Less than a week...

I just realized that it has officially been over a month since I last updated my blog...oops! A lot has happened in the last month and somehow I'm going to have to find time and go all the way back to my spring break adventures and fill you in. For the time being, here's a little recap:

• Midway through April my Dad came and visited for a week. It was so nice to have a taste of home and to see him. We had great weather while he was here and I was so proud to show him around my city. Over the weekend that he was here, we took a trip to Vienna. Vienna was absolutely gorgeous and there was so much to do. It really doesn't have as big of a reputation as it deserves considering that it was once essentially the center of the world's power and culture. Dad really loved Prague and is already planning to come back some day.
  
• Just three days after Dad left for the states, I went on a weekend trip sponsored by my program to Krakow, Poland. I didn't really have high expectations for the trip because, I mean, it's just Poland, right? I ended up loving Krakow. It was so beautiful and the people were so nice. It felt really special to connect a little with my family's heritage.
• The weekend after Krakow, our program sponsored a day trip to a little Czech town called  Česky Krumlov. Only about eight or ten people went on the trip, but it was actually nice after going to Krakow with nearly 40 students. We spent the day doing a tour of the castle there, eating at a Czech restaurant, then wandering around town. 
• The next weekend, we found out that our roommates had been planning on having four of their friends stay in our apartment for four nights. Just to give that some perspective, there are already six girls living here, we only have twin beds and only one bathroom. Even though they had been planning the trip since the beginning of the semester, none of them ever had the courtesy to ask if it would be okay. To escape that madness, my roommates Lisa, Sammi and I decided to take an overnight trip to a Czech resort town called Karlovy Vary. It was a very relaxing trip that included swimming in a thermal bath, relaxing in a sauna, and getting a massage. I have to say though, after a semester in my tiny twin bed that doesn't even have a real pillow, my favorite part was sleeping in the plush hotel bed.

Since then, my life has mostly been consumed with school work. Apparently, finals suck no matter where you are. I've been racing to finish my sketchbook for my art and architecture class, write papers (including a 250 word essay all in Czech!), and read up for my exams...and complete my med school application on top of all that. It's hard because in my last days I feel like I should be living it up, getting everything checked off my list of things I wanted to see while I was here, and enjoying the city. Instead I've been stooped up in my apartment or out attempting to find any artistic ability. 

The good news is that Mom and Robin get here in just TWO days! I'm so excited to see them, but it is a little bittersweet since their coming means the end of my time in Prague. They will be in Prague for three days, and then we leave to spend ten days in Germany! 

Easter Sunday

I had an absolutely lovely Easter Sunday in Prague. I was a little bummed about not being able to be with my family for the holiday, but as they say, "If you can't be with the ones you love, then love the ones you're with."

One thing that I really wanted to do for Easter was go to to mass at one of the big cathedrals in Prague. St. Vitus cathedral up in the Prague Castle complex is the biggest and most well known church in Prague, so I was really excited to be able to find the times when they would have mass on Easter. I thought I was going to have to go by myself, but I ended up going with my roommate Lisa, my friend Jordan, and his roommate. The mass was all in Czech, but I really didn't mind. I've seen Catholic mass in a lot of different languages now, and it has actually become one of my favorite parts of traveling to see mass in other languages. The cathedral was absolutely gorgeous. I had been up there a few times, but this was the first time that it was sunny out when I was in the cathedral, and seeing the church with so much light coming through the stained glass was completely different. 

After church, we walked down from the castle, across Charles Bridge and through Old Town Square. It was a madhouse in Old Town with so many tourists in town for the holiday, but it was really fun to see the Easter markets so busy and bustling. We all went to Bohemian Bagel for lunch, then Lisa and I parted ways with the boys. We stopped into a bakery called the Bakeshop because Sammi had said that she and her sister were going there, but by the time we got there they had already left. We did happen to see some brightly colored cupcakes though, and we decided that they would be the perfect Easter treat.

We went back to the apartment for a bit, and after relaxing for a while, Jordan invited us to meet up with him and some friends at the beer garden. The boys were playing basketball and instead of trying to find them, Lisa and I wandered around the park for a while before meeting up at the actual beer garden. We hung out for a while with the boys, but headed out early to go home and make an Easter dinner. 

In the Czech Republic, they have a tradition on Easter Monday where the men whip women's legs with a switch to bestow on them health and fertility and in return the women give the men a painted egg or a shot of alcohol. Apparently it's bigger in the villages than in the big cities, but either way, Lisa and I decided to avoid the chaos on Monday by relaxing at home and being productive on our school work and work for home. 

Zoo Day!

Since I've been in Prague, one of the things that I have really wanted to do was to go to the Prague Zoo. Today, on this warm Saturday, I finally got the chance to go with my roommates Sammi and Lisa, our friends Stephanie, Wade, and Jordan, and their friend Maggie.

Before going to the zoo, Sammi, Lisa, and I decided that we would have Easter Brunch a day early. We got dressed up in sundresses and went to a restaurant called Radost FX that I had heard has good brunch. Radost is actually a club at night (Rihanna shot a music video there!), but it is a vegetarian restaurant during the day and has brunch on the weekend. The brunch definitely didn't disappoint. Sammi and I each got a huge plate of Belgian waffles covered in fresh fruit and Lisa got some really tasty eggs.

After brunch, we all met up with at the zoo. I had pretty low expectations for the zoo, but it turned out to be really great and very cheap. They had all kinds of animals, but the best part was the giraffes. The way that the giraffe enclosure was set up, the giraffes could come right up to where the people were standing. We held out leafy twigs and with a little patience and a couple of minor shocks from the electric fence we were able to get the giraffes to eat the twigs out of our hands. You could never get away with that at an American zoo between the liability of an electric fence and letting people get so close to the animals, but it was made possible today thanks to the lack of regulation in a central European zoo.

After the zoo, we were all really worn out from a day in the sun. Sammi's sister Amanda arrived in Prague today though, so Sammi, Lisa, Amanda and I all went out for dinner at Cafe Louvre, a notable Prague cafe. It was a nice end to one of my best days in Prague so far.

A Whole New City

Since I've come back from spring break, Prague has become a whole new city. The day before I left, I was still bundled in my coat and boots and I experienced sun, snow, sleet and rain all with in hours. Since I've come home, it has been warm and sunny every single day. The sundresses and shorts that I thought I would never get a chance to wear have now become necessities. Even the Czech people are friendlier now that they're getting a bit of sunshine. Of course, the change of seasons has brought tons more tourists, but I'm willing to have them if it means warm weather. Over spring break, people would ask me how I liked Prague and I had a hard time telling people that I loved it. But now that I'm back, my opinion has totally changed. It just took some better lighting to make me realize how much I love it here. The six weeks that I have left here definitely doesn't feel like enough.

Yesterday I went to a beer garden in a park with my roommate Sammi, some friends of ours, and some friends of friends. It was so much fun because the crowd there consisted much more of Czechs than of Americans or other tourists. It was the perfect kind of warm spring night to sit and talk with friends. 

I also made a breakthrough with my independent study project that I was supposed to be working on while I was here. I was supposed to be doing a project comparing the health care systems in the Czech Republic and the United States, but it turned out to be a lot harder to get motivated than I expected, I had no clear direction of what I wanted to do with the project, and the language barrier proved to be more of an obstacle than I had expected. I was getting really stressed out about having to spend the last weeks of my time here cramming to get the project done. Last night though, I got inspired to take my project in a totally different direction. I got the idea to do my project about why kids in my generation continue to smoke, even though they are well aware of the health consequences. I already have a clear picture of how to conduct the research and I will be able to do most of the research over the summer and throughout next semester, so I will be able to relax and enjoy the rest of my time here. 

I promise I'll work on my first set of Italy blogs tonight!!

I'm baaaaack!

Hey Everyone! 

I'm back safely in Prague and I had an amazing time in Italy! I haven't had a chance to unpack yet, but I'll try to update the blog asap so I can share my Italian adventures with you :)

Only hours till Italy!

I'm finally done with my midterms! I know there's still another half of the semester to go, but it feels so good to be done!

Only eleven hours from now I will be on a plane to Italy. I have a lot of little things to do to be ready and then it's time for Spring Break!!!

I'm sooo excited and I can't believe how blessed I am to get to be in Italy for ten days for spring break. I can't wait to read and eat and relax. I'm so excited for each of the different cities that we are going to. Ahhhh this is going to be the best spring break EVER!!!!!

Two Down, One to Go!

I just got finished with my second of two midterm exams. So far they have gone pretty smoothly. My Cultural Anthropology one yesterday was about what I expected it to be and I definitely didn't need to do any more studying than just doing the readings and looking over my notes. My Czech midterm today wasn't bad either. It was one of those exams that I just couldn't bring myself to study for because I just didn't believe that it could be hard. It took me longer to finish it than I expected, but that was mostly because he put a lot of vocab on there that we hadn't really learned in class, so I had to spend a lot of time looking stuff up in dictionaries. I'm really hoping that I do well on these exams. I don't think that I could live it down if my only semester of bad grades in college is from my semester in a Czech community college.

My last midterm is my philosophy midterm tomorrow. I'm nervous about it, but probably more so that I have to be. We at least have a study guide, so I'm going to go through the readings and hope for the best...

Yesterday I had the chance to shadow a Czech doctor. The patients weren't especially interesting. He pretty much took their blood pressure and gave them a basic diagnosis within a few minutes. What was more interesting to me was getting a chance to talk to him about differences in health care and health systems in the Czech Republic versus the US. He actually went to med school at Yale and got board certified in the US before moving back to the Czech Republic to work (he speaks perfect American English). I'm hoping that he will be a good resource for my independent study project that I am theoretically going to buckle down on once I get back from spring break. It wasn't very busy yesterday, but he invited me to come back again when he has a fuller day of patients. 

The weather here has been crazy lately. Yesterday started out sunny, then we got sleet, then it was sunny again, then there was a thunderstorm that turned into a blizzard. I would say that I can't wait to get to Italy to get out of this rainy weather, but the forecast predicts 60% chance of rain in every city we are going to for every day that we will be there :( I'm trying to stay positive, but I was pretty inconsolable when I saw the forecast yesterday. I'm desperate for sunshine and warmth, and I end up going to somewhere that is getting more rain in a week than they have all month. If nothing else, the trip will at least still be a chance to read, relax, and eat good food, even if it all has to be done indoors. 

Count Down to Italy

Four days from now I will be on my way to Italy for spring break...but I'm not sure I can make it that long!

I am so so so excited if nothing else to experience good food and warm weather for 10 days. We are going to spend 2 nights in Venice, 4 nights in Cinque Terre, and 4 nights in Rome.

I think I'm most excited about Cinque Terre. It is a string of five tiny islands connected by hiking paths. It was named a Unesco World heritage site, and when the Italian government realized what a treasure it was, they banned any modern buildings from being built so there aren't even any large hotels there. The populations on the islands range from 600 to 1850. The pictures look gorgeous and I'm praying that we have sunshine while we are there. Cinque Terre is the home of pesto so I know that we're going to get some great food while we're there. The hostel that we are staying at even has an organic restaurant attached to it!

The time leading up to leaving for vacation is going to be pretty miserable though. We have midterms this week and even at Czech community college that involves some studying. I'm not too nervous for two of the three, but I'm pretty nervous about my philosophy class. My professor for that class is really terrible. He doesn't explain at all the very dense information that we are reading and I have no idea what kind of questions he's going to throw at us on the exam. He sent us a study guide and it says that the exam will include 10-15 short answer questions and 4 long answer questions all to be completed in 75 minutes. That's a lot to ask on exam and I'm not even sure that my hand will be able to write that much that fast!

On top of studying, I have to get ready for my trip! I have shopping to do and a lot of reading to do about the towns we are visiting. Hopefully this stressful week will make spring break that much more relaxing and enjoyable :)

Budapest!

As has been pointed out by all the members of my family, I have gotten a little behind on my blogging. But really that's a good thing because it means that I'm so busy having so much fun that I don't have time to blog!

Yesterday I got back from a trip to Budapest, Hungary with my roommate Sammi, our friend Sarah Woodworth, and our other friends Yuri and Julie. We were there for three days and I definitely think that I needed a few more days there to really get to know the city. I had a great time though and it's still so cool to me to be able to just go away for the weekend to another country.

Yuri and Julie arrived in Budapest on Thursday afternoon, but Sammi, Sarah and I took a night an overnight train Thursday night and arrived Friday morning. I was able to sleep through pretty much all of the train ride, but Sarah and Sammi weren't so lucky, so they were pretty tired for most of the day on Friday.

We stayed at a hostel called the Home Plus and it was really great. It was small and decorated with lots of bright colors and the staff was so friendly. Someone sat down with us for quite a while when we first arrived to show us where we were on the map and to point out the fun things to do in the city. 

We got to the hostel at about 10 am. We got unpacked and sat down for awhile to learn about the city and then we decided that we were all in major need of a meal. There was a girl named Emily from England who is traveling by herself staying in our hostel who arrived at the same time we did, so we invited her to go eat with us. We weren't really oriented in the city yet, so we just wandered down the main street near our hostel and settled on a Turkish restaurant. 

A girl in one of my classes told me that one thing that I had to do while in Budapest was go caving. After naps and coffee, we did a little wandering before meeting up with the caving tour group. We all set off on buses to the outskirts of the city. We went into a little shack where our guide got us all suited up in full body suits and helmets with lights on them and then we headed to the caves...

Caving was fun, but a cave is no place to realize that you are claustrophobic. At the start of the caving excursion, we went through a door that led into a cave hallway with a sort of vaulted ceiling. Even at that point, when there were at least a few inches between my head and the ceiling and I had room to move my arms I felt kind of uncomfortable. And then we went down a ten meter ladder. And then we spent the next 2 1/2 hours in the depths of the caves. Some of the spaces that we had to squeeze through were so small that your back and your belly would both be touching the cave at the same time and you had to wriggle on your belly to get through. Our guide was like a mole of something and as we entered each new passage he would scramble through like there was nothing to it. In the end, I'm glad that I did it, but I can say with certainty that I am never caving again. It's funny because caving was my idea and I ended up liking it the least, go figure.

By the time we got done caving it was about 8 o'clock. We headed back to the hostel, got cleaned up and headed out for dinner. We didn't really know of anywhere in particular to go, so we headed to a street that Sarah's friend who is studying in Budapest recommended. We picked a restaurant that we thought looked cheap, and had a very good meal and some tasty Hungarian beer. Things got fishy though when the bill came. Somehow, even though we had all put in more than what we owed, we were still supposedly 3000 Hungary Hippos short on the bill. In the end, we all had to throw in more money and it turned out fine, but getting hosed like that put a definite damper on the night. Sammi, Emily and I were feeling pretty beat up and tired from caving, so we headed back to the hostel while the rest went out with Sarah's friend. 

Our plan for Saturday was to go to the Hungarian thermal baths, another of the must do things in Budapest. It was a gorgeous day, so we decided to walk to the baths and stopped at a grocery store for cheap breakfast on the way. As we were walking, we went past the Terror House. It is a building that was used as the torture compound under the Nazi and Socialist regimes that has now been turned into a museum. It is supposed to be one of the best museums to go to in Budapest, so we decided to delay our trip to the baths and go.

It was very interesting, but very sobering. The to two floors have lots of information about occupation of the Nazis and the Soviets and when you reach the end of those floors, you get on an elevator to go to the basement which is where people were imprisoned, tortured, and executed. The elevator ride is very slow and as you descend, you watch a video of a man who used to clean the gallows very unemotionally describing the process of an execution. It gave me chills before I even got to the basement. I actually had to rush through the basement because I met up with Sarah who told me that the baths were going to be closing earlier than we thought. I'm glad that I didn't have time to linger though because the basement was quite upsetting.

After the museum, we continued on to the baths. Sarah and I took to the metro because we were worried about the baths closing and Sammi and Emily broke off to walk the rest of the way. 

At first when we got to the baths I was a little disappointed. It was cool and all to have lots of baths, but we were indoors and it smelled like sulfur and there were just a few too many old men in Speedos. We decided to walk around to see what else was available and after a little bit of exploring we made our way outside to a huge gorgeous open air pool. It absolutely wonderful. It was the temperature of a warm bath and it felt so great to soak our aching muscles. We met up with Sammi and Emily eventually and they were just thrilled as we were. After soaking for awhile, the other girls decided that they all wanted to get massages. I didn't feel like spending money or waiting an hour to get a massage, so I split off from them to head home. 

I ended up walking home around a really pretty boulevard. I met up with Yuri and Julie back at the hostel and just hung out until the rest of the girls came home. For dinner that night, we went to a really nice little restaurant that the hostel recommended. We were a little wary about going out to eat again after getting screwed on the bill the night before, but everything turned out fine.

That night, we went out to a bar called Instant that was recommended by our hostel and by my roommates who went to Budapest last month. It is the newest of the "ruin bars" in Budapest which are bars that have been converted from old apartment buildings or other buildings. Every room in Instant had a different theme. There was a school of fish hanging in the large courtyard, a room with light up butterflies all over the walls, a dentist themed room with a toothbrush chandelier, an upside down room with tables and chairs glued to the ceiling, and there was dancing in the cavelike basement. We went to the bar with a group of German guys that we met at our hostel and we all had a really great time. 

On Sunday, we wanted to do a walking tour since we still hadn't really seen the sights of Budapest. We chose to do the free tour that had pamphlets in the hostel, and let's just say you get what you pay for. We spend the first 30+ minutes of the tour just standing around listening to the guide talking about Hungarian history. It was interesting enough, but the point of the walking tour is to be walking so you can see the city. He led us down random alleyways and it seemed like he didn't really care about us seeing the tourist sights, which is why were there. After listening to him talk about taxes for 15 minutes while standing in a random alleyway, I had had enough. I approached him after we saw St. Stephen's Basilica and asked him exactly what sights we would be seeing since we had to leave in just a few hours to catch our train. When I didn't get a straight answer, Sarah and I decided to break off and see the sights on our own. We actually probably took the same path as the tour group since we kept almost awkwardly running into them, but it was worth leaving the group to not have to listen to the guide any more.

It turns out, Sunday, March 15 is Hungary's Independence Day, so there was lots of excitement. We walked across the bridge from the Pest side to the Buda side (they used to be two separate cities) where the main celebration was going on. It was really fun to see the locals all celebrating, wearing silly hats and ribbons with the colors of the Hungarian flag.

Sarah and I wandered around the Buda Castle and saw St. Martin's church and what I think was the Fisherman's Bastion which had a great view of the city. After a lot of walking, we made our way back to the hostel to meet up with the rest of the group.

The train ride went very smoothly until the very end. After six hours on the train, we were all very ready to get off. We were expecting to have another hour on the train, but lo and behold, a whole hour early we hear them announce, hlavni nadrazi, which is the name of the station we were supposed to get off at in Prague. We all rushed to get off the train and exited our platform, but when we looked around, we were definitely not in Praha Hlavni Nadrazi. We were in a random train station of almost the same name in some tiny town an hour outside of Prague. I freaked out a little bit at the thought of having to spend the night in the Czech boonies, but we were able to get another train into Prague within about 30 minutes. It was a pretty hectic ending, but all's well that ends well.

Once again, sorry about the lack of blogs. I still owe you a blog about Paris, let alone what I've been up to around Prague. Miss you all and I can't wait for visitors! :)

24 Hours in Dresden

This past weekend my roommate Sammi and I took a short trip to Dresden, Germany. We wanted to get out of town and Dresden seemed like a great place for our first mini Europe trip since it's only a short train ride and I sort of speak the language there. We originally planned on being getting there on Friday and staying until Sunday, but we tried to book the hostel too late, so there were no rooms available for Friday. We ended up leaving on Saturday and leaving Sunday afternoon. We were only in town for about 24 hours total, but it ended up being just the right amount of time to have in Dresden.

The train ride from Prague to Dresden was really nice and we saw a lot of the Czech countryside. The only fall back was that we got on the train too late and we ended up having to sit with a German man named Stefan. He seemed nice enough, but he talked the whooooooooole time. Even when I started reading my book and Sammi started dozing off, he interrupted whatever we were doing to keep the one-sided conversation going. Another problem with the train ride was that halfway through, the train broke down and we had to wait for an hour for a new engine to arrive, which meant extra time with Stefan and less time in Dresden.

By the time we finally got to Dresden, we were starving. Our hostel was only a short walk from the train station, so we checked in and went to look for a restaurant recommended by my guidebook called Planwirtschaft. It was a great find. Not only did it have a great atmosphere, it also specialized in locally grown food. 

After our wonderful meal, Sammi and I spent the evening wandering Dresden's Neustadt. Dresden is basically divided by the Elbe River into the Altstadt and the Neustadt. The Altstadt is where all of the historical, touristy things are and the Neustadt is known for its youthful, alternative community. We thought that we would have plenty to do just by wandering the Neustadt, but there seemed to be no one in the entire city! Almost all of the stores were closed and there was practically no one out on the streets. It was a little disappointing, and we almost gave up early to spend the night in our hostel, but we forced ourselves to go out and enjoy our time in Dresden. First, we went to a place called the Schokolade Bar for dessert and coffee where I successfully ordered completely in German! (It was kind of a highlight of my weekend.) After that, we walked around for awhile looking for a jazz bar that the woman at the front desk of our hostel recommended called the Blue Note. It took a while, but we finally found it and it ended up being a lot of fun. There was a singer/guitar player performing and he was actually pretty good. We called it a night during his intermission though so we could hopefully get to sleep early enough to get up early and see the Altstadt.

As desolate as the Neustadt was while we were there, one of the cool things about it was all of the graffiti. Usually, graffiti makes a city look dirty and trashy, but in Dresden's Neustadt, it adds to the city's character. A lot of the graffiti is very artistic and it plays a big part in the young, alternative image of the city.

In the morning, we woke up and made our way to the Altstadt. It was a cold and slushy day just like Saturday had been, but we had a good time in the Altstadt. There are lots of churches and old buildings in the Altstadt including the Frauenkirche, the Hauptkatholischeskirche, and the Kreuzkirche. We weren't able to go into any of the churches for some reason, but we were able to peek into the Frauenkirche and it looked beautiful! I think it was a relief to be in the Altstadt just because there were actually people there! 

The highlight of Sunday once again was the food. We used another suggestion from my guidebook and ate at Cafe Aha! right next the the Kreuzkirche. Cafe Aha specializes in "ecologically sound" foods and the result is delicious. Most of their foods are organic and/or free trade and they even had a special menu to correspond to their current display. I think Dad would have loved this trip to Dresden just based on the wonderful locally grown, organic meals that we ate while we were there.

All in all, I can't say that the trip to Dresden was phenomenal, but it was a fun adventure with a lot of great food.

And this coming weekend...PARIS!!!!!!!

Apartment Tour

I didn't really do anything noteworthy this week, so since I don't have anything to report, I thought I should finally put up pictures of my apartment.

Of all of the beautiful buildings in Prague, this is the one that I live in. There is a rug store on the bottom level and when it closes for the night we have to use a huge skeleton key to get in the gate. My biggest accomplishment since getting here has been figuring out how to open the gate in less than five minutes.

This is our foyer. We thought it was really cool at first, until we realized that the cleaning people in the building can access this area to get into their cleaning closet. We're plenty secure, but it's a little weird to hear people rummaging around out there. 

This is our state of the art kitchen and our pantry. I had dreams of really improving my culinary skills while I was here, but those went out the window pretty fast. Since I took these pictures we got another mini-fridge and another hotplate, so we're really living in the lap of luxury these days. 

This is our living/dining area. 

This is my and Sammi's bedroom! I don't know how well you can tell from this picture, but the beds are TINY! And they are hollow and can be opened up to use for storage. 

The faux fireplace in our room.

Our storage area. We don't even have anywhere to hang things up!

My bed. We've lived here for over two weeks now and just two days ago we figured out that we can open up the doors to a balcony. 

The one bathroom for six girls. Please note the radiator on the right and the washing machine on the left.

The view from Sarah and Lisa's balcony. The balcony attached to their room is much bigger than ours and we can't wait until it gets warm so we can sit on the balcony and drink wine. 

And the view looking the other way from the balcony. The balcony is definitely the crowning glory of our apartment.

Tomorrow (Saturday), my roommate Sammi and I are taking a train to Dresden, Germany for an overnight trip. Hopefully when I get back I'll have something more interesting to report!

Valentine's Weekend

It's been a very quiet weekend with three of the flatmates out of town. The three Wisconsin girls left for Budapest late Thursday night, so Sammi, Lisa and I have been on our own all weekend. 

My friend Ashley's boyfriend, Brian, has been in Prague for two weeks with another study abroad program and I've been meaning to contact him since I've been here. I finally got ahold of him on Thursday and went out with him and a bunch of his friends to a fun, small bar. I really liked his friends and they were much less intimidating to hang out with since they weren't already friends before they came here like a lot of people in my program. One of his friends actually looked really familiar to me and in a major "it's a small world" moment, I realized that we had been friends at soccer camp the summer before my freshman year of college. I'm really excited to have another outlet to find people to hang out with.

On Friday, the three of us went to CEA's orientation dinner. We met up with a group of girls that we knew on the way there and even though we showed up 40 minutes late we were still the first ones to get there. We enjoyed the free food and the band and more people arrived throughout the party. It ended up being a lot of fun and an opportunity to meet a lot of great new people. 

On Saturday, the three of us made a Valentine's Day dinner at the apartment. I made chicken and pasta and Lisa made a huge salad. We went out for some very decadent desserts. It was a really nice way to celebrate the holiday.

For my Prague Art and Architecture class, I was assigned to go to the Prague City Museum some time this week, so Lisa and I went and checked it out today. Most of the museum is a history of Prague with artifacts going way back to the pre-historic era of the city. The best part of the museum though was a temporary exhibit called Prague at Turns of Centuries. It had side by side photos from all over Prague at the turn of the 19th century and the turn of the 20th century. It was really cool to see how the things that we see every day have changed over a hundred years. We actually were really lucky that we got to see the exhibit because today was the last day that it was running.

Lisa and I also went to the gym for the first time today. We found the local YMCA yesterday and got memberships for the duration of our stay for only $35. We're not sure if we misinterpreted something through the language barrier, but if not it was a really great deal! It felt so good to be active and sweat today. I'm really glad to have Lisa here so that I'll actually be motivated by having someone to go with. 

The big plan for tomorrow is doing laundry...it's so weird having SO much free time! I'm going to hopefully start work on my independent research project soon, so that should take up some time. I function better when I'm a little bit busy and stressed, so hopefully all this free time doesn't turn out to be a bad thing. 

Love and miss you all :)

Beautiful Praha

Today I was lucky enough to get to experience snowfall in Prague. We had some snow yesterday, but it was more like slush. Today, we had huge fluffy snowflakes. It was so beautiful that despite the cold, I decided to walk home from class through Old Town Square. Walking across Charles Bridge, I felt like I was in a postcard. 

I was really excited today to finally go to a bookstore called The Globe. It is right in my neighborhood and also has a restaurant/cafe. The whole time that I was there I couldn't help thinking home much Dad would love it.  I walked there with my flatmates Sammi, Sarah, and Lisa. We had delicious chicken noodle soup which was the perfect comfort food on a cold day. We all said that it would be a great place for a study day...if we ever need a study day since we all have the impression that Anglo-American University is a community college.

Tonight, Sammi and I went to a really cool bar called U Sudu. It's really cool because the main part of the bar is down a flight of stairs and the interior looks almost like a cave. There were a lot of Czechs there and occasionally they would all burst into song. We have no idea what they were saying, but it made for a great atmosphere! 

Back to school!

Ahoj!

Today was my first full day of classes at Anglo-American University. It's kind of weird for me to be taking a semester without any science or lab courses, but I'm not complaining. Tuesdays are kind of rough for me. I have Elementary Czech from 9:30-11, Prague Art and Architecture from 11:30-2:15, and then Cultural Anthropology of Central Europe from 6:30-9:15.

I'm not sure what to make of the Elementary Czech class because my teacher spent most of the class asking us why we wanted to learn Czech and then for awhile he had us repeat Czech words to him without actually telling us what they meant. I really think I'm going to like my Prague Art and Architecture class though. The class is three hours only once a week and almost every week we are going to be going to a different museum or architectural site in Prague. Our professor is really cool and he really stresses going out and wandering Prague and getting to know the city beyond just the historic center. We are required to have a sketchbook/journal and we are supposed to go to certain places in the city and sit and draw things every week. I also think that I am going to like my Anthropology of Central Europe class. It actually just focuses on Czech culture, so between the language, the art, and the culture, I think I am going to know the Czech Republic really well before I leave. 

I also successfully cooked my first full meal in the apartment today. It sounds insignificant, but when you don't speak any Czech, just buying the correct groceries to make a meal feels like an accomplishment. Also, it doesn't help that the most advanced appliance in our kitchen is a hot plate. 

I've really enjoyed just wandering and getting to know the city. Sunday and Monday were both beautifully sunny days, and it's amazing what a difference it makes. The sun reflects off of the gold that is on so many of the buildings and just makes everything look spectacular. I honestly love this city more and more every day that I'm here.

...By the way, the picture at the top is of the Lennon Wall. It is an unofficial memorial to John Lennon created by students in Prague shortly after he died. It's constantly being updated with new art, signatures, and Beatles lyrics and it's right behind my school!

All Settled In

     After two full days in Prague I think I'm finally settled in. My body's clock is still completely off considering that the earliest that I've woken up while I've been here is noon (and that was only because I was required to be somewhere at 2) but I'm working on it. 

     The six hour layover in Chicago went by surprisingly fast. I must have just been excited about getting to Prague. On the flight from Chicago to London, I actually sat in the same row as another girl in my program. Since our flight was delayed out of Chicago, instead of having a 3 hour layover in London, we actually only had about 40 minutes to get to our connecting flight. I got to the gate literally two minutes before it was closed. Not surprisingly, considering the short connection time, my luggage did not make it to Prague with me. There was actually a lot of other kids whose baggage didn't come either, so I didn't feel so bad. 

     A large group of us got delivered to our apartment around 8:30 Wednesday night. There are six girls total in my apartment and there are two other apartments each with six boys in our same building. Chris, Sarah and Dana all go to University of Wisconsin, Lisa goes to University of Arizona, and Sammi goes to Cal State Fullerton. The apartment that we're in is pretty cute and seems like an authentic apartment where actual Czechs would live. We live on the sixth floor of our building and the elevator that we take to get to our floor is absolutely tiny. 

     The set up of the apartment is actually a little weird. Our apartment opens to a foyer that is actually accessible to the rest of the building because it is where the building laundry room. There is one door off of the foyer that opens into our common area. The common area consists of a couch, a coffee table, a dinner table and the "kitchen" which includes a microwave (which can't even pop popcorn) sitting on top of a mini-fridge, and a countertop with a hot plate, a sink, and a dish drying rack. There goes my dream of honing my culinary skills while I'm abroad. Off of the common room are the three bedrooms. Sammi and I live in one room, Chris and Dana live in another room, and Lisa and Sarah live in the third room which connects to Dana and Chris's room. We only have one bathroom for six girls which is a little rough. The only entrances to the bathroom are through Dana and Chris's room or through the foyer, but we have to lock the entrance that goes through the foyer at night for security, which means we have to go through Chris and Dana's room if we need the bathroom at night. This has already caused a bit of a problem since Sammi and I are earlier risers than the other girls, but I think we'll figure out a system over time. The best part of the apartment is the balcony outside Lisa and Sarah's room. We can't wait until it gets warmer so we can hang out out there every evening. 

     A few minutes after we got to our apartment the first night, our neighbor Matt came over with a batch of fresh baked cookies. He is an American exchange student who has been here since September on scholarship and has apparently been bored to death without any study abroad students to hang out with. He actually took the Wisconsin girls and Lisa out to a gay bar that first night but Sammi and I stayed in because we were both missing our bags and felt pretty gross. Thankfully, our bags were delivered at one that morning, so we were able to unpack and get settled that night. 

     The next day we had our orientation at school at 2 p.m., which seems surprisingly early when you can't fall asleep until 3 a.m. Since we didn't have any of the food at the apartment, I got a sandwich from the Subway restaurant that is right across from our building. It's funny having something so American right nearby, but I think that it will be comforting to have something so familiar so close. We all took that tram across the river to our school for orientation. The school is in a gorgeous old building, but we all are under the impression that Anglo-American University is something of a community college...I mean, just look at the name. The orientation was fairly pointless, but I found out that I got all of the classes that I requested. I'm taking Elementary Czech, Prague Art and Architecture, Anthropology of Central Europe, and Modern Intellectual History. I have three classes on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, and one on Thursday, which means FOUR day weekends every weekend! I'm even considering switching my Thursday class to one of Wednesday so that I only have two days of school a week, but I literally have no idea what I would do with that much free time.

     After the orientation, I went with the Wisconsin girls and Lisa to an apartment where a big group of the Wisconsin girls' guy friends from school live in Old Town. We got very jealous to see their full kitchen, large bedrooms, and three bathrooms, but we still like our apartment a lot. Theirs is definitely nicer, but ours has more character AND a balcony. We walked home from their apartment which gave us the chance to see more of our area beyond our tiny little street. The boys live right off of Old Town Square which is very old and classic, but much more touristy. Our area, New Town, is much more modern and urban. It seems more authentic as far as getting the experience of being a temporary native. We live right by Wenceslas Square and the National Museum. Our street connects to a a very busy, energetic street with a lot of appealing shopping stores.

     After we stopped back at the apartment, we made our first venture on the metro to go to Tesco (the Czech version of Walmart). The metro was actually very easy to navigate and I feel like I will be able to get around the city pretty confidently using it. At Tesco we just got some essentials that we had been missing for the apartment and some snacks since we were all starving. When we got back to the apartment, we met up with Sammi and we went out to eat a a restaurant in Lucerna, which is something like an indoor mall across the street from our apartment. That night, we all went out with to Prague's famous five story club, which sounds pretty crazy, but it was actually pretty disappointing. The interesting thing about going out in Prague though is that you meet people from a lot of different countries that are also traveling. We met a guy from Australia who is traveling around Europe for eight weeks before going back to Australia to start college. I can't imagine doing something like that at only 18!

     Yesterday, we had a walking tour of some of the sights of Prague hosted by one of the women who works at CEA. It was cool to get a chance to see more of the city, but it wasn't the ideal tour. It was cold and cloudy out and our guide wasn't really cut out for the job. We had the chance to see Prague castle, St. Vitus cathedral, Charles Bridge (which I actually will get to walk across every day to get to school) and the astrological clock in Old Town Square. I'm looking forward to going back to all of those places when it is warmer and when I have a guidebook for better information. I would like to go on another smaller, more professional walking tour, so I am going to look into reputable guides for when my dad comes to visit. 

     Once we got to Old Town Square, the Wisconsin girls, Lisa and I broke off from the tour to get some food. We went to one of the many pizza places in Old Town for some comfort food. When we got back to the apartment, they got some sleep for the first time since they've been here and Sammi and I went with our neighbor Matt to an adorable ice cream and dessert place right down the street. There was a grocery store that was much less intimidating than Tesco in the same building, so we stocked up on some food beyond snacks. It's really nice to have Matt here because he already knows the city pretty well and (more importantly) knows how to speak Czech. 

     That night, Lisa, Sammi and I met up with some other girls from the program to go to a cute place in Old Town called Bar and Books. It was a small, quiet bar and it was really nice to have a more relaxed night. When we got home, the other girls were stilling getting ready to go out for the night. Some of the boys from the apartments downstairs came up and it was nice to get to know them a little better. They were all going to go out and the boys had to stop in their apartment before they left, but when the girls went down to the boys' apartment to meet up, there were police outside the boys' door! And not just a couple, like six or seven. They came back upstairs and were freaking out and then a few minutes later we got a knock on our door. We thought it was just the boys' from downstairs, but when I went to the door the Czech police were there. Thankfully, the only problem was that we had been too loud the first couple of nights, but seeing the Czech police at my door was definitely not on my list of things to do while I'm here. Part of the problem is that our building has quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and noise carries a lot more in this building than it would at home. The Wisconsin girls seemed to really downplay the situation, but I don't think they realize how loud they are when they are talking in the common area or when they are waiting in the hallway for the elevator. I guess it's just another thing we will all have to adjust to, but I really don't want to ever see the Czech police at the door again...

     Today is our first free day. Considering that I only have class three days a week I'm actually going to have a lot of free days, but it feels nice to not have anything scheduled. I'm kind of getting to the point already where I could use some silence and some alone time. You would think that I would be used to a lack of personal space after living in a sorority house for two years, but I think this is just a lot more concentrated living situation and the personalities are a lot more extreme. 

     Sorry this post was so ridiculously long! There was just so much that happened in the first few days. I will try to be better about keeping up with this blog. I miss you all a lot already. Take care!

On the way to Praha!

Hey Friends and Family!

I usually hate blog type things, but my mom wanted me to make a blog because I always forget to tell her what I did on trips until like six months later. 

Right now, I am on a six hour layover in Chicago waiting to fly to London. I was supposed to be on my flight already, but I missed my flight out of Indy thanks to terribly snowy roads. Mom and I actually got hit by another car on the way here and almost skidded into oncoming traffic, so it was a pretty scary drive. I figure the trip can only get better from here, right?

Any way, I will do my best to update this frequently with all of my travels and adventures. I love getting emails, so be sure to keep in touch!