I finally got my hair cut today. The faded purple and general deadness at the tips were starting to drive me crazy, so I walked into a hair salon and took care of business. I don't think I've ever had such a silent haircut before, usually hairdressers are talkative folk. But I only speak a little Czech, and she only a little English. It was so frustrating, sitting there and trying to think of how to say different things. I realized that I don't even know how to say "more" in Czech, and I feel like that kind of basic. I couldn't tell her I wanted to cut "a little more" off, or even the word "purple," so it was kind of a pointing and miming kind of deal. Again, frustrating because as I'm sitting and thinking of all this, and I realize I could have easily gotten by had it have been Spanish. I really underestimated how much I learned over five and a half years. Still though, all the purple is gone and although it's a bit short, it was one of the better haircuts that I've even gotten.

Besides a few class trips and other smaller events, this week is mostly about obsessing over Thanksgiving. Finding a turkey is proving to be very difficult. I wasn't to keen on cooking dinner with some friend, but I agreed and then got pretty excited for it. Except now everyone else has class and other obligations on Thursday and can't help cook. So now I'm a little stressed, seeing as I can barely identify boiling water and now I'm waiting to see if I can order a turkey and cook vegetables... As of today, I can add a new food to my repertoire - Czech bread pizza. Kind of like french bread pizza, except wit Czech chleb and eidam cheese. But oh, do I have a long way to go...

Austria, Part Zwei

So I survived the ski trip with the exception of a few bruises on my butt and hips. As it turns out, the Alps aren't exactly the best place to learn how to ski. There isn't really a German equivalent of a "bunny hill." Alas, I resorted to "skiing" down these tiny little blips at the bottom of the mountain before twice attempting an actual ski trail. Except, I probably did more falling than skiing. Once, I got stuck in a snow drift and couldn't get up for almost five minutes. Embarrassing...

Anyway, it was still a fun trip. We arrived in Sell am See, Austria on Friday night in the middle of a blizzard. There was already a few inches of snow on the ground and it was still coming down as we moved our stuff into our hostel. It was still snowing around 7:00 on Saturday, the ungodly hour of the morning that we had to get up at. In fact, when we arrived at the ski place, we had to wait almost two hours for conditions to "calm down" on the mountain before we were able to buy our ski passes. Finally, we made our way up about 1000 m to the second base where we stayed most of the day. Conditions on the mountain were ridiculous. Something like -13 degrees C, snowing, and super windy. Visibility: six inches. So so cold. But still, I had fun trekking up the tiny hills I tried learning on and enjoyed some more of the pancake soup in the lodge that I had last time in Austria.

A few of us spent Saturday night watching Das Super Talent (German version of America's Got Talent) back in the hostel. Sunday was a lot better. I somehow managed to get worse at skiing since the previous day, despite the fact that the sun came out and the temperature was a little warmer. The mountain was gorgeous. Leah and I took the gondola up to the top base, at over 3000 m up. Here we were, just standing on top of a mountain in the Alps, so high up that we couldn't even see the bottom. We left for Prague right from the ski place. The ride home was pretty much the only time we were driving in daylight, and again, its impossible to explain the beauty of the area. Try to imagine driving through a snowglobe. Snow covered mountains in all directions, the road winding around on the edge, a few cabins here and there glowing as the sun began to set...

Apparently it snowed in Prague while we were gone too. There's still a little left today and the city feels quite welcoming and comfortable. I really can't wait until the Christmas season kicks in.

Less excitement this week. The fact that I have so little homework due on a daily basis because it's all due at the end is only just starting to hit me. So far, I have nine pages done on my ten page history paper (only, it's an organizational mess), and an idea on how to start my media project, culture paper, and Czech immersion project. Yikes.

I'll be honest, I'm still not a huge fan of my classes. Still, while my econ class goes over my head, the professor is a huge nerd who cracks nerdy jokes all during lecture. And what I do understand is interesting. My alternative culture class has had pretty cool field trips and although the professor is so judgmental, it's probably the only class I enjoy attending. On Tuesday, the class got into a huge debate on adoption after our professor brought up Juno. On the other hand, my media class is still taught at a third grade level.

In other news, I got to practice my Spanish skills yet again with my Czech mom's crazy friend's daughter, who is only thirteen and is currently learning three languages in addition to Czech. The crazy friend, since we were at her apartment, also kept trying to feed me. I made the mistake of eating dinner beforehand, but numerous finger sandwiches, unsweetened "Czech cake," pretzel cookies, and two types of pumpkin were foisted upon me. As the crazy friend kept talking about how fat she is (she's only slightly rounder than a toothpick). I'm getting a little sick of finger sandwiches, but the pumpkin was delicious.

In the meantime, I've decided that meeting with my Czech mom and her friends has definitely contributed to my miming skills. Not to say that my Czech comprehension hasn't gotten better, because it totally has, just... let's just say that I'd make an awesome charades partner.

And so for today, mostly just tea and homework. I'm meeting Becca, a friend from Tufts, for dinner, and who knows what I'll do tonight. Probably sleep. Tomorrow morning I leave to go skiing in Austria for the weekend!

Ahhh! I'm in The New York Times website! Okay, only kind of, but I commented on an article and it was picked as an editor's selection!

Check #21:

http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2008/11/17/education/17exchange.html

the week in review...

Most definitely my favorite weekend in Prague, and after writing this, realized it was pretty busy. Prepare yourself, highlights from the week:

- I met up with my Czech mom, Martina, and Small Lukas on Wednesday night at a movie theatre to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona and went to a bar afterwards. I really liked the movie; at first I didn’t like the ending because it wasn’t exactly the happiest thing ever, but I realized afterwards that it was much more real and believable, and therefore more appropriate. Martina liked it too, but more because she loves Woody Allen (who directed it) and the male lead. We went to the same bar as last time, and it was funny because Martina “helped” me with my Czech homework at the table and ordered me another beer in the meantime, after I had already called it quits!

- I agonized about class registration on Thursday, before refreshing the page every two seconds around 14:00 and making my final decisions. So for next semester, I’m taking Experimental Psych, Adv. Engineering Psych, American Film Studies, Entrepreneurship, Intro to Skiing/Snowboarding, and I’m going to audit Intermediate Micro Econ. I’m kind of breaking in the idea of “liberal arts” studies. The film class counts towards my communications minor and my arts requirement, and I’ve never taken a film class, so it sounds interesting. I’m going to keep the skiing class (because it sounds like so much fun!) depending on how my ski trip goes this coming weekend. But, I’m actually pretty excited for my classes and especially since I have Fridays and Thursdays off (except one class on Thursday night), but I’m pretty scared because I have a lot of class hours on my calendar right now…

- Went to Kutna Hora on Friday with Caity. For all of you unfamiliar with Czech tourist-y sites, Kutna Hora is this old village about an hour from Prague that is most famous for its bone church. I’ll upload photos soon, but it was insane. They had so many bodies after the plague hit the Czech lands, that someone (I forget who) decided to take bones and make a chandelier and other creepy statues out of them. The chandelier is made up of every bone in the human body. Think about it. Anyway, we wandered around town for a little while after the bone church and ordered the most stereotypical Czech lunch (fried cheese for Caity, and soup and gulas for me) at a restaurant we found. A half liter of beer in this restaurant was 20 czk, which is $1.00 with the new exchange rate! Then we went to go see another famous church which was drop dead gorgeous from the outside, but closed for the day 15 minutes before we got there. Unfortunately as well, the famous silver mines in town were also closed for the weekdays. Wandered around some more in some of the most intense fog that I have ever seen (my hair was wet, like I had just gotten out of the shower, in only a few minutes!), before ducking into a cute café and catching a train back to Prague.

- On Friday evening, a bunch of us went to Lucerna, a well known club in Prague that plays 80s and 90s hits. It was so much fun! Two of Maya’s friends from home are visiting this weekend, so Caity and I went out with them. I still can’t believe I hadn’t been to Lucerna before, the music was hilarious (I’m Walking on Sunshine, Killing Me Softly (that was weird), YMCA, etc.) and it was a good night.

- Watched the sunrise on the Charles Bridge. Except, the sun doesn’t really rise in Prague, it only gets lighter… Probably the most anticlimactic sunrise I have ever seen. But still, I “saw the sunrise on the Charles Bridge.” And we talked to a hilarious, drunk Scottish guy for about a half hour. Anyway, Maya and her friends had convinced me at 5:00 in the morning after Lucerna that the sun would really only be up in two hours, so it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was fun, then, we went to bed at 8:00…

- Saw Don Giovanni in the Estates Theatre. Ohmigosh. It was one of my goals, to see Mozart’s famous Prague opera in the theatre where it was originally performed. I didn’t think it was going to happen because I had searched for tickets earlier in the semester and couldn’t find any shows playing during the semester. But Maya, her friends, Caity, and I all got tickets to a matinee on Saturday afternoon for 200 czk ($12)!! The theatre was gorgeous and the show was great, definitely my favorite Mozart opera. Although, midway through the second act, the lack of sleep started to catch up with me…

- Celebrated Maya’s birthday at a middle eastern food restaurant. Delicious, especially the banana shake thing that I ordered. We sat for awhile and shared desert, but passed on hookah because the service was pretty slow and it was getting late.

- On Sunday, Caity and I traveled to Melnik, a small town about 40 minutes from Prague, to go on a wine tasting. It’s the only place in Bohemia known for its wine. We unfortunately forgot that many things close on Sundays in the Czech Republic, so hardly anything in town was open except around the chateau for tourists. The chateau, the main tourist attraction/where you go wine tasting, was actually pretty empty. Caity and I were the only ones on our tour, and we went down into the wine cellars and sampled ten different wines. It was quite different than what I expected; it was pretty quick and involved a lot more wine that I thought. I learned a bit about wine though, and decided that the pinot and riesling were my favorites, probably because they’re the ones I’m most familiar with. Upon returning to Prague though, I practically collapsed into the bed in our living room and took a deep nap.

- I watched When Harry Met Sally with Caity on Sunday night. Obviously it was something I could have done just as easily at home, but I’ve wanted to see that movies again for quite some time. Plus, Caity had never seen it before! I think we were still pretty chilled out from the wine, and it was a nice, relaxing evening.

- And I finally went to a museum today. On a day-date. With a Czech guy I met on Friday night. It was the National Museum, and he suggested it because I had mentioned taking a Czech history class, and there’s a current exhibition taking place on Czech modern history. I really liked the exhibit and was able to connect a lot of dates and stories that I’ve heard to pictures and full explanations. We wandered around some other areas afterward and then grabbed coffee at a café near Lucerna. More, perhaps, on this later…

I had such an awesome time this weekend, but I’m going to have some serious issues getting all of my final papers done now that I’ve been off enjoying myself instead of doing research. Lots of work to do tonight, but a bunch of things to look forward to this week too!

The Return From Madrid

So I am returned from Madrid finally. People have been asking me how my weekend was since I have gotten back, and joke around saying, "Well, I lost my cell phone, got fined 20 Euro on the metro, my friend got pickpocketed, and my flight was canceled coming home. But it was still an awesome weekend!"

Basically, we ran into a bunch of unfortunate situations, but we had enough fun to make up for it. By day, Zach and I saw some of the sights in Madrid and I did a little shopping to make up for my lack in Prague. By night, we ate tons of food and generally enjoyed the nightlife.

On Friday, Zach and I went to El Retiro, a giant park in the city, the botanical gardens, and the Sofia Reina art museum. Saturday, I wandered around Sol on my own to look for some souvenirs/gifts, before me, Zach and his flatmate, Steve tried to go to the zoo. That's when Zach got pickpocketed and both of us got fined on the Metro because we didn't have our tickets... So we went on an adventure to the Madrid police station and headed back to their apartment for the afternoon. And on Sunday, Zach and I went to El Rastro, this huuuuge, ridiculously crowded (see the photo!) weekly flea market and the Royal Palace. The crowds reminded me a lot of Oktoberfest! But it was definitely fun to wander around.

What I thought was funny about Madrid is that you rarely have to eat before going out. A bunch of times I got a pastry thing with my morning espresso. We often got a free plate of tapas when we ordered drinks (and I've never had better sangria, by the way). At the least, we got papas fritas (potatoe chips) with our beers. I am a big fan of tortillas espanolas (I think that's what they're called, it's fried pototoe/egg pancake thing) and churros con chocolada. One night, we wentout out to these restaurants called Los Mesones (they're all on one street and have different themes). One specialized in mushrooms, so I kind of had to try one (photo!). It wasn't terrible...

Anyway, so then my flight got canceled on Sunday after I got to the airport! At first I was pretty upset becaue I had no idea what to do, not to mention, I coudln't call anyone since I lost my phone. But to make a long story short, the airline put us up in a hotel for the night, gave us a pretty good dinner, and we all got on another flight to Prague at 7:30 the next morning. It was a pretty stressful experience though, and it was lonely staying in a hotel alone and eating dinner by myself! Apparently the airline also owes me 400 Euro for all the trouble, but they're being kind of sketchy about it, so I'm not counting on it. We'll see though, that's a lot of money!

I missed a few classes on Monday morning, but it wasn't too bad. I just have a lot of Czech homework to catch up on. It's kind of hard to be back to gesturing with my hands when trying to talk to strangers though, I missed my limited yet much easier communication in Spanish! Anyway, this should be a pretty relaxed week and I'm sticking around Prague for the weekend, so we'll see how things go!

Uggghhh... I lost my cell phone/got it stolen today. Then, I forgot my metro pass and kind of ducked in the turnstile, only to be stopped by the metro security 20 minutes later when they asked to see my nonexistent ticket. Then, Zach realized he had been pickpocketed when he reached for his nonexistent wallet to find his nonexistent metro ticket. And we both got fined 20 euro.

Today was a little rough. Still, Madrid's been awesome (except not for my bank account).

Madrid!

I finally made it to Madrid! Again, it was one of those places that that I really wanted to visit when I came to Prague, but I figured it would be too far away to actually happen. But then, I found out that I have three friends here, one of whom is letting me crash at his apartment, and found a well-timed, direct flight to Madrid for under $200. It was perfect! I tossed some Czech spa wafers in my bag, bought some Becherovka (Czech liquor, tastes like Christmas) at the airport, and brought some of the Czech Republic to my Madrid friends.

So, I'm staying with my friend Zach for the next few days. He's in class until later this afternoon, so I ventured out to wander down Calle Princessa on my own this morning. It's funny because I feel so much less confident in my Spanish than I do with Czech, even though I know Spanish much better. I can't tell you what a surprise it is to be able to walk around and be able to read so many signs! However, I feel like I'm more comfortable with Czech because I know enough to get around (ie. how to order food, greet someone, etc.), whereas I'm a little out of practice with Spanish and I've never used it in a practical setting before. I realized this especially this morning when I asked Zach if I'm supposed to address people in the formal or informal tense!

Anyway, Madrid seems a lot different. Although, I probably feel that way because while walking around, I was subconciously comparing everything I saw to Prague. Right off the bat, Madrid is much larger and much more Western. In fact, walking around this morning, even only for a few hours, I realized how Eastern Europe-like Prague really is. I never really had anything to compare it to before (besides US cities). While Prague feels a lot different to me, walking around here reminds me a lot of NYC, both comforting and disappointing. People are dressed nicely, probably not too different from Boston, but a bit surprising to notice after being in Prague/Krakow/etc. They sell Ben and Jerry's and Oreos here too, which my flatmates have moaned about missing in Prague. I even saw a woman carrying a J Crew bag!

Calle Princessa is kind of a bigger shopping area, which Prague also doesn't have. Besides some of the malls, there aren't any real (read: non-souvenir) shopping areas. I think I've realized why Prague isn't exactly a fashion capital: there are few places to shop, and clothes are so expensive! I've spent a good many hours looking for black boots in Prague only to find a few nice ones that were way over my budget. Despite the Euro here, I've found a whole bunch or reasonable ones in the span of an hour or two of wandering!

While it's a little chilly here (mid 50s), the weather is gorgeous. Bright and sunny (although the high rises block a lot of light) and it seriously feels like the end of summer. There are semi-tropical trees all over the place, and even the temperate-looking ones (although, I'm no tree expert) still have all of there leafs.

I have a feeling that this is going to be a good weekend. Sleeping on a hard wood floor for a few nights isn't the best, but the double espressos are pretty cheap here, so I think I can manage.

So after a loooong day of classes/getting my midterms back, I went to my Czech family's flat for what I thought was supposed to be dinner. I went over around 19:00, but Martina, my Czech mom pulled out a plate of those weird Czech finger sandwiches and told me that we were just waiting for her friend down the street before we would head out to a bar. I watched a little of the news in Czech on TV and talked with another of Martina's friends. She knew Martina from a theatre they both work at (Martina is a costume designer), and she is also in school studying for her master's degree. Afterwards, we went to the apartment building next door to meet up with Martina's other friend.

So the four of us went to the bar down the road. And all of a sudden, it was 23:45 and I realized that the trams were going to stop running in a few minutes. It was a hilarious evening; I was only planning on staying an hour or so, but I don't know where the whole evening went! Around 21:00, we were joined by three more of Martina's friends, "Velky Lukas" (Big Lucas), "Maly Lukas (Little Lukas), and one fo the women's boyfriends. Martina's friend from the other apartment, Ivana, was having some boyfriend problems, so she she was joking around about calling one of her other boyfriends (she have about five!) and seeking advice from both Lukass (who are a couple, by the way).

We spent most of the night laughing, between Ivana's crazy men situations and the fact that Maly Lukas was the only one who had a good command of English. Martina always apologizes for not knowing English very well, but I'm always like, "Seriously, I'm in your country and I don't speak your language; I should be the one apologizing!" Also, it's not like she had the option of learning English in school back during the Communist regime anyway... But anyway, the more she drank, the better her English got, so we joked about that. They would also talk in rapid Czech, then someone would try to translate for me (usually Maly Lukas). Still sometimes, I kind of have to *assume* what they're saying in broken English, and I probably knod and smile more that I should, haha. I can understand a few words when they talk in Czech, but they just talk so quickly, the general message goes over my head!

But by the end of night, they decided to throw a party in Martina's flat in December so they can cook some different kinds of Czech food for me. I think I'm going to pull out my chocolate chip cookies recipe again. I'm going to miss the bar culture when I go home, especially when a night's worth of beer sets me back only $5.50...

Retrospective

So, about Prague... Apparently we've just crossed the halfway point of our semester. Mixed feelings, obviously, but I've been thinking about this experience as a whole over the past few days. I think I have to air some grieviences to sort out thoughts out.

Things are more relaxed now than they were in September, but I feel like I'm preoccupied by how much I'm really "enjoying" my time here. Don't get me wrong off the bat, I'm really glad I've gone through all of the trouble to study abroad here and adjust to living in a new place. I've asked many more questions and learned so much here that I would never have back at Tufts for another semester. I can't believe that I spent a weekend making apple cider in Austria or that I'm just jetting off to Madrid on Wednesday. I love wandering through new neighborhoods, passing Prague Castle on a daily basis, and trying out new bars. I feel good practicing Czech despite all of my stuttering, and I know it's good to challenge myself and that I would never get this chance if I stayed in Medford for four straight years. In other words, I'm having a good time.

But let me say this outright - I honestly don't feel more attached to Prague than I would to any other city that you randomly plopped me down in in Europe.

I feel as though you're almost prohibited to say that as a study abroad student, like I'm not allowed to feel that way. In fact, it's hard for me to even admit it here, and I'll be honest, I've consciously omitted some negative stories and feelings because it seems like I'm supposed to. And again, it doesn't mean that I don't like it here by any means or even that the majority of my experiences have been bad (quite the opposite). I just feel as though before going abroad, all I heard was "Ohmigosh, Paris was AMAAAAAAZING! I can't stand being back in the States anymore." And a friend of mine here said that after a weekend of traveling, she always feels relieved "to come home to Prague." I don't really feel that passionately.

I'm ambivalent about this past weekend, and I feel like it's representative of a lot of my Prague experiences. Wednesday evening with my class's open mic night was a lot of fun. I enjoyed wandering around the city on my own on Thursday, and we went out to a few bars on Thursday evening. But we wandered around aimlessly in the cold before deciding where to go, before ending up at a mediocre bar and going to our usual cafe, ending the evening around one. Halloween was similar, I went to a party thrown by some students in my program, then we all tried to go out afterwards. Again, my night ended after a lot of wandering and giving up around 1:30 or 2. It didn't help that Prague doesn't really celebrate Halloween, so it was awkward to go anywhere all dressed up in costume. Saturday, I went to a mediterranean/middle eastern food restaurant with Maya, Caity, and Chris, toured Prague Castle (one of two days a year that it's open to the public), then went to a jazz club later that night. Sunday was more or less a lie-around-the-apartment-in-my-pjs sort of day. All day... I tried to get some of my homework done in advance so I won't have to worry about in next weekend. And I learned how to make french toast.

So overall, it was a nice weekend. But there are two thoughts that keep clouding my perception of weekends like this:

1) What would I be doing at Tufts this weekend? It's a form of self torture when I check photos on facebook from back at school. It's selfish, but most people I know here feel like it's hard to accept that life goes on back on campus without them. This weekend was especially bad with Halloween. At Tufts, it's pretty much a three night long affair, and I saw all the pictures of my friends and their parties, which was awful after such a disappointing Halloween here. I miss curling up on Sundays with my homework on the third floor on the campus center for hours, with cup after cup of coffee or tea. And I could go out to a jazz club or try mediterranean food back in Boston too. Not to mention, back at school, my body would actually allow me to sleep in until noon and cath up, instead of waking up around 8 AM after not falling asleep until really late.

At the end of the day, I find myself subconsciously/consciously asking myself if I could have done the same activities had I been back at school. After a night out, would I have enjoyed myself more at a party with my friends back at school? I feel as though I constantly need to be having a better time than I would back home, which is not only really hard because Tufts is such a great environment for me, but also, it's a really silly thing to be worrying about as it is.

2) The obligation of what I *should* be doing, broken down into two specifics:

A) Cultural adaptation, or figuring out what Prague is really about. I only have three weekends left in Prague, maybe two. I still can't really order food at a restaurant in Czech. I haven't been to a single museum. I haven't really figured out what it's like to be Czech, or found the best goulash in the city. I don't have much time left to get my laundry list of Czech things done, and I feel like I've wasted my weekend because my lagging cultural obligations haven't been filled. I was too tired and apathetic on Saturday and Sunday to go to the Mozart Museum or National Museum, although I guess I feel a little better about seeing Prague Castle.

But then, I sit back and think, "If I don't see every museum or finally settle on my "favorite cafe," am I really going to be upset about this when I get home?" I guess probably not... And trying to see all of these things is a pretty tourist-y notion. I don't obsess about how I've never gone on a Duck Tour back in Boston. I'm preoccupied with trying to figure out how a normal Czech student lives, and they don't stress about lounging around the house for a few hours, just as I wouldn't as a student back home. But then, I'll always have Boston, and may not be back in Prague for a long time.

Also, I constantly feel guilty when I hear about friends' crazy adventures in rural China and Chile, crazy clubbing in Madrid, and living with host families. Am I supposed to be doing that? And how much "culture" can I really expect to comprehend while living in a city? After spending that weekend in Austria, I half just want to stay there. Live with a family, escape the pressures of having to see everything in the city, experience what it's like to live like a normal person in a different country...

B) And, the obligation of having to have fun at every moment. I feel like I constantly have to live up to all the great study abroad stories I heard before I left. Also, sitting down in Czech class today, a bunch of the girls were talking about how awesome of a weekend they had and how they plan on going out again tonight. I'm already crabby from sleeping so terribly this weekend, I can't imagine going out again tonight and waking up at 7:30 the next morning. And my weekend was nothing special. But then I feel bad for not "having the time of my life" and partying all the time because we're studying abroad and it's what we're supposed to do.

I've talked about this one or two times with other people, and found that they often feel similarly. The fact that people think that they can't talk about negative experiences only perpetuates the worry about being the only one not having fun all the time.

***

Alright, so all of this is getting pretty intense. Often, I worry that I worry too much about all of this. Part of me also tells my brain to stop obsessing and just relax, travel, and not set goals for myself. I'm in Prague, after all, why not just enjoy what's around me when I feel like it, and celebrate that plane tickets are so cheap to so many of the cities I've been wanting to visit. And this includes not worrying about traveling too much or even not being able to travel enough. Yes, I worry about both.

I'm going to focus on this week instead of being so retrospective. I'm trying to get all of my shambles under control before I leave to Madrid (in two days!!), so unfortunately (or fortunately?), tackling Czech culture is going to have to go on the back burner for a few days.

A more positive update soon, I just needed to get that out there :)