Czech hospital experience

Before you all worry, I am fine! Just the usual casual semi-immune system malfunction. lol My spinal issue and eye issue flared up, causing my vision to go in and out, and my back/neck muscles to remain locked. Luckily my roommate was nice enough to go on an adventure with me to find a hospital. In so much pain, i had to run around prague for 3 hours looking for a 24 hr emergency room. Thank god i wasn't dying, geez, such a nightmare. The night ended up fine, i had to give my whole story in order for the doctor to think i was sane.. lol and he wanted to keep me overnight. I choose to get injections instead. While he did a full assessment on me, he discovered a little malfunction with my left kidney, so i am going to a rheumetalogist asap. But i am FINE! and it was quite the experience!

P.S. on a completely different note, i don't know what it is with Czech men and myself, but the other night while sitting outside waiting for my friends to leave the disco, i got some paparazzi action. A handful of kids my age whipped out cameras and decided to keep snapping pictures. Who knew, i guess im a celeb! haha

Jewish Experience

Yesterday I had a field trip for my jewish experience class. We went to many various jewish cites in Prague, and learned all about the history. We went to active synagogues, where the guys all had to wear the head dresses, and learned about jewish customs, of separated rooms of the synagogue. We also went to the old jewish cemetery, where there are over 100,000 people buried, only 12,000 tombs which are stacked over 7-10 tombs high! Quite surprisingly, i love my Jewish experience class, and have learned so much about their faith. It was also nice to know more about different areas of Prague.

Old new synagogue

old jewish cematery

Hockey Game

The last few days, i have been very busy with school work and activities. On this past Sunday, my roommates and I decided to attend the last Hockey game of the season. We went to a Sparta game, who played the other Czech team called Slavia. The game went into overtime, followed by a shoot out. While i didn't understand the chants, i still ended the game. I had my first experience of Prague's famous hot wine. You never know what you get when you ask in english! But the hot wine is much like cidar (without apple just the spices) and is better than i expected! We enjoyed our hot wine, and unfortunately Sparta lost the game by one goal!

Kutna Hora

Yesterday, we decided to explore the Czech Republic outside of Prague. We hopped on a train that cost only $3 and went to a place called Kutna Hora. After a fifty minute train ride we arrived in the city. We walked to the "bone church". This church was a normal church with a cemetery outside. I guess the cemetery was running out of room, so the acient people decided to dig up all the dead people, and decorate the church with thousands and thousands of bones. While it was kind of creepy, it was a very interesting visit. After that we walked about 3 miles, due to bus failures, and walked to St. Barbaras Cathedral. It is one of the biggest churches in all of the Czech Republic and had such incredible architecture. After the church we went to a local restaurant for lunch, and made our journey back to Prague. At the train station, we noticed a supermarket. I went in and was SOOO excited to see a gluten free section. I finally can eat normal again!

Bone church

St. Barbaras Cathedral

spring break

Also, we booked a trip to Amsterdam as well as spring break. For break we are flying to Paris, flying to Barcelona, taking a train to venice, a train to milan, then flying to Budapest ! Cannot wait!

That homeless man has your coat!

Yesterday was a very busy day! I got up went to school, sat in class until 12, and then had a field trip for my architecture class! We went to the National Gallery. It was so beautiful, it was located near the Jewish part of prague which was so unique! The museum was so nice. After the museum, we went and explored more of Prague, finally found a Gellato place! yey. Then last night we decided to go bar hopping. We were trying to find a specific bar, and ended up at a different bar and a big disco where i danced like a maniac! After leaving the disco, we made our way over the tram. But on our way we run into a homeless man in a very colorful jacket who was carrying a broom. I looked at him as my friends asked for directions and noticed he was carrying my friends leopard coat. And i turned around, she didn't have it on!   So the homeless man somehow stole her coat and was limping around the city with it, as we just watched and laughed. We were too scared to get it back! haha. Today we went exploring again, i went shopping and we ended the night at a traditional czech restaurant. I am getting used to this odd food stuff !! haha

Berlin some moreee

Us on what used to be the wall!

Potsdamer Platz

Piece of the Berlin Wall

More Berlin

Brandenberg Gate

pictures of Berlin...

Maximilians!

Red Carpet!

Berlin Pictures!

Metropol hostel

The Best of Berlin

First successful trip made out of Prague! Friday at 7am, we took a bus to Berlin, which was a nice ride. We got there around 12:30, took an hour to find our hostel, but made it fine! We got to the hostel which was called Metropol Hostel. For a hostel i thought it seemed very nice, had it's own bar and lounge area with big screen tvs, big bunk beds in each room with locker space for each. The people however, i was not expecting. You have to remember anyone can stay in a hostel, and 4 girls stayed in a 10 person hostel. Needless to say, with 4 non-english speaking men, all over the age of 30. While they didn't bother us, one of them thought we were hysterical and kept us from getting out of the hostel on time! Berlin was a very fun place, no where as beautiful as Prague, and looked a lot like NYC. But the people are so much more friendly than in Prague! and so much more english speakers.

Day 1: so we ventured off for a few hours trying to find a specific bar (never again) until we ironically enough decided to eat at a place called Cancun. You would think we would go right for the german, but Prague has deprived us of good food. lol We then went to a hookah bar and saw another part of Berlin. Then we got ready and went out to a bar, where we met a bunch of americans who hung out with us for the rest of the weekend.

Day 2: So last night was a little bit of a late night, so we slept in late. But this was acceptable because the city was on strike and has only one little metro line open for traveling. We did a lot of walking, but were able to see all of Berlin's greatest attractions, aka, Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag, the Sony center, Brandenburger tor, Berliner dom and the topographie of terrors. We were able to see different museums, and see the veterans memorial, along with what is left of the great wall. I didn't realize how new WWII was. lol whoops. but it was amazing to see everything! But after a long day of walking, we went to a german restaurant, where i had boctworst!! yey. and then we attended a bar and then a 5 floor disco, which they made fun of us for dancing like americans!

Day 3: Sunday was our day to check out of the hostel, but our bus wasn't until 1am on Monday. So we accidentally slept in, and got woken up by the front desk who were not happy we were 5 hours past checkout time! So we scrambled our stuff, put our luggage in storage and proceeded to venture around the city. We had a great time, so many funny memories, i will never forget my trip to Berlin. But on my facebook is a full album of pictures for you all!

Berlin tomorrow!

This weekend came up so quickly! it's hard only have classes 3 days a week! But tomorrow at roughly 7am I will be on my way to Berlin, Germany. I am so excited to eat German food!!! And try to see Uncle Carls name haha. But anyways, today i had a make up class. We learned about Roman architecture, and went back to the Prague castle, to the basilica, cathedral and to this road called golden lane. The churches were beautiful, and golden lane was my favorite! Golden lane was like a little gingerbread lane with the tiniest houses ever. This lane, was where the soldiers stayed during the war. Above the houses was a long hallway of knight's armour and different war weapons. I thought it was so cool!

For random information:
- we found very large juice boxes of wine for yup only 50 cents.
- the street vendors here sell basically only fried cheese sandwiches, corn on the cob, and sausage links that taste gross! haha
- today i finally found the Starbucks and i was in heaven!

thats enough for random thoughts. i will be back for more blogging when i get home from Berlin ! Hanz frans snitznel !!

I forgot the little part about school

So now that i have had all of my classes twice so far, i decided im so in over my head. While most are taking four classes here, i am taking 5 courses. My two business classes have been good so far, havn't expected too much of us. However, my language, art and jewish classes are so demanding! For my art class i have to go to different sites each week, on top of 10 hour journal time. This is all for pass/fail for me! yuck. i love it here but kind of dreading the learning part. But, i never enjoyed history until now, it's so much better when your in the city and it all comes together! The language barrier has gotten funnier and funnier. Now that i can say some small talk, i obviously try to get myself around. But when you hear one thing and say another, they just laugh. haha. Czech people are very cold hearted! And i still keep buying the wrong foods, because i keep forgetting to translate before! lol I finally took the transportation all by myself! Even though i know im fine, i still keep being paranoid of the pick pocketers! But i will be back to post some more interesting information. Just an update on my school life!

Crawl With me

So last night was my first pub crawl! For those of you older folks (just kidding) a pub crawl is when you start at one bar with a big group of people, set unlimited about of alcohol, then you attend 2-3 different bars with free shots at the door, and then free VIP entry to Prague's largest 5 story club! The night started out great when we met a bunch of boys that live in Switzerland and are from all over the place. Our groups mingled and we had such an amazing/fuzzy night. haha. It was a very entertaining and thrilling experience. It went from 8pm - 4am or even later if you choose. It was a night i will never forget! It was hysterical to see people slowly die down as the night went on. Being in such a large group, it was hard to see everyone at the 5 story club, but it didn't even matter because the music was great! Every floor had different types of music that made me dance my butt off (as usual haha). We also got free t-shirts which are in the pictures below! But it was a great night, but today i rested so i can make it to my second week of school tomorrow!

Pub Crawl!

5:30am made it home safely!

So last night was our first night going bar hopping on the weekend. Let's just say its a miracle we got home! We couldn't find the club we wanted, running around in zero degree weather. we ended up going to a place called the beer factory where i ordered wine and of course knocked it over. Then we proceeded on to another club where we met a much of awesome people. We also took shots of the famous absinth. (never again). Because then i happened to ironically knock over yet another glass of wine, and oh yeah i broke this one. So by 3:30 we were ready to go home, but the metro wasn't running unto 4:40. So for an hour 4 of us got stranded and had to wait in the freezing cold, huddled in a group to stay warm until 4:40. We had to laugh because it was just amess! But around 5:30 we made it home and tonight, we are going to be more prepared! Gotta love foreign cities!

the weekend has begun

Ahoj ! Today we had no school, so we decided to be useful and run some errands around the city. I finally got to sleep more then 8 hours..9 woohoo. haha. It snowed today again. But the snow here is more like a dusting then our snow. You see the workers with brooms just brushing the snow to the side. The snow is so beautiful, but it makes the cobble stone very slippery! After running a bunch of errands and writing postcards, my friend and i had to attend an art gallery in order to complete our homework assignment. Trying to find places on a huge map with tiny writing is almost impossible. But we managed to find it, and the photography was very interesting. On the way there i found a place named country time, and figured it looked like a health store. The clerk spoke great english and was able to help me find gluten, soy and nut free bread. I had it tonight, not bad. We also managed to book our first trip to Berlin, Germany. We do not know what the heck is in Berlin, but we figured that made for an adventure! But now i am off to techno thursday with all of my roommates! Miss everyone! xo

weekend time!

and my first true weekend has arrived! i end classed at 2:15 today, and don't need to go back until monday at 2:45...life is just grand here! But this morning, we all took the metro to class instead of the tram, learned a new route! We get to class right before it started, to find out our class was moved into another room so we could sing. Well we learned a popular Czech song and had to recite it for a bit. This was quite interesting. I need to learn how to have this kind of accent! The words are so confusing. The song starts of going beva volo beva volo beva volo dubre. but ud be surprised how this is pronounced! After singing, i had my first day of Prague Art and Architecture. This class is going to be a lot of work, but im doing it for my dad!It should be very interesting. Today we had our first field trip. We went to a contemporary museum that had very bizarre empty rooms with illusions. not my cup of tea, but our professor said it was a one class deal! Thank god. haha. but i must go now because we are working on booking our first trip for next weekend!

view from prague castle

Pork Kraut Dumplings

First snowfall on the Charles Bridge

such a magical place!

AHOY!

(hello in czech but its ahoj) =]

Hello everyone! We finally have snow here! According to locals, this 3-5 degree weather is record breaking for prague, so i guess its a treat. haha. but i finally started school. My classes are in 2-3 hour intervals. Mondays i start at 2:45-5:30 then 6:30-9:15 and monday wednesday i go from 930-11, then 1130-215. I am taking to business classes and three electives that are going to be pass fail. the school is a quick tram ride away and is very easy to get to. the best part about it is, there are not only American students in my classes. Some of my classmates are from very random countries like Vietnam, Russia, Hungry, Croatia, etc. It is so entertaining to listen to all of the different accents and hear about their countries customs. and in two classes i am one of 2 girls... hahaha. and my books are online, so i only had to buy one which cost $17. Of course, after classes ended yesterday, we hit the center of the city to do a little bar hopping. The first bar we went into had mini trains and railroads all over the place, where the trains are what brought us our drinks. It costed $5 with tip for 1 glass of wine and 2 beers! So after the train bar, we stumbled into the next bar, which happened to be a strip club. haha Lets just say these strippers are also prostitutes and can do things in front of a crowd that would never be allowed at home! gross.. haha but it was an experience. Gotta love bar hopping, always a surprise. But tonight im taking it easy before our pub crawl tomorrow night!

5 hour tour in 10 degree weather

so i am in love with prague, but not in love with the weather ! everyone at home is all posting how warm of a winter it is, while its only 10-15 degrees here. today we had an outdoor tour that lasted 5 hours and we were in the freezing cold all day. thank god the sites were beautiful because i am still shivering from the cold. i have to bundle up as if im skiing! But i discovered the architecture museum today, so dad will love that. we went all over the city and got familiar with the surroundings. old charles square has been my favorite so far. all of the buildings look like castles at the top, with such intricate detail. the prague castle is so amazing. it sits up on the hill and overlooks the whole city, and is over a half a mile including all its premises! but i am still working on posting pictures here. but look at my facebook! classes start tomorrow. we will see how this goes!

gluten free finally!

Finally found one gluten free food. Even though its a european disease, praha doesn't cater to people like meee. but the main food here is meat, potato and dumplings (not like chinese but like a biscuit). today we went and explored a hugee castle in prague called Karlstein. It's funny because now i know why i friend karl (who is german) got his name. The king of the Czech was named Charles, which is a german derivative. Now i know why he thinks hes the king! haha just kidding karl. but i learned many random facts today. so here they are!
-there has been only 1 shooting in the last 20 years, (mom im safe dont worry)
-their language is slavic which is a mix between Polish and Russian

-DAD: you are going to LOVE it here. the architecture is absolutely beautiful, a lot of iron work around windows and door frames. it's actually known for its architecture, and you are going to LOVE it

-prague is actually named the "magical" city, i thought it was just its reference. yup im living in disney world

-people from praha are very cold. you don't see them smile in public, and when bubbly ignorant americans like myself appear, they turn the other way. they think we are too personal and friendly. i smiled at a guy on the tram, got a dirty look, smiled at another guy, got another dirty look. gosh didn't think my smile was that offensive!

-my adventures continue tonight, we are hopefully going to this discoteca that has 5 floors with different kinds of music on each!

Auntie Pam, here are some pictures. the rest are on facebook!

day 2

So far i absolutely love everything about prague! Everything about it is great (besides the language lol). Yesterday we learned how to use the public transportation, but clearly didnt learn too well! We were on the tram when a man in all black came, took our tickets, our ids and told us we didnt validate the ticket and owed 800 crown, about 40$. such bimbos! haha but now we know what to do and where to go. Also, today i visited my school, got my schedule and toured the main city. It is so magical, everywhere you go the buildings are just so pretty. the food is good. and yes im am finding food now! haha but if you would like to see pictures, i have posted them on my facebook!

first day

so the day has come to an end. Kristen and I finally landed in prague at 10am prague time. we managed to get to our apartment where we met our first roommate. Our apartment is so nice! The room is very small that Kristen and I are sharing, but we lucked out with the biggest apartment, so it is absolutely going to be the party room! In our house there are 12 roommates, 4 people to an apartment. Our first night was so great. We all hung out, got to know each other and went food shopping. My food allergies deff failed, but i will make it work. We ended up going to a restaurant where no one spoke english. My roommates ordered a pizza with ONLY cheese, and the waiter came back with a block of cheese. kind of funny. haha but anyways this blog was boring, ill be back with better stories! Love you all. and yes i am fine!