Prague and Dresden!

Window that lead to the crypt;
where the firehoses were positioned

       Our trip started with an early morning train ride requiring us all to be ready to go by 7:30am. To most this doesn't sound all that early, but when you don't have class until 3 Monday through Thursday, it was kind of a struggle. Our train left at 8:50am and we were all planning on sleeping on the train. However, Cara and I ended up in a small room with only one other person, and we wended up talking the entire time. Trains are rather peaceful, and they even come with free coffee! Once we arrived in Prague we checked into our hostel (there were eight of us in our room), grabbed a quick bite to eat, and gathered again to go see the Czech Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Cyril and Methodius. This cathedral is the national memorial to the heroes of the Heydrich Terror.
       I didn't know that there was a high ranking German Nazi official who was assassinated during the war, but sure enough Heydrich was the target. This particular officer was one of the main architects in the Holocaust and so the resistance put together a plan called Anthropoid to assassinate him. Before we left for Prague we watched a movie called Anthropoid which emulated the events and plans the paratroopers were to carry out. These seven men ended up hiding in the crypts of the Orthodox Cathedral andante found, held off the Nazi army for 6 hours. They withstood gunfire, grenades, and even firehoses used to try to flush them out from the crypt. It was surreal to be in the same place where they hid and fought for their lives. To see the names of all of the civilians that were killed as the Nazis took revenge on the general public after the assassination was stupefying. 

Mexican restaurant for some drinks!

       Later that afternoon were were left to our devices and because Easter is coming up, were walked around the Easter market and bought some paprika dogs for lunch! The Easter markets are really festive and filled with hot wine, yummy food, and painted eggs. We also found a really cute coffee shop called "My break" with the nicest owner who gave us pastries with all of our drinks, and freshly baked bread straight from the oven. We ended up going there a few times while in Prague. The next way we kind of had crappy weather but we walked to the Charles Bridge, John Lennon wall, and then hiked up a very steep hill to get to the Prague Castle/Cathedral. the view was beautiful as you could see over most of Prague. Late afternoon we were again given some time to explore and ended up on a carriage ride around the city center! Oh how I enjoy the clip closing of hooves on cobble stones. :) After dinner we went out for some drinks and I had my first tequila shot and an amazing Piña colada with great company!

Frauenkirche (Lutheran church) in
Dresden and Martin Luther statue 

       After a few days in Prague, we headed to Dresden Germany to visit a Lutheran Church that was burned to the ground during the air raids during WWII. The air raids created fire balls that suffocated civilians, and severely damaged the church. They rebuilt the church about 15 years ago using plans and pictures of the original church in order to rebuild and restore. The dark bricks on the outside were salvaged from the original church and the white bricks are brand new. I was so happy to finally be around a place of religion that I am familiar with, and seeing the statue of Martin Luther right outside the church filled me with joy.
       I didn't realize how much being away from home and my church has affected me, but with this past weekend being Palm Sunday, and this upcoming weekend being Easter, it has been more so on the forefront of my mind. I really struggled when we were in Dresden because while inside of Frauenkirche, it felt like there was a lack of respect. It felt like this experience wasn't being respected as much as other worship places, such as a cathedral. There was more goofing off and the atmosphere was much more fun loving, rather than  revered which is backwards from what it should be while in any church. I wanted to learn and take my time to read and listen about the history but it felt really lonely, and almost as if I was the only one who cared. I know that isn't true, but it really tested by positive attitude about being in a place that reconnects me to what I left back home and really soaking in the wonder and beauty of the church. I have really been missing having a church to go to, and even though I listen to sermons from back home, being in a place of worship that you identify with is really powerful. I just hope that in the future, regardless of personal beliefs, people are able to respect a place of worship, or at least the history.
       Away, on Sunday back in Prague, we visited the Jewish Quarters, including the oldest synagog in Europe. We walked into the Synagog and there are names printed on all of the walls in memory of the 85,000 Jewish Czechs who were killed during WWII. There is a recording that plays 24/7 reading off all eighty five thousand names of this who perished. I cannot wrap my head around that many people, and those were just the people who were killed from Czechoslovakia, not anywhere else in Europe. We also walked through the cemetery and the graves were right up next to each other in attempts to fit everyone inside the ghetto in the cemetery. The Ghetto was portrayed as a resort and showed clips of children drinking lemonade, but instead it was a designated place where all Jewish people lived and waited to be sent off to camps run by Nazis.

       I am so blessed to have this opportunity to be challenged, learn, and make new friends. I hope the next 10 weeks are filled with more of the same! This weekend we are going to Munich and Salzburg for Easter, so here is to many adventures to come. :)

Jewish Cemetery in what used to be the Jewish Ghetto

     

Beautiful view from the Prague Castle

Adventure Is Out There! (daily life)

Chicken Schnitzle with mashed
potatoes and my first beer!

       Here's to the start of a three month adventure, completely out of my comfort zone. I have always been one for challenging myself and attempting to expand my box of familiarity, but leaving the country for three months was nothing short of terrifying. After about 24 hours of traveling (with the time zone differences and breakfast food at 11pm because it was 5ish in London), we arrived in the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague. We went to the John Lennon wall and found a few pubs with amazingly fresh hot tea and of course beer. I am not a huge fan of beer but I've been told it is really good and stronger than the kinds back home. The food here is also quite good (dessert being the best) and I have yet to have anything that I did not enjoy. Because of all the good food and feeling like a tourist, it hadn't quite set in that I would be living 5,000 miles away from home for the next 13 weeks and I'm not sure after two weeks, it has set in yet. After being with 6 classmates for three days and exploring, we met up with the other 17 classmates at the airport, and got on a bus to head to Olomouc (about 4 hours from Prague). We have now been in Olomouc for a week and a half and it is starting to feel like home, despite some of the interesting differences and challenges.
       For starters, water is more expensive than beer, and at every restaurant you have to ask for still water otherwise you will end up with sparking water. You would think that carbonated water would taste okay, but I can assure you, it has the worst flavor and is rather funky. One of the first nights we were here we went on a hunt for regular ole water, and there are probably 2-3 full isles to choose from. We haven't mastered the Czech language yet (if ever), so reading labels is a challenge and we ended up with giant bottles of bubbly water. However, since then, Google Translate has become our best friend. Did you know that you can take pictures of what is written and it will translate it (loosely) for you!?

Shoebox with awesome old fashion candy striped bedding.

       While Google translate can help with reading labels, and sometimes even menus (most are in Czech, and if you're lucky they will have the English translation in fine print), it could not prepare us for our daily living conditions. Our room is pretty much a shoebox, and our beds are touching head to foot. We also could not figure out the internet situation. We had all all the boxes and converters and ethernet cables you can imagine, but it still wouldn't work so we ended up buying a router; best $33 we ever spent. The exchange rate is between 20 and 20.7 kč to $1, which means 33 dollars is about 680 kč, so for 3 months, it was well worth it. The windows in our room are also kind of different. They can open like a door or if you turn the handle 180 degrees, you can open just the top of it and it'll fold down like an old time bridge over a moat. However, we didn't know that our window could fold down, so we just slept with the window open the normal way, thinking our window was "special." Note to self, because we are on the first floor right next to the steps up to our building, we had a visitor last night. Around 4am, I woke up to a strange sound that was on repeat. I thought it was Shyenne (my roommate) listening to music or something. Oh no. It was a cat!!!! That's right, a cat came through our window and was meowing trying to get our attention, at 4 in the morning!!!! I woke up Shyenne and she was still delusional from only four hours of sleep the night before. She was scared it was going to jump on her bed after she made eye contact with it, so naturally she used her pillow as a defense mechanism. However, instead of jumping on the bed to cuddle with Shyenne, the cat stretched out and hopped on back through the window.

The famous night cat.

       There are quite a lot of cats around the buildings, but luckily they were not a problem while doing laundry at the laundromat two blocks away from where our dorms are located. Regardless, I had other struggles on my first trip to the laundromat. I got there with my laundry and was ready to try this out, but I forgot my detergent. So I left my dirty clothes there and had to walk back to my room to get it. Side note, there are three different keys to get into our building and they all look the same. I'm going to have to figure out a labeling system at some point, because it is kind of a pain to get the right key to open the right door, especially because doors and I have never gotten along. But it gets better. After I got back to the laundromat with my detergent, I realized I only had a 1000kč bill to exchange for laundry coins, which would give me $50 in tokens to do laundry, not actual kč, but tokens (all in increments of 20). I messaged some people to see where I can get change, but before I got a response, I asked the gentleman beside me if he had change, but of course he didn't speak English. I was told by some of my classmates to go to the front desk in the reception area of all the dorms to get change, but of course when I got there they were on break for the next 20 min (also my laundry was left at the mat for a second time). But finally, after an hour of running back and forth, I started my load of laundry!
       All of these adventures thus far have come with their fair share of laughter and frustration, but it is unrealistic to except anything different; after all, we are living in a different country on a different continent. With that said, I am excited to continue living here, but I am starting to miss bits and pieces of home. I wouldn't have thought that I would miss not having to ask if someone speaks English, going to a Lutheran church, driving a car down the interstate, or even jolly ranchers. However, I know that even though these slight differences will make me appreciate being home the beginning of June, I am excited to continue learning and loving this city I now call home.

Every day architecture in the lower square :)

Morning coffee and homework
with my roommate at Bolzano! 

Strawberry Gelato at
Café Opera for 25kč

Panna Cotta at Café library!
 (lighter cream/custard with berries on top)