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.

Intolerance

There are very few things that make me extremely mad.
However, when a person chooses to be hateful towards another due to culture, or a person chooses to judge that person based on their background, I have very little patience.
On my tour of the Jewish Quarter today, our tour guide decided to share this little treasure with us:
"Czechs are very tolerant of all religions. 'Cept Muslims. We don't like Muslims. I think it is cause we don't like explosions."

Problems with this previous statement::
1. You THINK that's why you don't like them? You don't actually know why you personally dislike an entire culture??
2. Judging an entire race based on a few extremists is unacceptable.
3. Explaining to the tour group that your entire country feels this way is unnecessary. And false. Your own personal views do not represent an entire country.
Being an American in Europe, I have seen and felt how horrible it is to be judged based on a stereotype. And I would never wish it upon anyone to be judged on the American stereotype. Why then, would you try to group your entire country together? Every country is made up of individual personalities and individual views. It is impossible, therefore, to say what "all of the Czech Republic" feels about a specific issue.

But it just goes to show you: intolerant people are universal. And we can't escape them.

Unfortunately.