Today I had one of those days when you realize at about 10am that you forgot to put deoderant on, and then spend the rest of the day worrying about it.
Things have settled down quite a bit, so I don’t have that constant barrage of things to write about. That’s good, because I can catch up on things I’ve been meaning to tell you. For example:
Things that are Czech that you didn’t know were Czech
1. contact lenses
2. Gregor Mendel
3. propellors
4. nylons
5. Madeline Albright
6. Sigmund Freud
7. The word “robot”
That last one, “robot,” is a matter of considerable pride among the Czechs, meaning that no less than every single Czech person I’ve talked to for more than 10 minutes has within that time told me that a Czech man invented the word robot. Now go forth and win Jeopardy.
This is also a note to tell you that I might be taking a brief hiatus. I don’t think I’ll get a chance to write tomorrow, and on Friday morning I leave for my “regional stay.” We’re all being scattered to the far corners of the country to make grand discoveries and learn about ourselves. It should be interesting. I’m pretty excited about mine. I’m going to a town called Olomouc which is three hours by train to the east of Prague, and I’m staying with a family with two teenage girls. The girls speak English, the parents don’t at all. Over the weekend I’m just exploring the down, but then Monday through Wednesday I’m going to school with the girls. Another girl who did my program ended up going to the school for three weeks at the end to do her project there, and I’m thinking about doing that, as well. Most of their classes are in English, and she got to teach some by the end, so it sounds like a great opportunity.
On Thursday I meet up with the group at Cesky Krumlov. I know two things about Cesky Krumlov:
1. It’s considered a country town and it’s in the south of the Czech Repubil.
2. After the Czech people tell me about robot, they tell me to go to Cesky Krumlov. Seriously. In a voice that reminds me of that lady on Seinfeld who was always telling Jerry and Elaine “You have to see the baby.” So it should be good.
We return to Prague next Saturday, at which time I will update you about everything.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Revelations
AKA procrastinations; my first Czech language quiz is tomorrow.
Well, my mom is now informed, so it’s time to let the cat out of the bag. In fact, while I’m at it I’m going to air another piece of dirty laundry, though I implore you to remember that different does not mean bad.
First. I recieved details about my homestay family in the middle of the second week. I was pretty excited about the whole idea, and thrilled that they sounded relatively similar to my family at home. The night before we met them I was at dinner with everyone in the program, and Sarah, our director, came over to me and inquired, „How do you feel about rats?“ Well, my answer was that I’m not terribly excited about rats, though I’d never met one. Yes, that’s right, reader, my family has a pet rat. As I said, I wasn’t thrilled about the news, but I decided that I’m here to learn about the Czech Republic and if people in the Czech Republic have pet rats, then I signed up for that, too.
So, my pet rat’s name is Vigo and he’s grey and fairly fat. He’s actually sort of cute if you look at him head-on, but his tail is pretty disgusting. Everyone in my host family absolutely adores him; they put him up to their faces to kiss him and the whole bit. I bought him a treat for a gift when I came, and I think that’s why my family likes me so much. Most of the time he stays in his cage, though they do let him run around sometimes. When that happens, I usually squirm if he gets near me, and the family’s good about removing him from my vacinity. He and I are just going to také some time to get used to each other. I’m alone in the house in the mornings, and I usually go talk to him if I see he’s awake, and I think we’re reaching an understanding that if he doesn’t bother me, I will tolerate him. Though the other night he was out and I was the only one in the living room and he kept poking around by my feet and that was NOT okay, and I told him so but he didn’t listen, so I ended up going upstairs. He may have won that battle, but I’ll get the upper hand eventually.
Here’s the other thing, which is mostly really interesting. Before we moved in with our host families, Sarah and the other director warned us that the Czech Republic has a totally different reaction to nudity, and that it’s fairly common for people in a family to walk around the house in their underwear. They told us to say something if we’re uncomfortable, but to understand that it’s normal and not considered threatening or an invasion of privacy or anything like that. Anyway, I thought I was pretty safe considering that my host parents are pretty old and it’s not really warm enough to go around without clothes on, and I was right, I haven’t seen any of that. However, the other day I was talking to my host mom and she was getting ready to go garden, and she changed right in front of me, which just caught me off guard. After that I noticed the most hilarious thing: In the kitchen is a picture of Jan and Elena facing a lake with their backs towards the camera, completely naked, with their hands on each other’s bottoms. It’s sort of strange to me, but also pretty funny that it’s so normal.
Don’t worry, my photos do not contain any nude pictures, and I don’t think they will no matter how long I stay here.
Oh, and another thing: My house is pink. I didn't mean to not tell this, but it actually took me awhile to notice it because I was so busy noticing everything else. It's intensely pink.
Well, my mom is now informed, so it’s time to let the cat out of the bag. In fact, while I’m at it I’m going to air another piece of dirty laundry, though I implore you to remember that different does not mean bad.
First. I recieved details about my homestay family in the middle of the second week. I was pretty excited about the whole idea, and thrilled that they sounded relatively similar to my family at home. The night before we met them I was at dinner with everyone in the program, and Sarah, our director, came over to me and inquired, „How do you feel about rats?“ Well, my answer was that I’m not terribly excited about rats, though I’d never met one. Yes, that’s right, reader, my family has a pet rat. As I said, I wasn’t thrilled about the news, but I decided that I’m here to learn about the Czech Republic and if people in the Czech Republic have pet rats, then I signed up for that, too.
So, my pet rat’s name is Vigo and he’s grey and fairly fat. He’s actually sort of cute if you look at him head-on, but his tail is pretty disgusting. Everyone in my host family absolutely adores him; they put him up to their faces to kiss him and the whole bit. I bought him a treat for a gift when I came, and I think that’s why my family likes me so much. Most of the time he stays in his cage, though they do let him run around sometimes. When that happens, I usually squirm if he gets near me, and the family’s good about removing him from my vacinity. He and I are just going to také some time to get used to each other. I’m alone in the house in the mornings, and I usually go talk to him if I see he’s awake, and I think we’re reaching an understanding that if he doesn’t bother me, I will tolerate him. Though the other night he was out and I was the only one in the living room and he kept poking around by my feet and that was NOT okay, and I told him so but he didn’t listen, so I ended up going upstairs. He may have won that battle, but I’ll get the upper hand eventually.
Here’s the other thing, which is mostly really interesting. Before we moved in with our host families, Sarah and the other director warned us that the Czech Republic has a totally different reaction to nudity, and that it’s fairly common for people in a family to walk around the house in their underwear. They told us to say something if we’re uncomfortable, but to understand that it’s normal and not considered threatening or an invasion of privacy or anything like that. Anyway, I thought I was pretty safe considering that my host parents are pretty old and it’s not really warm enough to go around without clothes on, and I was right, I haven’t seen any of that. However, the other day I was talking to my host mom and she was getting ready to go garden, and she changed right in front of me, which just caught me off guard. After that I noticed the most hilarious thing: In the kitchen is a picture of Jan and Elena facing a lake with their backs towards the camera, completely naked, with their hands on each other’s bottoms. It’s sort of strange to me, but also pretty funny that it’s so normal.
Don’t worry, my photos do not contain any nude pictures, and I don’t think they will no matter how long I stay here.
Oh, and another thing: My house is pink. I didn't mean to not tell this, but it actually took me awhile to notice it because I was so busy noticing everything else. It's intensely pink.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Eye Candy
Alright, after a frustrating too-many-hours wrestling with various photo programs (most of which I could only access in Czech and couldn't figure out how to change to English), I'm hoping this will work. In the future I'll try to just put images in the blog as I mention them, but I have too many now. I'm also regretting never taking good old Photography in SPHS, but you'll have to look past the artistic flaws and try to see the story. Cross your fingers...
Argh, this won't show up as a link, so you'll have to cut/paste. Also, I'm not sure if I like Photobucket, so sorry if you have to do some funny navigating to see the pictures/titles-- I'll hopefully figure it out.
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/ClaireMichelleHerman/Prague%201/
Argh, this won't show up as a link, so you'll have to cut/paste. Also, I'm not sure if I like Photobucket, so sorry if you have to do some funny navigating to see the pictures/titles-- I'll hopefully figure it out.
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/ClaireMichelleHerman/Prague%201/
Taking Myself Out to the Ball Game
Today is another in a string of gorgeous days. It’s sunny, there’s a light breeze, the trees are still green, and it’ll top off around 70 degrees. Luckily, this procession of ambiance (shout-out to Uriel) began at the most opportune time: on game day.
I’ve always wanted to go to a European fotbal game, so when I realized that our school was right next to the stadium (which happened on the first day; rest assured that the CR has not changed my eyesight or affinity to notice the obvious), it was like fate sent me a big fat reminder to “go for the goal” (shout-out to LA—haha). I found another girl who was interested in going, and our recruitment produced one more brave soul, and after practically selling our souls for the tickets, we were in.
The day of the game was terribly exciting, fostered by the fact that every adult near us reminded us about twice an hour to be careful. Our location by the stadium also enabled us to see the police and port-a-potties gathering by noon and the hotdog/beer stands opening by 2. When we got done with school for the day and went for dinner, there was a small crowd by the food/drinks. When we left the restaurant, the sidewalks were packed with shouting people in green and red. The walk to the stadium was one of the most fun things for me. The energy was high and I felt like I was going to a Quidditch match. Everyone was covered in paraphenelia from head to toe. I was already wearing red, but the girls with me quickly bought a hat and t-shirt so that we would fit in.
The inside of the stadium—apologies to serious fans—was adorable. There were only two levels of seating, so it felt really personal. It was refreshingly simple, as well; only two small scoreboards and one large one, which only told the score or people’s names. Clearly, there was a competition to get railing space, because every inch of it was covered with a flag. The crowd was mixed, though there were some sections of heavy red or green. The Irish were singing some fairly complicated fight songs, but the Czechs stuck to a simple clap with intermittant chantings of “Chesky,” which I appreciated because I could easily join in.
Our spots were right next to the field, which were actually pretty awful seats for a soccer game because you don’t have a very good perspective. They did, however, afford us the opportunity to keep a close watch on the Czech mascot, which was a man dressed in a soccer uniform who occasionally put on a head that might have been modelled after a bear and a tail which made him look completely ridiculous. He was so unenthused, it was great to watch. We also cheered on the subs who were warming up next to the field near us.
My hands-down favorite part of the game was when they introduced the starting lineup. For the Czech team, the announcer would only read the first name, and then the whole crowd would yell the last name. They projected the names on the scoreboard, so we got to practice our pronunciation and yell along. Speaking of names, there was one row of flags with all K-names of Czech players: Klatovy, Kostelec, Kyjoy, Konesin, and it seemed like “Kostechka” would fit in pretty well.
The crowd was energized, enthusiastic, and loud, but never really aggressive or intimidating. The massive amount of police around was intimidating. Apparently the Irish are a pleasant crowd, and I agree. It’s amazing to see how many people flew in from Ireland for the game. There was a pair of teenage Irish punks right in front of us who were going to great lengths to prove how cool they were, but it was tough for them because they both had mullets. Actually, I felt sorry for all of the Irish, because “Ireland” in Czech is “Irsko,” and that doesn’t look very intimidating on the scoreboard.
It’s also very hard to sound genuinely angry with an Irish accent, as illustrated by the delightful man behind us. He was VERY Irish, and is credited with saying the following phrases (excuse his...French?): “toothless! yer’ all toothless!” “give him a yeller than cheatin bastard!” “get yer head on the field yah wankers” and “good call ya fackin refs.” It was immensely entertaining. I accidentally let out a huge chuckle at one point when he screamed “FIGHT!” like a battle cry.
Czech Republic won, by the way, 1-0. It was great. But it was also such an interesting study of two cultures. None of the Irish people spoke Czech, and many of the people working at the game only spoke Czech. I also observed a hilarious incident wherein an Irish man had ordered a hotdog and received a huge sausage and a piece of bread, and he had no idea what to do with it (That’s common here, by the way—there arent’ really hotdog buns, only accompanying slices of bread. I saw one person with a foot-long hotdog who got three slices of bread. haha). I’d almost rather go to a fotbal game than visit a country (almost), because you get a great slice of their culture with a really entertaining presentation.
I’ve always wanted to go to a European fotbal game, so when I realized that our school was right next to the stadium (which happened on the first day; rest assured that the CR has not changed my eyesight or affinity to notice the obvious), it was like fate sent me a big fat reminder to “go for the goal” (shout-out to LA—haha). I found another girl who was interested in going, and our recruitment produced one more brave soul, and after practically selling our souls for the tickets, we were in.
The day of the game was terribly exciting, fostered by the fact that every adult near us reminded us about twice an hour to be careful. Our location by the stadium also enabled us to see the police and port-a-potties gathering by noon and the hotdog/beer stands opening by 2. When we got done with school for the day and went for dinner, there was a small crowd by the food/drinks. When we left the restaurant, the sidewalks were packed with shouting people in green and red. The walk to the stadium was one of the most fun things for me. The energy was high and I felt like I was going to a Quidditch match. Everyone was covered in paraphenelia from head to toe. I was already wearing red, but the girls with me quickly bought a hat and t-shirt so that we would fit in.
The inside of the stadium—apologies to serious fans—was adorable. There were only two levels of seating, so it felt really personal. It was refreshingly simple, as well; only two small scoreboards and one large one, which only told the score or people’s names. Clearly, there was a competition to get railing space, because every inch of it was covered with a flag. The crowd was mixed, though there were some sections of heavy red or green. The Irish were singing some fairly complicated fight songs, but the Czechs stuck to a simple clap with intermittant chantings of “Chesky,” which I appreciated because I could easily join in.
Our spots were right next to the field, which were actually pretty awful seats for a soccer game because you don’t have a very good perspective. They did, however, afford us the opportunity to keep a close watch on the Czech mascot, which was a man dressed in a soccer uniform who occasionally put on a head that might have been modelled after a bear and a tail which made him look completely ridiculous. He was so unenthused, it was great to watch. We also cheered on the subs who were warming up next to the field near us.
My hands-down favorite part of the game was when they introduced the starting lineup. For the Czech team, the announcer would only read the first name, and then the whole crowd would yell the last name. They projected the names on the scoreboard, so we got to practice our pronunciation and yell along. Speaking of names, there was one row of flags with all K-names of Czech players: Klatovy, Kostelec, Kyjoy, Konesin, and it seemed like “Kostechka” would fit in pretty well.
The crowd was energized, enthusiastic, and loud, but never really aggressive or intimidating. The massive amount of police around was intimidating. Apparently the Irish are a pleasant crowd, and I agree. It’s amazing to see how many people flew in from Ireland for the game. There was a pair of teenage Irish punks right in front of us who were going to great lengths to prove how cool they were, but it was tough for them because they both had mullets. Actually, I felt sorry for all of the Irish, because “Ireland” in Czech is “Irsko,” and that doesn’t look very intimidating on the scoreboard.
It’s also very hard to sound genuinely angry with an Irish accent, as illustrated by the delightful man behind us. He was VERY Irish, and is credited with saying the following phrases (excuse his...French?): “toothless! yer’ all toothless!” “give him a yeller than cheatin bastard!” “get yer head on the field yah wankers” and “good call ya fackin refs.” It was immensely entertaining. I accidentally let out a huge chuckle at one point when he screamed “FIGHT!” like a battle cry.
Czech Republic won, by the way, 1-0. It was great. But it was also such an interesting study of two cultures. None of the Irish people spoke Czech, and many of the people working at the game only spoke Czech. I also observed a hilarious incident wherein an Irish man had ordered a hotdog and received a huge sausage and a piece of bread, and he had no idea what to do with it (That’s common here, by the way—there arent’ really hotdog buns, only accompanying slices of bread. I saw one person with a foot-long hotdog who got three slices of bread. haha). I’d almost rather go to a fotbal game than visit a country (almost), because you get a great slice of their culture with a really entertaining presentation.
For the memory books
Just wanted to quickly sum up for myself a couple of things that have happened over the past few days.
On Friday we drove 2 hours south of Prague to a tiny tiny villiage where a women from California and her Czech husband own an immense organic farm. It was absolutely utopian and ideal. The gardens were beautiful, there was a lake right across the street, the animals were plentiful and cute, etc. Just imagine a perfect farm, and you’re getting the picture. The women had a lunch prepared for us, so we feasted and then visited. She is also an artist, and uses the extra buildings on the farm (Which used to be a mill) as studio and gallery space. We explored that, then got to watch the turbine (which isn’t totally functioning and a bit scarey). She told us that the lake would be drained in a few days, and then one day at 3am hundreds of men would come out and beat the water, scaring the fish into the middle, where they could be caught with nets. Apparently this happens all over the country. We were going to try to see it, but nobody knows when it happens, since it’s determined by how fast the lake drains.
Next we drove to an equally little villiage nearby and saw a performance of The Little Prince. It was done in a sort of barn that was modernized and had a huge, nice stage. It reminded me of stories I’ve read in plays about children putting on school shows in the country. I have pictures, I’m not really doing it justice. It was done in Czech, but I had just read the book and the actors were so animated that it was fairly easy to understand. Afterwards, outside there was a sort of carnival with about a dozen stands selling various drinks, food, cookbooks, etc. The food was all delicious and really cheap. It was a neat example of a community gathering.
Yesterday (Saturday) Elena showed me more of Rostoky (which really isn’t very big), including some paths where I could run. We then went to a church/cemetary because it was the fifth anniversary of Jan’s father’s death. The cemetary was picturesque, with huge monolithic tombstones. Apparently the church used to be a sort of castle for Prague, so old kings had used it, which made it even more exciting. Again, I plan to return and take pictures. Oh, one funny thing: I was looking around at the tombstones and about every other one had “Romilda” or something like that on it. I couldn’t believe that so many Czech women had the same name, but eventually I figured out that it meant something like “rest in peace.”
Last night I was in the touristy section of Prague at night for the first time. It was crazy, but fun, though I’m glad I wasn’t there for very long.
Today I have a heap of homework to do, and this afternoon I’m going on my first adventure alone by train to visit a castle. Sorry this was more factual than entertaining, I’ll try to correct that next time.
On Friday we drove 2 hours south of Prague to a tiny tiny villiage where a women from California and her Czech husband own an immense organic farm. It was absolutely utopian and ideal. The gardens were beautiful, there was a lake right across the street, the animals were plentiful and cute, etc. Just imagine a perfect farm, and you’re getting the picture. The women had a lunch prepared for us, so we feasted and then visited. She is also an artist, and uses the extra buildings on the farm (Which used to be a mill) as studio and gallery space. We explored that, then got to watch the turbine (which isn’t totally functioning and a bit scarey). She told us that the lake would be drained in a few days, and then one day at 3am hundreds of men would come out and beat the water, scaring the fish into the middle, where they could be caught with nets. Apparently this happens all over the country. We were going to try to see it, but nobody knows when it happens, since it’s determined by how fast the lake drains.
Next we drove to an equally little villiage nearby and saw a performance of The Little Prince. It was done in a sort of barn that was modernized and had a huge, nice stage. It reminded me of stories I’ve read in plays about children putting on school shows in the country. I have pictures, I’m not really doing it justice. It was done in Czech, but I had just read the book and the actors were so animated that it was fairly easy to understand. Afterwards, outside there was a sort of carnival with about a dozen stands selling various drinks, food, cookbooks, etc. The food was all delicious and really cheap. It was a neat example of a community gathering.
Yesterday (Saturday) Elena showed me more of Rostoky (which really isn’t very big), including some paths where I could run. We then went to a church/cemetary because it was the fifth anniversary of Jan’s father’s death. The cemetary was picturesque, with huge monolithic tombstones. Apparently the church used to be a sort of castle for Prague, so old kings had used it, which made it even more exciting. Again, I plan to return and take pictures. Oh, one funny thing: I was looking around at the tombstones and about every other one had “Romilda” or something like that on it. I couldn’t believe that so many Czech women had the same name, but eventually I figured out that it meant something like “rest in peace.”
Last night I was in the touristy section of Prague at night for the first time. It was crazy, but fun, though I’m glad I wasn’t there for very long.
Today I have a heap of homework to do, and this afternoon I’m going on my first adventure alone by train to visit a castle. Sorry this was more factual than entertaining, I’ll try to correct that next time.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
It's My Life...
The title, complete with high cheese factor (as Patrick would say), was inspired by a rousing playing of our dear Bon Jovi during the futbol game I attended last night. More on that in another entry, which may or may not be written yet tonight. First, today seems to deserve a “day in the life” description.
Actually, I’ll start with yesterday (Wednesday), because of its importance to my Czech language development: we learned the names of food. Now I can finally say the crucial things like ice cream (zmrzlina), dumplings (knedliky), Cheers! (Na drazi!), and fried cheese (smerzany syr). After our morning lesson, we all went to a restaurant to practice at lunch. This is the best kind of school, if you ask me.
But let’s skip ahead to this morning so you can get an idea of what I do every day. This morning I heard everyone else getting ready and leaving, but my alarm didn’t go off until 8:03, so that’s when I got out of bed. I showered and got ready, then went downstairs and ate a piece of bread and grapes for breakfast while I packed my lunch, then made sure to be out the door by 8:45 so I could catch my 9:01 bus. I did catch the bus but I clearly still don’t have this public transportation thing down: Until we get our permanet transportation passes on Monday, I have to pay eight korunas each way on the bus for a ticket, which I get from the bus driver. Eight crowns is about 30 cents or so. Well, this morning the smallest piece of currency I had was a 200 crown bill, so I had to pay with that, and apparently that’s not acceptable because the bus driver said some things that sounded not-so-nice, though they were in Czech so maybe he was thanking me or something. In any case, he managed to scrape up enough change, and I was on my way.
I ride the bus for about twenty minutes, then get off and switch to the metro. Now, one point on this topic: Elena kept telling me I have to take the tram, not the metro (the former is aboveground), but I’ve since discovered that the latter is a lot faster. I think she just wanted me to take the tram so I could look around, but I frankly don’t have time for that in the morning. Anyway, I usually go only one stop on the metro to Hradcanska, but today I met up with the group at Staromeska (Old Town). We then wandered for a bit until we found the café where we had an hour-and-a-half lecture on the History of Theater. During the lectures we all get coffee or tea (or in my case, usually juice), so we all stay fairly happy. After that we had an hour and a half for lunch, so I hung out at the café with some other students and ate what I had brought: a sandwich, yogurt, and more grapes. We met a British boy who was only in Prague for the day during a tour of Europe. He had already spent four hours of his day in the café. It’s so interesting to meet people from all over doing such exciting (or, in this case, boring) things.
Then we took the tram to meet everyone at the Prague castle, where we spent a few hours going through an art exhibit. It was Cubist, which I’m not too excited about, but we just had a short lecture there and then had some time before we needed to be back at school. We all walked back (it was only about twenty minutes), then stopped at the café right under school to get cake. I ate Medovnik, which is honeycake and my new favorite thing. ((If it sounds like there’s a lot of food in this story, that’s because there is. Today was definitely the worst of it, and I usually don’t get something everywhere we go, but you could...this place is dangerously decadent when it comes to food.))
We ended the day with the third of four lectures on broad Czech history. Today was entitled “How to take over a country in three years or less,” and we focused mainly on the advent of Communism in the Czech Republic. I might be a nerd, or maybe it’s just our lecturer (who used to be a teacher here, and I might try to work with him), but I find it all pretty fascinating. With all the cafes and adventures, my day might sound quite romantic, which I guess it is, but not every day is like that and we really are working, not just being frivolous.
Anyway, tonight I pretty literally dashed out of there because I’ve been late home the past few nights and it’s finally gotten warm here, so I wanted to go on a run. I go the opportunity when I got off the metro only to see my bus about to pull away. I ran and hopped on, but I’m not exactly thrilled that I did, because it was PACKED. Making the bus did improve my record, however: The first night I missed it by one minute and had to wait forty minutes, the second night I missed it by five minutes and had to wait 35 minutes, and this time I just made it. (The reason I had to wait so long is because it was later at night; buses come about ever 10 minutes during the busier hours). I made it home by 6:15, and no one else was here yet, so I was out pounding the pavement by 6:30.
Now, perhaps I haven’t done a great job describing to you where I live. Rostoky, my suburb, is just north of Prague (about 20 minutes by bus- ha). On the way there you go by a beautiful river and lush foilage by the side of the road. The road itself is extremly tiny, and I’ve gotten pretty scared a few times that the bus was going to go right off the edge (Don’t worry, mom, the bus drivers all have decorated their area up front with pictures and good luck charms, so we should be safe). Rostoky is a town build on a pretty considerable hill, and when the bus drops me off, I have to climb to the very top of my hill to get to my house. The top is fairly flat, unfortunately, so I don’t have a great view from my window, but tonight I discovered the true beauty. I started running and was just going as the wind blew me (you can’t really get lost when your house is on top of a hill—if you’re at the bottom, you just run back up), and all of a sudden I came to this open patch which was bordered by an orchard of pear and apple trees that overlooked the river on one side and the entire city of Prague on the other. It was absolutely breathtaking (I think. I already didn’t have much breath because I’m out of shape and I was going up a hill, but it took all the breath I had left). The site/sight made my night.
When I got back, everyone was just getting home. We talked for a bit, then Elena told me to get out of my sweaty clothes so we could eat. I did (because you can’t argue with that), and sat down to yet another delicious meal. The bounty has shifted suddenly from pears to mushrooms (which they’ve promise they’ll take me “hunting” for), so the first course was mushroom and potato soup. My first few bites were absolutely fabulous, but then Elena pulled out a bottle of vinegar and put some—about 2 tablespoons, I would guess—in her soup, and recommended that we all do the same. I added maybe a teaspoon, and it’s pretty safe to say it ruined my soup experience. A tip: never put vinegar in your soup. After that she pulled out two heaping plates of what she called pancakes but what I would call crepes, and either way they were wrapped taco-style around either mushrooms or assorted vegetables. These were FANTASTIC and didn’t require vinegar to enhance the flavor. I ate two and then was forced to eat another. After the third they tried to make me eat more, but I simply couldn’t do it. I don’t know how these people stay so thin. (By the way, the other day Elena was describing a couple she knows who are from America and she said, “They are both like Shrek,” meaning that they are fat, not that they are ogres. I found this hilarious.) Then after dinner Jan pulled out a huge bottle of beer and split it between himself, Elena, and I (they don’t let Simon drink because the drinking age is 18 and he’s 16, and he’s not very happy about it), and then told me that if I wanted more, he could open another bottle. By this time, I was almost exploding with food, and I really thought he was joking, but when I laughed they looked confused. Needless to say, I did not require more.
So we feasted and are now doing our own thing, which for me right now means blogging/emailing/homework. I’ve tried doing homework downstairs, but they seem to think if I’m down there on the couch they can’t be watching TV or anything, so I feel annoying and for now I’m up in my room. Okay, that’s it for now, if I have time you’ll hear about the game tonight, otherwise maybe this weekend.
Actually, I’ll start with yesterday (Wednesday), because of its importance to my Czech language development: we learned the names of food. Now I can finally say the crucial things like ice cream (zmrzlina), dumplings (knedliky), Cheers! (Na drazi!), and fried cheese (smerzany syr). After our morning lesson, we all went to a restaurant to practice at lunch. This is the best kind of school, if you ask me.
But let’s skip ahead to this morning so you can get an idea of what I do every day. This morning I heard everyone else getting ready and leaving, but my alarm didn’t go off until 8:03, so that’s when I got out of bed. I showered and got ready, then went downstairs and ate a piece of bread and grapes for breakfast while I packed my lunch, then made sure to be out the door by 8:45 so I could catch my 9:01 bus. I did catch the bus but I clearly still don’t have this public transportation thing down: Until we get our permanet transportation passes on Monday, I have to pay eight korunas each way on the bus for a ticket, which I get from the bus driver. Eight crowns is about 30 cents or so. Well, this morning the smallest piece of currency I had was a 200 crown bill, so I had to pay with that, and apparently that’s not acceptable because the bus driver said some things that sounded not-so-nice, though they were in Czech so maybe he was thanking me or something. In any case, he managed to scrape up enough change, and I was on my way.
I ride the bus for about twenty minutes, then get off and switch to the metro. Now, one point on this topic: Elena kept telling me I have to take the tram, not the metro (the former is aboveground), but I’ve since discovered that the latter is a lot faster. I think she just wanted me to take the tram so I could look around, but I frankly don’t have time for that in the morning. Anyway, I usually go only one stop on the metro to Hradcanska, but today I met up with the group at Staromeska (Old Town). We then wandered for a bit until we found the café where we had an hour-and-a-half lecture on the History of Theater. During the lectures we all get coffee or tea (or in my case, usually juice), so we all stay fairly happy. After that we had an hour and a half for lunch, so I hung out at the café with some other students and ate what I had brought: a sandwich, yogurt, and more grapes. We met a British boy who was only in Prague for the day during a tour of Europe. He had already spent four hours of his day in the café. It’s so interesting to meet people from all over doing such exciting (or, in this case, boring) things.
Then we took the tram to meet everyone at the Prague castle, where we spent a few hours going through an art exhibit. It was Cubist, which I’m not too excited about, but we just had a short lecture there and then had some time before we needed to be back at school. We all walked back (it was only about twenty minutes), then stopped at the café right under school to get cake. I ate Medovnik, which is honeycake and my new favorite thing. ((If it sounds like there’s a lot of food in this story, that’s because there is. Today was definitely the worst of it, and I usually don’t get something everywhere we go, but you could...this place is dangerously decadent when it comes to food.))
We ended the day with the third of four lectures on broad Czech history. Today was entitled “How to take over a country in three years or less,” and we focused mainly on the advent of Communism in the Czech Republic. I might be a nerd, or maybe it’s just our lecturer (who used to be a teacher here, and I might try to work with him), but I find it all pretty fascinating. With all the cafes and adventures, my day might sound quite romantic, which I guess it is, but not every day is like that and we really are working, not just being frivolous.
Anyway, tonight I pretty literally dashed out of there because I’ve been late home the past few nights and it’s finally gotten warm here, so I wanted to go on a run. I go the opportunity when I got off the metro only to see my bus about to pull away. I ran and hopped on, but I’m not exactly thrilled that I did, because it was PACKED. Making the bus did improve my record, however: The first night I missed it by one minute and had to wait forty minutes, the second night I missed it by five minutes and had to wait 35 minutes, and this time I just made it. (The reason I had to wait so long is because it was later at night; buses come about ever 10 minutes during the busier hours). I made it home by 6:15, and no one else was here yet, so I was out pounding the pavement by 6:30.
Now, perhaps I haven’t done a great job describing to you where I live. Rostoky, my suburb, is just north of Prague (about 20 minutes by bus- ha). On the way there you go by a beautiful river and lush foilage by the side of the road. The road itself is extremly tiny, and I’ve gotten pretty scared a few times that the bus was going to go right off the edge (Don’t worry, mom, the bus drivers all have decorated their area up front with pictures and good luck charms, so we should be safe). Rostoky is a town build on a pretty considerable hill, and when the bus drops me off, I have to climb to the very top of my hill to get to my house. The top is fairly flat, unfortunately, so I don’t have a great view from my window, but tonight I discovered the true beauty. I started running and was just going as the wind blew me (you can’t really get lost when your house is on top of a hill—if you’re at the bottom, you just run back up), and all of a sudden I came to this open patch which was bordered by an orchard of pear and apple trees that overlooked the river on one side and the entire city of Prague on the other. It was absolutely breathtaking (I think. I already didn’t have much breath because I’m out of shape and I was going up a hill, but it took all the breath I had left). The site/sight made my night.
When I got back, everyone was just getting home. We talked for a bit, then Elena told me to get out of my sweaty clothes so we could eat. I did (because you can’t argue with that), and sat down to yet another delicious meal. The bounty has shifted suddenly from pears to mushrooms (which they’ve promise they’ll take me “hunting” for), so the first course was mushroom and potato soup. My first few bites were absolutely fabulous, but then Elena pulled out a bottle of vinegar and put some—about 2 tablespoons, I would guess—in her soup, and recommended that we all do the same. I added maybe a teaspoon, and it’s pretty safe to say it ruined my soup experience. A tip: never put vinegar in your soup. After that she pulled out two heaping plates of what she called pancakes but what I would call crepes, and either way they were wrapped taco-style around either mushrooms or assorted vegetables. These were FANTASTIC and didn’t require vinegar to enhance the flavor. I ate two and then was forced to eat another. After the third they tried to make me eat more, but I simply couldn’t do it. I don’t know how these people stay so thin. (By the way, the other day Elena was describing a couple she knows who are from America and she said, “They are both like Shrek,” meaning that they are fat, not that they are ogres. I found this hilarious.) Then after dinner Jan pulled out a huge bottle of beer and split it between himself, Elena, and I (they don’t let Simon drink because the drinking age is 18 and he’s 16, and he’s not very happy about it), and then told me that if I wanted more, he could open another bottle. By this time, I was almost exploding with food, and I really thought he was joking, but when I laughed they looked confused. Needless to say, I did not require more.
So we feasted and are now doing our own thing, which for me right now means blogging/emailing/homework. I’ve tried doing homework downstairs, but they seem to think if I’m down there on the couch they can’t be watching TV or anything, so I feel annoying and for now I’m up in my room. Okay, that’s it for now, if I have time you’ll hear about the game tonight, otherwise maybe this weekend.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Not in Kansas.
Q and A is going to have to wait, because I want to get some other thoughts down first. Namely, a list of things that I've noticed that are different here than in America. I just wanted to write them down before they become normal for me and I stop noticing them.
1. Lack of peanut butter. This is okay so far, but it may become not okay by December. Apparently most people hate it, though Elena says she doesn't mind it, it's just impossible to find. I guess Nutella will have to do for me for the next four months.
2. Lack of bags/disposables in general. When I went to the grocery store with Elena, she brought her own bag with her, and everyone else did the same-- I'm not even sure that there were paper or plastic bags. It's cool how they're sort of unconciously environmentally conscious.
3. To go along with that, there are no to go cups or to go anything, really. If you order something, you're meant to sit down and eat/drink it. I haven't seen anyone with a travel coffee mug, and nobody gets Doggy bags at restaurants. This morning I ate a banana while walking to my bus stop and even that earned me funny looks.
4. Everyone closes all doors all of the time. I noticed this first in my host family's house, and other people I've talked to agree. I think it's a way of keeping the heat inside the rooms instead of the middle of the house, but it feels odd to me.
5. If you've been to Prague you probably know that the rudest thing you can do is to leave on your shoes in a house. I didn't think that was too strange, but when I went out into the back yard of my house Elena made me change into other special backyard shoes. This is a bit excessive if you ask me. We also went to a movie theater today and learned that putting your feet on the seat in front of you is NOT allowed. It made for an uncomfortable viewing, since my feet were dangling the whole time.
6. When we had our huge lunch on Sunday, we had glasses at the table but we didn't drink anything until we had finished eating. After that, Simon got up and got a bottle of water and a bottle of wine, and we drank last. Dad, this reminded me of your family. Also, everyone ate REALLY quickly. I had two bites of soup, then looked up, and everyone else was done-- no exaggeration. Maybe this is just my family.
7. Everyone has a dog, and all of the dogs are huge. HUGE.
8. Water comes with bubbles, lightswitches are squares, there are no nutrition labels on anything, the shower heads are never attached. This last fact has caused some problems for me, since my family also doesn't have a shower curtain, and it is extremely difficult to not spray water all over.
Just wanted to get those down. Hope they're not too boring. Oh, and one more thing, I've had the following conversation about a million times:
Misc. Czech person: Where are you from?
Claire: Wisconsin.
Misc. Czech person (pretending to know where that is): Ahh, where in Wisconsin?
Claire: Madison
Misc. Czech person (excited): Oh, like Bridges Over Madison County?
Claire: Uh...no.
Misc. Czech person (dejected): Oh.
I think it's pretty funny but I have to find a way to soften the blow.
1. Lack of peanut butter. This is okay so far, but it may become not okay by December. Apparently most people hate it, though Elena says she doesn't mind it, it's just impossible to find. I guess Nutella will have to do for me for the next four months.
2. Lack of bags/disposables in general. When I went to the grocery store with Elena, she brought her own bag with her, and everyone else did the same-- I'm not even sure that there were paper or plastic bags. It's cool how they're sort of unconciously environmentally conscious.
3. To go along with that, there are no to go cups or to go anything, really. If you order something, you're meant to sit down and eat/drink it. I haven't seen anyone with a travel coffee mug, and nobody gets Doggy bags at restaurants. This morning I ate a banana while walking to my bus stop and even that earned me funny looks.
4. Everyone closes all doors all of the time. I noticed this first in my host family's house, and other people I've talked to agree. I think it's a way of keeping the heat inside the rooms instead of the middle of the house, but it feels odd to me.
5. If you've been to Prague you probably know that the rudest thing you can do is to leave on your shoes in a house. I didn't think that was too strange, but when I went out into the back yard of my house Elena made me change into other special backyard shoes. This is a bit excessive if you ask me. We also went to a movie theater today and learned that putting your feet on the seat in front of you is NOT allowed. It made for an uncomfortable viewing, since my feet were dangling the whole time.
6. When we had our huge lunch on Sunday, we had glasses at the table but we didn't drink anything until we had finished eating. After that, Simon got up and got a bottle of water and a bottle of wine, and we drank last. Dad, this reminded me of your family. Also, everyone ate REALLY quickly. I had two bites of soup, then looked up, and everyone else was done-- no exaggeration. Maybe this is just my family.
7. Everyone has a dog, and all of the dogs are huge. HUGE.
8. Water comes with bubbles, lightswitches are squares, there are no nutrition labels on anything, the shower heads are never attached. This last fact has caused some problems for me, since my family also doesn't have a shower curtain, and it is extremely difficult to not spray water all over.
Just wanted to get those down. Hope they're not too boring. Oh, and one more thing, I've had the following conversation about a million times:
Misc. Czech person: Where are you from?
Claire: Wisconsin.
Misc. Czech person (pretending to know where that is): Ahh, where in Wisconsin?
Claire: Madison
Misc. Czech person (excited): Oh, like Bridges Over Madison County?
Claire: Uh...no.
Misc. Czech person (dejected): Oh.
I think it's pretty funny but I have to find a way to soften the blow.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Jak se mate?
The title means “How are you?”, but one of the first things we learned here was to never ask that question unless you are looking for a true, complete answer. I’ve heard many anecdotes about people missing the metro because they carelessly queried a friend or neighbor. Apparently it’s also considered very rude to just answer positively; one of our lecturers said that the other day she said that she was “good” and her friend protested, “Donna, could you stop this attitude and tell me at least one bad thing that has happened!” The question and the explanation of both good and bad things going on is meant genuinely as a chance to bond through problems. I think it’s cool, and I’m warning you that I may adopt a similar attitude when I return.
This is in part an answer to the question “Are the people there friendly?” To put it simply, no, they are not. That’s not to say they’re not nice. Our first speakers have been about Czech people, assumptions, stereotypes, generalizations, and the truths and explanations behind these things. They often ask for our first impressions of the people, and the most frequently offered words are “unimpressed” “reserved” “skeptical”. It’s true, really. According to our lecturers, there is a notion that people don’t just go around being kind; you have to EARN a smile.
Again, that’s not to say that the people aren’t nice. Once you’re “in” their good graces, you’re really in. And they truly appreciate you not being a tourist and trying to actually learn their culture, especially the language. All of my teachers keep telling me that Czech people know that Czech is a hard language, so they’ll appreciate any attempt, and I’ve found this to be very true. Whenever I approach someone in Czech and first ask my question in the language before switching to English, they’re much more helpful. I think I really like this chutzpah. They are so proud of who they are and what their country is, and so resilient and strong as people.
This sort of relates to my main story of the day: my first experience getting lost. This morning, Jan and Elena took me on the bus and put me on a tram and then assumed I could get back. If you know me, you know that unless I DO something by myself, I have absolutely no clue where to begin. So, on my way back I found the right tram and got off at the right stop, but then everythign was totally blank. I couldn’t recognize anything, so I wasn’t sure whether I had gotten off at the right stop, and there are about 10 bus stops in the same area, so I was going around to all of them and crossing the street and it was raining and I simply couldn’t find my stop. I made sure I was in the right place, which I was, but I might as well have been in Warsaw. Did I mention that it was pouring and freezing? It was. I was determined to not call for help, so I kept wandering around. I tried to ask several people, but I couldn’t remember any Czech, either, so I was really floundering. Finally, I saw a guy watching me who clearly knew I was lost but wasn’t helping, so I got really angry and remembered my Czech and asked him. He was able to point me in the right direction (around a corner), so I made it home, but I was a bit nervous for awhile. It felt really good to get to the house.
Unrelated: I gave the family Jelly Bellies (the jellybeans) as part of a homestay gift, and Simon absolutely loves them. He’s read Harry Potter, but he’s never seen jellybeans, so he thinks they’re from the book. I told him that the book stole them from us, and he was very impressed. He also said that he thinks they taste just like they’re supposed to, though he didn’t know what “root beer” was.
I think next blog I’m going to try to answer questions people have asked me in emails, etc, so if you have any, comment or email me. Dobrou noc! (Goodnight!)
This is in part an answer to the question “Are the people there friendly?” To put it simply, no, they are not. That’s not to say they’re not nice. Our first speakers have been about Czech people, assumptions, stereotypes, generalizations, and the truths and explanations behind these things. They often ask for our first impressions of the people, and the most frequently offered words are “unimpressed” “reserved” “skeptical”. It’s true, really. According to our lecturers, there is a notion that people don’t just go around being kind; you have to EARN a smile.
Again, that’s not to say that the people aren’t nice. Once you’re “in” their good graces, you’re really in. And they truly appreciate you not being a tourist and trying to actually learn their culture, especially the language. All of my teachers keep telling me that Czech people know that Czech is a hard language, so they’ll appreciate any attempt, and I’ve found this to be very true. Whenever I approach someone in Czech and first ask my question in the language before switching to English, they’re much more helpful. I think I really like this chutzpah. They are so proud of who they are and what their country is, and so resilient and strong as people.
This sort of relates to my main story of the day: my first experience getting lost. This morning, Jan and Elena took me on the bus and put me on a tram and then assumed I could get back. If you know me, you know that unless I DO something by myself, I have absolutely no clue where to begin. So, on my way back I found the right tram and got off at the right stop, but then everythign was totally blank. I couldn’t recognize anything, so I wasn’t sure whether I had gotten off at the right stop, and there are about 10 bus stops in the same area, so I was going around to all of them and crossing the street and it was raining and I simply couldn’t find my stop. I made sure I was in the right place, which I was, but I might as well have been in Warsaw. Did I mention that it was pouring and freezing? It was. I was determined to not call for help, so I kept wandering around. I tried to ask several people, but I couldn’t remember any Czech, either, so I was really floundering. Finally, I saw a guy watching me who clearly knew I was lost but wasn’t helping, so I got really angry and remembered my Czech and asked him. He was able to point me in the right direction (around a corner), so I made it home, but I was a bit nervous for awhile. It felt really good to get to the house.
Unrelated: I gave the family Jelly Bellies (the jellybeans) as part of a homestay gift, and Simon absolutely loves them. He’s read Harry Potter, but he’s never seen jellybeans, so he thinks they’re from the book. I told him that the book stole them from us, and he was very impressed. He also said that he thinks they taste just like they’re supposed to, though he didn’t know what “root beer” was.
I think next blog I’m going to try to answer questions people have asked me in emails, etc, so if you have any, comment or email me. Dobrou noc! (Goodnight!)
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Room and Board and Monkey Business
Man, for you loyal blog-checkers, this is a sweet day. That's because it was also a sweet day for me, your loyal blog-writer. I just wanted to continue some thoughts about the house and fill you in on the rest of my host family.
The house is...well, like the city, it's rough around the edges but comfortable inside. Elena told me that she and Jan got married pre-revolution, so when there was Communism, and you weren't allowed to buy or sell property. Elena was divorced, and Jan didn't want to move in with the ex-husband (suprised?), so they had to search for a way to get around the rule. Jan's aunt had this house, which apparently was very run-down and pretty much a disaster, but they moved in anyway. Since then, they've been repairing it, but for a long time it was very difficult because they'd start a project and then all of a sudden run out of concrete (as in, the city/country would run out of concrete), or they would lack supplies altogether. Anyway, now it's pretty nice inside. The outside is rather ugly: it's very flat and not very interesting. There are two floors inside. The first has a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen complete with a washing machine and pantry. The second floor has my room, Simon's room, Jan and Elena's room, and a bathroom. Actually, my room also has a LOFT, but I'm saving that fact for it's own post (Morgan, on a sidenote, every staircase here is winding and beautiful-- you'd be in heaven). My favorite part of the first floor is a wall that's entirely bookshelves, all filled with books I can't read yet. There are a lot of plants inside, and the kitchen is Brimming with food, especially pears because (and here's the best part) in the back yard there are pear trees, apple trees, grapes, etc.! The back yard is absolutely GORGEOUS. In addition to the fruits, it also contains two adorable run-down sheds, a clothesline, and flowers (pictures will follow once I figure that out). In any case, I'm quite comfortable, and my host family is even lending me a laptop, which makes the rootbeer incident not quite so heartbreaking.
When I stopped working on the last post, it was because it was time for lunch. Now, this was a special lunch because two of the three older children were there, but it was absolutely ridiculous and everything was delicious. We started out with cabbage soup, which sounds gross but actually tastes nothing like cabbage, which was followed by what I'm told is a Hungarian dish of peppers stuffed with rice and mincemeat and stewed in this tomato soup mix. They were afraid I wouldn't like it, but I loved it, which makes me nervous about the stuff they think I will like! The peppers were accompanied by the dumplings we made this morning (I had two but the average was four), and all that was before a desert of pear pudding topped with two heaps of various fruit topped by homemade cream. This was all while drinking carbonated water and two glasses of wine. After all of that, Elena went out with a scissors and brought back bunches of the most delicious grapes I've ever tasted. It was like the normal grape flavor intensified times one hundred and enriced with berries or something. They also reminded me of gushers, because the skin fell off right away in your mouth and the inside was squishy liquid.
Before I forget, the other traditional Czech food I've eaten is garlic soup, which was surprisingly savory, and made me feel extra vampire-proof.
The last thing for today is my "extended family". One reason for the big lunch was that my 34-year-old host brother is leaving for Africa, where he will shoot two documentaries. Read that sentence again, because it's pretty cool. He's also gorgeous and he has a beautiful girlfriend. He's being paid by National Geographic. Just as a note, that used to be my dream job, so I am in awe. Perhaps cooler was my host sister, who is a singer-songwriter, and her husband, who is the lead singer for the band Monkey Business. It's a pop/funk band and they sing in English, and apparently they're a HUGE deal in the Czech Republic. Jan showed me a video of their concert, and it's legit-- they have lighting effects and sweet costumes and huge crowds. The music actually wasn't bad, either, so if you can access it, Czech it out (ha). They just released an album in Australia (I think. I could be wrotg about the location), so he's going touring now. Anyway, I thought it was all pretty exciting, even thought I felt pretty left out when they were all doing their family thing in Czech and I had no clue what was going on. One of the things I'm discovering is that everyone here does something artsy in addition to their regular work if not as their regular work, and I think that's really neat.
On that topic, tonight I went to this little play put on in a schoolroom. It was all in Czech, but it was so interesting to watch. It was mainly done in puppets (think Sound of Music, but there was also a guy playing the electric guitar to accompany them, and at times the puppeteers would play the oboe or sing. I am in a crazy place!
The house is...well, like the city, it's rough around the edges but comfortable inside. Elena told me that she and Jan got married pre-revolution, so when there was Communism, and you weren't allowed to buy or sell property. Elena was divorced, and Jan didn't want to move in with the ex-husband (suprised?), so they had to search for a way to get around the rule. Jan's aunt had this house, which apparently was very run-down and pretty much a disaster, but they moved in anyway. Since then, they've been repairing it, but for a long time it was very difficult because they'd start a project and then all of a sudden run out of concrete (as in, the city/country would run out of concrete), or they would lack supplies altogether. Anyway, now it's pretty nice inside. The outside is rather ugly: it's very flat and not very interesting. There are two floors inside. The first has a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen complete with a washing machine and pantry. The second floor has my room, Simon's room, Jan and Elena's room, and a bathroom. Actually, my room also has a LOFT, but I'm saving that fact for it's own post (Morgan, on a sidenote, every staircase here is winding and beautiful-- you'd be in heaven). My favorite part of the first floor is a wall that's entirely bookshelves, all filled with books I can't read yet. There are a lot of plants inside, and the kitchen is Brimming with food, especially pears because (and here's the best part) in the back yard there are pear trees, apple trees, grapes, etc.! The back yard is absolutely GORGEOUS. In addition to the fruits, it also contains two adorable run-down sheds, a clothesline, and flowers (pictures will follow once I figure that out). In any case, I'm quite comfortable, and my host family is even lending me a laptop, which makes the rootbeer incident not quite so heartbreaking.
When I stopped working on the last post, it was because it was time for lunch. Now, this was a special lunch because two of the three older children were there, but it was absolutely ridiculous and everything was delicious. We started out with cabbage soup, which sounds gross but actually tastes nothing like cabbage, which was followed by what I'm told is a Hungarian dish of peppers stuffed with rice and mincemeat and stewed in this tomato soup mix. They were afraid I wouldn't like it, but I loved it, which makes me nervous about the stuff they think I will like! The peppers were accompanied by the dumplings we made this morning (I had two but the average was four), and all that was before a desert of pear pudding topped with two heaps of various fruit topped by homemade cream. This was all while drinking carbonated water and two glasses of wine. After all of that, Elena went out with a scissors and brought back bunches of the most delicious grapes I've ever tasted. It was like the normal grape flavor intensified times one hundred and enriced with berries or something. They also reminded me of gushers, because the skin fell off right away in your mouth and the inside was squishy liquid.
Before I forget, the other traditional Czech food I've eaten is garlic soup, which was surprisingly savory, and made me feel extra vampire-proof.
The last thing for today is my "extended family". One reason for the big lunch was that my 34-year-old host brother is leaving for Africa, where he will shoot two documentaries. Read that sentence again, because it's pretty cool. He's also gorgeous and he has a beautiful girlfriend. He's being paid by National Geographic. Just as a note, that used to be my dream job, so I am in awe. Perhaps cooler was my host sister, who is a singer-songwriter, and her husband, who is the lead singer for the band Monkey Business. It's a pop/funk band and they sing in English, and apparently they're a HUGE deal in the Czech Republic. Jan showed me a video of their concert, and it's legit-- they have lighting effects and sweet costumes and huge crowds. The music actually wasn't bad, either, so if you can access it, Czech it out (ha). They just released an album in Australia (I think. I could be wrotg about the location), so he's going touring now. Anyway, I thought it was all pretty exciting, even thought I felt pretty left out when they were all doing their family thing in Czech and I had no clue what was going on. One of the things I'm discovering is that everyone here does something artsy in addition to their regular work if not as their regular work, and I think that's really neat.
On that topic, tonight I went to this little play put on in a schoolroom. It was all in Czech, but it was so interesting to watch. It was mainly done in puppets (think Sound of Music, but there was also a guy playing the electric guitar to accompany them, and at times the puppeteers would play the oboe or sing. I am in a crazy place!
Chytilovi
So much to say about everything but I simply must talk about my host family, who I am now living with. I don’t even know where to start about them, so I’ll begin with names. They are known as the family Chytlovi, so the father is Chytil and the mother is Chytilova. My host father, Jan-pronounced Yan and with the nickname Hosta- barely speaks any English, but he’s super cute. I think he’s in his upper 50s and he’s very smiley. When I told them that I was Czech, he said something about how all nice girls are Czech. They’ve had students stay with them before, and apparently Jan refused to learn English from them but my host mother said he understands a lot of it and that he might learn it from me because I’m a girl.
My host mother, Elena, is a hoot. She’s Slovakian, as she keeps reminding me, not Czech, and she’s a very take-charge do-what-she-wants tell-it-like-it-is lady. She’s very opinionated and I think her favorite word in English is idiots, which she’s used to describe the people who built her grocery store, the people who put up signs in Prague, and various other unknown entities. At the same time, she’s a total sweetheart, and she’s very concerned with how I am and whether I’m hungry or cold or need anything. This morning she suddenly asked if I wanted to learn how to make dumplings, which of course I did, and so she’s had me in the kitchen all morning. I now have all of the many secrets to make good dumplings, but there are so many that I don’t think I could ever reproduce them. They start with yeast, but it isn’t dry yeast like we have, it looks almost like a grey, dry version of butter. She had me try some and it tasted like very sour bread. She snacked on it the whole time, which I thought was so funny, because who eats straight yeast, but she insisted that it has a lot of vitamin B and is thus good for the skin. Elena is very interested in telling me about their life and why things are the way they are, and that always comes back to communism. For example, she talked about how she always stocks up on food because in the past they could only find one thing at a time, so they’re accustomed to buying a ton of it.
My host brother, Simon- pronounced She-moan – is 16 and a typical teenage boy. He has his eybrow pierced, which Elena said was his way of asserting his independence. He watched TV with me last night and I managed to get him to talk to me a little. He and Jan are always joking, which is really cute and I wish I understood more of it. Simon is constantly text messaging or on the computer, and his mom is always complaining about it. Tim, he reminds me of you. This morning, for example, Elena was yelling at him to bring down his laundry and he was grumpy about it, but he finally brought it down, and I felt like I was back in SP. Last night we were watching music videos and the Rhianna video came on and he laughed at her and said She’s so plastic, --sorry, I can’t find quotation marks or parentheses on this keyboard-- which he was using to mean fake. I thought it was interesting that he was so critical of her makeup, etc.
This morning at breakfast I felt like I was having breakfast at grandma Kostechka’s house—we had bread and meat and jam, and Elena didn’t sit down the whole time.
We’re about to eat lunch, and my older host siblings are here, gotta go!
My host mother, Elena, is a hoot. She’s Slovakian, as she keeps reminding me, not Czech, and she’s a very take-charge do-what-she-wants tell-it-like-it-is lady. She’s very opinionated and I think her favorite word in English is idiots, which she’s used to describe the people who built her grocery store, the people who put up signs in Prague, and various other unknown entities. At the same time, she’s a total sweetheart, and she’s very concerned with how I am and whether I’m hungry or cold or need anything. This morning she suddenly asked if I wanted to learn how to make dumplings, which of course I did, and so she’s had me in the kitchen all morning. I now have all of the many secrets to make good dumplings, but there are so many that I don’t think I could ever reproduce them. They start with yeast, but it isn’t dry yeast like we have, it looks almost like a grey, dry version of butter. She had me try some and it tasted like very sour bread. She snacked on it the whole time, which I thought was so funny, because who eats straight yeast, but she insisted that it has a lot of vitamin B and is thus good for the skin. Elena is very interested in telling me about their life and why things are the way they are, and that always comes back to communism. For example, she talked about how she always stocks up on food because in the past they could only find one thing at a time, so they’re accustomed to buying a ton of it.
My host brother, Simon- pronounced She-moan – is 16 and a typical teenage boy. He has his eybrow pierced, which Elena said was his way of asserting his independence. He watched TV with me last night and I managed to get him to talk to me a little. He and Jan are always joking, which is really cute and I wish I understood more of it. Simon is constantly text messaging or on the computer, and his mom is always complaining about it. Tim, he reminds me of you. This morning, for example, Elena was yelling at him to bring down his laundry and he was grumpy about it, but he finally brought it down, and I felt like I was back in SP. Last night we were watching music videos and the Rhianna video came on and he laughed at her and said She’s so plastic, --sorry, I can’t find quotation marks or parentheses on this keyboard-- which he was using to mean fake. I thought it was interesting that he was so critical of her makeup, etc.
This morning at breakfast I felt like I was having breakfast at grandma Kostechka’s house—we had bread and meat and jam, and Elena didn’t sit down the whole time.
We’re about to eat lunch, and my older host siblings are here, gotta go!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Pragueress!
Prague has me speechless already; I've only been here for about 24 hours and I have no idea where to begin. My first impression is that the city is very Cool. It definitely has rough edges, but it has a good heart, and for me, it seems very comfortable. The biggest shock this morning was finding that everything here really is written in Czech-- it was a shock to go into the Metro station after being in the airport, where everything was written in both English and Czech. It's pretty exciting, though, because it seems like we're going to learn Czech really quickly just out of necessity. Sara, our academic director, said that she learned the language "through osmosis," and she's fluent now. Today we went to our school site for the first time, but first we stopped in the cafe and pub underneath it. We all started to order drinks at the cafe, and Sara told us that the people there (and at the pub) were instructed to only speak to us in Czech. Needless to say, it was a bit difficult to order, but we got through it and it's so exciting to think that soon I'll understand the entire interaction and be confident that I'm really getting orange juice.
The place where we have our school is breathtaking. It is in what used to be an apartment, but it spans three floors and totals about ten rooms. All of the rooms are white and have high ceilings and big windows. The best part is a terrace off of the top floor that overlooks the city. Expect pictures soon. The worst part is that the computers there (which will be my main access to internet) have Czech keyboards, so things are all messed up. Funny thing is, I'm used to a messed up keyboard :-/. In any case, it's a sweet place to learn, complete with a library and lounge where we can work.
Today we were pretty touristy, probably the most touristy we will be on the trip. We must have been a hilarious site getting on the metro. There are two things I like about the metro. The first is the escalator down to the trains, which is about the length of six or seven normal escalators. The second is the wall of the tunnels. I'll have to put a picture up, but trust me, it's cool. We went on a walking tour of the city, then hung out at a pizzeria with a few Praguians ($5 to the first person who tells me what you're really supposed to call people from Prague.). It was really interesting to hear them talk about the city; they love it, but they kept saying, "We've lost it," meaning that the tourists and West has really taken it over. It was depressing, but really neat to see how passionately they felt about the city. In addition, they were almost all artists, and it was so so interesting to hear how they were using their art to sort of perpetuate the Prague that they love. One of them was a theater manager, and he invited us to his show that night-- a one-man Japanese modern dance. I went with another girl on the program, and it was wicked wild (I don't ever use the word "wicked", so that should show you how much I mean this). It was in a tiny theater, and we were clearly the only Americans there. Sometime ask me about the dance, it should be shared in person.
Agh, I did not do my first day here justice at all. Can you tell I'm pretty out of it? I'm still rather jet-lagged. It's midnight and I'm very tired but also very wide awake. I promise a more interesting post soon.
The place where we have our school is breathtaking. It is in what used to be an apartment, but it spans three floors and totals about ten rooms. All of the rooms are white and have high ceilings and big windows. The best part is a terrace off of the top floor that overlooks the city. Expect pictures soon. The worst part is that the computers there (which will be my main access to internet) have Czech keyboards, so things are all messed up. Funny thing is, I'm used to a messed up keyboard :-/. In any case, it's a sweet place to learn, complete with a library and lounge where we can work.
Today we were pretty touristy, probably the most touristy we will be on the trip. We must have been a hilarious site getting on the metro. There are two things I like about the metro. The first is the escalator down to the trains, which is about the length of six or seven normal escalators. The second is the wall of the tunnels. I'll have to put a picture up, but trust me, it's cool. We went on a walking tour of the city, then hung out at a pizzeria with a few Praguians ($5 to the first person who tells me what you're really supposed to call people from Prague.). It was really interesting to hear them talk about the city; they love it, but they kept saying, "We've lost it," meaning that the tourists and West has really taken it over. It was depressing, but really neat to see how passionately they felt about the city. In addition, they were almost all artists, and it was so so interesting to hear how they were using their art to sort of perpetuate the Prague that they love. One of them was a theater manager, and he invited us to his show that night-- a one-man Japanese modern dance. I went with another girl on the program, and it was wicked wild (I don't ever use the word "wicked", so that should show you how much I mean this). It was in a tiny theater, and we were clearly the only Americans there. Sometime ask me about the dance, it should be shared in person.
Agh, I did not do my first day here justice at all. Can you tell I'm pretty out of it? I'm still rather jet-lagged. It's midnight and I'm very tired but also very wide awake. I promise a more interesting post soon.
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