Before I get
today, a quick synopsis of last night. I’m living on Sleska street and there
are a few other apartments on the street with other CIEE students living in
them so last night our Czech buddies organized a dinner for us. Mira couldn’t
come out because he was going to study for his big exams coming up in the next
couple weeks, so Red and I went with about ten other Americans and three Czechs
to a local restaurant.
Food was good
and so was the beer. One of the Czech women, Edita, recommended her favorite
beer to me, a local dark beer. Most of the dark beers I’ve tasted back in the
states have been a lot stronger and more “hopsy” making them less than
enjoyable for me. Turns out though that here, the dark beers are sweeter than
the light beers and often have a sense of honey in them. Whatever the case, the
dark beer was quite enjoyable and I thanked Edita for her suggestion. As for
dinner, after a few days of heavier Czech meals, I decided it was time to
lighten up and went with a Greek salad topped with olives, cucumbers, feta and
tomatoes (probably more that I can’t remember). The dressing was pretty typical
of what you would expect from a Greek salad but it was infused with honey. The
honey was great as just about everything is better with honey (see above: dark
beer).
After dinner,
Red led us (with the help of Adam and Edita, two Czech buddies) to a bar where some other CIEE students were currently hanging out before heading off to yet
another bar. When we arrived, the other group was pretty much on its way out,
so Red, who had always planned to hang out with the other group, left with
them, while most of the rest of us decided we had just walked a ways and weren’t
quite ready to go off to another bar without even having a drink or a rest. I
was already tired and really only wanted to go out to get know some more
people, but wasn’t in the mood to drink so I ordered a pear juice. Mistake. Not
that pear juice isn’t delicious and can actually be one of my favorite juices,
this particular juice was more like a syrup than what is typical in America.
Without water to cut the juice and already with a dry mouth, I struggled to
drink it and ended up not finishing it. Oh well.
After a round at
that bar, those of us that remained, decided that our beds were calling and
headed home. Following a brief lesson on how to read the trams at the tram stop, we
hopped on and off we went.
When I got home
(I think it was 11:30 or so), Mira has just finished cooking his meal for the
night, so I sat with him and talked while he ate. Fun fact: Mira eats a clove
of garlic, straight, raw, and without chaser. Mira says it’s good for you and
something that he learned from his dad. I’m going to have to take his word for
it as I’m not rushing to try it for myself, but it seems to work for him since
he definitely appears to be in shape. I digress. As Mira ate, we talked about a
variety of subjects; ranging from my initial impressions of Prague to the kids
on the program and his previous travelling experience to his tips for meeting
people.
– Break – Sleep
time –
Ugh. That was my
initial reaction to hearing my alarm at 8 this morning. I got over it though,
got up and was ready to start the day. We started with a walking tour of
Prague. As a group, we were tasked with finding landmarks around the city so as
to better orient ourselves with our surroundings and some of the places we
might have occasion to visit over the next four months like an international
doctor (who speaks English), a post office, and the campus for Charles
University and FAMU. I think I might have actually really enjoyed the activity
had my group decided to complete it, unfortunately, my peers didn’t see the
same merit in the exercise and decided to not really do it.
Instead of
completing the scavenger hunt, two of the kids in my group decided along with
the Czech guide, Vouta, that our time could be better spent at a bar talking about all of the questions on
the scavenger hunt instead of locating them ourselves. I couldn’t really argue
(well, I could have, but chose not) since they seemed quite excited about the
prospect of having a beer.
Having missed
breakfast I was quite hungry, however, there’s just something about having beer
before breakfast that doesn’t quite sit well in my gut; when we got to the bar,
while the rest of the group ordered half liters, I ordered myself a small
sandwich for ~$1.30. The bar was actually pretty cool, having several
references to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp
Fiction scattered about, including as the backdrop for the menu, and a
different theme for every wall. The wall I faced at the table had a nautical
theme so there were pictures of sailors and boats, a model boat and the like
decorating the walls.
It only took a
few minutes to complete the scavenger hunt at which point the conversation
quickly changed to a variety of subjects, very few on which I had much, if
anything, to contribute. The topics ranged from art nouveau movie directors to
tattoos and counter-cultures and how they vary around the world to piercings of
genitalia. More than once during the conversation I felt uncomfortable.
On a happier
note: even though we didn’t complete the scavenger hunt like we should have,
Vouta did take us on a walking tour of things that he thought were important
and we walked a large portion of the city giving me a fairly good opportunity
to take photos. Though my group never stopped I still took nearly 50 photos
before lunch and just had to hustle to catch up with the others after each
photo. The weather has so far refused to cooperate. While I like a few clouds
in my pictures (you know the ones: fluffy white ones on a rich blue sky), so
far Prague has only provided me with a blanket of grey clouds as a back drop, ominously
threatening rain at all times. I don't have time right now to post any photos, but I'll try and get on that this weekend, even if it is just a handful, so keep your eyes out for that.
Eventually it was
time to return to campus for a brief tour of campus and orientation sessions on-site. At these sessions we
learned how to: stay safe, deal with bureaucrats, navigate Prague like a
native, and locate necessary academic resources.
 |
| CIEE Study Center - Walking Tour |
Unfortunately I
started with Milan in the library learning how to locate resources in the
library I might need. I say unfortunately because I was tired and Milan has
this amazing ability to bore you to sleep (I have yet to figure out why). Truly, I don’t remember the last
time I was so close to falling asleep while a figure of authority talked – and
I wasn’t the only one, one girl definitely nodded off for a bit. After Milan,
the sessions improved immensely in their interactivity.
Side note: in
order to better fight my fatigue, I practiced my cursive. It’s something I’ve
wanted to develop for a few years now but just never had an opportunity to sit
down and write when it wasn’t for class or something else important. Finding
myself with time to write and take notes during the session I have finally
found my moment and I must say, my cursive has improved significantly in just a
few short hours. Hooray! I still struggle with capital S though, which is
unfortunate since I use it every time I sign my name.
Returning to
Prague. When orientation was over for the day, I hopped on the tram with a few
other students who lived in my area and came back to the apartment to rest and
relax before going out for the evening. Tonight looks very promising, so I'm sure I'll have another post soon.
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