Holiday Season in Praha!

It's true, the Christmas season is now upon us in Prague and it is great!!!  Last week for Thanksgiving our program paid for us to go to the Marriott for a Thanksgiving feast!  It was good but I am sad to say that there were no mashed potatoes and no cranberries (cranberries are by far one of the best if not my favorite thing about Thanksgiving.)  Everyone was dressed up and looking great.  We didn't eat until 7 that night but we made sure to not eat too much so we could stuff ourselves at dinner, and that is exactly what we did.  I think that everyone went at least for thirds just on the dinner and the dessert is a completely different topic!  They had pumpkin pie which was so delicious!  I'm not even that big of a pumpkin pie fan but it was great!

Then came the weekend, when Prague really started to be filled with the Christmas spirit!  In Old Town Square they  have markets all around that are filled with little souveniers, christmas ornaments, and so much more.  Then there is a the huge Christmas tree which is there.  We went there on Saturday for the huge lighting of it and it was great!  They had a stage and had choirs singing and everyone was filled with the holiday spirit.  We got a fairly good spot right by the Christmas tree and stood there from 5 until it was lit at 6 to make sure we didn't lose our spot.  The square was filled with so many people!  And then at six there was the big countdown (in Czech, which was fun to practice our numbers backwards) and then it was lit.  It was fun to just be down there and hanging out with everyone and all of the Czech people who were excited for the tree to be lit.

Since then all of the Christmas lights are on every where. There are christmas lights on the trees that line the streets, on the street lights and there are christmas markets all over.  It's been so great but it has also been reminding us about how fast this is coming to the end.  There is just about 2 weeks left and it is crazy to think about where all the time went!  I have been loving it though!

Another great thing about this week is that my friend Kali who I went to camp with for years is here visiting.  She came on Monday and leaves Saturday and we have been spending the entire time playing tourist and showing her everything.  We have been having such a great time and it has been so great to catch up after not seeing each other for about a year and a half.

Oh and here is a interesting story.  This girl in my class yesterday was telling me that one of here friends who is studying abroad in France was in Madrid and was on a tapas tour there and apparently she ran into my Aunt Debbie there!  Such a small world!  

Well much love to you all and hope that you are enjoying the Christmas spirit where ever you may be!

Winter Wonderland-Vienna

So this past weekend we traveled to Vienna, Austria which was quite a trip!  It is hard to say what I did the majority of the time that I was there because for the most part it was freezing cold while we were there!  It was kind of rough the first day.  We took a bus there with my study abroad program.  As we were about an hour or so outside of Prague we had a beautiful little surprise of, oh yes, you guessed it, SNOW!!!!  It was so wonderful!  The snow flakes were gigantic and were just falling so gracefully.  It was exactly as the first snow of the year should be.  We stopped at a gas station and there were snow ball fights going on and my friend Rachel and I enjoyed (what I may argue to be) the best cup of hot chocolate in which I may have ever tasted!  It was great!

When we arrived in Vienna it was, as I said, rather chilly.  The kind of cold where it goes right through you and straight to the bone.  We were staying in a very nice hotel which was a nice change.  There was a tour that was scheduled and we started to go on it.  However, by the time that we had made it no farther then 3 blocks, we had found ourselves in a down pour rainfall and soaking wet.  So we decided to break off from the tour and head to a cute little cafe to warm up and enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate.  Some people got what is called Sacher cake which is a popular dessert in Austria and the surrounding countries.  While the cake looked quite good, I don't think that I would ever try it again.  It has a certain kind of spice to it and is not a sweet cake.  Overall, it was really just interesting.

That night we went to a cute little restaurant called Centimeter's and then after dinner we walked down to the city hall.  It was great to see that the city was already in the Christmas spirit!  There were christmas markets and Christmas lights all around!  it was truly just a beautiful little winter wonderland to walk around.  Unfortuantley, the bitter cold wind did not want us to enjoy this too much.  So we headed back to the hotel fairly early to get ready for the next day.

On Saturday we were split up into small groups where we had a tour guide which showed us all around the city.  We saw the city hall, the huge museums, all of the historic buildings and so much more!  After our city tour we, once again, went to a small cafe to warm up.  In the afternoon we went to another market and looked around and then went to the crowned jewels museum which was interesting.  There were the robes, crowns, and many more of the items in which the emperor's use to wear and have.  The best part was when we walked out of the museum and it started to snow!  Oh we were all so excited!  We were running around and sliding through the snow.  There may have even been a few snowballs being flown around.  

We then walked through the shopping district, which I was able to resist the temptation and not buy anything.  After walking through the city for awhile we, of course, went to another cafe to warm up.  I guess it wasn't much of a cafe this time though because we visited, oh yes, Starbucks.  While I am usually VERY against visiting American stores, coffee shops, and restaurants in foreign countries, it was a great taste of home and just comforting.  The rest of the night was spent enjoying the nice warmth of the hotel.  I was even able to take a bath, something which I have not been able to do in months.

On Sunday we went to the Schloss Schonbrunn which is the old palace right outside of Vienna.  They had a Christmas market there with a huge christmas tree and christmas lights.  We went to the restaurant and my friend Cort and I shared an apple strudel (delicious) and had some delicious hot chocolate. After the restaurant we walked around the gardens which were behind the castle.  It was beautiful but was for sure some place that I would love to visit again in the spring or summer when it is all blossoming and green.  Overall it was a great trip and I am truly in the Christmas spirit now!  

Amsterdam

So this past weekend four of my friends and I traveled to Amsterdam.  We left on early Friday morning and then came back on Tuesday morning.  Monday was a Czech holiday so we didn't have any school.  I was unsure of what to expect of the city before I left.  Amsterdam is usually most associated with the fact that both Prostitution and Marijuana are legal there (don't worry, I didn't partake in either of the them).  

I was amazed though that once I got there I found such a beautiful city!  The center of the city has numerous amounts of canals with cute little bridges that go over them.  The architecture of the buildings was also very beautiful.  It was all mostly 17th century building's.  They were also only about 5 or 6 floors so it did not have that big overwhelming city feeling.  It felt rather homey actually.

The first day we got in at around 10 in the morning.  We dropped out bags off at the hostel and then began to walk around.  It was amazing to see that a majority of the stores were not open until about 11 or so.  We were just walking around going down random streets and then ended up walking through  China town, which is always quite an experience.  We then turned off one of the streets and we were all rather surprised to have found our selves in the red light district.  I could hardly believe that it wasn't even noon yet and there were already these women who were barely wearing anything, standing in these windows trying to get guys to come in.  It was a very strange thing to experience.

Later on in the day we went to the Rijksmuseum.  We had heard amazing things about this place.  When we got there however, we found out that they were actually renavating and only a small portion of the pieces were being shown.  We did however get to see some of Rembrant's work and also this piece that is called "For the Love of God".  This piece was very interesting.  it is a skull which has had over eight thousand diamonds placed on it.  

The next day we went to the Van Gogh museum.  Many of his famous art works like two of his self-portraits, sunflowers, and many others were there.  It is always amazing to see this famous art pieces in real life.  After the Van Gogh museum we went to some small little markets where the people were selling such things as produce along with some sort of flee market items as well.

Sunday started off with us hearing some honking from our hostel.  We soon found out that there was a huge parade that was going on.  We still aren't exactly sure what the parade represented, but a lot of the people dressed up in these sort of "joker" outfits and got make-up to turn their skin black.  At the end of the parade, Santa from Spain came riding through on a white horse.  It was rather entertaining.  

My friend Becca and I then just spent a majority of the day sitting in this coffee house which was along one of the canals and read.  We then walked around for sometime.  Amsterdam was truly one of the greatest cities that I have been to just by the fact that I can just simply walk along the streets and just be so thrilled and so happy to just see the beautiful city.  

On Monday we had another coffee house reading day and then later on went and visited the Anne Frank House.  You go on a tour of the house in which they were living in hiding before they were caught.  It was amazing to take a small look into the living conditions and small quarters that they lived in for months just to save their lives.  The rooms were all very small and I could hardly imagine not being able to get outside and breath in the fresh air for so long.  It is so tough to take a look into one of the families and see the struggle and the hurt that they went through and to imagine that that is how it was for all of those people during that time.  it's truly putting a face and a story to just one of the millions of people who were killed during that time.

Krakow and Auschwitz, Poland

This past weekend we traveled to Krakow, Poland.  We spent almost all day Friday (from eight in the morning until seven at night) on the bus driving to Krakow.  It was a very long bus ride and we were in traffic for quite a long time.  Upon arrival I was not positive what to expect.  I have never really heard that much about Poland that much at all.  We walked to the city center and it was truly beautiful!  Prague will very often get this sort of "Disney land" feeling where everything is just so beautiful and surreal that it seems like it could be straight out of a Disney movie.  Krakow had a lot of this feeling as well.  The town square was truly beautiful.  It was great to hear that Krakow was not damaged one bit during World War II, something which I am finding to be very rare of the bigger cities in Europe.  

On Saturday we took a tour of the city.  We visited various churches, the big square, the castle in the city, and went through the Jewish quarter.  It was very interesting to learn that in the city there are only about 150 Jews who live there.  The Jews who survived through WWII in the city did not feel safe and many of them moved to different cities.  Poland is now a very predominate Catholic country.  Pope John Paul the II was actually from Krakow and there were posters and pictures and souvenirs of him every where.  

My friend Cort and I also tried some traditional Polish food called "perigee's" ( I think that the spelling is way wrong though.)  They are a sort of dumpling which is filled with meat.  They were pretty good.  I probably would not order them again but it is something that I am glad I tried.

Now I just want to warn who ever may be reading this that I am now going to talk about my day at Auschwitz.  It is, of course, not and uplifting place by any means and is something which was very hard to see, but is something that I think needs to be talked about and I feel as though I should share.

Auschwitz was actually split up into two different camps.  There was Auschwitz I that we visited first this morning.  This camp had about 30 or so stone buildings that were three stories tall that were perfectly lined up in three rows of ten.  A few of the building's were open and we were able to go inside.  The first building we went inside showed how some of the people slept.  It also showed the "courtroom" where many of the prisoners would have a trial, which would last approximately a minute, and would be sentenced to death and then taken outside in between two of the building's to what was called "The wall of death" and were shot.  There were many flowers which were spread in this area.  In this building in the basement they also had starvation chambers which were small brick little areas where they would punish many different people.  In another area of the building in the basement was where they first tested the gas chamber on Russian POW's.

We then walked through one of the building's which showed how the living conditions.  They showed how for the first few months, they were forced to sleep on the floor on hay in a room with many other people.  All they had for warmth was a small blanket.  They then later on built bunk bends which were three bunks high.  They were about two and a half feet across.  Most of the beds had two people who slept in them too.

Another building we went into was maybe by far the most disturbing.  It was artifacts and possessions from the people.  There were mounds of glasses, a room filled with shoes, pots and pans, hair brushes, and other such possessions which people have brought with them.  The worse thing that was in there was a room that was filled with hair that they had shaven off from women who they had killed.  They had done tests on some of the hair and had found traces of the poisonous gasses that they used in the gas chambers.

Another building we visited was about the Jews who died there.  There were many different pictures of the war and of people in this building.  The most interesting thing was there was a fairly big pictures of Hitler which was in one of the rooms.  It was the only picture which has a sort of protective plastic covering on it.  I at first did not understand why but then caught a glance on the light and saw that many different  people had spit on this picture.  It was truly a powerful thing to see.

At this camp site they had also built a small gas chamber which you could walk in and see.  It was a very eerie feeling which I can't even begin to explain.

We then traveled to Auschwitz II which was even more difficult to take in.  It was a huge field which had many different sort of building's which looked just like horse stables.  These were the places in which the prisoners lived.  We walked to the far end of the camp, past the train tracks where thousands upon thousands of people were dropped off, and then walked to the gas chambers, where they were told they were getting a warm shower to clean up.  The gas chambers are no longer standing but their ruins are still there.  You can see from where they would first walk in and where they would undress.  They would then walk them down into the chamber and then fill it with gas.  I can't write any more about it.

We then went into one of the 'houses' where they use to live.  It looked like nothing more then a storage unit as to where you would keep supplies, but this was where these people use to live.  The beds which they had here were three levels with a cement level on the bottom, and then two rows of beds made out of wood.  In a four to five foot area, there would be about four to five people sleeping there.  It was about 50 degrees outside but inside of these stables it was freezing cold.  It is hard to even begin to imagine what it would have been like in the winter.

Overall there were approximately 1.2 million people who were killed in Auschwitz.  This was a place that had a very eerie and dark feeling.  Our advisor pointed out the fact that there are no birds that fly around the area.  It was a very difficult thing to see which leaves a person with many unanswered questions, but it is something which I think is very powerful to see and that I will never forget.

Prague Weekend

After traveling for 5 days last week, it was very nice to have a very relaxing weekend in Prague.  We only had class on Wednesday last week (thanks to a great Czech holiday).  On Thursday I went and taguth English again at the high school by our dorm.  This is truly one of the best thigns that I have been able to do while in Prague.  It is so great to talk to high school students about their life in Prague and their views on the world.  it is so interesting seeing their perspective on everything.   We talked about random facts about the US and then I started to ask them questions about their lives in Prague and their schooling and what they want to do and so on.  This week we are suppose to come and talk about the election and our feelings towards it.

A very interesting thing about the Czech people is that they do not try to be politically correct by any means.  They say it exactly how it is and are very blunt about stuff.  They don't try to make sure that they don't hurt anyone's feelings or offend someone.  It is very interesting to experience this.  For example, a friend was telling me about one of the high school classes they were sitting in on that was learning about the American political parties and so on.  She explained the Democrats and the Republicans.  My friend that she was very biased about the parties and in favor of the Democrats.  she then was telling them about how the Democrats are a blue color and the Republicans are red.  She then asked "And what other party was red?  The communist party."  If this was to happen in the US they would first not be so biased towards the parties by any means and would also not be comparing one of the political parties to a communist one.  Just one of the very interesting differences about the Czech Republic.

it was also interesting to celebrate Halloween ehre.  They do not have the traditional Halloween of dressing up in costumes and going trick or treating and so on.  They celebrate "All Soulds Day" on November 1st which is a day where they go to a cemetary or a church and pay respect to their loved ones who have passed away.  They also traditionally bring a candle which is in a red jar and light it.  My friend and i happened to stumble across an area where these candles were being lightened and placed and just observed it.  It was very intersting to see all of the different people who came and brought candles.

This week is filled with many mid-term tests which I have been studying for.  This Friday I will be leaving for Krakow, Poland for the weekend.  I am very excited for this trip!  I have heard that it is beautiful there and is claimed to be "The New Prague" so it should be fun to visit.  On the way back we are stopping at Aushwitz which should be a very moving experience.  I will make sure to write all about my trip when I get back.  Much love!

Beautiful Barcelona

Thanks to some great Czech Holiday, we had this past Monday and Tuesday off and seeing as how I already only go to class from Monday-Wednesday this left a large amount of time to travel over the past weekend.  My friend Cort and Andrew and I decided to go to Barcelona for a majority of it and I truly believe that it is one of the best decisions that I have made recently!  Barcelona was truly such an amazing and spectacular city that was filled with so many different amazing buildings and parks and of course, the beautiful Mediteranian!  

We left Prague around noon last Thursday and got to Barcelona around 3 or so.  After finding our hostel we began to walk around and venture out around the city.  It was kind of overcast and there was a bit of rain the first night we were there but nothing that held us back too much.  We walked down Las Ramblas which is the kind of main street tourist area of Barcelona and saw all the different venders that were there.  At the end of it you end up at a huge statue or Christopher Columbus and a huge dock.  We hung out around here and just took it easy the first day.  The night ended and I was starting to worry that maybe Barcelona wasn't going to be as great as I had built it up to be.  Oh boy was I wrong!

The next day we woke up and decided to go and visit "La Sagrada Familia" which is the huge cathedral that is still in the process of being built.  It was started for Gaudi over a hundred years ago.  It was so amazing and had such interesting and beautiful architecture that I had never seen before!  I was amazed as to how much construction was still left.   There was only a small area that we could walk through and there was scalfolding in the entire center area and we could even look out to the sky through open areas in the ceiling.  It was as if none of that mattered at all though because it was all truly amazing!  Of all the different cathedrals and churches that I have seen, this was by far one of the most amazing, and there is still so much left!  My goal is to be able to come back and see it when it is complete.

We then made our way over to Park Guell.  I had no idea what I was in store for but ended up being so pleasently surprised!  It was a beautiful and amazing park that was filled with more Gaudi architecture.  For those of you that may watch America's Next Top Model, the season where Caridee wins and they have their last runway walk as the scary brides, the runway show took place in Park Guell.  I recommend that you do a google picture search right now and look at how amazing this Park is!

We then decided to venture down to the beach and we walked probably a good 8-10 miles along the coast.  It was so amazing!  We then went and had some authentic Spanish food of a Paella and Andrew got some Tapas.  

Ok, this is starting to get rather long so I must speed up this summary.  The next day we took a free boat ride along the coast of Barcelona which I ended up feeling kind of sea sick from...so much of it was spent with me sitting downstairs at a table with my head on it.  We had heard that when in Barcelona it was a necesity to take the cable car up to the top of the Mountain there and look around.  So we walked a good mile or two around the harbor to the base of the cable car, paid a large chunk of money, went on it, and then found out it was the wrong cable car.  We were all able to laugh pretty hard at this though and became more funny then anything.

We walked up to the top of the Mountain and had a great view of Barcelona from an old sort of fortress that was there.  We were there right as the sun was setting.  We then went to where this Palace was and had amazing fountains infront of it that had amazing colors on it and one large fountain that shot up water in the air to music.  It was so beautiful from there!  

The next day we spent hanging out at the beach.  It was beautiful!  Not a cloud in the sky!  We then went to another Park that was there and then found a really pretty Arc as well.

To wrap it all up, Barcelona is by far my FAVORITE European city, and quite possibly my favorite city that I have ever been to!  Oh, and we also stopped over in Milan for a night on the way back, but really, it's not worth mentioning.  There is pretty much nothing there and became more of a joke to us then anything.

I would tell anyone though to go and visit Barcelona!  It was  so beautiful and amazing and you will not be disapointed!  I will for sure be returning there one day...not sure when, but I will make it happen!

Trip to Dresden

After quite some time of trying to upload pictures from this weekend the most that I could get to work are the two below...so I really hope that you enjoy them!

This past week was quite fun.  I have actually come down with a cold (again) so did not do too much but what I did do was all such a great experience.  Last thursday some people in my program and I went to the high school which is located by our dorm and sat in on classes and sort of taught english.  Well, at least that is what they wanted us to do but for the most part we are there to just give an american perspective and for them to practice their english with us.

The first class that we went to they were giving presentations on the difference between Czech Republic and US summer camps.  It was quite the experience.  The group had pictures from both of the different summer camps.  The Czech summer camps showed pictures of kids in their tents, eating meals on the ground and having a beat up basketball court.  The pictures that they showed of the "US" summer camp were pictures of the very nice Hyatt hotel, a very beautiful and exquisite dinning hall (which looked to have candles on the tables) and a water slide park.  While there may be camps in the US that do look like this, it is by no means the average kind of summer camp experience that many of us have had.  We tried to explain this to the group that was presenting but usually got some sort of fire-y response back.  The rest of the class agreed that it was not an accurate representation but the group was set into believing that it was right.  It was very interesting to see their perspective of American's and the way in which we apparently live.

The next class I went to we just sat around with a small group and talked and they asked us many different questions.  My group had a lot of small talk at first but then were very quick at firing out political questions.  It is so interesting to see how much interest everyone seems to have here in the US election, even high school students.  

On Saturday my program took us to the city of Dresden, Germany for the day.  All of us had no idea what to expect but were pleasently surprised to find such a beautiful city when we arrived.  It was sad to find out that during WWII the entire city was bombed and 30,000 people were killed and the entire city was destroyed.  They have rebuilt the city however and it is truly beautiful there.

We spent a majority of the day just walking around and seeing what all that there was to see.  One of the most interesting parts of the day was our lunch.  We went to a very german restaurant.  I would say that I am very far from being a picky eater so my friend Cort and I decided to be adventerous and decided to try a meat dish that we were exactly sure what it was but we were ready to try it.  When it came it was to our very surprise as to what the meat consisted of.  The best way to explain it is that it seems as though they took all of the left over meat scraps that they had in the kitchen along with some vegetables as well, put it in a bowl and then added some gelatin sort of substance, put it in a pan, let it turn into a jelly substance and then serve it onto our plates cold.  The first bite of this meat was interesting, the second a little too strong, and by the third I had lost my appetite.  I would say that there are very few things that I dislike, but this truly may be the most disgusting thing which I have ever tasted in my entire life.
As we kept walking around the city we stumbled across a fair and decided that we had to go and look at it.  This is a picture of Kayla, Cort, Chelsea, and I at the fair.  We walked around and came across a ferris wheel and were debating as to weather or not we should ride.  We then saw that the ride had various different flags that were hanging up from different countries and then all of a sudden to my surprise, there was the Montana flag, flying in the breeze!  It was beyond random to see it flying there so we all took it as a sign that we had to ride it!

The rest of the weekend was spent doing homework and trying to get over this sickness (which I don't think is happening any time soon).  It is a Czech holiday next week so we have Monday and Tuesday off, then I go to class on Wednesday, and then my weekend starts Thursday until Monday, such a beautiful schedule.  Two of my friends and I leave for Barcelona and Milan on Thursday so I will update again after I get back.    I didn't realize that I had so much to say in this blog, hope you enjoyed all of it and are still reading!  Much love!

Weekend in Ireland

Kelly, Cort, Andrew and I on the coast of Ireland.

At Malahide Castle, aka my new house =)

Mommy and I at Kutna Hora
I really have not been that great and keeping this thing updated but life has been kind of crazy the past week or so.  So I will try to do a quick update which hopefully won't bore you too much and I'm going to try and put pictures into this one as well.  So here it goes....

So the picture above is of my mom and I when we went to Kutna Hora and it is taken in the St. Barbara's Cathedral.  It truly is a beautiful city and the Cathedral was amazing as well.  The beginning of last week was spent in classes and hanging out with my mom and Auntie Debbie some more.  We went to the Opera on Monday night where they played a few songs from "Carmen" with an orchestra and there were ballet dancers as well.  This is when I started to realize that I don't think that I am cultured enough for the opera and do not have a great enough appreciation.  So my goal is to work on that while I am here.

The most random part to last week came on Tuesday night when I went to my friends room just to pick up a notebook and then ended up booking a flight to Dublin which left early Thursday morning (I think that is what I am going to miss the most about being here, is being able to book a ticket to another country with that short of notice and that fast).  So I said my goodbyes to my mom and auntie Debbie on Wednesday and then jetted off to Dublin on Thursday morning.

The first day in Dublin was spent walking around the city center, O'connell square and beautiful St. Stephens Greens which is a truly beautiful park.  We called it an early night that night and got up early the next day.  We then hopped on a hop-on-hop-off tour bus and went all around the city!  We stopped at Dublin Castle and got a tour there.  After the Castle we found ourselves at beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral and were able to walk around there.  I think my favorite part about the entire cathedral was the floor.  It has such beautiful designs and patterns and used such beautiful colors in the entire floor.  I found this to be very interesting because in quite a few older cathedrals and churches the floor is usually just a cement or grayish color so it was beautiful to see such beautiful designs on the floor.

After that we found ourselves at none other then the Guinness Storehouse where we learned more about beer then I ever cared to know!  I had no idea that the Irish were truly that excited about their beer.  We went through the seven floors of the tour (yeah, way too long) and then it ended at the top of the building at the gravity bar where we got to look out all around the city and enjoy (or at least try to enjoy) a glass of Guinness (I am really not that big of a fan of it).

We then walked around and found a little restaurant place to eat some fish and chips.  Then we made our way to a irish pub which was quite an enjoyable experience.  We found ourselves a table and were just hanging out playing cards and talking and then around 10 a true Irish band came and they played some great Irish tunes!  That may have been one of my favorite parts about the entire trip was to hear some true Irish music at the pub.

The next day we decided to venture out to Malahide Castle on the coast.  We got a tour of the castle there and it was quite beautiful.  We then made our way to the irish coast where it was truly beautiful!  It was so great to just walk around on the sand and look out over the ocean.  Really, you can just never go wrong with being on the beach no matter where it may be.  That night we went back into town and found some more fun Irish pubs and then left at 4 in the morning to catch our plane.  While Dublin may have emptied my wallets quite a bit (it was a VERY expensive city) it was truly worth it to go and see everything that is there.  

Ok, so there is a kind of long updated on my life.  Sorry the pictures didn't work out so well but my computer is having a hard time uploading them and then they are formating weird, but I will figure that out soon.  Much love and more updates soon!

Mám Råda Praha!

I have not been very good with keeping this updated but this past week has been jam packed!  Last Saturday three friends and I went to a very well known cafe here called "Louvre" which is after the Louvre in Paris but it is pronounced here with the 'r' here.  They have some of the most amazing desserts though!  So we had a nice evening with desserts, tea, and coffee and then just walked around the town.

I finally started my real classes on Monday and so far they are interesting.  I am taking Psychology of Nutrition which may be my hardest and possibly most frustrating class.  My professor is Czech and I understand her english and everything but I, along with the rest of the class, have no idea what she is talking about half the time.  She is very hard to follow which makes the class fairly difficult.  My next class is Art and Architecture which I think will be amazing.  We went on a field trip to an old nunnery and church and saw how it was built and then looked at the art inside.  After that I have Globilization which I think will be very interesting to take from a Czech perspective.  My last class is the psychology of partnership in the time of transition, quite the name right?  It is all about what people and couples go through in break ups and other various times in their lives.  Our teacher is supposedly very famous too.  I guess that he is quite often on the Czech version of CNN or one of those big news corporations giving his insight on various things in the news.

I have also been busy with two very wonderful women to entertain.  My mom flew in on Monday and my Auntie Debbie flew in on Tuesday and we have been having a great time so far.  We have been exploring the city and I have been showing them different areas and have of course been enjoying the food here.  Yesterday we took a bus to a small town called Kutna Hora where we saw a beautiful church with amazing Gothic architecture.  There was also this small church which used bones from Plague victims hundreds of years ago and did some interesting, I don't know if the right word is artwork, with it.  It was quite a wonderful after that we had.  More updates soon!

Done with Czech!

It's official, I am now done with my Czech intensive language course!  Oh my, such relief!  We had our final yesterday that everyone was stressing over and was about half of our grade but I did very well on it.  Today we met up with our class and watched the movie Hair because the director is from the Czech Republic.  Then afterwards we went to this very nice and fancy cafe called Louvre, it is named after the Louvre Museum in Paris.  It was quite delicious and had truly amazing chocolate cake.  Now it is the beginning of the weekend before classes officially begin.  

My time so far in Prague has been amazing.  I love venturing out and seeing the different sights, buildings, finding coffee shops, and all of the historical areas.  I found a cute coffee shop/american bookstore which may become my favorite hangout.  I went there the other day and just read for two hours, it was beautiful.

One of the biggest things which I believe I am learning about here is all about World War II.  I feel like this may be kind of a dumb comment, but I did not really realize how much Prague and the Czech Republic was impacted by the war (I mean, I should have since it truly did impact the entire world).  On a field trip the other day in class we watched a movie about how these two men came to Prague and assasinated this man (I'm terrible for not remembering his name) who was Hitler's number 2 guy and was running the Nazi group in Prague.  After he was assasinated they were looking for the men who killed him and began to kill thousands upon thousands of people who even slightly were okay with the killing.  They also went into small nearby villages and killed everyone in them and destroyed the cities.  We saw footage and photos of them doing this and it was truly horrendous.  There is so much history in this city that it is all overwhelming.  Everything that this country has been through in the past 100 years begins to make you realize why the people are the way they are.  It truly makes me feel amazingly blessed that I have been able to live a life with very few complications and that it has been nothing compared to what these people have seen.

Well my mom comes on Monday and then my aunt Debbie comes on Tuesday so I am very excited for them to come and for me to show them around.  I will have more updates soon.  Much love!

Lazy Weekend

After a week of the torcheress Czech class and trying to stay away from the cold and sickness that was going around here, I woke up Saturday with of course, a cold.  So this weekend was not too adventerous.  My roommate Kayla (who is also sick) and I spent much of the weekend laying in bed.  

The Czech intensive class is very interesting though.  I am becoming very confused about how to conjugate the verbs and you have to put a u at the end of names some times and there really are not a fan of vowels here.  We learned the word for ice cream today which is 'zmrzlina'.  If you ask me, there are deffinetly not enough vowels.  I am truly so excited to be done with this class.  There are only four more days left of it.

One thing that has been really cool about the class though is the field trips that we have gone on. Last Wednesday we went to the National Museum which has quite a bit of art work including some modern, famous czech artists, and others such as Picasso, Degass, Monet, and many other beautiful pieces.  It was great to just have the afternoon to walk around and look at the art and not have my mind wrapped around verb conjugations.  The day after that we went to Radio Free Europe.  This radio station has been around since about 1940 or the 50's.  During communism they broadcasted to many of the countries who were not able to get any news besides what they wanted them to hear.  They now broadcast to places such as Afganistan, Iraq, Iran, Russia, and many other countries, giving unbiased information which they would otherwise not be able to receive.  It was really great to stop and realize how lucky we are to have such access to so much information and to the news and have so many options as to where we get our news.  On Friday our field trip was to the world photo press tour.  These are photos that have won many prizes for what they have captured and depicted.  There were photos of aids victims in africa, sex workers, norwhal whales in Alaska, photos of the leader Bhuto seconds before she was assasinated, US soldiers fighting, and so many others.  It was a very moving exhibit.

Tonight some friends and I are headed to the Coldplay concert which I am BEYOND excited for!  They have great music and I am so excited to get to see them in Prague!  More updates soon!

Starting Classes

On Monday we began our two week Czech language intensive.  I really didn't realize how difficult this language was going to be.  There are just so many different sounds that they make with the words.  We sit in class for about 5 hours a day (That is with one 30 minute break and another 15 minute break) and just cram in as much as we can absorb, which at this time, is not that much.  I could tell someone right now that I was a student, my name, where I am from, possibly some directions and can count to ten.  We are taking some fun little field trips though.  Today we went to the National Gallery which has a wide variety of Modern art, famous Czech artist works, and even featured some very well known artists such as Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, Degass, and many others.  Tomorrow we are going to a national radio station which is broadcasted in English all over Europe.  I am not quite sure what we are doing there but it is still fun to go out and about.

My favorite part about the class though is when we get on some random tangents and leave the language behind for awhile and begin to actually talk about the Czech Republic and it's people.  A conversation we had today was about how the Czech people view love.  Our teacher told us that if we are lucky, we would say "I love you" once in our lifetime.  She said that they do not throw around "I love you" like we do in America (Even when we say 'I love those shoes' or 'I love this song').  Everyone in my class was shocked.  We then asked her about if she loved her parents, the answer was no.  Then we asked her about her kids, the answer was no.  And it is not like she is not what American's would consider an unloving person, but that is just how the country is and how the people are.  They have a great liking and fondness for people but never what they would consider love.  It is just very interesting to see the differences between the people.  More updates soon!

What a tiring weekend!  On Friday we left for the town of Brno in Moravia.  Along the way we stopped at a monestary which was a beautiful and relaxing place.  Then that night we went into the town of Brno and ate dinner and walked around the square.  The next day was packed with so many different tours to go on and things to see.  The morning started at nine when we left the hotel to go to the Mendel museum (he was the man who figured out genetic information by cross polanating pea pods) unfortunately, we got there just to find out that the museum was closed.  They then took us to the city center where we got a tour of the city and saw all of the beautiful churches and buildings around there.  In the afternoon we took a bus out to the battlefield where the battle of the three leaders (I believe that is what it is called) took place.  The most well-known leader was Napoleon Bonapart who won this battle.  We then went to a huge monument which they have put up for this war and also went to a museum which talked all about the battle.  After that we went to a small wine cellar and ate a absolutley delicious dinner!  It is a place that is ran by a family and they all make their own wine there.  We got to sample a lot of it and even tried this one wine which is called Berscheque (The spelling may be way off) but it is a wine which has not gone through fermentation yet and has more of a cider-y and grape taste to it.  Even after this wine tasting I am still not a huge fan of wine.  I wish I had more of an appreciation for it because I think that we did get to try some amazing wines but it really is just not my cup of tea.

Then comes Sunday.  We left early again around nine and traveled a few miles outside of Brno to this beautiful cave place!  We walked through many of the caves and then at one point came outside and were at the bottom of this huge abyss that was truly beautiful!  It was filled with beautiful green colors from the leaves, bushes, and ivy that were growing there.  It was truly miraculous and breath taking.  We then kept walking through the caves and then got into boats where we went through the water in the caves.  That adventure was by far my favorite part of the weekend expedition.  We then traveled about 30 minutes to this beautiful church that was in the middle of no where but had beautiful artwork all along the ceilings and walls.  Then we drove for an hour to a castle which sat upon a hill and overlooked this small city.  After that we were on our way back to Prague.

While it was truly a beautiful weekend I am more then done with guided tours, being bussed from place to place and living out of a suitcase.  I am truly excited to now just get to relax and finally settle down into Prague.  We started our Czech intensive today and it is going to be very difficult to learn this language.  Luckily most people speak english here.  Much love and I will write again soon!

I'm in love...

What a truly beautiful day!  After running some errands today around town Kayla and I went purse shopping for her, but if you know me, you know that I usually can't go into a store without coming out with at least one more bag then I had coming in.  I think that all of the wonderful stores here might just be the end of me...or at least of my money.  But this is all besides the point....

Tonight we just hung out in the dorm and made dinner (my now usual of a sandwich consisting of cheese and salami and a few carrots) and then we decided to go out and walk around.  A group of five of us walked to the Prague Castle which is only about half a mile from our dorm here and just hung out around there and talked and looked at the view over the city.  I am honestly in LOVE with this city and know that it will be difficult for me to leave here.  But I can't start thinking/talking about leaving yet, there is still so much time.

Well after only being in Prague for about four or five days, we are already packing for another trip.  We are leaving tomorrow morning for Moravia which is about two hours or so away and spending the weekend there.  It is some what miserable to think of living out of a suitcase again for another weekend after already doing it for about two weeks in Portland and Europe, but it will still be a great weekend.  I won't have the internet, or if I do i won't be bringing my computer at least, so no updates at least until I get back on Sunday night.  Then Monday we start our intensive Czech class...5 hours...each day...for two weeks, I'm not too excited.  At least I will somewhat begin to learn the language though.  Much love to everyone!

Settling Down in Prague

After being here for a few days we are finally starting to stop being the typical american tourist with our camera out all the time, and are starting to realize that this is home for the next four months.  Which truthfully, is just so beautiful and exciting to me!  I am loving the city and loving getting to explore and walk around!  

One of the most interesting things here is cooking for ourselves.  First off, the supermarkets are much smaller and much more crowded.  It is not uncommon to get pushed out of the way by a 90 year old woman when looking at the cheese.  It is also difficult to figure out what many things are here in the supermarket.  Because of this dilemma, my groceries consist of bread, peanut butter, jelly, cheese, grapes, and salami.  It will for sure be interesting cooking here.

Today was a very powerful day.  We went to the town of Terezen which was a Jewish Ghetto during World War II.  The man who gave us the tour of the place was our dorm mothers husband who's mother lived in the town and eventually died at the concentration/work camp just right outside of the city.  It was truly an experience that I will never forget.  We went through the camp and walked into many of the rooms in which the people slept in which was unbelieveable to think of so many people living in one area.  There were three sets of bunk beds stacked on top of each other which went across a room that was about 30 feet across or so and to each little section of the bunk bed, which was about 5 feet across, four people would sleep in that area and have one blanket to share.  We also walked down through the sort of hidden walkway which led to the execution site.  The most amazing thing was to hear our guide talk about his experiences during the war and how he ran away many times.  We are watching a movie on Monday called Fighter I believe which is about his life.

It is deffinetly time for a nap though after such a moving and exhausting day.  Much love and I will keep writing! 

London -> Munich -> Prague!

Wow, the last few days has just been a true jam packed adventure!  The last few days in Portland were truly just wonderful!  Brittney and Stacey threw a going away party for Kayla and I and it was great to just get to hang out and say goodbye to people and of course, play catch phrase.  

The trip to London wasn't bad.  Since Kayla couldn't fly with me because she didn't have her visa or passport, it was just me and this girl Chelsea who is so sweet!  She's from Portland and has that Portland vibe going.  

We got into London at about 7 in the morning and went to the Hotel which was located right by Hyde Park, which is equivalent to the Central Park but in London.  We spent the day just kind of exploring and then at night went out to a pub.  My goal while abroad is to learn to appreciate beer.  So far, I really hate the taste but have found one or two that aren't too bad.  So far, it's just really not my thing.

The next day we took a tour bus all around London and saw all of the amazing sights, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben, and just so much more!  Then that night a group of us went to the play Wicked.  It was great to see it again!  Deffinetely different from seeing the Original Broadway cast but the cast did a great job!  It was fun to hear it with the british accents.

We set off for Munich the next day at about four in the morning and got there around ten or so.  We wandered around and Kayla finally met up with us!  I am so happy and relieved that she is here now!  We went to a beer garden that night which was an interesting experience.  There was a playground at it for kids.  It is interesting to see just how much beer is apart of the culture and the lives of the people here.  My friend and I split a beer (still not a fan) and had a big pretzel as well.

We got to Prague yesterday and moved into the dorm.  It's not bad and is better then I expected.  I am going to load pictures up on here as soon as I get my cord to do so.  We had a little tour of the campus and the city and where all the important things are.  Now we're just getting ready to go out to dinner and have an early morning tomorrow with another orientation.

I am truly loving it so far and am so glad to be here!  I'll be keeping in touch and writting more!

Stumptown fun

I am currently in Portland visiting friends and it is proving to be quite a wonderful time.  It is good to be able to talk and hang out with my friends who I haven't seen over the summer for a few days before heading off for the major journey.  Tonight was a great night!  We had a great surprise birthday party for Kayla, who is coming on the trip with me, filled with friends, family, food, and the right amount of catch phrase game playing.  

Bad news with Kayla's visa though.  She heard that is was approved a few days ago and was on it's way and then was told today that it was actually a mistake and is still pending.  Unfortunatley, we are leaving early tuesday morning and just happen to be leaving right after the holiday weekend.  Things are still up in the air with what will end up happening and is definetely adding some major stress to the beginning of this so any prayers for her and her family right now would be great!  Hopefully everything will end up working out!

Well tomorrow is another fun filled day with breakfast with the beautiful Brittney, some purse shopping with wonderful Lindsay, going with the courageous Jeremy to get his tattoo (I feel like I need to have an adjective for everyone now, not like it's a bad thing, just feel like I couldn't just do it for one person and leave the others out) and then going to the boat dance tomorrow night.  It should be great!  I can hardly wait!  

I will most likely not write again until I'm in London or so but will be keeping up with everyone!  Miss you all and hope all is well!  Much love!

Getting ready

It's crazy that after months of getting ready and preparing for this that it is all starting to happen and that within time I will be on my way.  I am so lucky to have had my visa finally arrive last week.  Now I am just waiting for my tickets to the Coldplay concert to make it here!  I'm hoping they'll make it here before I leave for Portland on Wednesday.  I can hardly wait to be in Portland and to see all my friends before I leave!  

Packing is going fairly well, but if you know me you know that I am procrastinating on it.  Well maybe not as much procrastinating as that I am slowly getting there but just taking my time.  it's hard packing for four months though and trying to only put it in one suitcase.  I'm a little upset about the whole Delta charging for having more then one bag to check thing, but oh well, all is well.

I am planning on using this to keep everyone updated on what I am doing while I am in Prague.  I hope to keep in touch with everyone and hope that you enjoy hearing about my adventures.  Take care!  God bless!