Recap of last couple weeks not all that eventful...

I know it's been awhile since my last post it's not because I forgot I just really don't have much to talk about sorry folks! So I have been going to class not much excitement has happened. So I tried fried cheese for the first time it's a traditional dish here. It is interesting, kinda like a mozzarella stick, but different it's more like a block of cheese that is fried and it was served with a sauce that's kinda like tartar sauce, but different. It would have tasted better as a sandwich or something, but it was strange by itself. With my history class we went to a museum where we saw the original Astronomical Clock and this virtual tour of Prague. Since we are a big class we went in groups we colored while we waited. See look what I did in school, my mom will be so proud :]

I was also asked for the first time since I have been here to show my transportation pass, 6 weeks not bad, but the dude just comes up to you shows the badge to your face and says something in Czech-I haven't a clue so I just handed him my pass, he gave it back and then he walked away. I went to Bohemia Bagels, which by the way there are no bagels in Prague except there, but I order a parmesan/oregano bagel with veggie cream cheese and tomato soup the bagel was ok but the soup was AMAZING I am definitely going there again. Everything on there menu sounded so good I am going to have to go there and try everything even though it's a tad pricey, but I think it's worth it!! All my roommates had friends and family over that week/weekend so we had a big apartment style dinner on that Friday. We cooked chicken fajitas SO GOOD!!

I didn't do much that weekend at all to be honest. I went over to K17 one night and hung out there, then we left for Cross Club no one wanted to pay to go into the club part so we sat up stairs in the bar part for maybe 30 min then left 2/3 went home 1/3 went to this other club Chapeau Roughe which is free to get in. I tagged along since it was closer to my building anyway, so we were there for maybe 20-30 minutes then they all decided to call it a night and so I went home. I didn't get much sleep on Sunday night because my roommates friend was sleeping there and had to get up early like 3:30am for her plane and I woke up and could go back to bed and I had class at 12 that day too. Tuesday was Mardi Gras which is pretty widely celebrated that day there was tons set up down town. It was also National Women's Day. Also was Mezza's birthday so celebrated that as well. On Wednesday, I was walking home from class minding my own business not doing anything out of the ordinary. A mom from a family walks up to me and asked me, "Do you speak English?" I replied, "Yes, I do" then she proceeded to ask me "Where is the nearest McDonalds?" REALLY?? I was nice and gave her directions (I was surprised I actually knew since I hate that place), but I apparently I look really American and don't blend in. Thursday I went to class and that was about it. Friday morning, we had Anezska(where we live) Breakfast and Valerie cook french toast for breakfast for us!!! It was super yummy! On Friday a group of students from the University of the Pacific were on a music tour in Prague. So I decided to go with my roommate Valerie. The concert was classical music. I am not a huge fan of classical it was all acoustical and no singing. There was two guys who sang a cappella in Czech, so I didn't know a word they were saying, but had amazing voices. The concert was about an hour long. I actually started drifting asleep at one point, I felt horrible but classical isn't my thing. Then we went to get dinner at this pizza place in Lesser Town. It was kinda pricey, but it was good. It was about 130 crowns which is $7-$8 which sounds really cheap, but you can find the same quality pizza for the under 100 crowns (~$5). The restaurant we sat at had the coolest decorations though. Here are some photos:

I was pretty lazy that weekend and didn't really leave my apartment. I did however get breakfast at Bohemia Bagels I ordered what I did last time except I got minestrone soup which was very good too but I think I liked the tomato one a little more. This girl brought her dog to the restaurant it was the tiniest, but cutest thing ever. I wanted to steal it and bring it home it was seriously maybe a foot tall on it's hind legs. Monday I went to class went grocery shopping since I didn't have food. On Tuesday, our art and architecture class went to St. Nicholas Church in the Lesser Quarter. It is a typical baroque style building very pretty. Then I found out that the marble isn't real marble the statues aren't made of stone but rather they are wood painted with chalk coating. I was a little less impressed, but the fresco on the ceiling were so cool you can't tell where the architecture ends and the painting begins. Here are some photos:

ceiling art and wall architecture blend (can't tell where one begins and the other ends)

dome

fresco on ceiling

Then after that class I have my history class. We had our midterm test. I hope that I did ok! Then we went to the Jewish Quarter. We went into the Pinkas Synagogue,  Old-New Synagogue and the Jewish Cemetery. In the Pinkas Synagogue names of all the Holocaust victims, together with their dates of birth and death, are inscribed on the walls. The names have been written three times do to flooding. Upstairs was pictures and drawings saved from the times they were in the ghettos. No photos in either were allowed. Then we went into the Old-New Synagogue which is still a functioning synagogue. Again no photos inside. Then we went to the cemetery which holds thousands of people. They didn't have enough room so they would add soil on top and bury more people, they did this 12 TIMES. I still have to go to the Jerusalem Synagogue and the Spanish Synagogue. Here are some photos:

tombs

Rocks and coins are left as a remembrance of those who passed

People often write prayers and wishes and leave them at the tombs

After that I went home made some dinner then I went to go see a movie with my Gender Studies class. It was a documentary called Dish: Women, Waitressing and the Art of Serving. It was a really interesting I really enjoyed it a lot. It was English which was great. It talked about how in different countries the role of waitressing is different. That in America/Canada it is usually a female profession and that women take on the role of serving people more naturally and it's expected. Where as in France men work as waitress in high end restaurants and it's very uncommon for women to be in that field. And that in Japan there are places where the women literally dress as maids and serve you. Also, it talked about the use of sex appeal to attract tips like at Hooters. It was really good about an hour long if you can find it I would watch it. Today, is Wednesday I don't have class not doing much. I am getting all my stuff planned and organized for spring break. I am going to Greece. My plane leaves on Friday and I will be there till Sunday the 27th.  I am sure I will have lots to blog about my stay in Greece that is all for now!

Last weekend in February

Saturday the 26th: Pig Killing Festival [Note: DO NOT READ THIS PART IF YOU ARE A VEGAN, VEGETARIAN, ANIMAL LOVER, ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST OR ANYONE IN GENERAL IT IS VERY GRAPHIC AND YOU WILL MOST LIKELY STOP EATING MEAT]
Sunday the 27th: wondering around lesser town
Monday the 28th: Pražský hrad (Prague Castle) and the Lennon Wall

So on Friday night me and my roommate decided to rearrange our room since we can so we did here is what it looks like:

Roommates side

So after I finished rearranging my room. I was talking to girl in my program, Cara, and she was like are you going to the event Geiger [person who plans events for us to go on]. I was like what event apparently I am not receiving emails. Anyone it was like why the heck not I have nothing going on tomorrow and I should ACTUALLY do something. So decided to go. Geiger was meeting in front of the K17 the other building at 7:15. I am not a morning person so getting up that early is always a challenge. So I manage to get up running a tad bit late. I forget that the metro runs less frequently on the weekend than during the week so I was waiting around finally at 7:10 it arrives and I was like crap I am not going to make it to K17 in time so I decided I will meet them at the train station since it's out of my way to go to K17 to save time. As I am about to get on the metro to the train station(since I had to change lines) I see Geiger, Liz and Sue about to get on the metro perfect timing! So we get on the metro and head to the train station. We get on the train and head to this small town with 200 people living there for the pig killing festival. First off I was not really sure what a pig killing festival entitled, but it's exactly as it sounds. I also don't eat pork. So we get there it's maybe quarter to 8 and there is no anywhere to be found really no surprise since it was so early. So we go looking around the town and we meet Geiger's friend G3(his name is hard to say but it sounds like G3 so that's what we call him). So we wait around and then I finally see the pig. It was the biggest pig I have ever seen it was a good couple hundred pounds. It was in a cage. I realize that they are going to kill the pig so I walk far away it didn't matter. I heard them shoot it. I could hear the pig flailing and struggling in the cage. I guess the pig wouldn't die so they had to slit it's throat. When I come back I see the pig lying dead on a latter. They are about to de-hair the pig. They pour this hot liquid on the pig and scrub the hair off. Then I see them take a blow touch to the pigs face to remove the hair. This was too much so I walk away with Liz and Sue and they are serving hot wine. I have never tried hot wine before, but it was cold outside and it was available so i decided heck why not. Hot wine was pretty good it was kinda like tea it's infused with cinnamon, sugar and lemon and tasted pretty good. Geiger calls us back. At this point the pig has no head and they are about to remove the toe nails on the pig. The remove the nails and back legs and are about to hang it up. I guess they usually keep the head on the pig but it was so big that it wouldn't fit in the stand with out the head touching the ground. So they hang the pig. It is standing there dripping blood. They begin slicing it open and remove the organs and intestines and place them in a bucket. They start to cut strips of meet to get cooked. I run away again. Then I see them starting to cook the meat. They cooked and used all the parts of the pig. The meat was being served as fast as it was done being cooked. I was not having any of it. They had a pepper stuffed with sauerkraut and bread which was actually not bad. The bread was free so I kept snacking on that. Then we viewed the chapel which was really small and only one room big. Outside the chapel was a nice comfy couch which we sat on and soaked in some of the sun that faced a playground where the children were playing. The butcher and his son were then making sausages. I have never really seen them made before but I really don't think I'll be having any after that. So they stick the meat the part that no one really wants to eat in with bread and grinds it up. Then once it's all made it is then stuffed inside the intestine skin. Then we left to go on a 5 mile hike to a castle. It was a pretty long hike and I felt way out of shape since I could barley climb it. We finally made it to the top. The castle was nice it was the off season(winter) so we couldn't go inside. But here are some photos:

train ride to the pig killing festival

my lunch (pepper stuffed with sauerkraut)  no pig for me

couch outside the cathedral

Castle

 
I didn't take any photos of the pig killing, but Geiger did so here are some photos too graphic to upload online view at your own risk:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.1803349077339.2103673.1048227483

After that we went on the train back to Prague and I was dead tried at that point. I made some dinner and crashed. The next day I was going to meet up with Cara and go to Prague castle. We were going to meet at Charles Bridge then cross over into Lesser Town then go to the Castle but she doesn't have a phone so communication is harder so I couldn't find her so I walked around lesser town by myself I would have gone to the castle too bur my batteries died so I decided not to go. Good thing since I talked to Cara and we decided since we still wanted to go to meet up after my class on Monday. I wondered around Lesser Town kinda got a little lost but that's all part of the fun of exploring. I ended up outside a building with hundreds of people gathered outside with camera taking photos and videoing. So I decide to find out more about what was going on. I couldn't really tell what was going on all I could see were a whole bunch of soldiers marching with bayonets. About 12 marched out then 12 more marched inside then poof like magic everyone started to disperse. I still have no idea what was going on. Here are photos from Lesser Town:

On Monday after my politics class Cara and I went to go see Prague Castle. So we follow the signs that say Pražský hrad which is Prague castle in Czech. We finally make it there. I see St. Vitus Cathedral so we go inside it is really pretty in there. It has the traditional Gothic architecture features with the pointed windows, stained glass windows, rip vaulting, and flying buttress. We see this pink building to the right. We continue on to find the castle. We keep wondering and it ends there is no more buildings. We're like where is the castle. So we go into on of the gift shops and are like where is the castle. She was like you are at the castle. I was like I can't find it, so we look at a post card and I identify the buildings and ask where the castle is. She explained to me that all the building make up Prague Castle, but there is not one building that is called Prague Castle. So I was a little disappointed to find that out. Here are some photos From Prague Castle:

We leave Prague Castle and we are hungry. I had heard there was a really good Mexican food place near there and I had been craving some Mexican food badly. Cara had been there and was like it was good so we went to the restaurant it was called Cantina. It was a little pricey so we decide to split a dish since it was only like only 3:30 and were going to have dinner later anyway. We order some chips and salsa and a quesadilla with cheese, chicken and spinach so good! Since it was near by we went to the Lennon Wall. The Lennon Wall is a wall dedicated to John Lennon and people can legally graffiti it and it's an art form and it's quite cool. It is constantly changing so it will be different every time you go.

After that we went home. The next day, I find I got a package waiting for me. It's a huge box. I open it up and it's full of my favorite American junk food. My friends are so sweet I love them so much and miss them like crazy!