Prague Spring Fever

Show went well again last night, save for a hilarious moment when Dan and I almost cracked up on stage. Jonas was in attendance, as were another few people from my program, and they all enjoyed themselves thoroughly. I'm having a lot of fun performing again! Maybe I should be an actor...

Anyhow, today has been a fine day, punctuated by a dinner courtesy of the University of Southern California. The adviser from the USC abroad office is here until Wednesday, and he took all the USC kids out for dinner. He's a great guy - getting a masters in PoliSci, and in the meantime gets to take all-expenses-paid trips to Prague (and Poland). I knew I liked him the minute I met him. While advisers from other schools were all in their suits, ties, and dark colors, this guy is wearing khakis and a powder blue button down, looking like LA incarnate (plus he's Filipino...and everyone in Prague is white). He could have gone to dinner with his colleagues but, in his words, "I was like, I'm....gonna go out with my kids!" Drinking on USC's tab is always fine with me! (and we got a FIVE seed??? Fight on!)

It made me realize something (oh, here he goes again. yeah, eat me.) that I've learned by being abroad, and by turning 21. I suddenly feel much more experienced. Where I've always felt a sort of gap between myself and anyone I spoke with who was older than me (like I should be almost reverent), I now feel a bit more qualified to identify with them. I don't feel so young. It's nice. And scary.

Today I should finish the book I've been reading since I got here, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. It's a new favorite of mine, and as with all books I like, I find myself wishing it was longer because I feel like it's come to sort of define this moment. My voice in this blog has certainly been influenced by it (if you can't tell, click the link above and read the first page. You'll get what I mean). So I almost feel like there's going to be a change in my general feeling soon.

And I'm not the only one feeling that way. I think it's the weather - in the 60s for the rest of the week. It's springtime in Prague, and it's almost the halfway point of our little journey here. I see those couples who've been together since the beginning (in secret, of course, never officially together because that would close off options and being in your 20s is all about keeping options open. Which is why no one can ever decide what club to go to), they suddenly start to look all too familiar with each other, like it might turn into a "real" relationship. And friends are beginning to settle even more, people moving into a new phase of confidence in their Prague identities. I certainly am.

Change is always good.

Time to study for my midterm.

More trips, more lazy days

Yesterday was a great day. Class was fine, but the best idea I've ever had was ditching most of them - I had to miss my last two for rehearsal anyhow, and I needed a nap. Rehearsals have been frustrating, mostly because we're still stopping every two seconds and the whole thing feels so slow and not funny. Thankfully, that finally changed last night, when we had a great run.

I really wanted to go nuts last night, but I unfortunately have this love/hate relationship with my producing class (my other class today was canceled). I love the class, but I hate waking up at 7am to go to it. So I left Dan and his friends to get home early enough to wake up and go to this class. Dan had a great night.

Today I booked my last trip. From May 13-18, I'll be spending five days alone on Croatia's Dalmatian Coast (Split, then Dubrovnik, with maybe an island in between), before flying back to Prague for one last (I'm sure fun-filled) night before my whirlwind trip back to Chicago and then LA (Prague-London-Chicago on 5/19, Chicago-LA in time for class on 5/21). I'm having trouble booking a hostel in both places, but I'm figuring it'll be warm enough for me to sleep on the street anyways....I'm sure the highlight of the trip (besides walking down beaches, laying in the sun, and swimming in what's supposed to be the best water in the Mediterranean) will be my planned visit to the Plitvice Lakes National Park - supposedly one of the most beautiful places on earth. Not to mention, it'll be nice to have a bunch of time to myself before I start what could be the most intense summer to date.

In news from the home front, I feel obliged to mention the USC Free Culture group's successful protest of USC's Free Speech Zone. Not only did their peaceful protest get some heads turning, but they even got fined by the University for their placement of fliers in "non-designated" areas. Read their response to the fine here.

That's all for now. Lost is almost finished downloading.