Papeže

Yesterday marked St. Wenceslas Day in the Czech Republic. As celebration, I traveled to Stará Boleslav with my 2 friends to see papež Benedikta XVI (the pope!)

(Sam and Chris waiting for Il Papa.)

Despite the fact that it was a very long walk and mass was in just about every language other than the one that we understand, it was completely worth it! Mass took a little over 2 hours (yikes!), but Benedict managed to drive 10 feet in front of us in the pope-mobile .

Additionally, Stará Boleslav holds the church where St. Wenceslas was martyred by his brother.
The experience was by far worth the trip!

Mini Updates from the last few weeks

First off, apologies that this blog will be so rushed. It's about midnight and I have to get up at 5 am. However, there are a few things I've been meaning to write about that I just haven't yet.

First off, let me just comment on how amazing the people running my program are. While I may have paid close to $14,000 to be here..I am getting basically every cent of that money back. We get free cultural activities, trips, and Jana (our own personal "google" when it comes to all things Czech related.)

Through our program we are given the chance to see certain events paid for by AIFS. Two of those were the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Opera Figaro. Both were incredibly wonderful and although I don't know enough about music to critique, I do know that I enjoyed both immensely.


Philharmonic Orchestra

Meeting outside Charles University to head across the street to the Philharmonic

Zdenek ("Z") telling us all about the history of the building and the Figaro Opera

Alongside this, we also made the 5 minute trek to Staroměstské Náměstí (Old Town Square) for a free concert by Goran Bregovic. The turnout was incredible as the entire square was packed and we listened to a mix of polka sounding tangos (trust me..the description doesn't do the bizarre music justice).



My friends and I also traveled to the Jiřího z Poděbrad, Wine Festival, in Prague. It was a very interesting experience as we saw an entire square of people gathered together to celebrate wine. The baby wine that I also mentioned a few posts ago was also widely present..

And in addition, we also made the journey to český krumlov. While a truly beautiful city, it unfortunately has become a very tourist-y spot. However, sometimes a person needs to do tourist-y things in order to see the exquisite. It was by far worth the 3 some hours by train, an interesting ticket that explains nothing, and spending the train ride talking to an 80 year old woman that spoke no English at all (not to mention the absolute beauty of the town).

We hiked up the world's longest set of stairs (possibly an overexaggeration..) for this view. WORTH IT!

Chris, Jordan, and I woke up ridiculously early for the journey.



Lastly (yet probably one of the most exciting things), was my chance to spend close to 2 hours in the headquarters of Radio Free Europe. I had the opportunity to do a Q&A session with the director for Radio Free Europe in Moldova and Zachary Peterson, a Media Affairs Specialist.
If it weren't for my Czech teacher (Zuzanna), who teaches Czech to many of the people employed by RFE/RL, I would not have had the opportunity to discuss everything from the radar program to how a culture's beliefs affect what is said on RFE.
Truly an amazing experience.


Sorry for the briefness of each thing..I'm just so tired!!!!

Šedá

This week has been a whirlwind of activities. Last weekend, we made a trip to Brno for 3 days. The city was beautiful, but when we got back to Prague it felt as though we were returning home.
Brno presented the true CR experience with a few additions that can't be found in Prague necessarily. First, since we were entering wine country, Brno is famously known for "Burčák" or baby wine. This wine is deadly and has captured many in the fact that it tastes alcohol-less and exactly like juice (really really good juice..). Post drinking the wine, you can feel it in bubbling in your stomach and can often drink way to much without realizing that youre drinking the equivalent of 2 bottles of wine. Luckily, Jana, one of the AIFS staff members, warned us of its potency and we were able to enjoy the wine without being incapacitated for the rest of our time in Moravia.
Classes started last Monday and the class has been..unique. Leaving aside the fact that 5 hours is far to long to sit in a classroom, my Czech professor makes every moment of that 5 hours worthwhile. Apart from the Czech language she has brought to attention many aspects of Czech culture and Czech views on America. While I realize that one woman does not represent the entire country, it is still interesting to hear the opinions of our nation from someone outside. Some of the things mentioned just need to be shrugged off and yet others are truly enlightening.
After listening to her unhappiness over President Klaus and "the country's" fear over the removal of the radar program in the CR, it becomes apparent that you can never fully comprehend how a country feels about international events and actions. She is one woman in the entire country, but the question arises as to whether or not she represents the majority. I could interview every Czech person in a 20 mile radius of Dejvice..I probably would still not have my answer.
Our professor has also taken it upon herself to show us the city. While many of the names of the places escape me, I can still describe to you the places that we have gone free of charge with our class:

• the photography museum with 2 floors of photographs from communism and the velvet revolution.
• the church where the assassins (heroes) of Heidrich hid and then were later killed by Nazis. We saw a short film on the assassination and also entered the crypt where these 7 men were killed while hiding out.
• the Holocaust museum possessing unclaimed household items of the Jewish sent to concentration camps
• Narodni Gallerie (the national gallery)
  

It seems that the "hiding church of the assassins" was the most thought provoking for myself. I am a pacifist. I do not believe in violence of any kind at any time for any reason. Well. I am also an idealist. And while I realize that some of my views may not be realistic, John Lennon put it best. "Imagine all the people, living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us and the world will be as one."
For me, it's not about realizing that the world's problems can be solved without violence. It's about realizing that if everyone tried to live with this mindset, it would cease to be idealistic and may actually make a difference. But I suppose that is idealistic as well. However, if we cease to believe in a good world and our idealism, then the world would be a sad, sorry place.

With all that said, this church was the most thought provoking. These men killed a truly horrible person and are heroes for it. They risked their lives for freedom and that is a beautiful thing. But they killed a man. The most thought provoking thing for me has and always will be, at one point is something ok? Past what point does it become ok to kill another person? Does that point come when that man has killed others that were innocent? Does it come when a nation backs up the assassination plot? Or is it not ok? When IS violence the answer? Simply to combat evil? Or does the world have to sit by as people die around them?
The world is grey. And unfortunately, that seems to be the thing that I have the hardest time comprehending.
Prague simply is opening up a whole new set of possibilities for answers to the unanswerable.

Chleb a Voda

I think that one of the most incredible experiences a person can have is living in a small space with people you have just met. Not only that, but incorporating your individual backgrounds and being able to mesh together for an incredible experience.

While we are all from different areas of the United States and one person from Mexico, it seems as if we have known each other for years. Instead of going out for a meal, we decided to cook in our tiny kitchen for 10 people..(bigger task than we thought!)

It is impossible to put into words the amount of fun that we had cooking, talking, and trying to cram everyone around the 2 person kitchen table.
Someway and for some reason, I was cooking. And by some miracle the food was still edible.

It is incredible to consider that we come from so many different places and have so many things in common. We are all completely different people, but the intense first week has brought us a billion times closer.

Our amazing stir fry! (Surprisingly enough food for 10..)

My roommate, Annie, and I cooking for 10 people.

Annie was cutting onions..In the tiny room it made us all tear up.

Except for her apparently....

The guys were amazed at our cooking skills ;]

Just a few of us. (From top left going clockwise: Karen, Me, Sam, Jordan, Val, Annie, Matt, Kari)

Language Barriers

Apart from the fact that today was intense in every way possible, I learned more about Prague than I have learned from any of our orientation classes.

For instance, locked phones take an hour to unlock and you have to go to a small place in a back alley to do so (it's legit..i checked with t-mobile!).

Second, when a man in normal clothes approaches you in the metro station and holds out a "button" and begins to speak Czech to you, DON'T automatically dismiss him as trying to sell you something. Since the Czech metro is on the honor system, the Czech police sometimes stand at the bottom to make sure you have a train ticket. If you don't possess a ticket, you are fined 700Kc. After being screamed at in rapid Czech, I tried to explain to the officer (with my horrible Czech skills) that I don't speak much Czech and I misunderstood him. He then converted to English and was as happy as the world could be. I showed him my pass and he smiled (actually smiled!!) and said goodbye.

The language barrier has been earth shattering at times. Contrary to popular belief there is a large population that does not speak English..I've met them all. I don't mind, though. It has added to the experience overall and I love asking those that do speak English what the word is for different things. I'm slowly learning.
It's the little things that have begun to count. Getting a smile from the guy at T-Mobile as I say "Dekuji" or accidentally taking the wrong tram and ending up at an amazing restaurant with discounts for international students.

It's the little things that count, and it is those same things that help me realize I'm at home away from home (even if it is seriously intense sometimes..)

A Whirlwind of Events.

It took me a few days to finally post to blogspot, but here I am! I have arrived safely in Prague and have so far had the BEST few days of my life.
We arrived in London 2.9.09 and spent close to 3 days in the city. After viewing the British Museum as well as the National Gallery (so cool!), the AIFS (American Institute for Foreign Study) students went on a short bus tour of London to become familiar with the city. Our first night consisted of getting to know each other by stopping at a small pub in Picadilly Circus. While we were laughed at by the owner of the bar for reading every coin (in attempts to pay..), we successfully survived the night and made a lot of good friends along the way.
There were a few things that also made me realize what we could do back home to become more environmentally aware. Apart from effective public transportation, the hotel rooms only received electricity when your key card was inserted (and remained) in a slot on the wall. This stopped people from leaving their lights on while out of the room (and caused a few black outs while we were still in the room and unsure of what was happening!)
London, overall, was an opportunity to overcome jetlag in addition to becoming more comfortable with the people we will spend the next 4 months with. While the city was beautiful, we all agreed that the experience was somewhat surreal. Being in the city did not seem realistic and most of all it did not feel as though we had left home for the next few months.

Munich was an equally surreal experience, but the city was astonishing. The architecture alone was enough to cause jaw drops and the people were extraordinarily friendly. We managed to make friends with a few German natives and I attempted to get the group through the day with my broken German. We somehow managed to find the few places that did not speak a single word of English, but I truly think this added to the cultural experience. People were very understanding of my terrible language skills, but it made me grateful for the little German that I had learned throughout high school and college as it seemed to help people warm up to us at the least. We stopped at the Hofbrauhaus later that night. (I was informed by our tour guide that this was an absolute must for cultural experiences in Munich!)

Our journey to Prague began the next morning and could not have come at a more opportune time. After 4 days of hotels (for which we were so grateful!) everyone was ready to stop living out of our suitcases. We had a 6 hour bus ride ahead of us before arriving in Plzeň where we stopped for a quick lunch during their celebration of Oktoberfest. Another few hours later we had arrived in Prague where we quickly discovered that we had chosen the best city to live in and one of the worst if we plan to complete any sort of studying..

Prague exceeded any of our wildest dreams in beauty and Munich failed to compare after we caught our first glimpse of the city at night. Whether it was the incredible people we met along the way (from Germany, Britain, New Zealand, and Czech) or just the shear shock at the beauty of our new home, I could not have imagined this place in my wildest dreams. These first few days have been a whirlwind of orientation, travel, exploring, new friends..and even tried my first Czech beer (a Pilsen..of course!). I would not trade this experience for the world, and I am so thankful for the people that pushed me towards this chance. I have truly found home in Praha. The language barrier has been difficult, but language classes start Monday and I hope that that means we won't come across as "stupid americans." I have tried my absolute hardest to morph to European society so that they do not have to accomodate my inability, but the challenge has been a difficult one and has failed on occasion.
I truly look forward to the coming months when I can slowly integrate into this wonderful society and culture.

For now, however, I think it is time for sleep before our travels to Telč.

(I'm sorry that I wasn't able to see everyone today for family festivities, but I am sending all my congratulations to Kerry and her thesis!! Safe travels home to both you and Ben). Miss you all 110% and I can't wait to share all of my stories in person.

PS. I have not had a chance to upload pictures from our first days in Prague. However, the pictures at the top are a few of my favorites from my trips to London and Munich. Ill have pictures up in the next few days and the rest of these photos should be up in mom's picasa soon..maybe..