This past week has been the regional homestay and it was pretty much an incredible experience. I was placed with two other girls in a tiny town called Rehlovice in northern Czech Republic, about an hour away from Prague. Our "host" for the week was a ceramic artist who runs a Cultural Center in Rehlovice in a space that was once a farm and brewery. She purchased the land about 15 years ago with her dad and they have been slowly renovating it piece-by-piece since then. The space that used to be the barn is now divided into the host's flat, a small space for guests, her ceramics studio, separate places for large group eating and sleeping, and a display gallery for the art. Other buildings have been used as a small cafe area, an outside space for eating and gathering, and random places for art displays and installations. Overall, it is a really interesting and beautiful place to be. The town of Rehlovice is tiny (you can walk from one end to the other in 10 minutes or so), but still a very interesting place.
So in this space, they hold several retreats and workshops that revolve around the arts and somehow bringing people together. For example, one of the major projects of our host is to hold a 2-week long workshop in the summer (for the last 10 years I believe) at this center and in November in Germany (which I might have the chance to observe!!) that brings together artists from Germany and from the Czech Republic to create individual and collective art pieces on a specific topic (usually about the recent history of these countries). So the most recent themes have been "the Baroque" period of art (2006), "Charter 77" which is a very significant event in 1977 that was instrumental in the Czech revolution in 1989 (2007), and the "Prague Spring" of 1968 which was also huge in the Czech history--research it if you're interested (2008). The reason why it is so important to bring the Czechs and Germans together is also a complicated historical issuing dealing with the former "Sudetenland" (another one to wikipedia if you're interested), but basically right after WWII, the Germans in these border regions were kicked out of their homes and many Czechs moved into these town and destroyed anything German because of their role in WWII. So there is still a lot of resentment and discrimination between these two groups, which is actively being addressed with such programs as the ones at this Cultural Center.
Another kind of program here was happening while we were there. A group of 20 students came to the center for a week-long bonding retreat before they started their first year of university at an art school. So they had certain activities and such, many of which included the arts in some way, throughout the week and it was really neat to get to talk with the teachers (the students were shy about their English). If you are interested in seeing pictures of the place, this website should take you to pictures from this past summer: http://www.kcrehlo.cz/proudeni2008/index.html.
Okay, so that was some background behind my week. The first day we left Prague (last Saturday), we went to a larger town that is close to Rehlovice called Litomerice and explored that city for a couple hours before we went to our host's mom's house for dinner and to sleep that night. I really liked Litomerice--it felt like a good sized town and we went to a wine cafe that night in an old observatory, which was really neat. Then the next day we went to Rehlovice and toured/explored the center and the town.
The next day we went to Usti nad Labem (a larger neighboring town) to interview another woman there who is doing similar work in this city. Usti is a very interesting town because it was one of three cities in the Czech Republic to get bombed during WWII (by the Americans, I believe). So many of the old historical, beautiful buildings are gone and they were rebuilt under Communism as very sterile, blocky, utilitarian buildings, which is very unusual in this area. Anyways, this woman we interviewed worked for an organization in Usti called "Collegium Bohemicum" and she organizes events to promote Czech-German relations also. One example of her work is she arranged for a group of Czech and German students to paint a graffiti mural on a specific space. She said that she really felt like her job was working when she found out that some of the people who had met through this event had gotten together on their own at a later time. So then after the interview we saw the American movie about Annie Leibowitz, which was interesting, but it was actually a little strange to hear that much English again.
Then Tuesday was very interesting because we got the opportunity to go to Terezin (which was a concentration camp/Jewish ghetto). Terezin is unique in that the ghetto (which was basically like a slightly less harsh concentration camp where the Jews lived in super-crowded apartments in a town) was used by the Nazis as the example of what they showed the Red Cross in order to portray a happy facade. So they gave the city a make-over and had the children learn songs to perform and forced people to act like nothing was wrong while the Red Cross toured the town and then reported that the Germans were being nice to the Jews. It was all just sickening propaganda. To show how terribly overcrowded it was, I heard a statistic that the town is built to hold 7,000 residents, but during this time, there were between 50,000 and 60,000 Jews alone (not to mention the guards, etc.). But anyways, Terezin was a strange place because it is still currently a town, so it has this intense history, but yet it still seems like a normal place if you weren't aware of its past. I hope to go back with the whole group of SIT students and have the chance to look into the museum there and tour the concentration camp part (which was a separate area). It was so crazy to actually be at this place, though--it was really hard to believe.
Okay, so Wednesday we helped out with putting a final coating of finishing on a floor that was built as an art piece over the summer, which was neat to be able to be a part of. We also bought the stuff to make s'mores, which none of the Czechs had ever heard of. Although we couldn't find the exactly right ingredients, they actually ended up being fairly tasty and several of the Czechs really liked them. So that was neat to be able to share a part of our culture with them. Several of them had said they'd seen s'mores in American movies, but had never actually had one.
The next day we left in the morning to go to a town in Southern Czech Republic called Cesky Krumlov to meet up with the rest of the group. This town is seriously like a fairy-tale...but not a creepy fairy-tale..like one that is authentically adorable and happy. The town has been well preserved from the 1500s on, so it basically just looks like you stepped back in time--with a huge castle and a baroque theater and buildings with original sgraffito and frescos...its amazing. And to add to that, the couple days we were there coincided with a festival, so the town square was filled with craft vendors and such. So that was neat--it was a great end to a great week.
And now this coming week is super packed with readings and class, so its been nice to have this break from the academics for a week.
So thanks for reading the whole thing--sorry it was so long, but believe it or not, I actually tried to cut out a lot of the details. I had a very busy week filled with lots of new experiences, and hopefully I'll have many more like this.
Betsy
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
So last Friday was a normal day of class, then we went to a performance that night at a place called the Alfred Theater, which is a space here that is dedicated to giving up-and-coming performing artists a place to showcase their work. So because of this, the performances can be really good, or really bad. So this performance that we went to called "interlacing" was an interesting idea, but poorly executed. Its really hard to describe, but basically it involved really good singing and then one of the performers awkwardly rolling around on a sheet of paper covered in ink. So it was an interesting experience, but it needed more development as a concept. But then after the performance we all went out with some guys who work in the cafe by the school who Sarah invited to the performance. We went to a pub and just hung out for an hour or two.
Then the next day I went to a festival at a mental hospital called Bohnice here in Prague. The festival was interesting and it had lots of venders and things, which was neat to look at. And they had a couple performances by groups of homeless people who are in programs that teach them theater. These were really really neat to watch. I think that just the self-confidence and positive attention and creative outlet really helps these individuals in their lives--not to mention that it gives them something else to think about and incentives to keep themselves clean and not drink (some of these programs require that they not smell badly and that they haven't had any alcohol that day). It was interesting to see the psychiatric facilities here--it was basically like a large neighborhood with lots of trees and grass and beautiful buildings. This is very different from the Austin State Hospital that I visited earlier this year that had just a bunch of square brick buildings and kind of a drab atmosphere. It seems like they understand the importance of having beautiful architecture more than we do.
Then on Sunday, I went into downtown around 11 and found a cafe that we had gone to earlier in the week to have lunch and get some reading done. Then I met one of my friends and her host mom and host brother and we drove out to a ceramics market in a small town. It was really refreshing to be outside of the city--I hadn't realized how much I missed seeing lots of open space and trees and everything. The ceramics market was amazing...there were so many artists there, it was very overwhelming (but still very cool of course). Then we met some of my friend's host mom's friends at a pub close by. But before then, we drove through a small town that just happened to have a 900 year old castle in the middle of it, of course. So we stopped and looked around for a while--it was amazing!! I can't believe there are just these super old castles everywhere. So then we went to the pub and the bar tender there found out we were studying about the fall of Communism and offered to take us up to the attic in the pub and show us all his memorabilia he had saved (like old newspapers, propaganda pictures, etc.). It was a very surreal experience, but he was very friendly and enthusiastic to help us!
Then this morning we had our first Czech quiz, which went okay, and tonight we have another performance. Hopefully this one will be better than the last one!
Hope everything's going well wherever you are!
Betsy
Then the next day I went to a festival at a mental hospital called Bohnice here in Prague. The festival was interesting and it had lots of venders and things, which was neat to look at. And they had a couple performances by groups of homeless people who are in programs that teach them theater. These were really really neat to watch. I think that just the self-confidence and positive attention and creative outlet really helps these individuals in their lives--not to mention that it gives them something else to think about and incentives to keep themselves clean and not drink (some of these programs require that they not smell badly and that they haven't had any alcohol that day). It was interesting to see the psychiatric facilities here--it was basically like a large neighborhood with lots of trees and grass and beautiful buildings. This is very different from the Austin State Hospital that I visited earlier this year that had just a bunch of square brick buildings and kind of a drab atmosphere. It seems like they understand the importance of having beautiful architecture more than we do.
Then on Sunday, I went into downtown around 11 and found a cafe that we had gone to earlier in the week to have lunch and get some reading done. Then I met one of my friends and her host mom and host brother and we drove out to a ceramics market in a small town. It was really refreshing to be outside of the city--I hadn't realized how much I missed seeing lots of open space and trees and everything. The ceramics market was amazing...there were so many artists there, it was very overwhelming (but still very cool of course). Then we met some of my friend's host mom's friends at a pub close by. But before then, we drove through a small town that just happened to have a 900 year old castle in the middle of it, of course. So we stopped and looked around for a while--it was amazing!! I can't believe there are just these super old castles everywhere. So then we went to the pub and the bar tender there found out we were studying about the fall of Communism and offered to take us up to the attic in the pub and show us all his memorabilia he had saved (like old newspapers, propaganda pictures, etc.). It was a very surreal experience, but he was very friendly and enthusiastic to help us!
Then this morning we had our first Czech quiz, which went okay, and tonight we have another performance. Hopefully this one will be better than the last one!
Hope everything's going well wherever you are!
Betsy
Thursday, September 11, 2008
I think the second week is harder.
So the exhaustion is starting to kick in--I'm getting like 10 hours of sleep a night and am still tired at the end of each day. I think the combination of just everything being foreign and navigating the city and forming new relationships and learning the language and doing my school work is just all starting to pile up and wear on me. But I think that it will all start to become more natural and I will adjust soon, so hopefully this is a temporary feeling. I do still love Prague, though. I feel very comfortable here--everyone seems to be very laid back. I am probably still in the "honeymoon" phase that will be over in a like a month, but it is still a nice place to be for now.
The last couple days have been fairly normal. We went to another play a couple nights ago by the same people called "Farm in the Cave." I did not like this one quite so much as the last, but it was still really good--very powerful. This one was about the waiting room of a train station in Slovakia that was a mid-way stop to Auschwitz (which we're going to go visit on one of our excursions), so it was more eerie than the other performance. But like I said, still very good. I have not met with the ceramics lady yet--next week for lunch worked better for her, so hopefully that will actually happen. But I am going to go with another girl on the program and her host mom to her host mom's ceramics studio on Sunday, so that is super exciting!
School has been good, but a lot. We read Animal Farm this week, which was very interesting. I was also able to talk to my host mom about it because she experienced a lot of it (she was 16 when Communism ended), so that was really good. I think by far the hardest part of school are the Czech language lessons. It is all just so foreign and we have class in 3 hour blocks, so by the end I always get so confused and frustrated. And we have a test on Tuesday, so that's also stressful. But I still think its good and important that we are learning this language.
I think probably one of the most fun things to do here is to experience all the little cafes and coffee houses around the city. I've probably been to 10 or so different ones already. Today after class most of us in our group went to a tea house and hung out for a couple hours. It's nice to be able to find that balance in our lives and I really do enjoy hanging out with all the people here, but it is nice to be able to go home separately.
Okay, I have to go.
Good luck to everyone dealing with Hurricane Ike!
Betsy
The last couple days have been fairly normal. We went to another play a couple nights ago by the same people called "Farm in the Cave." I did not like this one quite so much as the last, but it was still really good--very powerful. This one was about the waiting room of a train station in Slovakia that was a mid-way stop to Auschwitz (which we're going to go visit on one of our excursions), so it was more eerie than the other performance. But like I said, still very good. I have not met with the ceramics lady yet--next week for lunch worked better for her, so hopefully that will actually happen. But I am going to go with another girl on the program and her host mom to her host mom's ceramics studio on Sunday, so that is super exciting!
School has been good, but a lot. We read Animal Farm this week, which was very interesting. I was also able to talk to my host mom about it because she experienced a lot of it (she was 16 when Communism ended), so that was really good. I think by far the hardest part of school are the Czech language lessons. It is all just so foreign and we have class in 3 hour blocks, so by the end I always get so confused and frustrated. And we have a test on Tuesday, so that's also stressful. But I still think its good and important that we are learning this language.
I think probably one of the most fun things to do here is to experience all the little cafes and coffee houses around the city. I've probably been to 10 or so different ones already. Today after class most of us in our group went to a tea house and hung out for a couple hours. It's nice to be able to find that balance in our lives and I really do enjoy hanging out with all the people here, but it is nice to be able to go home separately.
Okay, I have to go.
Good luck to everyone dealing with Hurricane Ike!
Betsy
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Castle!
So I went to "Prasky Hrad" (Prague Castle) right after my last post and oh my goodness...I was not disappointed. It was absolutely beautiful. I have some pictures that I'll put up when I have the chance to, but they do not even do it justice. It is huge, first of all. And so intricate and detailed. And it has SO much history! It was an overwhelming experience, really. Basically if you ever get the chance to go to Prague, go there, even though its pretty touristy. Then we walked down to the "Karluv Most" or Charles Bridge, which is another very famous site. That was also beautiful but mostly because of the views from it...over the water and of the castle from a distance and everything. But right after that, our walk from the bridge to the metro station was terrible. The small streets were flooded with tourists and people shouting and everything. It's so strange to me that this is the only impression that some people get of Prague and it makes me think that if that is the only thing I ever see of a city, then I am missing SO much. It's kind of weird that after only 5 or 6 days here, I am already so opposed to those kinds of crowds and everything--its very jarring.
Anyways, the next morning I moved into my host home. I live in a very cute flat in Southeast Prague with a 35-year-old single mom and her 15-month-old son. My host mom (more like host sister) get along very well and we have lots to talk about, which is easy because her English is really good. And her son is adorable. He's almost walking by himself, so hopefully that will happen while I'm here, which is exciting. I do think living with a baby will take some getting used to though. So I unpacked, which was soo nice, and then we took a walk around the neighborhood to see the bus stops I'll use to go to school and downtown and the grocery store. After that we just hung out, played with the baby, and I did some reading for the next day. We have a significant amount of reading, by the way...this is not a blow-off semester of classes!
Then today I successfully made it to downtown where I met the rest of my group to go to a cafe for literature class. Then the rest of the day has been pretty uneventful--I did get lost on the way back from school because I got on the wrong bus, but I found my way back without a problem. That made me a lot more confident in my skills to navigate the system, even if I do get lost.
So that's it...and I do have one question--does anyone know when the next presidential debate is in the US? I want to make sure and watch it!
Betsy
Anyways, the next morning I moved into my host home. I live in a very cute flat in Southeast Prague with a 35-year-old single mom and her 15-month-old son. My host mom (more like host sister) get along very well and we have lots to talk about, which is easy because her English is really good. And her son is adorable. He's almost walking by himself, so hopefully that will happen while I'm here, which is exciting. I do think living with a baby will take some getting used to though. So I unpacked, which was soo nice, and then we took a walk around the neighborhood to see the bus stops I'll use to go to school and downtown and the grocery store. After that we just hung out, played with the baby, and I did some reading for the next day. We have a significant amount of reading, by the way...this is not a blow-off semester of classes!
Then today I successfully made it to downtown where I met the rest of my group to go to a cafe for literature class. Then the rest of the day has been pretty uneventful--I did get lost on the way back from school because I got on the wrong bus, but I found my way back without a problem. That made me a lot more confident in my skills to navigate the system, even if I do get lost.
So that's it...and I do have one question--does anyone know when the next presidential debate is in the US? I want to make sure and watch it!
Betsy
Saturday, September 6, 2008
More first week adventures...
So I'm sitting here in a wine bar, drinking chardonnay and eating cheese with some friends and I have to say it feels very European, which is very exciting.
Anyways, to pick up from the last post, after we talked about our backgrounds and ourselves, we went to a really neat dance performance that evening. It was a company called farm in the cave and it was a performance about a man coming back to the Slovakia after being gone for a while and dealing with the issues of trying to reclaim lost loves and reintegrate into the society. It was absolutely beautiful singing, dancing, and acting and they had some very creative ways of communicating. I REALLY enjoyed the performance and I'm excited about another one we're going to see by them next week.
The next day we had another intensive Czech session in the morning and a history lesson in the afternoon. Then after that was done, we all had some reading that we had to get done for Friday, so we decided to ride the metro to a random stop and find a good place to read. We ended up getting off by the National Music Museum, which had a big lawn where we sat and read for a while. That was another very surreal European moment when I was sitting on the lawn by this gorgeous centuries-old building, next to the Vltava River (that goes through Prague), listening to people sing and play guitar a little ways away, and just doing my homework. Basically, it's really cool that I can do this regularly.
Then Friday we had yet another Czech lesson and in the last hour we went to "Vaclavske Namesti" (Wenceslas Square) and had a place and piece of information we had to find in Czech. So my group had to find the Tesco (large store) and find out how much a map costs. The store was very intimidating because it was very crowded and busy and we couldn't find the maps for a while, but eventually we got it and then went and ate lunch closer to our school. Then we had a lesson in Czech theater history later that afternoon.
Then that night we had the dinner to meet our host families, which was very exciting. My host family is a 35-year-old single mom and her 15-month-old son, which will be a very interesting experience, I think. My host mom is a part-time lawyer and she seems very cool. She likes dance a lot, so I think we're going to go to the ballet at some point and maybe even take a dance class or two together? And she said she'll also introduce me to some of her friends, so I'll get to know a wider range of people, which I'm excited about. I'm moving in to their flat tomorrow morning and I'm really looking forward to getting settled in and hanging out with her and her son!
This morning (Saturday) we had a walking tour from one of our program director's friends through Old Town (where the pictures are from) and she explained a lot of the symbolism and significance of the icons on the buildings and things from an Alchemistic perspective. It was a really neat experience, but the entire area is very tourist-y, which was interesting, I guess. Then we just hung out during the afternoon and now I'm in the wine bar with 2 friends, listening to 90-2000's soft rock music and getting ready to go walk around the chapel at the Prague Castle tonight!!
On a side note, something I'm very excited about is that Sarah (the program director) said that she has a friend who is a ceramics teacher who has agreed to meet with me on Wednesday and show me her studio, and hopefully I will be able to take wheel lessons from her this semester (and possibly lead to an Independent Study Project idea?). I'm SOOOO excited about this and hopefully it will really work out!!
So basically I'm just starting to get settled into the culture here and I'm really enjoying it all so far, but I am very overwhelmed with all the school work we have. Hopefully I will be able to find a balance between school, my family, friends, and the city!
I miss you all!
Betsy (AKA Betka)
Anyways, to pick up from the last post, after we talked about our backgrounds and ourselves, we went to a really neat dance performance that evening. It was a company called farm in the cave and it was a performance about a man coming back to the Slovakia after being gone for a while and dealing with the issues of trying to reclaim lost loves and reintegrate into the society. It was absolutely beautiful singing, dancing, and acting and they had some very creative ways of communicating. I REALLY enjoyed the performance and I'm excited about another one we're going to see by them next week.
The next day we had another intensive Czech session in the morning and a history lesson in the afternoon. Then after that was done, we all had some reading that we had to get done for Friday, so we decided to ride the metro to a random stop and find a good place to read. We ended up getting off by the National Music Museum, which had a big lawn where we sat and read for a while. That was another very surreal European moment when I was sitting on the lawn by this gorgeous centuries-old building, next to the Vltava River (that goes through Prague), listening to people sing and play guitar a little ways away, and just doing my homework. Basically, it's really cool that I can do this regularly.
Then Friday we had yet another Czech lesson and in the last hour we went to "Vaclavske Namesti" (Wenceslas Square) and had a place and piece of information we had to find in Czech. So my group had to find the Tesco (large store) and find out how much a map costs. The store was very intimidating because it was very crowded and busy and we couldn't find the maps for a while, but eventually we got it and then went and ate lunch closer to our school. Then we had a lesson in Czech theater history later that afternoon.
Then that night we had the dinner to meet our host families, which was very exciting. My host family is a 35-year-old single mom and her 15-month-old son, which will be a very interesting experience, I think. My host mom is a part-time lawyer and she seems very cool. She likes dance a lot, so I think we're going to go to the ballet at some point and maybe even take a dance class or two together? And she said she'll also introduce me to some of her friends, so I'll get to know a wider range of people, which I'm excited about. I'm moving in to their flat tomorrow morning and I'm really looking forward to getting settled in and hanging out with her and her son!
This morning (Saturday) we had a walking tour from one of our program director's friends through Old Town (where the pictures are from) and she explained a lot of the symbolism and significance of the icons on the buildings and things from an Alchemistic perspective. It was a really neat experience, but the entire area is very tourist-y, which was interesting, I guess. Then we just hung out during the afternoon and now I'm in the wine bar with 2 friends, listening to 90-2000's soft rock music and getting ready to go walk around the chapel at the Prague Castle tonight!!
On a side note, something I'm very excited about is that Sarah (the program director) said that she has a friend who is a ceramics teacher who has agreed to meet with me on Wednesday and show me her studio, and hopefully I will be able to take wheel lessons from her this semester (and possibly lead to an Independent Study Project idea?). I'm SOOOO excited about this and hopefully it will really work out!!
So basically I'm just starting to get settled into the culture here and I'm really enjoying it all so far, but I am very overwhelmed with all the school work we have. Hopefully I will be able to find a balance between school, my family, friends, and the city!
I miss you all!
Betsy (AKA Betka)
Namesti Republiky 3
Last set of pictures from Namesti Republiky...
The last one is a picture of a unicorn and a virgin from Alchemistic traditions that I thought was interesting.
The last one is a picture of a unicorn and a virgin from Alchemistic traditions that I thought was interesting.
"Namesti Republiky" (National Square) 1
Here are some pictures from Namesti Republiky, which is in "Old Town" (built between 11th and 13th centuries. These are basically just some of the coolest things I saw, but there was still so much I couldn't capture!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Ahoy from Praha!
No seriously, that's how they say "hi".
So I apologize for neglecting my blogging duties, but we've had a CRAZY week here. I left Austin on Sunday morning and 7 AM and flew in to JFK in New York, where I met up with my group. Then we all flew from JFK to London, then to Prague. So we got here around noon on Monday and just hung out and tried to stay awake til 8 or so that night. Then that night I slept a solid 12 hours and was pretty much over jet lag after that, which was amazing. We're about 7 hours ahead of Central time, if anyone was wondering.
So then the next day we went to our classroom space/awesome 3-story flat and got oriented in the morning, then had a "drop off" activity in the afternoon. So they split us up into 3 groups of 2-3 people each and gave us general directions of an area to go and three things to see in those general areas of Prague (different for each group). My group went to "Zizkov" and we saw a big concert venue, an indie movie theater and the national memorial. We also saw the giant TV tower with crawling babies on it (I think its called the Zizkov TV Tower, if you want to look it up) and some beautiful parks that were really neat. Then that evening we all ate dinner at a pizzeria and shared our stories of the day. Then, as we were leaving at like 10:30 or so, Sarah, our program director, ran into some artist friends she knows (because she knows EVERYONE here) and we were invited into a small art gallery to see the photography. What we didn't know til we went, though, was that it was really just a private party for their friends, but they were really nice and let us look through the gallery and they guy who invited us talked to us a little bit about his impressions of the art and stuff. The art was very interesting--the pieces that struck me most were from the 60s and were about the Vietnam war, and then some of the more recent stuff was from the current war, but very similar styles. Basically most of it was images from average homes (living rooms, kitchens, etc.) with images from the war inserted into the spaces. The earlier ones, in my opinion, were more effective because they were a lot more subtle, with only like one image inserted, which made them very powerful. But I really enjoyed the overall experience and I hope more opportunities like that will come up this semester!
So the next day we had our first session of Czech, which was SUPER scary. Its said to be one of the top 5 hardest languages to learn, which is super discouraging, but we have a really great teacher who has really realistic expectations of us, so that helps. That afternoon we went downstairs (in the same building as our flat) to a cafe and just shared a little bit about where we were all from and our perspectives on the program, so that was really neat to hear.
Okay, well I have to leave for a dinner where we meet our host families (yay!), so I'll finish later!
Na shledanou!
So I apologize for neglecting my blogging duties, but we've had a CRAZY week here. I left Austin on Sunday morning and 7 AM and flew in to JFK in New York, where I met up with my group. Then we all flew from JFK to London, then to Prague. So we got here around noon on Monday and just hung out and tried to stay awake til 8 or so that night. Then that night I slept a solid 12 hours and was pretty much over jet lag after that, which was amazing. We're about 7 hours ahead of Central time, if anyone was wondering.
So then the next day we went to our classroom space/awesome 3-story flat and got oriented in the morning, then had a "drop off" activity in the afternoon. So they split us up into 3 groups of 2-3 people each and gave us general directions of an area to go and three things to see in those general areas of Prague (different for each group). My group went to "Zizkov" and we saw a big concert venue, an indie movie theater and the national memorial. We also saw the giant TV tower with crawling babies on it (I think its called the Zizkov TV Tower, if you want to look it up) and some beautiful parks that were really neat. Then that evening we all ate dinner at a pizzeria and shared our stories of the day. Then, as we were leaving at like 10:30 or so, Sarah, our program director, ran into some artist friends she knows (because she knows EVERYONE here) and we were invited into a small art gallery to see the photography. What we didn't know til we went, though, was that it was really just a private party for their friends, but they were really nice and let us look through the gallery and they guy who invited us talked to us a little bit about his impressions of the art and stuff. The art was very interesting--the pieces that struck me most were from the 60s and were about the Vietnam war, and then some of the more recent stuff was from the current war, but very similar styles. Basically most of it was images from average homes (living rooms, kitchens, etc.) with images from the war inserted into the spaces. The earlier ones, in my opinion, were more effective because they were a lot more subtle, with only like one image inserted, which made them very powerful. But I really enjoyed the overall experience and I hope more opportunities like that will come up this semester!
So the next day we had our first session of Czech, which was SUPER scary. Its said to be one of the top 5 hardest languages to learn, which is super discouraging, but we have a really great teacher who has really realistic expectations of us, so that helps. That afternoon we went downstairs (in the same building as our flat) to a cafe and just shared a little bit about where we were all from and our perspectives on the program, so that was really neat to hear.
Okay, well I have to leave for a dinner where we meet our host families (yay!), so I'll finish later!
Na shledanou!
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