After such a nice, relaxing weekend, it was hard to come back to Prague for midterms. But almost everyone from my program came back on Monday evening or Tuesday, so we swapped stories as we sat around with all the reading we've neglected over the semester. Apparently Budapest is amazing, so I'm definitely going to add that to my list of places to go.

But anyway, my exams are over, for better or worse. For my Alternative Culture class, we had an open mike performance as our midterm, in addition to a four page paper about our performance/whatever we wanted to write about. Our teacher suggested a "cut-up" poem if we couldn't think of anything creative, so after studying for three other exams earlier that day, I decided to just go with it and get it over with. I took paragraphs from this blog where I talked about Prague, "cut out" phrases, and haphazardly linked a bunch together by fooling with the grammer. According to some old "rebels," these types of poems are supposed to tell the future or give insights on your writings. I'm pretty skeptical, but it was pretty funny to say the least. My first line went something like, "The circus culture is about how we've tried to assimilate..."

The open mike session itself was hilarious. We went to this very hipster cafe in a back alley and up about six flights of stairs, and packed in about 40 students (two classes plus friends who wanted to watch). I was one of the first on the list to perform, and although I realized my little poem wasn't very original, I read it with a joking kind of tone, and it seemed to go over pretty well. My roommate did stand up comedy which was hysterical, especially about how to mime honey to Tesco workers when she didn't know the name for it in Czech. Another group formed a gag band called Smazeny Syr-ious (a play off of friend cheese in Czech, an ongoing joke in my study abroad program), and sang about assimilating into Czech culture, interspeced by some of the funny, basic phrases we learn in intro Czech. They followed it up with an encore of Stand By Me.

Yesterday was pretty nice too, since midterms were over and my last class of the week ended at 10:30. I bought a ton of groceries at Tesco (in hopes that I will actually try to cook for myself) and a pumpkin. Afterwards, I fulfilled my civic duty by going to the US Embassy to vote (because CT never got around to sending my absentee ballot) and wandered around Mala Strana for a little while. I finally caved and went to Starbucks for the first time. My roommate shock her head when she heard this, although seriously, what's so wrong with a little familiarity once and a while? Although it was ridiculously over priced (almost $5!!), it's hard to get coffee to go anywhere in Prague and I was really craving a mocha latte. It'll probably be my first and last Starbucks visit, I'll be honest, but I managed to make up for it by *almost* completing my entire order in Czech.

Post Starbucks, I went back to my flat to carve my pumpkin (very very hard without pumpkin tools) and cook some dinner (pasta, but hey, I'm working on it). It's hard to believe that it's finally Halloween here, especially since the Czech Republic doesn't really recognize it. Tonight I'm dressing up as Sarah Palin, circa her beauty pagaent days (or should I say, hopefully-not-our-vice-president?). One of the other flats is throwing a costume party, but I'm not quite sure what else is going on beyond that. I'm a little jealous that back at school, Halloween is a weekend-long affair.

Awesome Austrian Adventure

**from Monday

So I’m a little in love with Austria right now. I know I never got around to describing my birthday party (11 empty bottles of wine, 20-odd grilled cheeses) or meeting my Czech family last week (awkward, kind of), but I really just want to jump into my fabulous long weekend.

Okay, so I didn’t tell my parents (or really anyone back home) until after I got back to Prague, because I didn’t want anyone to worry. But, I spent my weekend in living with a family in rural Austria, farming/gardening (kind of) with my friend Caity. Random? Well, over the summer, I read the Frugal Traveler column in the New York Times, and for one week, the writer decided to go WWOOFing in France. It was this amazing article about how the writer contacted this family, and lived and worked with them for a week.

So two weeks ago when my Tunisia plans fell through, Caity and I were kind of joking around WWOOFing over our long break instead. Except this turned into a “Hey, that’s not such a bad idea.” Soon enough, we found a different program on the internet (WWOOF was difficult to sign up for) and sent out a few emails to families that sounded interesting. A few hours later, we received an email from Eliza, a student in Vienna whose family lives in Rohr, Austria. Her description on the internet was one of our favorites (probably because it mentioned making apple cider!), so we jumped at the chance and bought our tickets to Linz a few days later.

Fast forward to Thursday morning: Caity and I took our Czech midterm (ughh) and ran to catch our train from Prague. We even made chocolate chip cookies for the family, an American sort of welcoming gift. Somehow we managed to catch all three of our connecting trains (even with 4 minute layovers!). It was a long ride, and I’ll be honest, we definitely noticed a difference crossing the border from the Czech Republic to Austria. We had non-sketchy modern trains, the landscape was greener, and there were far fewer abandoned old buildings. The Austrian countryside was beautiful!

We didn’t really know what to expect when we got off the train in Rohr Bad Hall. But a small, smiling woman came up to us and asked if we were Emily and Caitlin, so we followed her. She was Eliza’s mom, Cathy; she walked us back to her house about 2 min. from the train stop, showed us where to drop our bags, and immediately began feeding us (little did we know, the theme of our weekend.)

Although it was a little awkward at first, complete strangers and a little bit of a language barrier, it was a great first night. Cathy made us pumpkin soup, fried mushrooms, potatoes, and even pulled out some homemade apple cider (sus most, in German). One of her sons, Elias, came home from high school, and we met Christian, her husband, as well. We spent most of the night talking about different things (the US election, if Americans are fat, haha) but mainly we poured over their German atlas book, pointing out different things. Cathy and Christian were shocked at the lack of mountains where Caity lives in Indiana. Christian also brought different types of nuts from their farmhouse a few kilometers away and a bottle of Austrian red wine. I had a feeling it was going to be a long weekend forcing myself to eat new foods; which ended up being true, but not too bad. The pumpkin soup was delicious, the hazelnuts okay, although I hate mushrooms and don’t like red wine. I must say that while the mushrooms were really well cooked, I just couldn’t get over the fact that I was eating mushrooms. I decided, kind of as a joke, to keep tabs on all the new foods I tried over the four days.

The next morning, we ate delicious musli mix (granola, yogurt, fruit, etc.) and went with Christian to their farmhouse in Schliebham. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The house had no modern heating system, only two woodstoves. Caity and I gathered walnuts in the back yard and picked apples before Christian showed us how to make most, the alcoholic version of the cider we had for dinner the previous night. Caity and I had a trip picking apples, as we realized that we were standing on top of a hill in Austria, using this old wagon that seriously would be an antique decoration back home in the US. The most machine was crazy too, another thing I can imagine being on display in the historic Hyland House back in Guilford as some farming machine.

Now, we slept in Eliza’s room on our first night, but Cathy and Christian kept asking if we would rather sleep in Schliebham or in Rohr for the rest of the week. We ended up gathering our stuff and bringing it with us to Schliebham that morning. Later that afternoon, it kind of dawned on me that we were staying in this freezing cold, rural farmhouse for the night. When Christian left us with a box of spaghetti, sauce, and bread for the next morning, I was kind of like, “Woah, did this really just happen? Is he really leaving us here alone in this house?”

Caity and I barely had a grasp on how to light the woodstoves when he left, and we needed showers, despite the fact that the bathroom was not heated and the hot water wasn’t working in the bathtub. I’ll be honest, I was getting pretty nervous after neither Caity or I could relight the bedroom stove, even though Christian said it would probably stay warm all night (it was the awesome clay heater that stayed warm for HOURS after the fire went out, amazing). Caity washed her hair in the kitchen sink, but I chickened out because the kitchen was still really cold even with the stove on. We cooked our spaghetti and watched Pride and Prejudice on my computer before going to bed early. Although scary and uncomfortable at first, we ended up having a cozy, quiet evening. Plus, the super thick, heavy, down blankets we had were amazing.

On Saturday, both Cathy and Christian met us back at the house in the morning with a big breakfast in tow. Caity and I sheepishly explained how we couldn’t get either stove to light earlier in the morning, but soon, Cathy got it going and started cooking again, so the house was warm and cozy. We bundled up again (did I mention that I wore 3-4 layers most of the weekend?) and gathered some more nuts and cleared leaves. We had a third (!) meal of grilled chicken, potatoes, cheese, and salad and Christian showed us his studio (he’s an artist) upstairs before we packed up our things again and went back to Rohr.

Just as we arrived back in Rohr, we met another family member. There are six people in the family, by the way; Cathy, Christian, Elias (17), Julian (18), David (21), and Eliza (23). In Austria, everyone has to either serve the military for six months, or do civil service for a slightly longer time. Julian just joined the military in Linz, and he came home on Saturday for the weekend.

Then, Christian asked us if we wanted to go for a walk to “see the sun” (the sun became another theme of our weekend). We had pretty gross weather on our entire trip – cold, damp air and very cloudy skies. Christian said that we could drive part way up a mountain and break past the low fog (fog being his and Cathy’s new favorite English word). I remained unconvinced, but it sounded like fun.

So, Caity, Christian, Cathy, Elias, Julian, and I drove to a mountain nearby. Julian just has the equivalent of his driver’s permit (driving age is older in Austria), so he decided to practice, and Caity and I teased him after the car stalled, despite that we can’t drive stick shifts at all. But anyway, the mountain was ridiculous. We parked about halfway (maybe) up, but we hadn’t reached the cloud level yet. Christian, however, was convinced that we would if we just did a little hiking. So hiking we went. Not kidding, the MOST INTENSE hike I have ever gone on. Again, I was still wearing two pairs of pants, two shirts, a sweatshirt, and my jacket because it was so cold. By the time we got to the top, I was ready to pass out and was sweating profusely, as was Caity. The “trail” was crazy steep and I was breathing at my normal running pace, but for 45 min. of solid hiking. Despite taking a break on heavy exercise in Prague, I still thought I was in pretty good shape too. The rest of the family more or less took it in stride, and Caity and I laughed in between gasps as realized that we were owned by two middle-aged adults. Unfortunately, even at 1100 m (3300ish ft?), we didn’t break the fog.

Coming down was almost worse. It was easier effort wise, but again, this was no well-traveled trail from back in the US. We could barely find our way back down, and the whole way was coated with slippery, wet leaves. I was happy that I didn’t slip on the way down, almost everyone else did. Still, Caity and I were good sports and laughed about it most of the way. Christian joked about how only two crazy American girls would join the family on their adventures. Afterwards, we returned to Rohr for (hot) showers and another big dinner with the family.

It was such a nice evening too. Caity and I talked for a long time (instead of studying for our midterms) about tons of different issues that come up when you’re in a radically different environment. Both of us felt really refreshed after we had recovered from our hike, and just realized how good this trip had been for us. I had been pretty tired over the past few weeks and even getting a little homesick. I kept wishing that I could go home to Connecticut for a weekend for some peace and quiet in my own house. Rohr was the next best thing. Caity and I were able to de-stress in a real house, detox from the polluted Prague air, sleep a lot, eat real, unprocessed, good meals, have a family around (even if it wasn’t our own!), exercise, and basically get all the good things our body had been missing. Staying with the family in Rohr was like getting a tune up after getting so worn down.

But anyway, Cathy and Christian had been telling us that we didn’t have to “work” on Sunday because they were taking us to meet Eliza and go hiking. Eliza had been hiking and staying with friends for the weekend about an hour from Rohr. We enjoyed another big family breakfast and watched a skiing competition on TV before driving out to a bunch of mountains by the deepest lake in Austria. The surrounding village was one of the most gorgeous towns that I have ever seen. As in, I want to move there someday. Pictures don’t capture the beauty of this place. Anyway, we finally found a parking spot (seriously, every Austrian was out hiking with their family) and started up one of the mountains to meet Eliza. Caity and I were still sore from the night before!

The weather was pretty intense too. The sun finally came out (more Austrian jokes here), but it was freezing cold in the shade and warm in the sun. Caity and I spent most of the hike burning hot and panting, yet faces freezing. The hike we went on similar to the previous night’s, but was longer and had more up and down areas towards the top. I still wanted to pass out. But the top was amazing. Wonderful view of the giant lake and surrounding mountains and villages. We ate bread and cheese for lunch, along with some tea and coffee (surprisingly no water…) and took some photos. Caity and I marveled at how some little children seemed to have taken the hiking in stride as we almost died on the way up. We have decided that it’s a mixture of some crazy Austrian hiking genes and the fact that they start hiking at the age of two.

But again, the trip down was out of control. We took a more direct route down the mountain, and let’s just say we didn’t pass any other hikers on that trail for a reason. I thought the previous night’s hike down was bad, but it didn’t compare. I fell four times in the span of five minutes in one particularly slippery part and sustained some intense bruises and scrapes. After that, I was shaking the entire rest of the way down, and we had a long way to go from that point. It took about two hours to climb all the way down! Even Caity admitted that she had never been so scared in her entire life. Anyway, we collapsed into the car and went back to Rohr.

For our last dinner, Cathy went all out. She cooked weiner snitzel, potatoes, carrots, salad, rice; played a traditional Austrian music CD; and brought out more cider and Austrian beer. Did you know, by the way, that the drinking age in Austria is 16? Anyway, Eliza, Elias, and Julian all teased her about her efforts and why she wasn’t wearing her traditional Austrian dress. It was a fun, delicious, relaxing last meal. Afterwards, Christian gave us some of the photos he took over the weekend (he’s an amateur photographer) and we looked up the chocolate chip cookie recipe we used online because they liked our cookies so much. We said goodbye to Julian, who was heading back to the military, and Cathy who was going to bed early before going to work the next morning.

This morning, Christian showed us how to make the delicious musli mix before we packed up. Eliza also showed us some of her pictures from rock climbing in Greece and from Istanbul over breakfast. We packed up our things, and before we left, Christian filled the kitchen table with apples from the tree outside their window, some fresh tea leaves, and a bunch of vegetables and pumpkins for us to take home.

It was really hard for us to say goodbye, especially with the impending doom known as midterms that wait for us back in Prague. Caity and I really felt like 5th and 6th children in their home for the weekend and it was hard to thank their family enough in the note we left behind. I can’t wait to go back to Austria in November, even if it will be a totally different area.

More photos soon!

So, unrelated to Prague, but I turn twenty tomorrow.

I sort of remember being excited to become a teenager around my 13th birthday. Like, "woah... teenagers are cool and... old," sort of thing. Now it seems to carry slightly more negative connotations. But hmmm, am I cool and old enough to be a twenty-something? Is twenty-zero even considered to be a twenty-something? Can I think of it as my "roaring twenties"?

Today I went grocery shopping for myself again. I realized at the cash register that there wasn't a single chocolate-y thing in basket. A sign of getting older? Or did I just have too much chocolate this weekend?

Krakow

I originally intended to do most of my traveling in Eastern Europe while I was here, with the expectation that I would always be lured back to larger Western cities in the future. I figured I would travel to Bucharest and Bratislava because I might never be in the area again. However, with flights to smaller cities being more expensive and the draw of cities like Amsterdam, Krakow, I've realized, it probably one of the few Eastern destinations I'm going to get around to.

I was actually surprised at how much it reminded me of Prague, on a smaller scale. Krakow has its own Old Town Square (photo above), a Jewish quarter, and looks similar to Prague on the outskirts. I was also shocked at much Polish I could read/understand because the two languages are so closely related (ie. Stare Mesto vs. Stare Miasto).

Food at restaurants is a little cheaper, but beer a little more expensive. We ate really well while we were there, a nice Polish restaurant by the main market square on the first night, cheap Georgian food for lunch, delicious Polish apple pie, and I finally got some pierogis on the last night (photo number two, and yeah, forgot to mention that I dyed the tips of my hair purple). I thought the exchange rate in Poland would be worse for us (they’re on the zloty), but I don’t think it was.

Backtracking a little, we actually didn't arrive in Krakow until Friday evening after leaving Thursday at midnight. Now, the trip was a semi-pre-organized trip by CIEE, about 30 of us went. I was really dreading the 7 hour overnight bus ride, but I actually slept more than I thought I would. We stopped for breakfast at a youth center in Poland around 7:00 and arrived to Auschwitz around 8:00. We had a great tour, but it wasn't the easiest after a long night, especially since it was freezing cold and rainy as we walked around. I don't really want to reflect upon everything here, but let's say that our cold, wet, miserable selves probably appreciated the conditions of the concentration camp a lot more, especially as we realized that we were lucky to be there in October with coats and mittens and a warm bus to return to, and our inner complaints seemed a lot quieter. I feel like a lot of what our tour guide said wouldn't have really impacted us in the same way in June.

We checked into our hotel around 14:00, more somber than usual. A few people napped, but most of us went out to explore a little bit and ate an early dinner. We did a little bar hopping around the main city center before getting back to the hotel around 23:30 (!). Now, one of the bars we went to wouldn't serve us because they said we had to be 21. We left a little confused, but moved on.

The next morning, we had a bus/walking tour of Krakow, mostly in the Jewish Quarter, Wawel Castle, and in churches around Old Town. Schindler's List was filmed in Krakow, and basically, the movie restored Krakow. It was a pretty big city with a large Jewish population, but WWII destroyed the Jewish Quarter (there are very few Jews still living there). It was a pretty rough neighborhood before the movie was produced, but it drew in a lot of tourists to the city, and provided a big incentive to restore the area. In fact, Krakow would be nothing like it is today without the movie. We saw a bunch of scenes from the movie on the tour, and the neighborhood was pretty lively with restaurants and cool looking cafes. I really wanted to go back and explore the area more, especially with the local weekend market going on, but we ran out of time.

Anyway, I'll post some pictures soon. The tour dropped us back in Old Town Square, and Kelley and I went shopping on our own for a while. Shopping was so much nicer in Krakow than back in Prague, actual stores in the main district instead of a million touristy shops. I bought a few souvenirs to take home which was nice. Unfortunately, I've had a bit of a cold over the past few days, and it really started to hit on Saturday afternoon. We ate a late dinner and I called it a night after we returned to Camera Cafe for a second apple pie. Apparently I didn't miss much though, since again, people ran into difficulties with the age-21 issue. I still don't understand that!


On Sunday, we checked out early and visited these famous salt mines a few miles outside of Krakow. At first, most of us didn't want to leave Krakow early to tour some lame salt mines, but they were interesting. We went really deep underground, had a historical tour of the mines, saw these crazy salt statues/cathedral/chandeliers, and even got to lick the walls.

The ride back was another long affair, but driving through the Polish and Czech countryside was gorgeous. Perhaps I’m a little biased, but I do think the Czech lands are a little prettier. And driving through Moravia (eastern CR) is much more scenic than Bohemia (back from Cesky Krumlov and Karlovy Vary). We passed all of these small villages with signs for castles, Freud’s birthplace, and two zoos. Fall is in full force here, so all the trees were changing colors and the sun was setting behind these rolling hills… The only things that really gets me is the number of abandoned buildings that we always drive by, I can’t believe how many old buildings with fallen in roofs and missing windows I always see. But still, I can’t help but wonder what my study abroad experience would be like if I was studying in some small Moravian village, mulling cider, and sitting by the fireplace. But then, I’d probably be bored and wonder about life in Prague, who knows…

Saturday was a bit of a let down. I spent an hour or two cleaning out filthy kitchen (we never really picked up after our Thursday evening dinner party) before meeting Leah to do some shoe shopping. We met at Narodni Trida and wandered in and out of shops from around the tram stop, to Vaclavski Namesti, to IP Pavlova. There are TONS of shoe shops here; many cheap shops packed with metal racks covered with boots and heels (around $20), as well as Bata (famous Czech shoe chain), Humanic (another chain), and sporty stores (like North Face, etc.) that have wayyyy over priced sneakers. I've been looking for a good pair of black boots for ages, but I keep having problems find good looking ones in my size and price range. Alas, neither Leah and I ended up buying shoes - we spent our money on some soup and beer (to quell our disappointment) instead.

I went out to dinner with Maya and her father who was visiting Prague before his business trip. Shockingly, I think it was the first time I had had goulash in a real restaurant here! We tried to a jazz club, but we arrived late and couldn't eve get into the room where the band was playing. Instead, we walked across Charles Bridge which was very eerie looking, blanketed in the thickest fog I've seen in Prague. We ended our night in a pub called Hany Bany (I think) and enjoyed our last glasses Burcak. The wine can technically be sold through November, but already, it tastes different since it's started to ferment more.

On Sunday, I more or less camped out for most of the day in our flat with a pot of tea and a week's worth of homework to catch up on. I was doing pretty well for awhile, but I could see the sun come out through my window and started getting restless. Around 3:30, I called my friend, Caity, and we both abandoned our work to enjoy the gorgeous weather and go to the traveling World Press Photo exhibit at charles University (it was the last day it was in Prague).

Now, while I was doing my homework, I recieved an email from Emma, one of the girls who lived in the apartment above my friends at Tufts who I visited over the summer. I've probably only talked to her once or twice before, but she said she was visiting Prague for the weekend (she's studying in Paris for the semester) and my friend Eric (who lived below her) told her to get in contact with me. She said she forgot until last minute to email, but hoped I was having a good time and joked that we'd run into each other. Anyway, as I'm going up the escalator in the metro to meet Caity, I look up and see a familiar face... I think you can see where this is going, but while it took me a few seconds to recognize her, it was Emma! We talked for a couple seconds as we passed each other on the escalator, but she was going to the airport while I was running late. Crazy coincidence though, a big city, in the biggest metro stop, at the same exit, same time, and both of us happened to look up at just the right time...

But anyways, the World Press Photo exhibit was AMAZING. It was super crowded (we went two hours before it closed on the last day), but the photos and topics they covered were excellent. On the news side, they covered the Iraq War and Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, to more obscure issues like the mining dangers in Russia and the dissolution of circus culture in Eastern Europe. There were also photos explaining how drilling in Alaska affects native tribes and how the introduction of guns to narwhal hunting has impacted the species. I enjoyed the photo stories (series of photos) telling stories about news issues and daily life the most, although I have to admit that the sports photography was incredible. I could literally go on for hours about the exhibit, but really, check out (some of it) for yourself.

So Caity and I left the exhibit just as it was about to close and move on to the next city. We ended up talking outside for a long time, first about the photos and stories, but then more about being in Prague and what we planned to get out of our semester. I think it's so odd, in retrospect, that CIEE asked us to write down some academic, personal, cultural, etc. goals at the beginning of the semester, because I feel like someone entering a period like this (studying abroad, moving, etc.) really has no idea what to expect. My "goals" seem kind of silly now. But what do we expect to get out of this experience? I keep bouncing back and forth. On one hand, I want to get to know Prague and Czech culture more, and almost wish I had chosen to study abroad with a host family somewhere where I wasn't tempted to plan away all my weekend visiting other countries. But if I was in Chile practicing my Spanish, I know I'd seeing all of my European friends' travel photos and wish for that instead. Not to mention that while it's hard to separate city culture from traditional Czech culture, learning to live on my own in a city has been a big learning experience.

I realize now that it's near impossible to explore every cafe and museum, find the best goulash, become fluent in Czech while still traveling most weekends. But I have many more cities to visit than I have free weekends, and I may never have such an easy launching pad to visit them from again. Caity and I debated the merits of our choice to come to Prague and how we've tried to "assimilate" here for the past month. We really can't define what it means to have a "good study abroad experience" because everyone is looking for different things. Some want to be totally immersed in rural village. Others want learn the in and outs of the best clubs like European socialites. The art history major simply wants to see the places they've seen in pictures, and others just want to try out city life and perfect their language skills.

Again, neither I or Caity know where we fall, besides wanting a little more "cultural immersion" than we've been getting. For now, we've vowed to drag each other out to more concerts and visit areas of the Czech Republic outside of Prague. We both also signed up to meet with Czech families (I meet mine on Tuesday, but she knows so little English, I'm nervous). We also have the most AMAZING sounding trip planned for our five day break next weekend. However, I've had a terrible pattern of trips falling through lately, so I'm going to hold back so I don't jinx it.

In the meantime, I am STILL not completely up-to-date with this blog, but I'm leaving for the weekend in about an hour, so I'm just going to lay out the SparkNotes. I went to FORUM 2000 (an international human rights conference held in Prague every year) with my classes on Monday and Tuesday. Too bad the Dalai Lama got sick last week and couldn't attend... But I went to an awesome econ panel on the financial crisis, which mentioned a lot of terms that I just learned in class and cleared up a lot of my confusion on the issues. It was held in a building that was portrayed as the Vatican in a few movies, it was so pretty! But Tuesdays panels on the "age of fear" and civil disobedience took place in Zorfin Palace on an island in the Vltava. The panels weren't as good (in my opinion), but again PALACE. I cannot even begin to describe how ornate this building was. Perfect for an over the top wedding. And delicious free lunch with Prague's most popular beer on tap. I left early for an internship interview at The Prague Post, the english newspaper in Prague. Great interview, but my schedule is virtually the exact opposite of what they're looking for. The editor is going to get back to me, but honestly, I'm not sure if I have time, as much as I would love write for them. Tuesday evening I saw the famous Czech opera, The Bartered Bride (Czech with English subtitles), which had good music, but the longest, most cliche last act ever. Wednesday was all class, followed with a ridiculously dissappointing end to my original 5 day break plans to go to a resort in Tunisia (so cheap, but you can't book for only 4/5 days!). Today, a couple of us went to The Globe Cafe (ex-pat cafe/bookstore) after mornign class where they were replaying the presedential debate on a big screen. It was pretty fun to watch it with a cafe full of people booing McCain and a plate of American-style french toast, but it was really hard to hear and pay attention, actually. Afterwards, Caity and I launched new trip plans for our 5 day (which should be even better than a beach in Tunisia, if not the exact opposite). I also went on a date to a surprising good Mexican restaurant (and realized how much I miss Anna's Taqueria and Boloco back at Tufts!). For now, I am just about finished packing before I meet said date and a few friends at a bar and leave for Krakow at midnight! Back on Sunday night!

** post from 10/11/08

So after Oktoberfest, I spent last week running between classes and meeting my family who arrived in Prague on Tuesday.

Tuesday evening was pretty uneventful, as my family was pretty tired. We went to an American-like Czech restaurant (read: modern, English menus, served cheeseburgers and goulash) that was near their hotel and called it an early night.

On Wednesday, my family wandered around the city in the morning while I went to class, and we met up for lunch at Karvarna Slavia, a famous cafe in Prague on the edge of the Vltava river with views of Prague Castle. Many dissidents, including Vaclav Havel, used to frequent the cafe during the revolution. Today, the cafe is pretty touristy, but they make mean apple strudel and have good hot chocolate and lattes. I ran a few errands and went back to class while my family went on a few tours of Prague. We met up again in Andel for dinner. My original plans were to take my family out to an authentic Czech restaurant nearby, but plans fell through. Earlier in the day, I tried to make reservation for six, but the only guy who spoke English there told me that they were "all full" for the evening. Again, it was a Wednesday night... My family ended up coming back to see my flat for a little while (sorry, no pictures of Grandma in the tub, she was too tired after walking up the stairs!). I made Aidan try a few Czech things, like Cofola (licorice tasting Coke), spa wafer cookies, and Kinder Bueno (an amazing chocolate bar). Afterwards, we went to Meduzzy, a pasta restaurant near my flat.

Unfortunately, the trip back to their hotel was a nightmare... The 6 tram, which normally runs directly from my apartment to their hotel, stops running at 20:00. The trip otherwise involves a lot of tram-transfering and Grandma didn't like climbing the tram steps to get on. So, my *brillant* idea involved us taking metro part way instead. It was a disaster. I misjudged the metro transfer stops, and instead of accepting the error and going back up to take the trams, I decided to just go with it since we were already in the metro station. Sooo... to make a long story short, the metro was a terrible decision that had few escalators, lots of stairs, and difficult-to-find tram stops. It took over an hour to get back, and honestly was probably the worst metro/tram trip I've had here in Prague! And this was as I was trying to demonstrate my knowledge of the public transport in Prague to my family!

I ended up staying at the hotel with my family that night because we had gotten back so late and skipped my Czech class the following morning. We went to Old Town Square first, went to the top of the astronomical clock tower, and did some souvenir and garnet shopping. Afterwards, we walked across the Charles Bridge into Mala Strana where I interduced Aidan to the wonders of gyro/doner kebab.

While waiting for the metro to go back to the hotel, Grandma asked me if they will still be speaking Czech in Prague in a few years. I jokingly said that all of Europe plans to adopt a new European language soon, but Grandma didn't get it and believed me. She thought it was a good idea. A few seconds later, she asked what langauge that would be. "English," I said. "Oh, of course," she replied. I'm not sure if she ever figured it out. Perhaps it worked out better that the Czech restuarant on Wednesday was full, because they don't have any English menus and I'm not sure if Grandma could have dealt with that...

I went back to my flat later that evening where Maya was throwing a break-the-fast party with a bunch of other Jews/people-who-love-Jewish-food. She made delicious kugel, challah bread, and fruit plates and we sat and ate for a while. One of the clubs in Prague was hosting an international student night, so we decided to go out and dance despite still being stuffed from dinner. I still can't get over being an "international student" here, at Tufts, the international kids always hang out together, super well dressed and everything. Here in Prague, we're finally part of the minority. As I was walking through the crowded dancing area, a guy suddenly grabs my hand and kisses me on each cheek before making me guess where he was from. It was a little weird, and of course, he was from Spain. My friend, Watson, who was behind me said afterwards, "Wait, did you know him?!" Anyway, it was a fun night, although I ended up leaving early because my dad was worried that I wasn't going to be able to get into the hotel if I came back too late.

Anyways, we all went out to Cesky Krumlov yesterday, a small, medieval, tourist town in southern Bohemia. We didn't have any set plan on what to do once we got there, but we ended up wandering around the castle for most of the morning. My parents and Aidan and I all climbed up to the top of the tower that had an amazing view of the entire town and surrounding mountains. Mom and I joked around about how to chill Grandma out. We walked though the castle gardens a little and saw the "revolving theatre" before walking down into town. We poked into a few shops and had a relaxing lunch in a cafe behind the main street. After heading back to Prague, we ate dinner at a cheap and delicious italian restaurant that I will definitely remember for a later date.

This morning, I said goodbye to my family as they headed out to the airport. Overall, I think it was a pretty good trip. The hardest part was planning out things for everyone to do. I had this relatively flexible plan of what to do each day, but it really fell by the wayside. From the Czech restaurant being "full," to Grandma and Grandpa not wanting to walk too much, to the hotel being far away... there was a lot of things I had planned that we just never got around to doing. But I guess that's just how trips go. I'm pretty tired now just from showing everyone around, but we did get to see a lot. I'm just not looking forward to the rest of the weekend and catching up on everything I've neglected while "traveling" around Prague with my family!

**post from 10/6

Ironically, I don’t think I could have had a drier experience at Oktoberfest. Yes, I mean alcohol-wise. You’ll see.

I woke up on Saturday morning around 5:30 before catching my 7:00 bus to Munich (or Munchen, whichever you prefer). Julie, being crazy, went to Oktoberfest on Friday and took the midnight bus back to Prague. She actually arrived home just as I was inhaling a quick cup of coffee. It’s about a 5 hour ride on a cheap, but surprising unsketchy bus. I ended up sitting near a bunch of American students studying in Prague through another program, and we talked for a little while. Apparently we drove on the Autobahn (I never saw any sign evidence of this, but then, I also can’t read a word of German). The German countryside is beautiful, by the way.

I met my parents at the airport and we attempted to conquer the crazy ticketing system for the metro so we could get to the hotel (success, on account of a special ticket-buying assistant). Being terribly jetlagged, my family more or less collapsed at the hotel. We had a questionable dinner at the hotel bar and went to bed at like, 8:30.

Post breakfast, my parents, grandparents, younger brother, and I decided to give Oktoberfest hell, and followed the steady stream of Germans in the metro. I honestly thought that Oktoberfest was going to be some capitalist, tourist trap, but it really wasn’t too bad. Sure, there were terribly over priced carnival rides and a bunch of trashy souvenirs, but it was just full of German families, decked out in traditional costumes. I’ve never seen anything like it, just tons and tons of people in lederhosen and beer maiden (?) dresses. It kind of made me realize how the US lacks a cultural background. We have the whole “arriving off the boat and raising yourself up by your bootstraps” kind of history, but nothing like a nationality/ethnicity in common like the Germans, Czech, etc. I guess it’s something obvious that I just never really thought about before. But that’s another conversation.

We wandered around for an hour or so, went on the giant ferris wheel, ate some chocolate covered fruit, and tried to hit up the beer tents. They were RIDICULOUSLY crowded. Full of German families in costume and drunk tourists – apparently you either needed to make a reservation a year in advance or arrive to the beer halls very early in the morning and wait for a table. We gave up after an hour or so of looking for a table and went back into Munich, towards our hotel. We ended up getting a nice early dinner in Marianplatz Square, a traditional-seeming German meal, and a beer or two.

This morning, after failing at using the Metro ticket machine once again, I headed back to the bus station and waited around for the bus which ended up being almost an hour late. I talked with a Czech student for awhile, she was in Munich for an annual meeting of some old friends from her study abroad program in the US two years ago. For now though, I’m relaxing on my long ride back to Prague, before I finally get to check my email and realize all I’ve missed over the weekend!

**post from 10/4/08

So I’ve just finished my second week of official classes and I’m quite excited to meet my family in Munich for Oktoberfest this weekend. But rather than write about my classes (later, perhaps), my first class field trip yesterday will be much more interesting.

Yesterday’s trip was for my Contemporary Alternative Czech Culture class, most definitely my favorite class. Through a sort of complicated class credit-hour system, my field trip was almost a ten hour affair, so now, our class is meeting just once a week (plus one or two more field trips) because we’ve fulfilled our credit hours.

Anyway, the class is so awesome because our professor is legitimately one of the coolest people ever. She’s scarcely younger than my parents, but she’s in a rock band, dyes her hair, and asks us about our clubbing experiences in class. Alternative culture in the Czech Republic is particularly interesting because of its roots in the revolution 20 years ago. Vaclav Havel, the former Czechoslovakian/Czech Republic president, is/was an incredible playwright and human rights activist. It was Havel and all of his artsy, dissident friends who really brought the revolution forward, and that was how he fell into politics (which he said he never liked anyway).

Anyway, being “alternative” here isn’t just about wearing skinny jeans, listening to obscure music, and going the way of “rebel without a cause.” I thought this class was going to be some BS sociology class about culture (which it kind of is), but I never realized that alternative culture was such a big deal here. It’s hard to explain the gist of the class in a paragraph or two, but while I feel like many people (in the US and the CR) follow alternative subculture as a group to fit in with, for many people here in Prague, it has a more historical context and real purpose.

I digress a bit, but basically, my professor is quite involved with the whole movement. Most of my class admires how “in the know” she is, mostly because she knows all of the hip, dissident cafes/clubs/etc. and the people who frequent them. One of my more cynical classmates though, pointed out the cliché of “aging hipsters and wannabes drinking black coffee and complaining about life in lame, dirty, “obscure” cafes,” which, I guess, is something else to consider.

So the trip… Our class met up yesterday and spent the first two hours examining graffiti at a legal site and other illegal tags around the city. Unfortunately, it was freezing cold, but we managed to sit for awhile and discuss what types of graffiti qualify as art and debates graffiti on private property. We saw some pretty awesome artwork, don’t get me wrong, however, I am intolerant toward illegal graffiti, unlike the majority of my class. My professor is obsessed with it, as an act of rebellion and expression that can’t be communicated in other ways.

Afterwards, we ran into some planning issues because we spent too much time looking at graffiti and eating lunch. We kind of ended up going on an impromptu tour of Staromestska (Old Town Square) and Vaclavski Namesti (Wenceslas Square). It was pretty cool because our professor pointed out (you know) all of these hidden, hip cafes and tea houses that only the “real rebels” know about. We saw a few alternative art exhibits which were hit and miss too. My favorite was one exhibit by a political artist who superimposed different images to communicate different messages. One was an advertisement of a housewife spraying Febreeze juxtaposed with a bombed out, completely destroyed building from the Iraq war.

After dinner, our professor had a bunch of places for us to go and see a show and get a beer, but we kept getting unlucky and a bunch fell through (we were five minutes too late for the show, too crowded, etc.). In the end, we went to The Black Swan. I’m not really sure how to describe what type of place it was, but it was on the top floor of a huge office building. We walked in, and there were two rooms, one with a small wine bar, and another gorgeous room with two walls of windows and a gorgeous view of the Prague skyline. There were small tables with candles lit, a grand piano, and black walls with photos of famous musicians in black and white. We all bought glasses of wine and listened to the band that was playing. It was pretty classy, haha. The band was interesting too. Kind of ambient music; there was a pianist, violinist, drummer, two singers, and an interpretive dancer. Our professor actually knew the violinist randomly, so he kept trying to practice his English on us when they talked about their songs. In the meantime, we joked about how our professor could probably tell us some story and name drop Vaclav Havel, and we wouldn’t even skip a beat anymore.

Another long week!

CIEE required that every student attend one of four day trips this weekend. Many classes recommended going on particular ones (Jewish Studies going to Terezin, Political Science to visit with war prisoners, etc.), but none of my classes had any particular connections with the trips. I ended up going on the trip on Friday to Lidice and Terezin. I didn't know anything about the two sites beyond that they are important historical sites related to the Holocaust. Lidice was a small farming town a few miles outside of Prague that was burned to the ground on orders from Hitler, in retaliation for the Czech government-in-exile's assassination of a German higher-up who was currently ruling the Czech lands. All that's left of the town now is a few old building foundations, a museum, and open fields that eerily remind me of the open end of a big cemetery.

Terezin is the site of an old concentration camp, specifically the one the Nazi's used as a model to show the Red Cross. It was also, ironically, the worst one to live in. We took a tour of camp and a museum nearby. To be honest, it was an extraordinarily emotionally stressful day. There's not much more I would like to say about it.

Saturday was a completely different experience. I woke up tired and kind of cranky, and all I could think about was how much I just wanted a nice, big, breakfast. The Czechs don't really eat anything more than a quick breakfast, and I had pretty much just had cereal and instant coffee every morning before class. But then, like she had read my mind, my flatmate Julie asked if I wanted to go to Bohemia Bagel, and all was fulfilled. We ordered french bagel toast, pancakes and REAL coffee. And it was amazing. I told myself I was going to be cultural and stay away from American-y restaurants and places like this, but it was probably the most satisfying meal that I've had to date in Prague. It was exactly what I wanted.

After breakfast, I finally tried out the enormous tub in our bathroom (see our yellow bathroom?). It to, was awesome. Then I met my friend Leah in Staromesta where we intended to cross the Charles Bridge for the first time since being in Prague. But since it was Saturday, it was a mob scene full of tourists, so we went off in search of some espresso. We ended up running into two other girls, Mairead and Quinn, who live in Leah's building and decided to try Kavarna Slavia, a famous (but touristy) cafe opposite of Narodni Divadlo and the Vltava River. We had delicious but overpriced lattes, but enjoyed a wonderful view of Prague Castle (although not like I don't see it on my way to class every morning!). Afterwards, we went for a relaxing paddleboat ride on the river (yeah, that's the Charles Bridge in the background), hunted down the Lenin Wall, and spent about two hours trying to find a certain biergarten at the top of Petrin Hill. We never found it, and ended up settling for bad but cheap Chinese food instead. When Maya returned back from her CIEE trip that evening, we went to another flat to hang out, and let's just say my night ended up with a fried cheese sandwich and a can (yes, a can) of beer at 2 AM by Narodni Trida....

Sunday was ugly. The high point? I ended up at Bohemia Bagel again.

Argh, the school week later. And about my classes. And my crazy 40-something Alternative Culture professor who's in a rock band. And who is taking us on a field trip tomorrow to see graffiti and go to club. Oh, and Oktoberfest this weekend?