To be home for the holidays..

..would be a wonderful thing.
Thanksgiving dinner is not the same when eaten at a hotel. But at least I had the opportunity to be with close friends. I am thankful for the wonderful meal, my incredible experience here, and the family and friends that I miss very much.
I just wish that everyone could be with loved ones on this day.
I did have the chance to just talk to my entire family on skype. I didn't think about taking a picture of the first 2 groups of people :[ but for your viewing pleasure I give you my brother and aunt on Thanksgiving!
Missing you all tons. Love you so much.

^He's a little silly.

Our program treated us to a fancy dinner at the Marriott hotel complete with turkey, yams, and cranberries.
The food was absolutely incredible, but as with these things, it simply was not the same as sitting by the fire at Beth's. The food was fancy banquet food. And there wasn't even any Jifka involved!! :]

This week has been a crazy week as it seems to be the time for everyone to visit friends! Possibly due to the fact that we only have 3 weeks left in the program, many family members and friends are visiting. I went out to dinner with Annie's family at U Fleku.  They seemed to enjoy the experience and I absolutely loved getting to know them.
Additionally, my friend, Raila, had a friend visiting from Finland. We took her to the Globe (a local coffee shop) and Pantheon (the Czech freestyle rap bar that we often spend our Mondays at.) After all, no Prague experience is complete without the crazy rapping styles in Czech. I can barely understand English rap, let alone a language that I barely speak, but places like the Pantheon just make this whole experience more personal. I'm pretty sure that every time we step foot in the underground bar, we are the only non-Czechs, and I love it!

It's not that the city lost it's sparkle..

..it's just that the sparkle has officially become home.
When we first arrived in Prague it automatically felt like it fit. It was an incredible feeling, very much like the first time I stepped foot at Nazareth and was greeted with "welcome home!"
But things have changed a little. The city still has so many secrets to unravel, but that is true with any place.
When I round a corner, I know exactly where I am (mostly..)
The language doesn't sound angry anymore, but familiar.
The people aren't mean, just reserved. And often times more friendly than not.
Cobblestones are normal. So is stunning architecture.
It is still exquisite. But now it feels like the norm.

It is home.

I'm sitting at Kavarna Slavia. 2 months ago it was "that cool cafe that Vaclav Havel used to hang out at.."
But as I'm sitting here for the umpteenth million time staring at Narodni Divadlo and the river, it isn't strange. The trams rounding the corner aren't an unusual site. People running to not miss the 22 is normal.
It's not Kavarna Slavia. It's my cafe.

Last weekend I went to Vienna. It was absolutely stunning, but as I've told many people, the Christmas lights added an ability to fall in love with the city immediately. Our weekend was spent mostly at the Christkindlmarkt, trying the cuisine (aka street food stands..), and overall just wandering and getting lost. After all, that is how we discovered Prague. And it worked out pretty well for us.

The only strange part of the weekend was the unexplained act of violence towards my friend, Matt. As he was wandering the Christmas Markets enjoying the hot chocolate and lights, a guy about our age walks up and punches Matt square in the jaw. Whether it was a case of mistaken identity, or for some other forsaken reason, it rattled us all a little. But Matt, being Matt, was able to laugh it off later and he didn't let it ruin his experience of Vienna.

Other Vienna experiences included our trek to see the car that Franz Ferdinand was shot in starting the chain of events leading to WWI.

Now for some not so good news::
When Beth, Kelly, and Charlotte were in town we had lunch with a close family friend of Kelly's. Devon is currently living in Prague teaching English. The 5 of us had a great lunch and Devon even told me about a great bar in Prague that has beer for 7KC (about 45 cents!)
Last weekend, he traveled to Frankfurt, Germany with a friend. As they were looking for their hostel late at night, his friend went to go ask for directions, but when he turned around Devon was gone. No one has heard from him in 6 days now. There is no credit card activity. Devon's friend figured that he would show up to meet at the designated time to return to Prague, but unfortunately that was not the case. With these situations, the best and only thing there is to do is to spread the word to as many people as possible. Many of you who read this are nowhere near Frankfurt, Germany. But spreading the word can only help.  I am hoping, praying, wishing with all my might that he returns safely and soon.
Devon's father's contact info can be found in the link.
Please keep him in your thoughts.
http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=139486

Let all Revolutions be Velvet

Tuesday I made my second trip to Mnichovice to visit the "family lost behind the iron curtain." It was an absolutely beautiful day and we all marveled at the fact that it was warmer for my November visit than it was for the one in October. Their 2 year old daughter, Eva, was much more energetic this time as she was getting over being sick during my first visit.

Beth and I talked with the family for a long time and then took a long walk around the garden.  Unlike last time, where it was just Pavel, Chad, and myself, the entire family joined us outside. I, however, forgot to put the sim card back in my camera, and was therefore practically camera-less. Beth came to the rescue though and so the following pictures of our visit to Mnichovice are all courtesy of her.

 

Pavel and Marcela

 

Beth and Helena

What a cutie.

The day was a resounding success, and I can't wait to go back in December. What wonderfully hospitable people to let me come 3 times during my stay in Prague.

Later that night, Beth and I joined the celebrations of the Velvet Revolution. 20 years ago to the day marked the peaceful student march that ended with brutal beatings towards the marchers. This experience was extraordinarily moving.

After all, how many people can say: I am currently a student at the same university as those who began the overthrow of Czechoslovakian communism? I'm just 20 years too late.

Additionally, I had the chance to join 10,000 other people and follow the exact route that the students took 20 years ago. When we reached Národní Třída, the noises of sirens, dog growling, and overall riot reached our ears. The only difference from 1989 to now, is that now, in 2009, the noises were simulated to bring back memories from before. Police marched alongside us, instead of brutally attacking the peaceful demonstration. People shouted out how they felt about the government. And eventually, we all gathered to honor the countries and sing both national anthems.

Celebrations continued as the march was halted on Národní Třída and a rock concert was performed in the street to be heard far away. I took a million photos and I'm pretty sure only 3 of them turned out, but for your viewing pleasure (and because it wouldn't be my blog without 80 bazillion pictures present..):

Family has now left back for the states (and Budapest.. :]) And I have less then a month before my Prague companions leave me.

My how times flies. And things change.

My how crazy this week has been.

There has been a heck of a lot going on, so Ill give you the highlights.

Beth arrived last Monday and Kelly and Charlotte just arrived Friday.  Since arrival, we all have eaten astronomical amounts of Czech food, even making the trip to U Fleku more than once.  Playing tour guide has been a blast, even if I have a tendency to get us lost..but that's the way to discover Prague..right? Or so I keep telling myself. It has been absolutely wonderful to have them here and share my small piece of the world with them. Beth and I spent about 2 hours at my favorite cafe just chatting. We've also had the chance to see the Nutcracker at Narodni Divadlo. We were a tad surprised when the first scene ended and it involved Scrooge. We later learned, that this was actually not the traditional Nutcracker, but instead a combination of the Christmas Carol and Nutcracker. The dancing was beautiful either way.

Before Kelly and Charlotte's arrival, Beth and I trekked to the beautiful town of Tabor.

This is the town where my great grandmother was born, and whilst in the town, we visited the church that she was baptized in and her parents got married. The town and church were stunning, and since it was a pilgrimage church, we got in our workout for the day trying to find it.

Additionally, I had the honor to attend a debate led by Madeleine Albright last Saturday. The debate was entirely in Czech so I didn't understand the majority of the debate, but it was wonderful all the same. Very laid back, but a lot of excitement. This marks the beginning of the celebrations for Tuesday. Tomorrow marks 20 years of democracy in the Czech Republic.

The man next to her is Jan Urban. He worked with underground newspapers and as a reporter for Radio Free Europe and the British Broadcasting Company during communist reign.

Osvětim (Auschwitz)

No words.

Oh to speak Czech in Poland..

After a weekend in Poland, it is good to be 'home.'  The weekend started bright and early Friday morning with about 10.5 hours on the bus (we did get an hour for lunch).  And despite the fact that the trip was unbearably long, it was good to have all the AIFS students back together again. We all live in the same building, but we have created our own sub-groups (naturally..) and this was just a good refresher of our whole group.  It was great to catch up with those people that you "sometimes see and say hello to, but don't ever have a chance to sit down and talk." And it reemphasized how far we've really come after having been here for 2 and a half months..

Upon arriving in Krakow, we headed to the main square to grab a quick bite to eat. In a frantic attempt for all 54 of us to get a traditional Polish meal, we somehow seemed to end up at the same restaurant. And for some (odd..) reason, this was not very pleasing to the staff of the restaurant ;]. So instead, Annie, Kari, Court, and I headed down the street to the highly recommended Georgian restaurant..and oh man, was it worth it!

Now, to understand the next part of this story, I need to rewind a few months. Right before I left for Prague, mom pulled out all the old European money that her and dad had from their previous European adventures. Part of that was some Polish money from 20 or so years ago. Fast-forward to this weekend. Oh man, was I excited when I input the 1000 zlotych in the currency converter to be told I had close to $400 on my hands. Little did I know that Poland apparently changed their currency in the last 15 years to compensate for the overinflation the country used to have (100-1000%!!). Good thing I found out when the waitress said "This isn't real...not anymore at least." Crying shame. Apparently I can exchange the "old" zloty for the "new" zloty at the Polish National Bank. But my 1000 zlotych note is approximately worth 1 new zloty (35 cents). Not worth it in my opinion. I'd rather frame it!

Apart from that, our weekend mostly consisted of wandering around and sampling polish cuisine.

Sunday, we began the trip back to Prague (it was a short weekend..) with a 3 hour stop to Auschwitz along the way. I won't talk about it, because I don't think I can put it into words. I tend to express myself through photos (if you haven't noticed...) and so that is what I will do. But since I'm simply describing via photos, I think it deserves it's own blog. So look to the next one.

Capture Emotion

This week our photography goal was to capture 2 separate emotions. The first photo is from the Terezin concentration camp.

"The opposite of a profound truth may very well be another profound truth." -Bohr

After my failed attempt at attending Unitaria last week, I finally made it to service this week.

While I am doing everything possible to immerse myself within Czech culture, I have made a decision when it comes to church. My plan is to attend a Catholic service in Czech every Sunday morning and then to attend the English Unitarian service afterwards. Although it means that I am going to "church" twice every Sunday, I wouldn't change it for the world. And it has proved to be very interesting.  I actually learn Czech by going to the Catholic mass, since the mass is basically the same as back home. However, I still get my weekly dose of spiritual thought by going to Unitaria.

All of that aside, I have truly found my home away from home in the Unitaria congregation. I attended alone and when I got to the place it was held, I was greeted by a woman named Susan and Reverend Mark. Susan quickly introduced me to her friend Nancy, who is responsible for the music in the service.

In the first 2 minutes of our conversations, I found out that both ladies are from Chicago and Nancy actually worked at Carthage up until a year and a half ago when they moved to Prague. (So if anyone from Carthage knows a Nancy Henninger..!!) It's amazing what happens when you are 4000 miles from home. I also learned that Nancy lived in Germany for 28 years as an opera singer and used to teach at NIU. What a small world.

I won't reveal too much about the service, cause I doubt many actually will want to hear about it. But I will add this little tidbit: I have never felt more at home in any community. And the fact that I spent an additional 2 hours after service just talking with the members is absolute proof of that.