Weekend Time, Party Time: Poland

Last week my roommates and I went to Krakow with our program, CEA.  At least 75 CEA students joined us for the lovely 9-hour bus ride.  If you know me, you know I have no problem falling asleep and staying asleep, no matter where I am.  This stayed true for the long bus trip and I was just about the only one who didn't absolutely hate the travel time.

We got into the city relatively late, so we couldn't see much since it was dark.  We also stayed on the outskirts of town since there were so many of us.  We attempted to make it into the more lively part of town on our first night, but the idea of being tired for our full day on Saturday was not plesant, so we ate a yummy dinner and headed back to the hotel.

Our Saturday was devoted to visiting Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II- Birkenau.  I've honestly been avoiding my blog because I'm not sure what to say about my experience.  There really aren't a lot of words to describe what I saw- everything was so raw that I barely felt any emotion during the tour.  I was way too overloaded.  I will say, though, that I never expected Birkenau to be worse.  I always thought Auschwitz (technically #1) was the worst because you always hear about it, but it's so bad because it encompasses several work and death camps.  I've never been somewhere that I felt was actual hell on earth, but after visiting the death camp at Birkenau, I understand the expression.  The tour didn't leave anything out, so I saw all the horrifying objects, heard the stories and walked through all the buildings and gas chambers.  Despite the overwhelming experience, I'm so thankful that I was able to see such a monumental historical site.  I'm also a little proud of myself for being so brave - I wasn't sure if I would be able to suck it up and actually go through with the tour.

I didn't take many pictures, but I wanted a few to remember exactly what the grounds looked like.  Here's the famous entry sign:

Needless to say, Saturday was a very exhausting day.  After a little rest we finally made it into the city center of Krakow.  CEA planned a traditional Polish dinner for us at a downtown restaurant and I wish I could tell you what I ate, but the waiters just brought out plates of food and we all scarfed them down!  It was all amazing... except for a dumpling, fish, veggie, something or another that I was too scared to try.  Personally, I liked the food more than the typical Czech dishes you get here in Prague. Dinner was followed by a night out in a very cool and trendy part of town.  We managed to find the more local spot for college kids and skipped out of the touristy bars.  It worked out perfectly because I was so ready to get away from our obnoxious group of 75...

Sunday was our day to see Krakow and get in all the sites before we got back on the bus.  We had an awesome tour guide that was able to show us all the must-sees within a 2 hour timeframe.  Some of the things we saw:

Wawel Castle

Wawel Cathedral (Pope John Paul II's church) I absolutely LOVED this!! 

Pope John Paul II's home

Market Square

Our tour was followed by lunch.  I tried pierogies for the first time and I absolutely loved them!! Mine were filled with potatoes and cottage cheese.  After our meal we had a couple of hours for free time, so the girls and I decided to spend our time wisely and go shopping! We found a store that we're all obsessed with and picked up much more than we probably should have.  It was decided that the best purchase of the day was a shirt I got on sale for the equivalent of about $10.  It's a screen print shirt with a very Euro-like picture and the phrase "Weekend Time, Party Time." I didn't noticed the phrase until I tried it on, but it made the shirt a must-have.  I have no idea why we all thought it was so funny, but now our whole group of friends says it.  Now whenever Wednesday rolls around (because that's when the weekend starts here, duh) we say the stupid phrase and heavily use the hashtag #weekendtimepartytime in our tweets.

Fun Fact #6:
During the tour I learned lots of fun facts about Krakow from our guide, but this one I really liked! When the Nazis occupied Poland, they took over all of Wawel Hill, including the castle.  They hung a huge swastika flag across the tower on the edge of the castle along the river.  Little did they know the tower is called "The Tower of Theives."  Krakow residents love pointing out the irony.

Getting Sick in a Foreign Country

My amazing weekend in Budapest unfortunately had one downfall - it left me with a sinus infection.  I've come to discover though, that dealing with illness in a foreign country isn't too bad.  I came across a few weird things (to me at least) so I had to do a full post of Fun Fact(s) #5:

I went to an english-speaking medical clinic to see the doctor.  After examining my symptoms he left the room and came back with a handful of drugs.  Apparently here they don't write prescriptions - the doctor just handed me all the medicine and I left.  I know it's prescription strength, too, because he gave me what would be comparable to a Z pack in the US.  Also, I left without having to pay a dime!

I went to the store to buy some soup (I miss my mommy!!!) and I had so much trouble finding something I wanted.  First, soup doesn't come in cans like we're used to.  Second, the dry packets of soup are mixed in with dry packets of other saucy-things like gravy and who knows what.  Third, the packets I definitely knew were soup all had pictures of an egg on them and it totally grossed me out.  I finally found what I thought to be plain tomato soup so I bought two.  When I got home I realized I had no idea how to make it because all the instructions were in Czech... Google Translate didn't help either, so I went for it and guessed.  Ended up working out, but it was far too much trouble for a bowl of soup!

I also wanted to pick up some orange juice so I'd get my Vitamin C.  I've bought juice before, but I never really read the labels because usually they aren't in English.  I found one today that was! I caught my eye because it was in the refrigerated section and they barely refrigerate anything (even milk! It's processed differently).  I'm thinking it was fancy or organic or something.  The thing that confused me was that the bottle read "with bits."  I had no idea what these bits were, until I realized that's what they say when they mean pulp.  I literally laughed to myself in the grocery store.  Deanne was not at all amused, so I'm blaming the dork moment on the sickness and lack of excitement for the day.  

Finally, when I asked for a doctor's note to be excused from class, the doctor wrote a letter saying that I should be excused through the 25th of February... 5 whole days!  I know I'm sick, but even I think that's a long time.  I guess the Europeans really value recuperation - Another reason why I love it here!!     

Looking for Buddha in Budapest

This weekend Deanne, Blair and I took a 7 hour bus ride to Budapest.  I absolutely loved the city.  AND, only after an afternoon of getting completely lost in the ugly part of town, I thought it was easy to navigate and the views were gorgeous.

We stayed in a really small hostel right in the center of all the sights, food and shops so we were able to walk to everything and avoid the transportation system as much as possible.  Blair was scammed by a metro lady on the first night so buying tickets was something we wanted to avoid as much as possible.  Also, the trains were very, very old - they kinda scared me.  The weather was awesome on Saturday so walking all over was enjoyable because of the sunshine.

Our bus got into the city Friday afternoon and we were eager to see some sights before night.  After bad directions from the brand-new hostel worker and a hop on the wrong bus we ended up in a completely different place from where we wanted, with no castle in sight.  We contemplated just getting a taxi ride to the right spot, but the idea of a nice dinner and glass of wine sounded much better.  We ended up at a trendy restaurant with really nice staff and were back at the hostel and in bed by 10 p.m.  (Not before making a quick stop at the Hungarian pancake (crepes)  shop down the street!)

All three of us were determined to make Saturday a perfect day since it was the only time we had in Budapest and the first night had gone so wrong.  It ended up being a jam-packed day with food much better than anything I could have asked for!  Our day included:

• Brunch at Most Cafe - An artsy place that made me feel like I was back in the States (Lisa Nicchi, if you go to Budapest you would die for this place!!)   

• Matthias Church - Absolutely gorgeous and I loved the colorful tile on the roof.  We didn't go inside because we're cheap college students.  Also, there was some sort of wedding going on.

• Fisherman's Bastion - BEST views of the city and the amazing Parliament building.  

• Ruszwurm - A 200yr-old bakery right by the church.  We had to check it out to tell Mr. Downer what Hungarian bakeries were like.  I got a marzipan/chocolate tort that was out-of-this-world! 

• Buda Castle - Gorgeous and a must-see, but that's a given.

• House of Terror Museum  - My favorite part of Budapest! It's a museum located in the building that was originally the headquarters for the Arrow Cross Nazi Party and later the "House of Terror" where interrogations occurred for the Communist party.  I learned SO much and got to see some scary artifacts and footage.  Very educational! 

• Sugar New York - A candy shop and bakery (see a pattern?) with outrageous pastries, treats and a rice pudding bar.  Looking at all the fun desserts was the best part.  

• Rudas Baths - Budapest is famous for its mineral baths so Blair found one for us to try.  Overall, I'm not a fan, but I'm still happy we went and I got to try it out.  The waters are supposed to be very healing so people go to them all the time, even daily.  Bad part: because of the minerals the water smells like rotten eggs and it's very murky.  Deanne and I were kinda uncomfortable to say the least.  Also, we forgot towels and stayed in the water too long so they yelled at us because they were closing and we had no way to dry off.  We all had to get dressed still soaking wet hahaha.  I tried to dry off with one of the hair dryers and the man thought I was insane.

• Pesti Diszno - The absolute most delicious meal I've had so far! We just happen to stumble upon this find.  It's a chef-owned restaurant that serves smaller portions to share.  Their logo has a pig on it so I'm assuming they specialize in pork.  Deanne and I split a pork shoulder that was so tender and delicious.  One thing we realized after all our meals - Hungarians use way more salt than we're used to.  

Overall, it was a crazy, fun-filled day and a much better experience than what we started off with.  Weirdly enough, I really missed Prague and was so happy to be "home" when we got back.  I think I picked the right place if I'm always excited to return :)

Fun Fact #4: Some people might know this, but I definitely didn't - Budapest is split into two by the Danube river.  One side is "Buda" and one side is "Pest."  We stayed on the Pest side and that's where all the food and shopping seemed to be.  The castle, church, baths were all on the Buda side.

Also, there are no Asian influences in "Buddha"pest - someone in my program asked me that hahaha.

Class During Vacation? What?!

Ahoj! ("Ahoy" - hello; the only other word I know)

Classes have been settling in and I'm beginning to feel like I actually live here in Praha.  Along with my comfortability around the city, I've noticed something else: I don't want to go to school when I've got this beautiful playground at my fingertips!!  I forget that I'm not on a 4 month vacation and I'm actually here to read a few things from some textbooks....

Don't worry Mom and Dad, I've still been attentive and on top of my school duties!  In fact, I had a lot of mix-ups during the first week with scheduling, email, system access, etc. and I took care of them all (even though a latte and Bohemia Bagel sounded waaaay better!)  Now that everything is running smoothly I've been able to see what I really think about these classes.  Here's my current status:

Prague Art & Architecture - I'm most excited about this class because I get to learn about all the history and then walk around the city and see it in person.  Plus, I get to sketch! My teacher is suuuuper knowledgeable, a Czech-native and does tours for the National Museum so I think I am pretty well set up.

Media in the new Europe - The one class that really coincides with classes I've taken at Chapman.  I've only had one session so far, but I love the topic and the teacher is beyond qualified.  I'm learning tons about Radio Free Europe.  I'm excited to pick the professor's brain more than anything.

Reporting - I'm back to my love! I get to write articles which I haven't done that much of since high school.  Hopefully I haven't lost my enthusiasm!  Best part, I turn in two pieces for the school paper, "At The Lennon Wall."  There's an online version that I'll be sure to share once we've put something together.

Management - Ugh.  That's all I have to say.  Used it as a filler class and wishing I hadn't... Hopefully it ends up being easy?

All of my classes utilize Google Apps and have course sites where students can access handouts, reading and online books.  If there's anything else you need you rent it from the library for the whole semester.  This is the first time I haven't had to buy a single book since before Xavier.  Kinda nice!

When I'm not in class I've been hibernating in the apartment and napping (my fave).  I finally got sick of the cold and needed a few days of avoiding what I call the "frozen land." Good news is, it's finally warming up!!!!! I didn't even wear a hat or gloves today when I was out and about.  I literally stepped out of the door this morning and could not avoid smiling.  We have all been joking that once it hit 30 we would be in shorts... If I had a bikini I would have put it on this morning!  Luckily, I stuck to my coat and actually broke a sweat walking to school - NEVER thought that would happen in the frozen land!

I'm all for adventuring now that the ice is melting and people are crawling out of their hiding spots! I have a few days this week to hopefully check out some of the things on the list.  On Friday, Deanne, my roomate Blair, our friend Tommy and I are all busing it to Budapest! I can't wait to get there and see what Hungary is like! I'll definitely share our weekend :)

Fun Fact #3: When riding on a bus, tram or the metro people are very, very aware of who needs a seat. I know it's a common courtesy in the States to give your seat up to the elderly or a pregnant woman, but in Prague everyone jumps up when one walks onto the tram.  I'm always nervous that I won't be paying attention and I'll get scolded.  Hasn't happened yet!

P.S. My internet in the apartment is very spotty hence why I'm slow to post and terrible with emailing people back.  Hopefully we'll get a new router soon and things will work more smoothly!!

My First Day with Snow!

Today I woke up and looked out the window to all this weird, white, powder stuff on the ground.  It took me a couple seconds to register - IT WAS SNOW!!! The Arizona freak that I am, I was so excited to bundle up and walk to school in it because I've never had to do such a thing.  I even didn't mind walking against the wind when all the snow stuck to my scarf (ok, maybe a little bit.)  When I got to school I found out that both my classes were cancelled.  I wish I could say it was a snow day, it would have sounded waaay cooler, but both professors were actually sick.  Since I had already made the commute I decided to go to Bohemia Bagel with Deanne and our new friend Tommy to warm up and get something to eat.

Bohemia Bagel will be my saving grace here in Praha and I have a feeling I'll love it even more the longer I've been away from the States.  If you've been to Bagel Me in Orange, it's an exact replica, just with some of the menu in Czech.  It's 2 buildings down from my school and has free wifi so you can literally spend hours in there and get your necessary bagel dose.  I think I told Deanne and Tommy I was in heaven 3 or 4 times during our meal...

Before I headed home Tommy took us to the John Lennon wall.  First, I had no idea there was such a thing and second, I had no idea how close it was to the university.  It's just around the corner and such a fun thing to visit and take pictures of.  I took my camera with me, and even thought to myself "everyone will be so proud of me because I can upload pictures!"  Sad news though, I totally pulled a Lindsay move and brought the wrong camera cord with me to Prague.  Oh well, it's another excuse to visit my beloved Tesco to get a cord!!!

I did, however, manage to get a picture on my iPhone so I have at least one to share! I even signed the wall with a sharpie :)

I realized today that I haven't shared something that I've been obsessing over: Dogs!  Before coming to Prague I wondered if there'd be many at all.  Good news - they love dogs here!! I see them everywhere.  And they're all so cute and dressed up in sweaters and vests.  I pretty much squeal every time one walks by.  I'm sure it doesn't help me fit in... 

One thing that is weird about the dogs is that the owners let them poop on the sidewalk and then they don't pick it up!  If I had a Koruna for every time I've almost hit a landmine I'd be so rich (and that's saying a lot.) The city has people who come and pick it up at night, but since I live in a very residential part of Prague there's a lot more on my street than other parts of the city.  It surprises me because in every other regard Prague is really, really clean.  The snow this morning didn't make dodging piles any easier either.   

Fun Fact #2: 

If you're eating in a restaurant and your waiter brings something to your table (like bread) you're charged extra for it.  You should only accept what you specifically ordered if you want to avoid extra fees.  

I was totally aware of this but still fell for it yesterday.  Deanne and I wandered around and found our way to Olde Town Square and were so hungry we gave into a touristy restaurant for lunch.  Sure enough the sneaky waiter put bread on our table and I didn't even know it!! You can't have them take it back so we were stuck.  When we paid the bill a 20 crown charge was listed - they're lucky it was yummy, otherwise I would have not been nice.  Now I know my lesson and I'm never falling for that one again! 

Dobry Den

I'm finally able to post something!!!! Posting can be a little hard when everything on the site is Czech... Deanne and I finally were able to change the language on blogger (only after 3 days.)

To Start: Prague is BEAUTIFUL!!! I could not be more happy with my decision to study here.  That being said, as of now I have zero pictures of my beautiful new home.  With single digit temperatures, (yes, I walked 30 minutes in 1 degree weather to go see the Super Bowl) the only major sites I've seen have been through tram windows or during my commute to school.  Luckily the Charles Bridge is right by my school so I see the beautiful landmark every day.  

My apartment is amazing and Deanne and I get to share a room.  I originally thought the location was one of the worst, but after being here I've realized the location is prime! Also, we have two other apartments in the building with students from the program so we've been able to meet lots of people in the short time since we've arrived.

The Czech time frame is much different than that of the American's.  Pretty much people here sleep all day and stay out until 5 in the morning.  With jet lag and the excitement of a new home my body has NO idea when to be awake or sleepy, but I'm thinking classes will quickly change this.

So far, I have many new favorites in Prague.  They include:

Fried Cheese: a street food sold 24 hrs a day.  Think grilled cheese, just fried and on a hamburger bun.  It should be illegal.

Tesco: Prague's version of Target only 25 times better.  It sells unreal food, clothes so cheap and fabulous I never want to leave (think H&M)  and high-end makeup.  Not to mention all of your everyday necessities.  I used to think Target was a dangerous store to walk into...

Pilsner:  I've never been a beer drinker, but this stuff is delish! Not to mention you get it in pints for practically less than $2 and it's stronger than what you get in the states a.k.a win-win.

The Czech Crown: THIS IS THE BEST CURRENCY! I get nervous when I hand over 500 crowns until I realize that it's only about 27 US dollars.  The amount that $200 can get you here is ridiculous. Also, no one expects tips and grocery shopping is fun because you're always waaaay lower than you expect.

Dobry Den:  The only thing I can come remotely close to saying correctly in Czech.  Any time someone talks to me I just say the "good day" phrase and smile.  Hasn't failed me yet!

I'm thinking I'll leave you guys with fun/interesting facts as I find out new things every day.
So, fun fact #1: Stores charge you for bags here so you always need to bring your own or else buy reusable ones to avoid the charge.  I like this idea! I think we need this in the States!!

If you have a smart phone and haven't done so already, please download Whatsapp!!  I love talking to people from home and this app makes it so easy.  I'll try to get some photos taken before my next post, but until then... Dobry den!! ;) haha