oh hey central europe?

Wow. The last week and a half was so obscenely full that I'm not even sure how to start. Since the last time I updated, I've been to Krakow, two seperate Slovakian cities, and Vienna. I took more photos than I can fit on my computer or my hard drive (legitimate issue. hoping I can purchase a hard drive in Prague for less money than I could in the US). Therefore, any photos from the trip are only going to be stolen.

I need to do an EXTREMELY quick run down so that my incredibly amazing week and a half makes it in here, but i also have sort of an obscene amount of homework/Czech studying that I'm clearly not doing right now, so it's going to go like this:

POLAND: We went to Krakow. It was really cold. Everything was cheap. It was really pretty. It felt less...colorful than Prague? We got to take a tour of the Stalinist district in communist-era cars (which I can't wait to show a photo of, but it's not happening right now). A Polish student offered to show us around one day, so a few of us took a little mini tour with him. The Jewish quarter sort of reminded me of a really artsy, trendy street in Portland. A lot, actually. It was really cute. We went to a pub with over a hundred kinds of beer. Note to Portland, brew honey beer by December.

I feel you can sense the tropical breezes of Poland in October, even just from the photograph.

I also went to Auschwitz & Birkenau on one of our days in Poland, and honestly I don't really want to write about it in this blog. Not because it was too upsetting to talk about or anything (though, of course, it was incredibly upsetting) but this just seems like a weird medium on which to discuss it, and if I'm going to talk about it I don't think I want to do it when I don't know precisely who I'm talking to...not that I think masses of people are reading this blog. All I mean is that, I have a lot of thoughts on the experience, and I do want to discuss them, but I've even felt sort of weird talking about it on the phone to my parents. I want to wait until I'm with people in person to talk about it, I think. I'll just say - it was a very long day, I think going was the right choice (I was on the fence until the last minute, honestly), and I will never go again if I have the opportunity.

SLOVAKIA - pt. 1 - CIERNY BALOG: BEAUTIFUL COUNTRYSIDE. We stayed in a ski resort and mostly were hanging out with this non-profit. The landscape in Slovakia wasn't what I was expecting; it sort of reminded me of how I always imagined Scandanavia.

Like, what? Who goes on a hike that looks like this? Interspersed with all the trees? Only to return to a farm full of cuddly cats for a goat cheese making demonstration?

People like to make fun of Zoe and me, because we get excited every time we see a cat. BUT LOOK AT THAT CAT. You would snuggle that kocka, too.

We got to spend a lot of time outside. We played on a super old train, we went to a museum that was also a hike that was also on the most frigid day of my life but was still awesome. Also, fun fact: in Slovakia, the polite thing to do when greeting someone is to offer them food and shots of incredibly strong liquor. So if you don't like taking shots of Becherovka at 10 AM, do not go to Slovakia. Also, good call on eating red meat again, Naomi. Literally, like, every hour on the hour there is a new mysterious animal that has been prepared for you to eat. There was pre-dinner sausage and pre-sausage pasta and pre-pasta booze and pre-booze booze. Similar to the aforementioned host family dinner party, but the dinner party did not involve a log-throwing competition (the prize? shots of Becherovka. Don't worry) or any stilts.

Stilts, you ask? What stilts? Ah, these stilts. A normal post-lunch, pre-sausage activity. Of course.

Really, though, I loved Slovakia. Everyone was so warm and excited to share with us. And when I say share, I don't just mean an entire cow and 3 gallons of 90-proof liquor, but seriously, their culture, their homes, everything. We also got to learn some folk dances, which was both hilarious and a blast.

 

SLOVAKIA - round two - ZILINA: Most of what we did in Zilina (which is the second-biggest city, next to Bratislava) was visit this really amazing train station-turned-cultural center. It's really amazing. They have art classes for kids, a gallery, a coffee shop/pub, a film-screening theater, a blackbox theater, and tons of legal grafitti walls. I WISH I COULD SHOW YOU PICTURES BUT I CAN'T.

The other thing we got to do was go to this amazing book-maker and take a workshop with her. It REALLY made me want to take book arts at Redlands, which I should know I don't want to do unless I have a semester where I don't take any other classes (jokes) because my friends who took it sort of drowned in it, even though they made really cool things. They did a whole workshop with us, which was amazing! 

(Jenna, myself, Claire, Morgan).

Working hard.

One of my books!

VIENNA: I was only in Vienna for a day and a half, and it felt even more brief, so I will give you the quickest rundown of all: EXPENSIVE, beautiful, cultural, friendly, warm (people, not weather, jesus), falafel, EXPENSIVE, favorite art museum ever (Kunst Haus, google it), mozart's house, EXPENSIVE, expensive, where is all my money?, expensive, falafel.

WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY? I'm over halfway done with the program, and I feel like the second half is going to zip by. The academics are really overwhelming, which I guess is good, but right now feels a little scary (says Naomi as she updates her blog). We have only now gotten a studio space to do our art stuff in, and our exhibition is two weeks from today, so...we'll see about that? BUT, in other news WE HAVE A STUDIO. IN PRAGUE. THAT'S OURS. IN WHICH TO DO ART. WHAT. I'll take photos. And put them on my non-existent hard drive.

Other than that, I am still loving it here. The weather is turning, and this city wears gray really well. I'm excited for snow, which is supposed to start in less than 3 weeks, apparently. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing for my independent study project. 

Mir v dusi, punks.

prosím vas!

I FORGOT THE BEST THING I LEARNED ALL WEEK.

You know how in the US before movies, they show you an ad of some paper bags telling each other to go to Fandango.com, or maybe somebody talking on his cell phone with a funny little joke? Occasionally they remind you to go purchase your bucket-sized coke in the lobby? This is what they show before movies here:

So...yeah. If you find yourself at a movie theater in Prague, don't ask any old women where the concession stand is.

kapitola první: ten kluk žil.

I have many things to say, but the most important issue at hand is THIS:

I am not messing around. This is serious business.

GUESS WHOSE HOST MOM BOUGHT THEM HARRY POTTER IN CZECH? This guy. No joke. I can tell you all about pan a paní Dursleyoví. Things that are strange: they changed the name of the street from Privet Drive. Things that are embarrassing: how many of the words I can figure out just because I have read this book more times than most priests have read the bible. Things that make me laugh: J.K. Rowlingová.

In other (non-HP-related) news, I am about to, yet again, be out of commission for about a week and a half. Thursday morning, the crew is rolling out to Krakow, Slovakia, and then possibly Berlin? Or possibly Vienna? The last leg is yet to be determined. Slovakia includes an open air hiking museum. As in, a museum that takes place on a hike. WHAT??! I can't wait.

I am painfully exhausted, so a quick update in list form, so that I don't come back from traveling too overwhelmed with lack of updates to even come near this blog again:

1. My friend Jessica came to visit, and it was really nice seeing a person who I have known for longer than a month-ish! It also made me realize that hosting people while here is REALLY hard. It would have been really nice to have had more time to show her things and do some tourist-y stuff but it just wasn't possible.
2.  
3. Saturday, I went to this art workshop. I was supposed to go with people, but ended up being the only person I knew that showed up. It was weird to be somewhere like that alone at first, but ended up being sort of nice. I just like being able to say that I independently attended an art workshop in Prague. The man leading it is a Bulgarian artist whose work was like the winner of the conceptual contest at the conceptual parade in Conceptual City (just like, according to what I've seen, ALL OF THE MODERN ART east of New York). I am not kidding. I am glad to have been seeing so much art while I am here, and meeting so many artists, but sometimes they ask for questions and i just want to raise my hand and say "I'm sorry, WHAT??!" Some gems have included (and this is certainly not an extensive list):

• A braided wig on a ladder.
• A pile of dirt on the ground. That my friend Grace may have accidentally put her coat on.
• A glass of water. In a red cup. I'm sure the symbolism was abundant if you've read Hegel or something.
• A canvass with some hard candies spit onto it ("The candies were once inside of my mouth and now they are the art. From inside me to the page." For sure.)
• An "imaginary invisible piece that does not exist in our experience" (I mean, really? I just made one hundred of those. They're in this gallery as well. May I have a paycheck too?)
• "This is me, in front of tree. We are same width." Neat photo project.
• My personal favorite: an artist told us he made a film from "memories of his own childhood". The next fifteen minutes of my life involved me staring, in horror, with my mouth open, as some marionettes took their time wrapping a bloody dog's head in toilet paper. Background music? No, none of that, but plenty of sounds of creaking floor boards. SIR, WHAT WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD LIKE?

Anyways, clearly I am not nearly smart enough to understand modern European conceptual art. HOWEVER, the art workshop was cool, because it ended with this sweet found-object drum circle with Naomi and like ten Czech artists. I made a percussion instrument out of some tape with this girl who spoke no English. It was great/bizarre. I also met the weirdest man ever. He asked me if I was a member of the "coalition of lost souls," (the Czech chapter of which he is apparently the leader) and refused to let me tell him his name because he "HATES NAMES!". Everything normal.

3. I have been speaking/understanding some Czech with the host sibling babies! It was all fun and games until the 3 year old boy referred to me as "a mom". I also asked the 22 month old girl, "máš ráda ty dort?" which I'm fairly certain directly translates to "You like you cake?". Her response was unintelligible (to me), but I'm assuming it was something along the lines of either "YES!" or "learn some grammar or head back to America, idiot."


4. Cultural observation: Czech people sure do like to stare. Our Czech teacher told us that it was just a Czech thing, but I have to admit that it makes me incredibly self-conscious. A lot of girls like to do the once-over on the tram. It makes me think my clothes must look dumb here. Which makes me want to reply, seriously? Come to America and I will be your personal shopper. Czech clothes are less than attractive. Whoops, cultural insensitivity. But seriously. They don't have fashion WEEK. They have fashion weekEND. And here is one example from the website:

Just sayin', don't judge my lace up boots.

Lastly, some people reading this may remember how excited I was for winter and cold? That was silly. No, honestly, Prague is incredibly beautiful in the rain and does a lovely job in aiding my playing pretend that I am a princess all the time. I just probably should have brought more jeans and fewer sun dresses. Old habits die hard.

jak se řekne "campaign finance reform" v českém jazyce?

Holy MOLY, if I take only one lesson from studying abroad it will be that if you are going to blog DO NOT PUT IT OFF FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. Well, actually, may I retract that statement? I would really like my one lesson to not be one about blogging. That would be horrendously depressing.

SO. Here we are. It's officially been over a month since I cried in the Portland airport (and then the Toronto airport. And possibly also the Dusseldorf airport. But that one wasn't my fault. Blame the meanest German lady on earth) and left the US. I honestly don't want to spend too much time dwelling on the ridiculously rude ways in which the passage of time works. I do have to say, though, that I don't think I've ever had such a massively huge psychological roller coaster in the span of one month before. I am so grateful for where I am and amazed with SIT, but sometimes the distance hits me, or the fact that there is no possibility of seeing a familiar face (no matter how great the people on my program are, they are still very, very new in my life) for a very long time.

I would like to do justice to all of things that have been going on without boring anyone reading this to tears, so I will do my best.

(I feel that most entries on this blog consist of A) me proclaiming a goal of being as synoptic as possible, B) me rambling, and C) me apologizing for said rambling. Ah, well.)

Let's go back two weeks ago today, at which point I was packing for my "regional stay". Based on my many, many friends participating in other SIT programs, it seems that most of them choose to send their students out into strange corners of the country with 2 other people around the same time. This time also happens to be around the same time this chart tells you you will begin to hate everything:

See Number 3? That's when SIT thinks it's a good idea to throw us out of the nest and into farms. Also, I would like to invite everyone to compare the locations of Number 1 and Number 9. WHAT? "This chart is to demonstrate, in a scientific manner, that your happiness will significantly decrease due to studying abroad." Thanks, y'all.

All I knew is that myself, Claire, and Joe were getting on a train to Polička to stay with a woodworker and his semi-famous artist wife on their farm. We were also warned that our sleeping arrangements might necessitate caution. Great? I was picturing something along the lines of this:

Quaint, no?

 So, when I rolled up and saw that in actuality my life was now taking place HERE...

WHAT??! WHAT??! WHAT??!!!

...I may have freaked out a little bit. If Ivan and Veronika, our hosts, were not already familiar with such English terms as "MOLLY WEASLEY!" "FAIRY TALE!" "PRINCESS!" "FAIRY PRINCESS!" or "GINNY WEASLEY!" they can now thank me for expanding their vocabularies.

Before I go on, here are some photos. I just want to make sure that it is abundantly clear JUST HOW JEALOUS everyone should be.

This is just where I slept every night. You know. Like any fairy princess in a mideival tale.

Everything you're looking at? Ivan made. I kid you not. 

Doing what I do with my Argentinian friend Fernando on top of some ancient castle tower. You know, a normal hangout spot.

Joseph and me enjoying our Pilsner in the street outside the pub while we cheer on marathon runners. Because this country is cooler than the US.

I really do want to wrap this up before three hours from now, but I also do not want to undermine what incredible people I had to opportunity to live with for a few days. I have never met such open, kind, unique humans in my life. Both of them are just these immensely talented, immensely modest people. I guess this can be succinct because I don't even know that I can do it justice. It was four days of campfires, singing, drawing, walking, learning, listening, thinking, seeing...fuck. It was definitely difficult at times, but what meaningful experience isn't, right? Also, I fell in love. I am trying to figure out how to admit to my parents that I won't be returning to the states, because of my very special man in Polička. Meet...Yeřišek.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS??! Most difficult farewell I've ever gone through with anything. He was essentially in that position for four straight days.

Ivan, myself, Claire, Joe, and Fernando (and Guru, the dog) outside of the house the morning we left.

 After the regional stay, our entire group met back up in the South, in a town called Česky Krúmlov, also known as Walt Disney's inspiration for Disneyland. So, imagine if Disneyland was made out of 1000 year old stones instead of...whatever Disneyland is made out of. I basically spent the entire time walking around with my mouth open. Take two of Naomi's life allowing her to pretend she's a princess in a cartoon. Also, they sell pink cigarettes. This is why European smoke more than Americans. I would most certainly be a smoker if I could easily purchase pink cigarettes with vanilla flavored tobacco in them. Just saying. And yes, I do realize that I am currently dreaming of cigarettes that are illegal in the US because they are marketed for children. I'm fine with it.

Imagine this, but an entire city, and that is Česky Krúmlov. Don't you feel like Cinderella (post ball fiasco, obviously) just looking at it?

Now I am back in the homestead, until next Thursday, at which point I leave for Poland and Slovakia for a week. It feels very go-go-go, which is good, but I wish I had more time to spend with my host family. They are just so lovely. My host mom does things like sneak chocolate into my lunchbox. Last night, my host dad had some friends from work over for dinner. It was really nice - probably the nicest time I've had with them since getting here - but let me just say this. Pre-dinner beers. Then dinner, which consisted of: a goose. dumplings. cabbage salad. potato salad. and more beer. Then post-dinner wine. Then post-wine cake. Then more wine. Then post-wine crackers. Then post-cracker wine. Then post-wine cheese. Then post-cheese wine. Then post-wine wine. WHAT? It really was nice, though. They asked me questions about American education and Obama (you know, easy topics) and didn't mind my answers, I don't think. They also spent a good twenty minutes making fun of how large American coffee drinks are, and I almost had to tell them to stop because they were making me crave grande non-fat iced vanilla lattes (IM SORRY IM A BAD PERSON I MISS STARBUCKS SO MUCH). 

Guess what? I miss the United States. And I am fine with that. I do not think that this makes me a consumerist whore for capitalism that buys into the system. I just think it makes me someone who likes standing up while she showers (for more than 3 minutes, by the way) and refrigerating milk. And iced coffee. And bagels. And sheets on beds. And driving. Also, the USA is an awesome place to live for a lot of people. Not everyone, I know. One of the funniest things about studying abroad is how much Americans my age feel the need to apologize for being American (myself included). I'm trying to shut down that urge, because, A of all I did not choose to be conceived into an American womb, and B of all AMERICANS ARE IN GENERAL REALLY LUCKY TO BE AMERICANS SO WE SHOULD SHUT UP ABOUT HOW STUPID AMERICA IS BECAUSE TO OTHER PEOPLE IT MAKES US SEEM WEIRD AND UNGRATEFUL. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TAKING ISSUE WITH SOME POLICIES AND CUSTOMS AND HATING THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. Seriously.

In closing, an interesting fact. Today, my Czech teacher informed us that THEY DON'T SAY "I LOVE YOU" HERE. She told us, "my husband and I have been married thirty years and I don't think we ever have said this." To which I responded, "BUT THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW?!! DONT YOU GET INSECURE??!", which she found hilarious but I most certainly was not joking. We asked what they said instead. "Nothing. I remind him to wear a scarf if it is cold." WHAT??! Some people in my class found that ADORABLE, but I do not. I find it UNACCEPTABLE. Yeah, yeah, cultural differences, learning, blah blah, I'M SORRY BUT YOU HAVE TO ARTICULATE YOUR FEELINGS! She went on to tell us that "Czechs are just not very comfortable with talking about the emotions." So, let's be honest, no matter how much I love Yeřišek, I will not be able to make any kind of long-term commitments to this country. I enjoy few activities more than talking about my feelings. So, remind me to never marry a Czech man.

Unless it's this Czech man. Meet Vaclav. I swear I'm not tracking down every cat in Prague. They are just super abundant. Because you know what Czech people think is weird? Neutering/spaying creatures. So if anyone is in the market for a new pet, I could bring you fifty.