Pet sounds, and an intense few weeks coming up

The opera was really great, and I only fell asleep once. It was Tajemstvi (The Secret), by Czech composer Smetana. Apparently some people in this country consider him an even better composer than Dvořák. But only some.

This morning, I commuted for over an hour to get to the really beautiful Troja Castle for my weekly Art & Architecture tour. There was a brief, slightly terrifying moment when I thought I might be the only person who would make the intense journey, thereby giving me a lot of alone time with Marie Homerova (a woman so beloved by her classes, past and present, that I had to create a Facebook group to extol her virtues...For some, it's her accent; for others, her catchphrases like "is it so?"; but for me, it's her smell that does it). Fortunately, others arrived.

Rushed to Czech class, where we had a fantastic conversation about Czech interpretations of animal noises (this, after our teacher, a beautiful woman with a hard-nosed tone in her voice who still manages to crack us up on a daily basis, entertained us with the sounds deer make while mating. Can't make this stuff up). Apparently cows go "boo," cats say "neow," dogs say "vuff," and rooters crow "rikidikidat" or something crazy like that.

I realized last night at 1:00am that I had a midterm in my first of three FAMU classes today. So I breezed through that real quick, then found out my second class was canceled (...again). I hung out for a while before my final class of the day. Zuzana was telling me over dinner tonight, about how her university classes were spread apart at inconvenient intervals (too short to go home, too long to focus on something else), so everyone just spent their free time heading to pubs for a bit. Some things never change.

A lot of my time lately has been dedicated to preparations for my parents' visit next week, something I've been looking forward to since about my first week here. It should be an intense next two weeks, beginning with my cab ride at 4:15am Friday morning to the airport (with Steph) to catch my 6:30am flight to Amsterdam. I should mention, because I think you should know and because it's too late for my mother to care about it, that we're going to Amsterdam with nowhere to sleep. No hostel. No bed. We're just kinda hoping for the best. And bringing enough cash to spend the night at a prostitute's place.

A few busy days

Phew! I just got back from nearly eight hours of rehearsal, and they were some of the slowest hours of my life. When Dan and I are on stage together, all's well and everything goes quickly, but our very particular director stops often and makes sure every line (EVERY line) is said exactly as he wants it. Not too enthralling a rehearsal process.

In other news, as of yesterday, I have been living in Prague for one month. My first month here was filled with lots of fun, occasional anxiety, and several trips around the city with absolutely no clue where I was or where I was going. I've seen almost all the sites here that I wanted to see (minus the museums, which I've really got to get to), and many sites I haven't meant to see but feel privileged to have seen them (was that English?). I also don't think I've gained any (or very much) weight, which impresses the hell out of me. My next stop on the Prague tour will probably be restaurants...but it's tough to convince myself to try to get people together for a meal, when I get free homecooked awesome meals right here, every day...

The past few days have pretty much been defined by the visit of a good friend from home and two of her good friends, all of whom are studying in Barcelona right now. Carrie, Sarah Z, and Sarah S spent Thursday and Friday touring Prague, with me and Dan as their tour guides. That meant another visit to a lot of the sites I had already seen (which I don't mind. Stuff's pretty damn nice around here), and a LOT of walking (seriously legs hurt again). They are three wonderful girls and we had a lot of fun together. Also, I've been getting over my sickness (after the sinus infection, the cold kicked in...ew stuffy nose. Apparently it's rude in Czech culture if you sniffle...but I doubt they started that custom knowing how loudly I blow my nose). I truly hate being sick, if for no other reason than because it's taking a toll on my (newly legal!!) tolerance-building.

For the past few days, Dan has been acting a bit strangely, and last night he opened up a bit as to why. Turns out he's feeling like he's in the same kind of "funk" that I felt when I had been here for about the same amount of time he's been here for. Good to know I'm not alone in these things! It's also kinda annoying for us to be here while everyone on our programs is off traveling (I had to sell my ticket to our program-sponsored trip to Vienna this weekend). We're kind of assuming that these rehearsals will pay off when there's a crowd laughing in front of us. It's his 21st birthday tomorrow, so that should perk him up.

Yesterday, I booked my trip to Amsterdam, for Easter weekend. I'll be going with Dan, Josh Kaplan, Mike Breen, and their UM Pike-mate Marty. I don't think I've ever been more excited for anything than I am for that weekend...ohhh the stories that will unfold.

In a related story, I don't think I'll be getting to Greece after all (at least for now). The guys I went to Krakow with are all going to Italy/Croatia for spring break and, while I've been to Italy, my late spring break departure (I have to be here for the play) should mean minimal time seeing things I already have and maximal Croatia-ness (a place I probably wouldn't go otherwise, and Phil Eastman has honestly been telling me to go there for a year). So that should be fun as well (though nothing's booked quite yet). Maybe I'll witness some more hanky-panky. Or another roundhouse kick to the face.

Tomorrow, I have the whole day to myself and I am determined to get pictures on the Flickr if it's the last thing I do!