Day 10: DAS BOOT!

Today none of the UNCW kids had class so what did we do on our day off?! BEER FEST OF COURSE! We had to take a metro over to the other side of the bridge to get there but it was not a long trip at all! 

The admission to get in was 45 cZk which is $2.50...yeah I know, crazy cheap! And then they gave us these black cards to use inside the tent so we could swipe it whenever we wanted food or beer! We were in awe of the countless beers to try and it was all in Czech soooo none of us really knew what we were ordering. It was like the Russian Roulette of Beer! The first beer I got was a IPA and it was so good! 

After being there for a couple hours we stumbled across a tent that was giving out huge steins of beer that were bigger than my face. I swear just lifting the glass was giving me a workout! 

Exhibit A...it's huge! Two hands were needed.

After Beer Fest, a few of us went to an art house cinema to see Grand Budapest Hotel, which if you haven't seen it, I highly suggest you do! IT'S AMAZING! It was also an interesting perspective to see a film about Central Europe while in Central Europe! The cinema was also equipped with a full bar...in case you were wondering!

It was a great day :)

Day 9: It's Finally Spring Weather!

NO MORE COLD AND NO MORE RAIN! HOORAY!!!!

So today we got up late and didn't have time to go exploring the city but the weather was perfect outside! We even got Iced Coffees...or the next best thing! I really miss Dunkin Iced Coffee, the withdrawal is REAL!

After coffee we took the metro to class and we learned about character development and the development of good conflicts in screenwriting. It's all about revealing your character through the choices they make which I thought was super interesting. Coming up with characters and conflicts of your own...not that simple!


 I spent a lot of time today reflecting on the type of character I want to portray and possible scenarios that might arise in her field of work. It is hard to get inside the mind of a fictional character, even one that you are in the process of creating. You start with a concept and then go from there, but like any individual, choices probably need to be backed by some sort of motivation. That's the difficult part. 

Lets just say a round of drinks was needed after I attempted to write for a couple of hours!

Day 8: WE MADE IT!

This morning all the roommates decided to get up early and go to the John Lennon Wall...FINALLY! For a minute I thought we weren't gonna make it too because we are so lax about all of our plans. But today was a nice change because I brought my DSLR out to shoot some photos. It was kinda hard to compose photos that I liked just because we were trying to make it across the Charles Bridge alive and play frogger with the various tour groups and obnoxious tourists. (Yes, the tourist hates the other tourists, are you surprised?) I think that means I have officially assimilated into Czech culture though. Regardless, I did get some neat pictures along the way!

 

I mostly just want to go out exploring with my main goal of capturing the city and its natives through photography. It is hard to take decent photos with people everywhere constantly walking into your shots. I actually walked into someone on Charles Bridge trying to take a photo if that tells you anything haha! 

 Later, after our class got out, we headed to one of the local bars near our Institute and celebrated a 21st birthday which was a lot of fun! We made sure to get back to the metro and make it back just in time before the station closed at midnight!

I'm also making decent Prague-ress on the lingo ;)

Day 7: The Best Ships are Friend Ships

SUNDAY FUNDAY!!!

Words can't describe how excited Ally, Eliza and I were for Sunday brunches before we arrived to Prague, only to find out that brunch isn't big here. We were so upset but decided to settle for the next best thing...BAGELS! But not just any bagels, these were Bohemia Bagels! This is what happens when Americans move to Prague, they open up bagel shops. So far we have stumbled upon two locations which is wonderful because it was delicious! I have yet to find a food place that I haven't enjoyed which is weird because I am super picky.

After our bagel brunch we decided to head towards Old Town Square to check out the Tim Burton exhibit. It is a curated art exhibit but the location was also showing various Tim Burton films for free! It was so cool because the showings were in these cave-like settings. On the way to the screening room, we passed by some incredible art work and sculptures. Eliza thought that the film we were seeing was supposed to start at 2pm. When we had arrived to the screening room, the film had already started. None of us had seen the film before so we didn't know how much we missed. We were there for maybe 40 minutes and the film ended. It was then Eliza realized she must have mixed up the times for the shows. Overall , the exhibit was still beautiful and we got the opportunity to watch an American film in Prague with a Czech audience!

After the screening we decided to head back to the Institute so we could use and abuse the wifi for whatever reasons (let's say...homework! Yes, we went to the Institute to do homework!) On our way there we saw some street performers who were creating these huge bubbles and attracted a large audience. It was so cool to see all of the kids interact with the performers as they would pretty much attack the huge bubbles with their body. This one boy rammed a bubble and he got super soapy after it popped. He was like "WHAT IS THIS?? WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN?!" It was really endearing haha.

After a while of procrastination we decided to czech out this restaurant/hookah bar. It was pretty much an awesome decked out Central European cellar. Narrow spiral staircase included! It was also an incredible atmosphere. Our busy day was soon accompanied by a nap back at the Institute (which quickly became called "The Prastitute"...."The Prague...Institute"...yeah, like no one saw that coming!) The day ended with some celebratory drinks after a few friends from UNCW came into town.

Na zdraví (CHEERS!)

Day 6: Recovery

...It was so nasty outside that no one felt like doing anything today. We all just had a nice relaxing day! But my luggage finally showed up!!!! I don't think I've ever actually hugged a suitcase before today and I have no ragrets! I was the happiest elf on the shelf haha!

 Eliza and I started to watch Only Lovers Left Alive. It is a Jim Jarmusch vampire movie with Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston. It's quite beautiful and has a lot of visual motifs which I always appreciate. I'm excited to finish it!

Today was a day for a lot of roommate bonding and not much else. It was exactly the day of rest that everyone desperately needed. 

Day 5: We Do What We Want

Today, I'm not even gonna lie we got a late start haha. Eliza, Keegan, Ally and I went to our normal morning hang out at the Coffee Room (which is the actual name of the place believe it or not!) and our "goal" was to go to the John Lennon wall. We were also gonna go to this art gallery with some of the students in the program which was totally optional and started at 2pm. At this point it was almost 1 and we weren't even on the metro.

We decided to play it by year and just walk around the city. We stumbled upon this really cool Thai place where we had lunch and it was surprisingly delicious! I tried something I normally wouldn't and really enjoyed it! (Mom: yes there were vegetables involved...) 

At this point we had missed the art gallery show and were going to head towards the bridge and go to the John Lennon wall. But then we stumbled upon a cool looking bar and just had a few beers and chatted for an hour. It was getting colder and about to rain so we decided against going to the wall today. 

We continued to walk and stumbled upon an antique bookstore. We were so amazed by the charm of the store that we stayed there looking at old books, vinyls and photographs for a good chunk of time! I know we all are anxious to go back there. We all found some very interesting photos and here is one of them:

(The Czech Miley Cyrus everyone)

It's really great to just go exploring and not have set plans. It's a new type of experience that I'm not used to!

Day 4: Where are the Foreworks?!

Today was incredible. Not only do I love my classes but the institute is full of fun little quirky spaces. There is this super quaint tea room where you can order pastries and drinks and there is also a lounge where a few students hang out on their off time. 

After class ended and I attempted to speak "Chenglish" to the brussels airline, and then we took the metro back to the pension. Eliza and I decided to head back to Old Town where we would venture towards Charles Bridge. Along the way a woman stopped and asked us for directions...I know, weird but apparently we looked approachable/knew what we were doing and I kinda did! I was able to direct a stranger to a place in a foreign country that I've been living in for only 4 days without any problem. I think thats pretty impressive! Now I just needed to direct myself to a new area of town. 

Eliza and I ended up taking a longer way to the bridge but we ended up seeing a lot of cool things along the way! 

Oh the photographic wonders of an iPhone 4!

On our way back from our adventure we stumbled into a gelato shop and had some amazing gelato (even though we were freezing!) It was soooo worth it! And only 60 CZK for 2 huge scoops. That's like $3! You could pay upwards of $7 for the same thing in Little Italy and it was just as delicious. 

Later that night we headed back to Charles Bridge because there was supposed to be a celebration for the first day of the Czech Beer Fest! I know, these people love their beer...and potatoes, it's like I was made for this place! Oh and for those of you wondering a .5 L of beer costs on average 30 CZK which is equivalent to approximately $1.50...it's cheaper than water! And the best thing about the Czech Beer Fest is...FREE ADMISSION! But they do have daily tickets which sell out so if you want to go, you have to get there early!

So, when we went back to Charles Bridge it was even colder than before and the fireworks were supposed to start at 9:30....they didn't. We waited around for a little longer than an hour, only to leave without seeing fireworks. We did see an awesome orchestra playing on the water. After we left and came back to the Pension we found out that we didn't miss much because there was one firework. Still, the idea of fireworks over the river and being on Charles bridge sounded magical. The essence of the experience was all I really needed. The rest was left up to my adventurous imagination!

Day 3: Still No Luggage

Ahoj!

 I forgot to mention a little mishap that happened last night in my previous blog post. So...I was just casually drinking wine while trying to connect to the horrible wifi at the pension when clumsy me spilled red wine all over my shirt....of course! I'm already living off the 4 outfits that I packed in my carry on and now I had stained one of my shirts. I walked into my room ashamed but enjoyed a good laugh as I revealed my unfortunate incident to my roommates. It was at that time that my one friend suggested just throwing wine on the shirt to make it less obvious. Naturally, I started to twist my shirt and said "Screw it, WE'LL TIE DYE IT......WITH MORE WINE!"

Here is the hilarious event unfolding:

This happened...

More wine was needed...

And this is how it turned out...Pretty sweet right?? I mean I'm happy with it haha! Now I have a great story and an awesome looking shirt!


Wednesday May 14, 2014 (First Day of Classes)

I woke up like this...HUNGRY!

But seriously I don't think I've woken up more ravenous in my life. I just really wanted pizza at 8 in the morning!

A few of us students headed to the Prague Institute early to get some work done and have decent wifi access. But first, we got coffee from this cute little coffee shop near the Pension.

Our first day of class was pretty sweet. We watched Double Indemnity which is one of my favorite film noir movies. We also watched this awesomeexperimental observatory  documentary about a church made from bones. I definitely want to check it out and start documenting my travels with my dslr! 

After class 5 of us went to dinner at this cute Italian pizza place. It was so good! All of the food has been delicious, seriously amazing! Tomorrow the Czech Beer Festival starts and the best part....FREE ADMISSION! This place keeps getting better and better!

I still need clothes though so, H&M here I come!

Czech yourself before you wreck yourself!

Day 2: Orientation

Today was orientation and we took the metro for the first time to the institute which is in the heart of Prague. It is the most serene campus that I have ever seen! The campus is enclosed by three buildings creating an open center with a courtyard, which is quite beautiful! The whole city is magical! We had a history lesson on the city of Prague and I found out that "Praha" which is the Czech word for Prague means "threshold". It is fitting because Prague serves as a threshold for all of Europe because it is at the center of the continent. I also learned how to pronounce a lot of the Czech language which was super helpful. The lonely planet Czech phrase book has a lot of useful phrases as well. 

During a break, a few of the students went to venture out into the city. We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant around the corner from the institute. The campus is also close to the Old Town Square which is touristy, yes, but the atmosphere is so lively! The Old Town Square is home to the famous Astronomical Clock which is gorgeous and pictures don't seem to do it justice! Because it is a tourist trap, there were tour guides everywhere, specifically Segway tour guides. One tried to get us to sign up for a tour but we told him we didn't have enough time. He did let a few of us try out the Segway which was kinda awesome! There is also live jazz artists who perform on the street and a few of the students bought their CD.

It is incredible to be in this amazing city and have the chance to experience it for 6 weeks. The city is so diverse and friendly! Tomorrow classes start so that will be a whole new interesting experience :)

Dobry večer! (Good night)

Welcome to Prague

After 17 hours of traveling I was so excited to finally land in Prague where I would be staying for the next 6 weeks! From Raleigh to DC to Brussels to Prague, my friends and I had finally made it!  Upon arrival we headed to Baggage claim. Immediately I thought "let me exchange my currency before the bags start to come out on the conveyer belt" so naturally, that's what I did. After that, the baggage claim area seemed to disperse and my bag was no where to be found. Like you can imagine, losing your bag in a foreign country where no one really speaks English was straight up frightening. The other two people I was with collected their luggage just fine, so where was mine? I finally found the baggage claim area where I could talk to an attendant and tell her my luggage was no where to be found. My first fear was that someone took it by mistake because I had a generic black suitcase with a small red ribbon. The next realization I came to was that I might not get it back. This realization was followed by sheer panic. 

After giving the woman my information, we set out to find our shuttle driver who was patiently waiting for us at ground transportation. He was a tall German man who spoke very softly but looked like he belonged in the Russian mob (the strong and silent type). We began to drive to our living establishment and along the way I started to feel more relaxed. I assured myself that my luggage will show up eventually and that I'm in freaking Prague! A wise rapper once said "I'm way to blessed to be stressed" and you know what Iggy, I couldn't agree more. The rest of the day I  walked around the streets of Prague, found a cute market place and ate dinner with 6 strangers and 4 friends that I would spend the next 45 days getting to know!

That's all I got for ya today...Czech back tomorrow for more updates on my amazing trip :)