Prague!

Ahoj!

So it has been 7 days since I've left the country for the first time and so much has happened. Let me start off by saying that the picture(s) you see above are all from Google images. I originally created it to be the background for this blog when I first launched it. Well, obviously that didn't work out. It's okay though, because now I get to add my own pictures of Prague to these posts. Okay, so the day I arrived in Prague, I felt so bad. Jet lag was actually ruining my life, so much so that I was confused as to what day it was. I was also incredibly tired, but our residential director discouraged us from falling asleep or else we'd stay on our normal sleep routines. Worst news ever.

Here I am though, completely adjusted to a lifestyle that is 7 hours ahead of what I'm used to. We arrived at the apartments and I was kind of surprised. They look really sketchy from the outside, but they are decently furnished and roomy on the inside. I think I really only complained about the lack of desks/reasonable workspaces because it gets pretty dark at night.

 Saturday morning, I woke up early enough to go and see the sun rise at the Charles Bridge. It was nice because the bridge was relatively empty, or at least emptier than it would be during the day. When it isn't 5 o'clock in the morning, you can definitely expect to see tourists flooding the bridge, taking pictures with loved ones and purchasing souvenirs from vendors with portable shops.

 We've done several tours in the city since our arrival and on Sunday, we participated in a Scavenger Hunt. My team came in last place, but mostly because we got lost at the very end and had points deducted for arriving last. I had a great time that day though. I saw a great deal of the city that I might not have seen otherwise, I was able to practice my czech by speaking to some of the locals, and we went to this delicious restaurant for lunch by the bridge. When the waiter brought the check, he also dropped off a round of shots as a gift from the restaurant. In retrospect, we probably shouldn't have drunk the mysterious pink liquor without knowing what it was, but we figured that since the alcohol in it wasn't strong enough to immediately smell, it was safe. Monday, we had a tour of the Prague Castle area. The main attraction here is the St. Vitus Cathedral. Prague Castle is actually a collection of buildings, including the Cathedral. Check out the beautiful stained glass!

We had our first day of our Nationalism and Minorities class that evening. For the first hour of class, the professor gave us a tour of the area surrounding our academic building. I do not have pictures to show you at the moment, but we saw the former Gestapo headquarters, which is situated right across the street, and the communist party building down the street. I'm not sure how I feel about this class yet. It's a 3.5 hours long history class (not my best subject), but it's only once a week.

Tuesday, we woke up early again for our first X-Cultural Psychopathology class, followed by a trip to the local gym for a tour, and then by our first Czech Language class. I learned how to have a basic conversation in Czech (Greetings, Nice-to-meet-you's, where-are-you-from?, what-do-you-do? etc.) Wednesday, we took a final exam for 2-credit directed readings course, and then another tour of Wenceslas Square and Old town. I got a closer look at the oldest astronomical clock in the world.

After class on Thursday, my professor invited a small group of students out for lunch. The deal was that we would collectively decide on a direction to go in, take the metro at least 3 stops away, and find a place to eat where there are bound to be no tourists or English speaking Czechs. We chose a stop that was 5 or 6 stops away from where we started because it had the least amount of vowels and was the most difficult to pronounce (Střížkov, I think). The meal I had there was amazing. And yes, there is a straw in my beer (it was a Radler). 

Okay, two side notes and then I must go. One, I bought this strawberry juice from the grocery store, once I got over my anxiety of going out by myself (because I'm clearly not Czech and therefore a target), and it is so nasty. NopeNopeNope! Never again!

Second, there's a Hooters down the street from our apartment that I really want to go to, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get caught and end up on the Hall of Shame (Link to our Hall of Shame here; Past years Halls of Shame here and here).

It might be worth it though...

Okay, that's all for now. We're heading to Slovakia next week! Thanks for reading!

Čau!

-Brandon