It's still light outside

Spring has most certainly sprung now, since the clocks changed. I'm completely thrown off by how late the sun is out! It makes me feel guilty for being at home, inside. I'm going to start carrying a book around with me so I can always stop in a park and do some reading whenever I find myself with nothing to do (I'm trying to read more books. I feel like I don't have time to read for pleasure at home).

Which is exactly what happened today. Class ended at five and the sun was still bright in the sky, so I took a walk around the Vysehrad area and found myself gazing, once again, over this fantastic city. I love how familiar the skyline looks now - between my Art and Architecture of Prague class and my own sightseeing, I've managed to get at least a little background on almost all of the most prominent buildings. That familiarity that was missing at the beginning of this trip? Well, when I got off the plane yesterday and took the bus back into the city, I suddenly felt at home, relieved to be not understanding Czech again (as opposed to not understanding French and German). Guess I'm familiar now.

Another sign of this: Zuzana's cooking dinner right now, and told me we'd make garlic mashed potatoes again, like last time. I said "but Tomas didn't like them!" And she replied "he'll have the plain ones, we'll have the garlic" and smiled in that sneaky way mothers do that seems to say ain't he boring?? Familiarity and family. And I'm thousands of miles from home. (Or am I? Oh now I'm going back to a very old argument of mine...)

The warmer weather reminds me even more of home, as in Northbrook home. I'm remembering how much I always loved that first day of warm weather in high school, the first day when you could take off your jacket on your way to your car and leave the windows open while you drove home, music loud, drumming on the steering wheel. And around Vysehrad today, there was a smell of a grill coming from a restaurant that to me could only mean Memorial Day or July 4th.

I love this time of year, if you can't tell, and I'm excited to spend it here. This weekend I'm traveling with my program to southern Bohemia, a town (and UNESCO World Heritage site) called česky Krumlov. The next weekend, Dan and I hit Amsterdam. And then, before I know it, my parents are visiting and we're driving to Budapest. With less than two months remaining here, I'm just excited to let it all happen!

A fantastic dinner conversation

Dinner tonight was awesome. Food was great, of course, but conversation!

First, Vaclav talked about his night last night, where two female friends of his got very drunk and started making out, then asked Vaclav to be their...um...he asks, "How do you call a man who owns bitches?"

Then, we talked about my parents' visit (in a month). Mom and dad want to take the Jančařikovi out to a nice dinner to thank them for hosting me, of course, so I suggested we go to Kampa Park, a very nice restaurant, expensive for Prague but normal for its status. This seemed fine, but I became aware of Tomaš not really approving. He gets uncomfortable in restaurants like that, Vaclav and Zuzana explained. They spent a few minutes trying to explain why, but Tomas was getting more and more frustrated, feeling like they weren't representing his views fairly.

So he got up and tried himself, and I finally understood. In his words, he can't go to a place like that and pay that much for a meal without thinking of all the meals it could have bought someone more deserving. He grabbed a dictionary and looked up the word he was trying to use, then asked me if I thought he was stingy with his family, with his house, and of course I said no, because he certainly isn't. A place like that seems really wasteful to him, he explained with lots of hand gestures (for a minute I thought he might accidentally hit Zuzana) and a raised tone of voice. Vaclav explained that for a special occasion, it's ok to go somewhere like that. But still, Tomas stuck by his opinion of being economical, environmental (we never waste water or electricity here), and generally conscious of using too much of anything.

Well, there you have it. Tonight, I pinpointed the major difference in culture between Americans and Czechs, the one to which all other differences can be related. For my family, going to a nice (read: expensive) restaurant for a special occasion is second nature -- we celebrate by consuming more than normal. But this is not a very consumerist-oriented society (yet). They've only started to get that kind of Western influence since 1989. So, as Tomas explained, go somewhere with a nice view, have a beer or a coffee, and that is more valuable than going to a nice restaurant.

I've been trying to find a way to best explain to all you readers how the effects of Communism and totalitarianism are still very visible here, and I think this is a perfect example. Of course! We can't go to Kampa Park, that's the restaurant for Westerners visiting Prague; the average Czech probably wouldn't set foot in it unless he or she was working there. So instead, we'll go to a nice restaurant on Petřin hill, where you can eat outside in nice weather and get the unarguably best views of Prague. That will be a celebration.

I got lost again

But this time it was purposeful!

Back up - yesterday was a very lazy day (well deserved in my opinion after three days of rehearsals, classes, and general running-around. Plus it was raining). After dinner, I headed into the city and spent some more time with Dan and the folks from his program. Honestly, I see them more than people from my own program - is that an issue?

So today I woke up -- actually I don't think it should be called that. We need to invent a word that implies what happens when you wake up but you're still sleeping and staggering around everywhere. Let's say...began to re-enter consciousness.

So today I began to re-enter consciousness and went to class, where I inadvertently discovered how to tell someone, in Czech, that I want to have sex this weekend.

After class (and a heated self-debate over whether I was more hungry then tired or the other way around. I have those more and more frequently), Steph and I headed to Bohemia Bagel for lunch (I was craving some lox). When about five other people showed up, none of whom had a point of conversation with me, I decided it best to call it a day and either head back home for a nap, or head to a park for some reading (another beautiful day today). I found my body compelling me toward the funicular (that's like a tram, only...funicul-er?) up to Petrin hill.

When I reached the top, I started walking. I don't really know why, but I just kept going and going. Maybe it was the weather - it reminded me of those fall days when my dad and I always used to take walks around the block and call it exercise. Whatever the reason, I just walked through the labyrinthine trails around the hill, happening to stumble upon some of the best views of Prague Castle, an observatory, and meandering around a big, old wall. It was a great walk.

Came home, took a nap, and then helped Zuzana with a new recipe - last night, we had mashed potatoes with a big kielbasa, and when asked if we had mashed potatoes in the US, I replied that it was a personal favorite, especially with garlic. Garlic?? In mashed potatoes?? It seemed so strange to them! So we made some tonight, just like they are at home - nice and fluffy with butter, cream, and sauteed garlic. They were really delicious, and it was nice to expose the fam to a new piece of American culture. But I think Tomas will stick to the Czech kind.

It dawned on me today that my play opens tomorrow. Crazy! Makes me feel like I've been here for so long.

Cell Phones, Spelunking, and SPERMs

It's incredible how quickly feelings can change, how easily I can have a mediocre night followed by a stomp-your-feet-clap-your-hands-damn-this-world-rocks-and-my-life-is-changed night.

Friday was one of those annoying nights. After I posted (and let's face it, I was getting kinda mushy at the end. Whats up with that?), I decided I should try to find this pillow fight thing on Myspace to make sure it was actually going on. Mission accomplished (which is really incredible considering how difficult it is to find anything on that crappy site) - unfortunately, it wasn't happening till Saturday. Soooooooo what to do with my time?

Hung out around the house for hours, had dinner with Zuzana, tried to get a hold of people and did with varying success. No one knows how to pick up a phone. It's true - Dan agrees. I could go into a long explanation of the evening (which included me, frustrated, writing a really elaborate blog post in my head, and watching a man with a mullet dance like Michael Jackson. And watching two Eurotrash girls "dance" by hooking their fingers in their belt loops and swaying back and forth.), but I'll spare you the details.

The real point of this post is Saturday, an outstanding day in the life. Woke up around noon (yay!) for another incomparable lunch courtesy of Zuzana. Then, me, Tomas, and Zuzana drove about 30min outside of Prague, where the scenery completely changes into something resembling Pennsylvania. We visited a really great little village, thousands of years old, that was home to a monastery and a great hike to the top of a high cliff. And I didn't bring my damn camera!

Got home just in time to showoer, change the clothes, and head out to the pillow fight. I thought I was going to be late, but managed to get to the Astro Clock about 3 minutes before it all began, only to find...nothing...wait a minute...there are people, gathering, holding pillows! Sure enough, at 6:06, a whistle blew and the pillows began flying. It only lasted about a minute, but it was still awesome to witness something from nothing but a Myspace page! And the mountain of feathers that remained was blown into the sky by the wind, making it seem like it was snowing. (Flickr pics and a YouTube video to come). Met up with Paige and Maggie, and followed them back to the hostel they were staying at for the night (it's a long story), where we prepared dinner and had some deliciously cheap wine.

At about 10, we began the trek over to Abaton, where the infamous second-annual Sperm Festival was being held. The place was not easy to find - about a 15 minute walk from a Metro stop in Prague 8 (basically about as far from my house as a place could be). When we thought we might be lost, we asked for directions from a random guy who seemed like he was going our way - turns out John (that's him) works at an Internet cafe while finishing his studies at Charles University and was going to the same place.

It will be difficult for me to describe the scene at this festival. It was a cavernous warehouse, each room filled with smoke, well-placed beams of light, images projected on walls (on the wall near the entrance, just the word "Fertility"), and thumping techno-ish music. Surprisingly, there wasn't a suffocating number of people there, which is nice for a person who spends most weekends at clubs looking at and smelling peoples' armpits. Of course, one of the reasons for this was the large number of rooms - there were four stages, including a "cinema stage", on three different levels. Not to mention, bars in every corner. I took a bunch of pictures, which will be on Flickr soon.

By far the highlight of the evening was the festival headliners, a duo called Mouse on Mars who've been DJing together for about 15 years. I've never been to a concert like this, but I hope I can get to more. A floor completely packed with people, all dancing in place, but not with each other - such was the effect of that awesome kind of music that just envelopes you and forces your body to bounce up and down. (And most of them were probably on drugs, which could also explain it.) As a backdrop to their cooperative beatmaking, they projected a sketch of a skull with text running through the eyes saying things that essentially amounted to an indictment of America and all other governments for...well, existing (Anarchy, woo!). A multi-media experience of glitch-y, bass-y, fun-filled music and video.

After that, we hung out at another stage and listened to another headliner - Deadelus. Another sweet DJ, this one with a more mellow sound, and from the US (though he too had some anti-American stuff projected behind him. Made me realize - alternative culture means going against the mainstream, and the US is it now...). After his set, we took a short rest, then back upstairs to catch Czech rapper/beatmaker WWW, who raps like you'd expect Al Pacino to - eating the walls. As an added plus, I ran into Daedelus during this show, and we chatted for a moment. Turns out he's a USC grad!

So by the end of the evening (beginning of the morning? middle of the morning?) I had seen some fantastic performers, hung out with some great people (Prague is a very small place - my friends from FAMU were all at this festival, of course, but one of them apparently hangs out with Milo, the DJ from that great 80s night at Nebe. Not to mention, I met the guy who organized the pillow fight - he wants my pictures), danced enough to make my knees ache a bit, and stolen a poster for the event off of a wall (not like they need it any more). Rather than finding my way home on public trans (which would have been difficult for a few reasons), I took a too-expensive cab ride home. Eh, I don't pay for meals, I can afford it.

Today has been recovery day, for the most part. Another four hours of rehearsal went by like slow death, especially considering the headache I had forgotten to take Tylenol for. But to cap it off, Dan and I grabbed dinner at Radost F/X, a club/bookstore/music shop/lounge/printing press/veggie restaurant known as one of the best in Prague, and watched Lost.

Good thing I've got such an uneventful life. I'm gonna go pass out and start next week's adventures.

Goodnight

Just thought I should say hello before I check out for the evening. It was a nice day, despite the newly foggy weather, the end of which was filled with some interesting introspection.

JC and I have been talking for the past day or so about the wonders of svičkova (the lunch I had yesterday...and today). Don't worry, I've already been promised a recipe (there is no definitive version), so it will be made at home! The first step of Zuzana's version involves wrapping the meat in bacon and cooking it for a bit, then cooking the meat with vinegar and vegetables for about 5 hours....mouth is watering currently...

Had class this morning, followed by homework I had forgotten, more class, then four hours of rehearsal that actually went by quite quickly, for once. I'm starting to mess around with new bits and stuff, and it's always fun to make people laugh.

The highlight of my day has been the evening though. For those who don't know, I love public transportation, and taking it home was yet another chance for me to spend some time with myself, something I really don't get the time to do when I'm in LA. It's nice to have that kind of self-reflection.

Got home and was happy I had made the decision not to go out again tonight (just seemed kinda worthless to go pretend I'm better friends with these people than I actually am...I feel like I barely spend time with anyone on my program now, with Dan being here and us being in the play. Oh well). Instead, I ate leftover svičkova and had a nice long conversation with Tomas and Zuzana while we polished off about a bottle of wine (they were proud to point out that it's even legal in the US for me now...yes I will talk about that in every post from now on, thank you very much).

Also booked the return flight from Budapest for the weekend my parents are here (I'll be driving there with them). I love booking trips...can't wait to nail down spring break. It's strange - I find myself constantly waiting for the next thing to happen here, anticipating my next adventure and hoping it comes soon. This blog has certainly been fueling that to some extent (seriously, I narrate my life in my head now. I'm narrating this to myself right now (WHOA!)), and I don't mind it. It keeps me making the most of my time here, I think.

Tomorrow I have one class and then I have to do some shopping, since I'm getting tired of my limited wardrobe (I underpacked, as suggested, which was good, but it's time to mix it up a bit). Who knows what adventures the day might hold. I'll tell you all about it.

the opera and the slopes

What a sweet two days! Our Czech language instruction ended with a scavenger hunt written by our teacher (the wonderful Bara). The hunt took us up Petrin hill (an area I had yet to explore, and was planning on it) to the 1/5 replica of the Eiffel Tower and a sweet mirror maze, ending at the world famous Bohemia Bagel for lunch and declaration of winners (I had a bagel, lox, cream cheese, capers, and onions, and it was amazing. My dad is proud, I'm sure). You have to love a country where your teacher can give a bottle of alcohol as a prize.

In the remainder of the afternoon, I went to the train station and bought my ticket to Krakow for next weekend. As it turns out, I'm going on what seems to be the "in" trip to take next weekend, which I have mixed feelings about. I bought my ticket with 6 other guys (including Evan W), most of whom I wouldn't exactly be best friends with. But, as Mom said, we don't have to be best pals; it'll still be nice to take my first trip with other people. It will be interesting to tour Auschwitz (on my birthday) with all million people who are going. It will be a story.

That night, the program treated us to some very cheap seats at the State Opera House, where we saw Verdi's Nabucco. The building is ridiculous (pics soon...I actually think that's the building in The Living Daylights, not Municipal House). Of course, the opera was sung entirely in Italian, but there were supertitles. In Czech. I still managed to stay awake the whole time, probably because the orchestra was awesome (and so were most of the singers), and because I bought a 47Kc English summary.

Afterwards, Steph Beren (Taryn B's friend and future roomie at IU) and I grabbed some dinner around the corner. Steph is awesome. I drank my beer and half of hers and was feeling toasty (seriously, I've been here for almost 3 weeks, drank nearly a liter of beer a day, and still have no tolerance).

I went home early, because this morning I woke up at 6:10am to catch the bus (with Zuzana and Jonas) to a ski slope near the border with Poland. Zuzana called today a "demanding day" and I would have to agree, especially coming from the guy who hasn't skied in a very long time (...and who's not athletic. There, I said it. Happy?). When Jonas and I got off the bus, I didn't really get what was going on - the bus was stopped in the middle of the street, and it didn't seem like everyone was getting off, so I sort of hung out there with most of my gear, and watched as the bus drive away with my poles...a looooong walk in ski boots later (wow painful. At one point, BOTH feet fell asleep in the boots), and I had a new Czech friend, and a new Israeli friend (from near Haifa) who studies at Charles University and speaks nearly perfect Czech.

The mountain we went to was really nice (though I've been horribly spoiled by my trips to Colorado/Utah/Tahoe), but unfortunately the weather this morning was not. At the peak, the snow was falling in big pellets, like small pieces of hail, which would have made a nice powder had it not been for the wind howling like a hurricane. I would have been afraid of falling down the hill, but the wind honestly could have pushed me back the other way.

After two trips down the slope in this weather, I was already ready for a break (it made me feel ridiculous saying that to Jonas and his friends). My legs are still adjusting to the amount of walking I'm doing here, and the hike before the skiing wasn't helping either. (Yeah, I'm making excuses. I can hear my mother and sister calling me a wimp already. Let's face it folks, Evan has had a storied history with skiing...). A quick recharge and I was back in action, though. The weather cleared up, and the skiing was, as Jonas would say, "quite nice."

I also got the chance today to get a good sample of Czech chocolate and Czech cookies, which I have been eating the entire day. Hells yes. I'd have to say, though, my favorite part of the day was the trip back home, which we did on public trans, carrying all our gear from the tram, up Baneofmyexistence Hill. Czechs make you have to deserve their cookies.

Another weekend in Prague

Spent my second weekend here in Prague again, for the most part, save for a short day trip yesterday (though CIEE) to the historic mining town of Kutna Hora. Lots of cool pics on the flickr, including plenty from inside the incredible Bone Church - a church decorated with the bones of over 40,000 people. Creepy.

Last night, after the trip, I hung out at the house, waiting to see if anything was going on with the rest of the folks in town. While I was waiting, Vaclav came home, and we spent some time together - he showed me this awesome movie he had seen at the youth film festival held yearly in Karlovy Vary, an Israeli film called "Blue White Collar Criminal." If you can find it, it's work a watch, only 45 min long. Then, spoke for about an hour with Mike back in LA, which was awesome.

When I finally heard from someone (Paige), it was about 10:00, and for some reason a 45 minute trip to go to a club for hours, only to take a night tram back and have to walk up the hill again...didn't seem too interesting. So I was really relieved when Vaclav asked if I wanted to go with him and a friend to a bar near the house, where they were meeting another friend of theirs. It was a great time - good drinks (of course) and very nice company.

It was awesome to hear from my sister in Sydney, where she's of course having a ridiculous time and doesn't want to come home. Makes me excited to come back here in the future!

Today was a very relaxing day. Woke up late and, as always, was immediately handed a cup of coffee and some coffee cake (seriously, the homestay was the best idea I've ever had). I spent the morning researching a bunch of trips I want to take (looks like I might not get to Russia after all. But Amsterdam by plane is really cheap...and Athens isn't but it's so necessary).

The afternoon meant a short trip cross-country skiing with Zuzana and Tomas. Now...this seems normal enough, of course, but let's remember who we're talking about here. I've cross-country skied a total of one time. But hey, I figured, it's just walking with skis on!

Ah, but it's definitely not. It's more like hiking with annoying shoes on. Or downhill skiing with skis that aren't wide enough to make good turns...let's just say I entertained Zuzana and Tomas for a while, including a particularly memorable moment when I was stopped, talking to Zuzana, and then suddenly fell directly on my ass without even having moved.

The highlight of the afternoon was our brief stop in a "mini Zoo" that was along the trail. Lots of birds, some cool Lynxes and Ram-like things, and this one particular Raven with whom Tomas struck up a friendship:



That continued for a good 10 minutes.

This whole waiting-for-classes-to-start thing is becoming quite tedious. I am definitely ready to be out of my daily Czech lessons and into actual college courses again, and I am very anxious to start traveling around Europe! Any suggestions where I should go? Here's the list as of now (in no order):

-Munich
-Amsterdam
-Berlin
-Vienna
-Budapest
-assorted places in CR
-Athens, and other parts of Greece
-Scandinavia - Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm open for 'em. But now I'm going to bed.

A true adventure

First: happy birthday mom!

I say this blog is for my daily adventures, and let's face it, not every day is an adventure (I can only get lost so many times). But today, Sheldon and Dan stormed back into town from Poland on their way to Israel. Cue adventure music.

I met them in Old Town at about 430, just as it got dark enough for the street lights to come on (it was absolutely incredible weather today - not a cloud in the sky, and all the snow made everything bright and beautiful). We started walking toward a pub, any pub, but were stopped by the Western Union currency exchange...where Dan and Sheldon proceeded to spend 15 minutes trying to figure out whether or not they would be getting ripped off by changing their Polish money to American dollars (to do this in CR, you have to go via Korunas). After grabbing the calculator from the man behind the counter (who was really trying with his English), and yelling for a bit, we were finally on our way again, no money having been exchanged.

Ah, but how could we pass the Swarovski crystal store without going in? Admittedly, Lorraine (Dan's mom) has a fantastic collection of Swarovski crystals. But the timing. Dan and I left Sheldon (who had taken yet another calculator from another clerk in his quest to figure out whether it would be less expensive to buy the piece here) and retired to a nice little bar. Two beers later, no Sheldon.

Realize what the plan had been: they had been under the impression that Czech Airlines allows more luggage than they actually did. To solve their problem (remember how much luggage they brought?), they wanted to leave one of Dan's bags here, with me. Which meant Dan and I were going to take a cab down to Branik (my neighborhood, south of the city) with the bag, and then come back to meet Shelly for dinner.

Well, after lots of attempted conversations with Lorraine (in the USA), one lost pair of gloves (Dan took them off in the crystal store he thinks. Or the exchange place. Point is, they're gone), a recharged cell phone battery (we happened to be sitting next to the store where they had unlocked their cell phones. Of course they were tight with the guy who worked there, who was nice enough to let them charge their phones), and me finishing my homework for tomorrow (score!), the plan had been altered. We would get the bag to my place, grab dinner around here, and they'd go off to the airport.

But first they had to reconfigure their bags. We spent a good half hour in the luggage storage room of the Intercontinental Hotel as Dan, calm and orderly, took out what he needed, and Sheldon, frantically, took vodka shots.

Cab ride home was uneventful (comparably...remember we're talking about two hugely tall men in a small cab filled with hundreds of pounds of luggage, a driver, and another small human being). I awaited, with bated breath, the final meeting of Sheldon and the Jančářik family. Tomas and Sheldon in the same room just seemed way to good to be true.

Oh but it was so true and it was so glorious. I introduced them (and immediately felt horrible for not giving the family proper warning), and after a few frantic moments (Zuzana in her pajamas, the bag they were storing here covered with snow, no one knowing what was going on), we finally settled down, Dan in the library checking their flight status, Sheldon and Tomas polishing off a whiskey bottle (Tomas: "It's not very good", Sheldon (upon tasting it): "This is real shit!").

There are so many things I could say, but I think my personal favorite part of the evening was Sheldon's realization that Tomas spoke German. From then on, Sheldon spoke nearly exclusively in Yiddish, admittedly a related language...but not that related. Zuzana (now changed from her PJs) Tomas, and Jonas (occasionally translating) listened intently as Sheldon told (mostly in Yiddish) jokes and travel stories, described his restaurants, gave Zuzana a recipe for pickles, and generally was his outlandish, strangely charming self. (Dinner, by this time, was pretty out of the question. Oh yeah and the cab was waiting outside this whole time. But don't worry, Shelly had invited the driver to dinner with us. They were tite.)

Anyhow, time did pass and they did leave with a huge laugh from the family here. Phew! As I told Tomas and Zuzana, any other host family would NOT have had the same reaction to the HurriKane (ah! more puns!), so I was very happy.

An insane afternoon/evening. I've been hanging out the rest of the night, trying to memorize the Czech numbers and days of the week. To end it all, another fantastic quote from Tomas, upon my talking about a bar that had closed at midnight even though it was full of people drinking (spoken in Czech, translated by Vaclav):

"Evan, if all of them drank like you, the bar wouldn't do very much business."

it's snowing!

One week here, and finally some snow! It's supposed to do this for the next two days - I can't wait to see what this city looks like with a foot of powder over it! Though the freezing cold winds do make it much more difficult to walk around.

Last night I stayed home, and Zuzan and I had a long conversation about assorted things. Most interesting, however, was her reaction to the fact that Lisa and I both have our own cars. That's unthinkable here, and understandably so. I guess you could compare it to having a car in New York City - who needs one?

I took a new route to class today that bypassed Baneofmyexistnece Hill. I know this probably comes as a shock, but I got lost again, and ended up right against the towering wall of Vysehrad basilica, about 100m directly below where I needed to be. As usual, after backtracking my entire route, I managed to find the obvious sign I had missed, and got to class 5 minutes late. But hey, here's what mom told me:

"btw-in the Frommers book on Prague-it says that if you don't get lost at least once in Prague, you haven't experienced Prague. I thought that was pretty funny!"

I have definitely experienced Prague. In fact, my legs are about finished experiencing Prague and would like a vacation. But here's the nice thing about getting lost, at least for me: my goal here was to try to calm the heck down a little, try to just lay low for a semester. So far, it's definitely been working. I get places late, I'm relaxed about this whole Czech language thing even though if I really want to learn it I'd have to be studying all night (I have a quiz tomorrow), and I'm generally alright with whatever happens. It's a nice change from my ridiculous life in LA.

Speaking of which, congrats to the Troy Tones for making ICCA semis!

Tonight, we have a get-together for our program that involves bowling and pool and possibly pizza and definitely beer (that should go without saying by now). Which means I have to go study for that quiz...

first weekend

First, a hats off to Casey, Mike, and JC, all of whom have either commented on flickr photos or blog posts. You guys are siick. JC - your advice is great, keep it comin! (see story below)

Nothing particularly interesting yesterday. Orientation in the morning, more touring in the afternoon (after a typical Czech lunch of fried cheese sandwiches. Literally a block of fried cheese on bread, with a piece of lettuce and some tartar sauce. Sooo tasty). Our Czech buddies today (we combined with another group) were fantastic (and gorgeous). After our trip to a big mall in Smichov (kind a suburb, but really close still), we had a big dinner for everyone in the program. It was nice to see everyone all together for the first time - we're a huge group!

My efforts to make sure to socialize were successful yesterday, and last night I headed back into the city at about 9 to meet with some folks and head to some pubs. I asked Tomaš what the best route would be to get to the dorms (where I was meeting people) and back after midnight (when the trams change numbers and routes, remember), and this led to a 30 minute conversation and map-searching extravaganza with me, Tomaš, and Zuzana. I know I've said it before, my I am truly lucky to be staying here, with people who care so much about making sure I'm comfortable with everything I do.

Yes, I had that long rant the other day about cultural poaching etc etc, and last night I was proud to be a part of a small group of us who, while we weren't going to hit the pubs Czech-style necessarily, were definitely not looking to go crazy. We walked...and walked...and walked...and finally settled on a pub on the other side of the river that wasn't the cheapest (40Kc [$2] for .5L of beer? Unheard of!).

The real story is in coming home, which I did successfully, but not without the standard drama. I needed the same tram as my friends in the dorms (thank goodness), and so rode with them half way, and then was on my own. I knew the stop I needed to get off at, but couldn't really hear/understand which stop we were at. So, when I thought it was time, I left the tram, looked around, realized I was in the wrong place, looked at the tram leaving, realized another didn't come for 30 minutes, and promptly panicked for a moment. Then I walked. And walked. And walked. 2.5km. All the way home. (I had gotten off early. Common problem, I hear).

The good part of this story - I got home, huffing and puffing from climbing the other half of Baneofmyexistence Hill, at about 2:15am, went to bed by 3, and woke up at 11:30am. Yay, I'm adjusted to the time zone! This morning, I went with Tomas and Zuzan for a sort of tour of the far suburbs of Prague (they often go with a sort of club of people, complete with a tour guide, to explore their own city). It was a nice walk, but they said it wasn't nearly as interesting as others have been.

Tomorrow, I think I'll start to plan more seriously some of my weekend trips - look up prices and stuff. That's before the Bears game of course, which lots of us are going to find a bar to congregate in to watch.