wagamamamama

Traveling for 10 days is a true test of stamina; a test of which I think Jo and I aced. Well, except for a few minor miscalculations, but those were mostly directional so they don't actually count.

I honestly don't really know where to begin recapturing this journey. So much happened and I don't think anyone wants to read about it all- hence the list form that will incite after this paragraph. The main thing about this spring break that I realized was that I could actually travel by myself. I guess that is one of the main points of studying abroad: recognizing your independence. But once you have that realization, it really does feel great.

My adventures began in Paris, where I got to see MERYL. I needed a whole lot of Meryl in my life right about then, as the half way point of this adventure seemed to be dragging on a little. I love seeing other people's abroad situations, so that when we all return back to the states I'll have some idea of what they are talking about when they say, "Remember that time when...". Funny thing: We had a layover in London to get to Paris which was quite the treat...(I have no idea how this could even make sense at all...geographically, especially). It wasn't too bad except for the fact that Jo and I were SPRINTING through Heathrow Airport trying to catch our next flight. The weather was pretty rainy and windy outside which made for some heavy turbulence. But Jo knows how much I hate flying and always held my hand :).

Main things we did/saw in Paris:

1. Louvre: We really only did this because you have to go to the Louvre when you are in Paris for the first time. Of course we saw the Mona Lisa, but to be honest, its hyped up a little too much. The photo itself is like a celebrity: enclosed in a glass case surrounded by body guards preventing you from entering the imaginary sphere around the photo.

2. Les Vedettes du Pont Neuf boat ride across the Siene River where we got to see the Eiffe tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, Musee du Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, the Grand Palais and Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris), among many other sites. Although it was absolutely freezing and raining outside, we endured the cold and stood outside on the boat for most of the journey. I'd say it was well worth it. After our walk back to Meryl's apartment we ended the night properly: with a nice cup of hot chocolate and sweatshirts.

3. American Church in Paris: I went to my first church service on Easter!

4. Pompidou: museum of modern art. The outside of this museum is a tremendous piece of art itself. It looks like one huge science experiment. Inside we saw a ton of installation art work, of which I enjoyed. But what I don't understand is how these pieces of art are moved from exhibit to exhibit...are the simply meant to be temporary or are they replicated each time?

5. Falafel: If you want to have the best falafel, you need to go to the Jewish quarters in Paris. The long line is well worth the wait and quite reflective of just how good the falafel actually is.

6. Versailles: We decided to take a day trip to Versailles once we found out that it was only a 40 minute train ride away. Our plan was to wake up at get to the chateau by 9 am so that Meryl could be back in time for her 1:30 pm class. So, we buy tickets and wait for the train to come. Once we get on the train and it is almost at the last stop we realize that we don't think this is the right train. No one else is on the train and all the lights have been turned out. We had heard an announcement a few minutes ago, but none of us were paying attention. Most of the train ride is underground, so it became quite scary with all the lights off especially since we knew we were pretty far away from the center of the city. Needless to say, we decided to pull the emergency alarm to let the conductor know that we were stuck on it. It was a scene, for sure, and the observers at the train station loved seeing us walk shamefully off the train. But, nevertheless, an hour and a half later we did arrive at Versaille and we did get to walk down the hall of mirrors where at the end, there was a cardboard throne of Louis XIV's. Kind of disappointing, but nonetheless absolutely beautiful...and like most buildings in Paris, gigantic! I think the gardens in the back were my favorite, though.

7. Haircut: Meryl's host family lives right next door to a salon. So on Tuesday when it was pouring rain, I decided that there was nothing better to do but to get basically 8 inches cut of my hair. I'm getting more and more into each day and love the fact that my head feels way lighter now.

On Wednesday Jo and I travelled to London to visit Diana, whom lives above the pub called The Spotted Horse in Putney. What a great area. It's more of a residential neighborhood, yet the center of London is extremely easy to get to. My favorite sites in London:

1. National Portrait Gallery: We went and saw the Vanity Fair exhibit at this museum which was incredible. I was especially able to appreciate many of the photos because we have been discussing them in our photography class recently. It was interesting to see how the photographs have changed since the early 1900s. I think some of my favorite photos were taken by Man Ray and Nan Goldin.

2. Tate Museum: This museum is so big, we only made it to 2 floors. The third and the fifth-- The fifth floor dealth with 'states of flux' while the third floor included 'material gestures'. There was a ton of pop art and minimalistic art which I enjoyed.

3. Freud Museum: this museum is located in one of Freud's old houses in a beautiful residential area on the outskirts of the city.

4. Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Picadilly Circus....

5. Avenue Q: since Diana loves broadway shows, we thought it would only be appropriate for us to go to one with her. Avenue Q is absolutely hilarious, it was basically like a puppet show for adults. At first I was skeptical... but the show was really terrific. The show itself is about a recent college graduate who was an English major and now moves into this new neighborhood and embarks on a journey towards an elusive self discovery and purpose. (too bad the plot seemed a little too realistic for me at this time...)

6. Camden Market, Portobello Market: the perfect markets for vintage shoppers :). Although it was raining we still made our way through the streets of the infamous markets. Too bad the dollar means nothing in London. Literally. I could not believe how expensive everything was-- it was a good thing we were only there for 4 days.

7. Saturday was the Putney Boat Race which is basically like Class and Charter Day in Putney. Diana's bar was full of people from early in the morning, so we made our way trying to avoid the crowds, yet still enjoy the day. So, we sat on the curb of an alley eating subway.... there really were a ton of people there leaving our options quite minimal.

Somehow Johanna and I managed to make it home last night without any major catastrophes. Since we were travelling on the day of daylight savings time AND flying through a different time zone, I was pretty convinced we were going to miss our flight. But luckily our flight was 2 hours delayed because Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport is not really functioning at this moment. They opened the terminal about a week ago and between the lack of hired staff and the lack of staff who know how to use the luggage technology, flights are being cancelled and luggage is being lost. But regardless, we are back in Praha and it was a beautiful sunny day today! Hopefully spring is starting to bloom. I can't believe we have 5 weeks left. Time is seriously flying by...

Here is the album from break for those of you who read this far:

SpringBreak

what now?

Cultural Events for the week:



One World Film Festival: A Human Rights Film Festival in Prague for a week or two. We saw two films, "From Russia with Hate" and "Nazi pop twins". "From Russia with Hate" explored the growing neo-nazi movement currently in Russia, of which I shamefully admit my ignorance. A complete new type of nationalism is emerging; one that contributes to the hatred of immigrants. Stemming from this is a tremendous trend of xenophobia, which is producing a more radical and violent form of hatred. The most absurd part of the movie was that they interviewed a member of Parliament who was an advocate for this brutality and obliterataion of immigrants! I'm pretty sure you can actually watch the film on this website, for those interested (it's short, no worries): http://current.com/items/84906361_from_russia_with_hate

"Nazi pop twins" is a film about the American teenage twins who are in the band Prussian Blue. They are famous mainly because of their white nationalist song lyrics and their support for neo-nazism. The film was an a way an act of resistance again racism. First, the girls were made out to be victims of their mother's manipulation. It was really great to see that despite the sheltered life that their mother forced them to live, the twins still were able to see the flaws in their mother's beliefs. Also, because of the mother's radical beliefs, a group of people began to resist the family's beliefs. It made me start thinking about how you really can't have existence without comparison. In order for to have successful resistance, you need to have something for the resisters to resist.

Movement Theatre Performance: "A Stage for New Theatre" at Alfred Vedvore; Johanna and I decided to venture to the outskirts of the city, to a small theatre which has a hidden, windy entrance. We were the only non-Czech speaking people in the theatre of about 15 people. I felt like it was a true experience of Czech modern art. The performance explores the world of colors using minimalist movement and live music merged with interactive video. It was definitely heady; but, very unique and well-done. The use of technology was not pretentious and deceptful like the black light theatre. Rather it was honest and tastefully done. I was so impressed with the manipulation of perspective.


Kafka Museum: Field trip number 4 or 5 for my Kafka class. This one at least seemed appropriate though. I had such high expectations for this museum since they put Kafka on such a pedastal in this country, but to be honest, I was not impressed at all. I felt that they were trying to make the physical aesthetics of the museum itself compensate for the lack of interesting content. There was one quote that I liked though: "Literature is most potent when it disjoints the powerful fictions which govern men's lives. A powerful fiction is a discourse which time has converted into unquestionable truth, whose fantastic origin has been forgotten (...) Kafka's fiction reveals the hallucinatory nature of what we call reality."


Citizen Havel (Obcan Havel): A documentary film that closely follows the life of the Czech Republic's first president, Vaclav Havel. What a guy, let me just say. Compulsive about his appearance, the story of Vaclav's life is humorous and entertaining and the audience is given a sneak peak into every aspect of his life. The film made like the president seem like a real person. I could never imagine a film being produced like this on a US president. Way too controversial. Although, Bill Clinton and Bush both made some guest appearances in the film.


Laundry: Okay, so maybe this isn't a cultural event, but it's also an event that I haven't done in way too long. At this point, the process just seems to excruciating. I'm getting desperate though so I hope I break down soon.

Rachel: Rachel is Prague this weekend! Whenever visitors come it just gives us a greater excuse to make sure we have a fun night. We tried out some new places last night, returned to some of our favorites. All of which were stellar, especially N11.

A weekend in Praha:






Good times. Good culture.

[insert title]

I've made a new rule for myself: I am not going to go anywhere that is not within walking distance of Machova. [So maybe I'm not going to make it such a strict rule, but regardless, I need to start going to more places that are right around the corner!] This weekend was a great start to finding these so-called neighboring hidden treasures. Lunch at Cafe Meduza (excellent tea), brunch at Radost, and coffee and conversation at Shakespeare and Sons. And tonight, I shall add dinner at Cheers to that list with Ali and Dani-- nothing like a little Port Washington lovin' in Prague.

Johanna and I actually just got back from the Shakespeare and Sons Cafe-- a cute little cafe/used bookstore located oh about 3 minutes away from where we live. It's cheap, cute and conducive for long afternoon conversations. Over numerous lattes and cappachinos, Jo and I discussed the current and overwhelming issue of author's writing illegitmate memoirs. Thanks to the internet, no author can get away with claiming a fake persona as their real identity, however, I wonder how many memoirs have been written in the past that are in fact actually fiction. I don't think that this changes the legitimacy of the work itself, however, I think that the memoir should be categorized as fiction. The authenticity of the author, nonetheless, is questioned. I keep going back and forth on the issue, but it's really becoming more and more common. It makes me frustrated, confused, and somewhat apathetic all at the same time.

It's great though, because whenever I find a new place I want to go to, Johanna always comes with me. We have a great little system. Especially after this weekend, I needed to get out of the dorm. I had some sort of a flu which is finally going away thankfully. Being sick in a foreign country is an interesting experience that I don't think is necessary for everyone to go through. Especially when it comes to purchasing medication. I wasn't able to read any labels or even communicate my symptoms (a simply cough syrup was all I needed). I guess it was good thing to have to do, but Mom, I did miss your TLC.

I can't believe that we are rapidly approaching the half way mark of this program. Time seems to be flying by, yet when I think about how much we've done since January 11, it feels like we've been here forever. What a weird phenomenon. In 'celebration' of our half way mark, Danielle and I decided to add some spice into our room. We moved all the furniture around so that it looks way more like a d-side dorm, than the way they had it set up for us. Danielle has begun to embrace her inner dark-side, and I'm very proud of her. The room actually looks about double the size as well. All it needs is my tapestry and maybe a bit of Emma's moroccan-tent-lovin'.

the benevolence of a master and the cleverness of a subject

Ahoj,

jak se mas? Ja se mam dobre. Mej se moc hezky!

psych....

still can't write a whole lot in Czech, but we're getting there. Hopefully by the end of the semester I'll be able to write a simple entry in only Czech. [wishful thinking? we'll see].

Funny sidenote: Tonight at dinner Johanna and I were at Country Life and next to the cash register there was a stack of business cards that said, "Dear Customers, due to frequent thefts, we strongly advise you to watch your belongings while at the restaurant." Oh, Praha... I wonder if these cards are some sort of a twisted marketing strategy?

Anyway, so the reason why Johanna and I were out to dinner was because we were going to try and see the documentary film "Citizen Havel" for the second time. Yesterday we attempted to see it, however, it was one of those days where they don't show the film with English subtitles. Then tonight we get on line and I see a sign in half Czech and half English, so I actually wasn't really sure if I was reading it correctly but, the movie was sold out! I really lacked this week on my attempt to complete something cultural at least every week. But at least the attempt was there. Its the effort that counts, right? So I think I'm just gonna wikipedia, youtube or google the movie now, cause I'm too stubborn. Jo, though, is still working on making it to that movie... good for you.

I did do something new this week, however. After quitting my internship (details not appropriate for blog) I realized how much more free time I actually would have. I am now able to go to the free yoga classes that NYU offers every Tuesday. So Johanna took me to this wonderful yoga class with the most amazing teacher. The yoga class is it what is presumably an apartment building. It's so cute, with beautiful wood floors and overlooks a great part of the city. At the end of the class she opened our energy channels by rubbing her hands on our spines. Honestly, I can lay in child's pose forever.

I am staying in Prague this weekend, which I am really excited about. I think its good that we are staying here for the two weeks before spring break, especially because there is so many things we still haven't done in Prague. Also, I could use a bit of a break from traveling, as fun as it has been, it's still tiring.

[[Before I end this entry, one quick, private shout out to Aunt Addy! I don't know when you will be able to read this, but I love you and miss you and hope you feel better so soon!]]

east bohem.

I never would have thought that I could be sitting on a tour bus driving through the windy roads of the Czech Republic towards East Bohemia. We left Namesti Miru at 8 am on Friday morning to go and explore the Czech countryside. I didn't realize how much I missed rural surroundings until I was surrounded by them. Prague, despite the the nice compactedness of its size, can almost feel claustrophobic at times. As soon as we were in the middle of farms and rolling hills, I almost thought I was driving through Clinton, NY. And I loved it. It's weird: I've noticed that there doesn't really seem to be suburbs close to the center of Prague. There's either the city itself or very rural environments.

My problem with the city itself, is the same problem I have with all cities. I always feel like I'm getting in people's way, which in turn makes me always feel slightly on edge. This feeling has especially intensified in Prague, since I'm always trying to avoid the barrier of language. So, it was very refreshing to get out of the city for 2 days and be able to relax and a more comfortable environment.

The first town we stopped in was called Nove Hrady where there is a beautiful Rococo complex called the Chateau Nove Hrady. The Chateau was absolutely huge and beautiful and on the outside there is a huge French garden (with a dinosaur? Not sure if that was Rococo though). The Chateau now stands as an intellectual and cultural center so I found it interesting that it was located a few hours away from Prague, which is the main city of the Czech Republic. The Chateau really does stand out as being the largest and the most ornate structure in the town.

For lunch, we drove to Litomysl, a medieval town which is the birthplace of the composer Smetana (Jo loves that stuff). We continued to Hradec Kralove which is where we were spending the night. Jo and I decided to bail out on the group tour-- I was pretty sick of listening to someone lecturing at me for the entire day-- and we went and explored the cute, little town on our own. For such a small town, there are a ton of nice restaurants, bars, cafes, stores etc. I'm confused as to what the socioeconomic status is of these towns. There are no large businesses surrounding the area for people to work, nor are there many tourists to help with its economy. It's very strange

The weather on Saturday was quite apocalyptic... in fact, it might have even been bordering biblical. We were supposed to visit another Chateau in Nove Mesto nad Metuju (New town upon the Metuje river) and visit the town of Kuks, but the rain and wind really didn't want us to go. We did end up finally making it to the Renaissaince Pernstein Castle, a Baroque and Renaissance style Chateau. There were gardens and a moat that at one point held bears. So as the storm was impeding the skies, Martina made the wise decision to skip Kuks and just head back to Prague. What a scary drive--- it was hailing, trees were falling down, and we were driving on roads that buses shouldn't even be driving on in nice weather. I was so happy to finally get back to Praha. Because of the storm we didn't have heat, hot water or internet access till this afternoon. But alas, the electricity's back on, we're nice and toasty and loving sippin' on grapefruit lemon tea.

Some pictures from East Bohemia:

East Bohemia