book Thief, Gravity, August: Osage County) and that tickets cost about 115 Kc (about $6). There was a showing of August: Osage County at 5:30 (er, 17:30) today, so I ventured over armed with my Czech language dictionary.

Essentially, I just said the word for "ticket" ("vstupenka") to everyone I encountered while gesturing to my copy of the schedule. I was directed down a set of stairs at the back of the restaurant that is on the first floor, and then to the back of the basement where I found the ticket counter. After exchanging a bit of broken Czech on my part and broken English on the her part, I managed to purchase a ticket from the woman at the count. I checked my coat at the counter, accidentally said "please" instead of "thank you" as I walked away, and found my seat in the theater (they assign seats!). The movie was in English with Czech subtitles and it was great. Meryl Streep was fantastic, as always. Mostly, though, I just loved the coziness of the theater. There were only about 25 seats in the room. They showed just two commercials before starting the film promptly at 5:30. Once the movie was over, the lights stayed dimmed and almost no one left the room until the credits were done rolling. Outside the theater, there were people eating dinner at the restaurant attached to the theater. I realized as I left and walked the 15 paces back to my apartment that it felt a lot like the Violet Crown theater in Austin, which both eased and exacerbated the homesickness that has begun creeping in.

Once I climbed the seemingly eternal stairs to my room, I made that tasty tomato soup I mentioned above. It's the first meal I've made here that actually turned out well, and I have some leftovers for tomorrow. Whoopee!

I'm thinking tomorrow will primarily be filled with a trip to this park that found online called Dikova Sarka. It's about a 20 minute tram ride away (or at least I think it is). Sometime next week we'll be getting our "Open Cards" (aka public transportation passes) but until then we have to buy individual passes. Luckily, it will only cost me about a dollar each way. I'm looking forward to a leisurely hike there. Hopefully my knee holds up well!

Na shledanou!

Beautiful First Day of Class

This morning, I had my first Czech Language class. We went over how to pronounce the special characters in the Czech alphabet and how to say a few key phrases before venturing out into the city as a class. We walked to a bookstore where we could buy the textbook for the class and on the way my teacher pointed out helpful words to know. Most of the class took a tram back to the school, but I walked and tried to pronounce the Czech words on signs the whole way. Sometimes I think that my mouth just can't possibly make the sounds that seem to come naturally Czech locals. But it usually can if I'm willing to look a little crazy and say the word over and over again under my breath.

After class, I walked to the library to get my textbooks (which I can rent for free, yay!). Once I got there, however, I realized that I'd need a new official transcript since I ended up changing my classes (I'm now taking Literature of Prague instead of Intro to Psychology). Of course, my new class was the only one I needed textbooks for so I just walked back towards my apartment. Along the way I stopped in a fancy-looking health food store that ended up having small avocados, which I decided I'd try. I found out they're about $2.50 each, so I'm hoping it's ridiculously good. Then I stopped at the tea shop I mentioned yesterday and got some rooibos tea (luckily, the shopkeeper spoke English), before I got school supplies at a mall (where I learned that folders aren't readily available here).

The avocado inspired me to try to make some Mexican food, so I went to the closest grocery store and got some salsa because that's the only place I've seen it. I'm currently trying to cook dried kidney beans and it's not going so well. Live and learn I suppose.

Tea store! :)

Beautiful day on the Charles Bridge