Since I’m up and
blogging, I might as well keep going. This week flew by in a blur, but a few
fun and note worthy things happened and I’ll try to regurgitate them in a
pleasant fashion now.
If weeks have
themes – I feel like they do – this week’s theme was “Cultural Events and
School.” This week I participated in a cooking event, where I learned how to
fry cheese in the traditional Czech fashion (Dad, if I come back a little
heavier, at least we know it will be from cheese and not beer), attended an out
class to the Old-New Synagogue of Prague, and today visited the castle at
Bezdez and the Skoda factory.
The cooking
lesson was a ton of fun and one of the events that I’ve been looking forward to
since I got here and looked at the big board of cultural activities at CIEE.
Somehow I had gone nearly a month without yet experiencing the deliciousness of
fried cheese, so when I heard that I had mistakenly signed up for the wrong
cooking lesson (there were two at nearly the exact same time), I discretely
excused myself from the lesson in Brambory (potatoes) to attend the cheese
fest. For those who might aspire to try fried cheese at home, it is shockingly
easy. I say that now, but when I learned I had never seen anything like it,
though I guess that’s more because we don’t fry much in my house and I’m
relatively new to cooking myself.
That being said,
here’s what you’ll need to make your own fried cheese and a quick synopsis of
the process. Large blocks of cheese – I recommend a medium softness cheese, not
Parmesan but not Mozzarella either, maybe a cheddar though we used “Eidam” (I
haven’t yet figured out how Eidam translates to English). Cut the cheese into
wedges approximately the size of a half slice of bread – I think of the cheese
like bread when you’re making French toast (in a frat house, aka not with
Challah or a baguette). Okay, from here you’re going to need flour, raw egg and
breadcrumbs, and a pan of hot oil on the stove. Make an assembly line, dip,
dip, dip and dip. Let the cheese brown on one side, flip, repeat, remove,
drain, serve. Czechs love tartar sauce and they like to serve their fried
cheese as a sandwich with bread, the cheese and tartar sauce, really, nothing
else is needed. And that, in a nutshell, is how to make fried cheese.
The cooking
lesson was on Tuesday and on Wednesday, I put my newfound skills to use and
breaded some chicken to bake and cheese to fry for a dinner I shared with
Devin. It wasn’t perfect, I still have a ways to go with my chicken, but
considering where I started just a few months ago, I was pleased. Although, for
those chefs out there that might have stumbled on my blog (Dad, really I’m
looking to you though anyone else is more than welcome to answer) how do you
know when your chicken is done without just “knowing”? or better yet, is there
a way to check without mauling the piece of meat?
On Wednesday,
History of Jews in Bohemia, one of the courses offered CIEE, had an out class
to the Old-New Synagogue in the Jewish quarter and they offered five extra
spots to people who weren’t enrolled, but were interested. On Wednesdays I just
so happen to have a large window in between classes in which the field trip fit
snuggly, so I signed up and attended.
Rabbi Hoffberg,
who among other things, is American and loves to tell stories, led the tour. He
tells stories about anything and everything, often jumping from one story to
another with little to no segue to bridge the gulley dividing the topics.
Though his unorthodox approach to oration may leave his audience at a loss for a
moment or two as they try an orient themselves to the ever changing landscape,
it has its benefits as well, like that he is able to cover so many different
stories in a short amount of time without those trying to keep up with what
he’s saying.
A fun history
factoid about the Old-New Synagogue of Prague: it gained its name because it is
the second oldest synagogue constructed in Prague, so at the time of
construction, it was the New Synagogue. As time went on though and the
centuries passed, what was once new became old and now we have the Old-New
Synagogue (the original Old Synagogue was demolished in 1867 to be replaced the
following year by the Spanish Synagogue of Prague. Okay, maybe that wasn’t
“fun” but I thought it was interesting.
The tour culminated
with admittance into the Old-New Synagogue where we sat in the chairs used for
prayer (installed hundreds of years after the original construction) to hear
the tale of a riot in which nearly the entire Jewish population was murdered
within the walls of the synagogue following accusations that a Jewish child
threw a stone at a priest on Easter. For two hundred years the blood of the
murdered remained covering the prayers painted on the walls before the rabbis
declared that it was improper to leave blood unburied. The walls were
re-plastered under the condition that the walls would never again be decorated
and they remain plain to this day.
This morning, or
I suppose yesterday at this point, since it is nearly 4 AM here as I write this
(but tomorrow is Saturday and I can sleep in), I went on the day trip to Bezdez
and Mlad Boleslav. Bezdez is home to a castle and town founded by the King
Premysl Ottokar II. The castle has a rich history of ransoms and religion,
treasures and legends all of which attracted pilgrims, treasure seekers, and
artists alike. Two such artists were Josef Manes and Karel Hynek Macha,
the foremost representative of Czech Romanticism.
Of course, the
thing about castles, is that one, they’re awesome, but two, they're often on
hills. This second part is, of course, what gives the castle its strategic
advantage in battle, but it can prove irritating to those who wish to visit the
castle. Persevering and clamoring up the hill certainly has its benefits
though, and the labored breaths and beads of sweat were more than compensated
for by the incredible view from atop the watchtower (pictures soon).
We followed up
our visit to the castle with a trip to the Skoda factory at the nearby town of
Mlada Boleslav. Skoda is the fifth oldest automobile company in the world,
producing cars since 1905. The firm though got its start in bicycles and
motorcycles before expanding their business into automobiles. Today, the firm
is growing rapidly under the purview of the Volkswagen auto group and continues
to invest in future development well above the industry average. Though Skoda
automobiles have yet to reach the States, they have expanded their exports from
just 30 countries in the early 90s to over 100 countries as this decade draws
to a close, including a recent expansion into the Chinese market.
The trips were
actually really interesting, but unfortunately, I have had too little sleep
this week and Thursday night was no exception. Before waking up for the trip at
7, I had gotten only 4 or 5 hours of sleep, right in line with my sleep
schedule for the week as a whole. This wouldn’t be a problem if I functioned at
100% on 4 or 5 hours of sleep or drank copious amounts of coffee. However, since
I normally require 8 hours of sleep to function at a high level and try to
avoid caffeine like the plague, I am starting to see the negative effects: my
throat is dry, I feel like I’m starting to get a little sick, and I was able to
fall asleep during a five minute bus ride.
Since I doubt I’m
going to get to blog again on Sunday since I have another day trip (this time
to the Jewish Ghetto of Trebic) I want to wish Evan and Vanessa a very happy
birthday! Evan, welcome to 21. Vanessa, next year dear.
And now, I’m
going to hibernate. Sweet dreams ya’ll.
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