What a Weekend!

This Saturday I took my first trip out of Prague as well as my first trip to Germany! One more country to check off on the list of places to go. During the week I made the most magical discovery. The bus company Eurolines is sponsoring a 2 for 1 sale to lots of cities around Europe from Prague. So this means I can go places for half the price as long as I have a friend to come with me. Fortunately, I have friends who were not going to Oktorberfest in Munich this past weekend. So I invited Lindsey and we decided to be super ambitious because it was so last minute and do Berlin in one day!

On Friday we went to the Prague City Museum with UPCES and it was really nice. There were tons of artifacts dating all the way back to the beginning of people living in the area all the way until today. One really cool part was the model of the city in the 19th century. Equally wonderful, it was right by the bus station Lindsey and I needed for the morning. So now we fortunately knew where it was! After the museum we wandered around Prague 2, but inevitably ended up back in Prague 1 for some dinner. Along the way we stumbled upon the dancing house, a commonly known piece of architecture in Prague. Then we had an amazing dinner of pork stuffed with bacon and mine also had garlic while Lindsey's had green beans. Immediately after we headed back to the apartment for some much needed sleep before waking up at 5:30 am the next day.

So we thought we would be waking up that early. My alarm did not go off and Lindsey hit snooze on hers. We overslept!!! It was now 6 am and our bus was pulling out of the station at 7 am. We had an hour to get ourselves together and ride the tram to the station. The rest of the morning flew as we sprinted around catching trams which unfortunately where running late. However, we did manage to make it to our bus with several minutes to spare! One could even say we were early and thank goodness because as soon as the clock turned to 7 am the door was shut and we were pulling out.

Along the way we got to see the beautiful Czech country side and then the German country side. I'm a bit biased as to which is more beautiful so I shall try to abstain from further comment on it. We also enjoyed some chocolate muffins and baguette that we had brought along with us to snack on during the journey. Then we arrived in Berlin. Our first task was to locate the metro station to get us into the center of the city. We had signed up for a free tour through Sandeman's tours and although it was only around 11:30 am our morning experience told us to make sure we were there early so it could be stress free. Once we sorted out how to buy tickets in English on the machine life was much easier!

On the metro in we ended up in a car with tons of runners and realized we were in the city on the weekend of the Berlin marathon! They were all so excited to be there and a group of middle aged Germans were sitting in our car laughing and occasionally using words such as Facebook and twitter after taking silly photos of each other. Once we got into the center we wandered around a little bit and found a Dunkin Donuts! What a nice piece of home right in Germany. Of course we had to stop for some coffee there. We got it to go and met up with our tour group. The Sandeman tour is really cool  because it is a free tour and the guides work exclusively on tips. This means that they have to be really good at their jobs and entertain you so that they can make their living. Our guide lived up to that expectation and even went beyond. Besides the fact that he was attractive, and had an English accent, he was extremely passionate about the city of Berlin and was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the area. Although the tour online was advertised as being 2.5 hours, we were with him for nearly 3.5 walking around the main points of the city. Along the way we saw the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gates, Holocaust Memorial to the Jews, stood over the Bunker where Hitler committed suicide and was married, the Berlin wall, the French Hugenot and German cathedrals, more Cathedrals of all religions due to tolerance under Prussian rule, and walked past the university where Marx and Engels studied as well as many other philosophers and scientists. It was a packed schedule, but it was incredible. The city was so vibrant and full of life. This may also be due to the fact that we arrived during the Berlin marathon and roller skating races.

After our tour we grabbed a quick dinner of sandwiches in a Cafe built where Goebbels used to have a villa that was later used as an SS headquarter, Cafe Einstein. It was delicious and I also had some great wine there! Then it was time to head home. This would seem like a simple task, if not for the roller skating race that had not been occurring when we entered the restaurant. Long story short we had to run around where the street was blocked off. Once again causing us to almost miss our bus. If we learned nothing today it is to leave for the bus even earlier than you think you have to because otherwise you end up running up to it about five minutes before it is supposed to pull out!  After stressing and running around a city where I know even less of the language than Prague it was wonderful to see the skyline of my city again. Overall it was a wonderful weekend and I am using this Sunday to catch up with some cleaning of the apartment, grocery shopping, and of course readings for my course work. I am looking forward to another eventful week in Prague.

Me in front of Dancing house

Holocaust Memorial to the Jews 

Brandenburg Gates

Main square with Concert house and Cathedral

The German flag (I was in Germany!!!)

The Berlin Cathedral

Oh wait! We're here to study?

Last week I left off with DJ and I heading to church on a boat. It was really interesting. The area looked a little bit sketchy and I felt more like we were meeting people to start a revolution than to go to a service, but it turned out to be really nice. We were given headphones and a man in the back of the room spoke the service in english over a radio station while the woman preached in the front of the room. The music was great and most of it was in english with english and Czech subtitles!!! So it was easy to feel like a part of it. I feel like we will go back at some point during the semester especially since we now know where it is.

This week was the first week of classes!!! The week in a word: hectic! On Monday I was meant to have my first internship meeting at the school, but alas the wonders of Czech doors I ended up locked inside (yes inside) the apartment and had to reschedule for this upcoming week. As the week progressed I continued my czech language courses and also began my history coursework as well. During all of that, there was a confusion with my schedule and which section I was supposed to be in for a class and I then had to reorganize some things around, but by the end of the day Thursday, everything was officially set in place and I am now able to start getting into a routine (my favorite).

I am really excited about this semester overall. My professors are passionate and excited to teach us about this region, and I can not wait to learn about it. During the semester, I will be analyzing the effects the fall of communism has had on different nations that were previously under the iron curtain, reviewing several case studies about minorities in the Czech Republic and the effects the post communistic world has had on them, develop further understanding of the art movements of the 20th century, explore the city of Prague in a walking tour class, and of course continue to expand my Czech language skills. I could not have asked for a better location to do this all. This city has beauty in every corner and it is nearly impossible to walk looking forward. There was things above, below, and right next to you while walking that have a story to tell if you are curious enough to look into it.

Besides classes and learning, there was fun and adventure this week! On Wednesday I had lunch with my friend Lindsey before she had class and we debriefed on all the hectic things occurring as we got settled into our regular schedules. After that I went out for coffee and dessert with my friend Rachel. We ended up wandering through all the old streets of the lesser town. I was amazed at how pretty everything was. It was all right by where many tourists like to go, such as the St. Nicholas Bell tower, and yet just one street over there was hardly anybody. We also wandered into the gardens behind the senate building and almost got attacked by a peacock. Well ok, maybe not, but it got really close. So we decided to leave. Along the way we also stopped by the school we are both interning at and took some pictures. You can actually see the castle behind the school from the right angle. It really is a dream!

Now the weekend is left for homework...or not! I spent Saturday in Berlin! But there will be more to come on that later.

Dessert time!!!

The school I will be interning at! 

Gardens behind the senate.

Park Lane International School

End of Orientation

Last weekend we began exploring the city even further by wandering into parks and getting on random trams until the end of the line. This was amazing. By doing so, we were able to discover some pristine views of Prague and a beer garden overlooking the river as well. Then the weekend ended and our second week of orientation and czech classes began.
To learn another language is one thing, but to study it four days straight for three hours each morning is an extremely intense cram session. After day one, we were all pretty excited to be starting it and figuring out how to actually pronounce our street names and read the signs around the city. However, after day two the overwhelmed feeling began to sink in. Although I have experience learning russian and the grammatical rules are thankfully the same, some of the stresses on words I had learned in Russian are different. This causes some pronunciation confusion. But after two more days of the class, I am looking forward to continuing my proficiency in the language and developing my ability to function more fully in the Czech Republic!!!
Besides Czech, we also attended several lectures by professors about the nation of the Czech Republic today in social and economic senses. This was extremely interesting as it gave us an idea of the mind sets of people in the country and how they feel about their place in the world as well as how they are recovering after being a part of the Communist block.
After lectures we did more interactive activities and tours. The first day was an amazing film called Kawasaki's Rose designed to inform us about the lives of the people after the fall of the iron curtain. It was intriguing to see how characters interacted with each other and how one man's betrayal of another led to an entirely different life for his family. Then we toured the castle and the Jewish Quarter of town. Within the castle we saw several state buildings and the breathtaking gothic cathedral, St. Vitus. There was a room with all the relics of the Czech Saints dedicated to St. Wenceslas that has survived all the invasions and revolutions of the area against the Catholic faith. In the Jewish quarter we saw the oldest active synagogue in Europe that was plain and intriguing as well as the newer Spanish style synagogue which seemed more decorative and had many beautiful architectural pieces in it. These were both impressive and beautiful tours. However it was the last day of orientation when we took the river cruise that I was truly able to see the beauty of the city. I spent most of my time on the boat with my mouth hanging open, unable to clearly verbally express how I was feeling. I am still struggling with explaining how blessed I am to be here and how amazed I was at the beauty of the architecture from so long ago.
Along the way I got to become acquainted with one of my future professors, Keith Crawford. He is teaching The Rise and Fall of Communism, a class I was already excited for, but am even more so now. In my conversations with him, we were able to start addressing both academic discussion as well as have a personal conversation about the course and life. I can not wait to get further engaged in my coursework here as the first week of classes draws even nearer.
This past weekend UPCES brought us to the adorable southern Bohemian town of Cesky Krumlov. It is nestled inside over several hills and is overlooked by a castle. We toured the castle and the city during our two day stay and learned several of it's cute areas. The castle was very nice and we were told a story of a ruler who loved the barber's daughter, but when she went to see him one day he was angry and drunk and threw her out the window. She survived, but then he wanted her back. This was not something she herself wanted so she tried to refuse. Eventually the ruler arrested her father so she had to come back. Her locked her in a room and cut her to pieces and threw those pieces out the window that time. He later died on a toilet so our tour guide seemed to think karma got him in the end. We were told that story twice by our two different guides. It was interesting both times and I imagine it would still be if I heard it again. The town itself was charming. During our stay we wandered throughout the streets. At one point we found a crying baby alone in a car which was terrifying, but then the mother came outside. For a minute we all were very unsure about what to do!
Today DJ and I are off to church on a boat and tomorrow everyone starts classes while I have my interview with my internship. I can not wait to see how the first week goes and to begin getting into a rhythm for my time of study here.

Away We Go

Nothing beats flying into a city. To see the lights for the first time brings up feelings of whimsy and joy. The adventure has begun and there is no going back. Once you pass security, there is no chance to return and you can only go forward; forward into the future. To begin our adventure, DJ and I met up with some other people in our program and flew with them. There were no delays which was wonderful, but nothing was as great as the woman I am now calling Grandma. When I took my seat on the TAP flight from Newark to Portugal, I never expected to be able to form such a relationship with the person sitting next to me. Although there was a language barrier between us, she only spoke Portuguese and I English, we were able to communicate almost flawlessly. We watched the Great Gatsby together, me with headphones to hear the English and her reading the subtitles on the screen. We ordered the same food and made general facial expressions about everyone around us as. When I was putting on my sweatshirt, she helped me with the back of it to expedite my process. What a lovely woman and I don’t even know her name. With her love and kindness though, I can safely say that the trip started out to a great start. 

Once in Prague, all I could do was stare and soak in all of the life and history surrounding me. Everything looked so beautiful, old, and colorful. Within a couple days, DJ and I met Grace and Dani and they have been with us ever since. We wandered through town after our welcome social gathering and were there when I gave a woman directions in Russian although I had only been in the city for two days at that point. Guess my sense of direction and those 7 years of learning Russian paid off! We all have been meeting more people as the days have progressed and after one week, I can say we have a solid group of 9 people: Grant, Postman, Dani, Grace, Andy, Rachel, James, DJ, and myself. For the past several nights in between the apartment searching, we have all found time to go for meals together and visit various sites around the city. Even though sometimes that means being lost and heading into the unknown, it is all an adventure. Getting lost has been one of the best ways to see the city and without getting lost and walking a lot we would likely know far less about this beautiful place. 

Besides making friends, we have also found an apartment for the duration of our stay after days of searching. We are living in Prague 7 across the river from the hustle and bustle of central city. This allows us to have some spectacular views while riding the tram. Last night we were out so late that we learned that the lights to the castle are shut off at some point during the night. We have also been able to see a bunch of different sites around the city including Old Town Square, The Astronomical Clock, the Lennon Wall, and of course our school. 

The best part? All the interesting people we’ve met along the way. While at the Lennon wall, we met the director of Gasland and were interviewed for the Czech news. They wanted American students perspectives on fracking and we collectively were able to come up with some concrete answers. If only one of us had cable so we could watch. Another fun person was the man on the square who said he would marry me if I went to his concert. That was a little too soon for a proposal if you ask me so I declined both him and his concert! This week has been amazing and the excitement continues. There is something new to find around every corner and new adventures to have. We just talk to the locals and start. I can not wait to see where this semester takes me!

6 Days Away

Just finished packing! It has been the dreaded task, but now it is complete and I feel really good about my clothing options for the next three months. I just have to wrap up a couple other things and see visit my friends at school before I am off to Prague!!!
Yesterday DJ and I found a great apartment and we are really excited to check it out and hopefully make it our new home. I also got an email officially offering me an internship at an international school in Prague which I am very excited to get started with as well. Things are progressing really well and I just want to get started so all of the nerves can go away.