It's snowing in Hanover

But its 70 and sunny in Praha!

It is a beautiful week here, and we have all been

busy enjoying the sunshine and working on finishing up the first half of our course load. It is crazy that we have already been here for a month... We realize we have so much left to do in May, but should be able to squeeze it all in with our independent projects and really enjoy the city and all it has to offer!

Our excursions this week have been seeing the housing developments around outer Prague and some expat communities that looked EXACTLY like the States, and then today to a senior center, where we enjoyed talking to some older citizens ("pensioners") and hearing about their experiences growing up in Czechia. They were an amazing group (all fluent in at least 3 languages) - and it was interesting to hear their point of view. On the younger edge of the "lost generation," they came out of communism with no savings and no particular skills, so this center has been really crucial in supporting the elderly and providing them with classes and services.

Not much else too exciting to report, but we are all doing well, and struggling through our first real assignment. Life is tough. We are getting exciting for our trip to Istanbul (aka my first time to Asia... I never got to go on cool band trips like Emily did) leaving Saturday... if anyone has any advice on what to do there, we would love it!

Hope the snow lets up...

Red, Yellow, GO!

Our excursion on Friday took us to Northern Bohemia to tour an expansive open-cast coal mine and the coal power plant. 60% of the Czech Republic's energy comes from coal, and coal is excavated by 3 major companies here. As we overlooked the vast mine, we saw the coal being excavated, put on conveyor belts, and rapidly transported to the power plant down the street. My question was when are they going to run out of coal? Because they excavate around 11 million tons of coal per year here. The answer was that starting in 2015 or 2020, they are going to have to start making plans of relocating pipes, roads, and even villages! And around 2110, the Czech Republic will run out of coal.
After our overview, we got on a mini bus and drove down into the mine on our a magic-school-bus fashion field trip. All aboard! Next stop, the coal mine! (I should have been wearing my Liz the Lizard halloween costume from this past year). With our hard hats on, we got up close to the machines that pinwheeled through the coal. Ash flew into our faces and it certainly was no working conditions that I would want to work in. They call the mine Death Valley in the summer because it gets up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit!
We were toured around by the head of the regeneration and reclamation department head, so we learned about the 3 stage process that occurs at the mines. 1.) Preparation (including the geological surveys, designing the mines, buying the land, documentaion, and planning what to do with the land after). 2.) The excavation and mining. And 3.) Regeneration. We were taken to a roller blade and horse racing park, to see evidence of what can be done with the land after mining is complete. Other land gets turned back into agriculture land and some old mines get filled by water to form new reservoir. We tried to ask what the quality of the agricultural land was and how many developers are interesting in this previously mined land, but we couldn't get a straight overall answer. But overall, our visit to the mines was fascinating because we got to see a process that we are so far removed from at home, but is such an important part in fueling our everyday energy use.

The biggest surprise of the day came when we went to lunch and Heather and I figured out what we had pre-ordered for our 3 course meal! Since we were such a big group (there were many Czech grad-students on the trip with us), our professors had made us pre-order since we were clearly going to overwhelm the restaurant. Seems like a great idea, BUT they made us fill out our order in the wine cellar...after we had drank a few glasses of wine...Heather happily ordered her meal checking off the boxes, and then decided that it would be great idea to check off items for my meal too! Fortunately, turned out that our meal was delicious anyways but it was funny to get a much different selection than what most other people ordered.

After our excursion, Julia and i went to pick up MIKE LEWIS from the airport! Our first visitor to Prague! He is a Dartmouth '11 and has an internship in Zurich this winter. He was excited to get to a cheap city where you can order beers for under $2 because Zurich is famous for having a $12 Big Mac at McDonald's. The Prague McDonald's is so much better- they sell Mozz Balls here.

Post hang out in our apartment on Friday, we all went out to a stop light party at Radost FX, a frequented club in Prague. They were having a stop light themed-party so upon entering (it was student night so we got half off for having ISIC cards!), we all got either a red, yellow, or green glow stick bracelet. Red means taken, yellow means unsure, and green means READY TO GO! We had quite the spread in our group... you can guess who wore what color. Turned out to be a really fun night with tons of dancing- one of my favorite nights out so far.

This weekend has been gorgeous weather. Spring has finally come and we are wearing dresses and shorts! Saturday, we walked Mike around the city, walked over the Charles Bridge, and up to the Prague Castle. The spring weather has brought many musicians out on the streets creating a very festive atmostphere everywhere we walk. But it has also brought the mobs of tourists- so we aren't happy that they are coming to take over our city. Here are some shots of us from Saturday:

Me, Heather, Mike, and Julia on the Charles Bridge.

Heather and me up by the Prague Castle, looking over the whole city.

The church in Old Town Square.
We finally saw the Astronomical Clock chime at the hour as skeletal Death empties his hourglass and a procession of apostles marches by- took us a month to see this happen. But it was a little ridiculous when people clapped after the display. Tourists.
Then the night came, along with one of the most absurd and ridiculous theater shows I have ever seen. We got tickets for this black light performance (these theaters are prevalent throughout the city, but considered a tourist trap) because Mike's co-worker recommended this place. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Turns out that it was a non-verbal performance called "Yellow Submarine: A small story from the great time of The Beatles". If there wasn't Beatles songs playing periodically throughout the show, I don't think I would have been able to handle the crazy neon signs floating through the air. Heather, Mike, Julia, and I could not stop laughing when the show started and all this neon furniture was flying through the air to set the scene. I couldn't really follow the plot line- but I can tell you that it was love story and then randomly a yellow submarine would fly through the background. As weird as the show was, I'm glad we got to experience the black light theater.
We are all hanging out in parks and cafes around town today getting some work today. But we miss you all at home! Let us know what you are all up to!

One Night in a Wine Cellar

The Czech Republic is famous for its beer and, well, not so much for its wine. YET, the eastern part of the country does produce a lot of wine and the Czechs are proud of it. The last night of our excursion was spent in a historic wine cellar in Southern Moravia. We had been forewarned by students past that it was a "fun" evening- and it was certainly turned out to be memorable. Before dinner, we toured the freezing, mold-covered cellar.

While the mold wasn't very appealing, it means that the cellar is healthy, and things are able to grow there. Stuck on the cellar wall in the mold, were numerous Czech coins. When we asked why they were there, the owner responded that it was just like the Trevi fountain in Rome- if we added a coin, we would return again someday. Chuckling, he said that there may be a few more coins at the end of the night. Unfortunately, by the time we were leaving, I completely forgot to add my coin, so it looks like I'm doomed to never return. It's okay though, we had a good enough time to not need to...

After touring the cellars, we sat down for the wine tasting- working our way through the whites, the rose, the reds, and finishing up with the desert wine that is 17% alcohol. Yes, all before dinner. It was fun as the owner came around and poured our samples because our professors made us guess the flavors before we tasted- so I learned a lot as we went. My parents aren't wine drinkers so I don't have a sophisticated taste... but I worked on it. Some of the grapes are grown right in the Czech Republic, but others were imported, along with some of the fruits. Since it was our friend Ayisha's birthday, we were trying to find the best "birthday flavor", and I'm pretty sure all of us agreed on the desert wine. And then it was dinner time! So we happily walked next door to have our light, but delicious dinner, consisting of bread, cheese, and meat platters.

While it felt like our stay was short by the time we boarded our bus to go home, our adventure continued on the bus.We proceeded to sing every Dartmouth and American patriotic song we knew.... I don't even want to know what the bus driver thinks of us. But we are not embarrassed- it was a great night and fun to bond with all the professors while enjoying a little Czech culture!

Now, we are having a VERY class-intensive week back in Prague (7 hours of class yesterday, yikes!), and going to visit a brown-coal mine tomorrow on the Northwest border. We are staying home this weekend and are looking forward to exploring our home city a little more. And potentially thinking about the fact that we have a paper due next week...

Breweries to Wine Cellars

From Sunday to Tuesday, we went east in the Czech Republic on a 3-day field excursion to Southern Bohemia and Moravia. We stayed at a monastery (updated into a hotel) in Telč for our nights. We also had absolutely gorgeous weather wandering around many smaller Czech towns and had some breathtaking views. Of course, our favorite stops was the tour of the brewery and our night in the wine cellar (this has its own post). Here are a few pictures from our trip for you to look at!

Our favorite stop was our tour at a local brewery that is one of the oldest in the Czech Republic. Here is the beer fermenting...
And here is a pic of all of us in front of the kettles. We also all got to pass around a glass of unfiltered beer. Then our profs rewarded us all by buying each of us a huge bottle of beer for later (which they allowed us to drink in lecture later that night). So basically, our profs won't always buy our lunch and dinners, but they have no problem buying us beer.
Here is a picture of Carla, me, and Kristen in front of St. Barbara Cathedral in Kutna Hora- a town that provided Prague with its wealth in the medieval ages with its silver.

Another small town in the Czech Republic! And again, another castle. We are starting to see some recurring themes here...Here is a picture of Heather and me.
Julia, me, and Rachel.
All these town had beautiful cobblestone streets and pastel colored, Renaissance style buildings.
This is the main square of Telč. Again, beautiful pastel colored, Renaissance buildings lining the street. The monastery that we stayed at was right off the square. Good morning Telč!
A view of the cooling towers of the nuclear power plant we visited.
Entering another Czech town and castle!
Here is me, Kristen, Isaiah, and Julia.
We even walked through the tallest sand dune in the Czech Republic!
Miss you all at home!

Poland

Yesterday morning, we got off our sleeper train in Krakow at just past 6 in the morning, to another cold and dark day. Between the funeral preparations in Krakow for the president after tragedy last week in Katyn and then our visit to the Auschwitz concentration, it was a more somber experience than some of our other trips. However, it was an interesting time to be there, and we still enjoyed getting to know Krakow, a surprisingly beautiful city.

We had some time to kill before getting picked up by our tour guide for Auschwitz, so we wandered around the city for a few hours. It was definitely the earliest we’ve been awake and exploring! The old town is centered around the Rynek Glowny, the main marketplace, which is the largest in Europe at over 10 acres. Everything in Old Town is relatively close together, which makes it easy to explore by foot. Unsurprisingly, the square was pretty empty at 7 am, but they were setting up a large stage for the funeral that will take place tomorrow. Everywhere we looked, we saw Polish flags flying with a black ribbon attached.

Cold and tired, we were happy to climb into our van that would be taking us to Auschwitz, which is just over an hour drive from Krakow. On the way, we watched a chilling video about the camp, shot by a Soviet officer while liberating the remaining prisoners in January, 1945. For anyone who has the chance to go, I highly suggest visiting Auschwitz- while it was not a fun day, it was a very moving experience, and something I think everyone should see. Auschwitz was the largest of the German concentration camps, as it was actually made up of three- Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III- Monotwitz, in addition to many satellite camps nearby. While it is difficult to put an exact number of people who were murdered there because those that were sent to the gas chambers immediately were never recorded, but it is estimated that over 1 million people lost their lives at Auschwitz, 90% of whom were Jews.

We started at Auschwitz I, the original camp. To enter, we had to pass under the same gate as the prisoners were forced to, which has the now notorious slogan on it “Arbeit Macht Freid”- Work will set you free. This camp has significant brick infrastructure, as it had been a Polish military base before the Germans occupied Poland. The outside of the camp looks very similar to how it did during the Holocaust, but many of the rooms indoors have been turned into museums, each block conveying a different purpose, but all conveying horror. Visitors aren’t allowed to take pictures inside.

The living conditions were hard to comprehend. We saw the bunks that prisoners were forced to sleep on, many people on a wooden bed. The hygienic conditions were terrible- just holes in the ground, that sometimes up to hundreds of people had only ten minutes to share. Some buildings showed the original torture (starvation, suffocation) cells, while others had hallways lined with pictures of the victims. The building that affected me the most though was the one with all the possessions of the victims, because even though they represented just a fraction of the total number, the amount was hard to wrap my head around. Because the Jews thought they were being relocated to start their lives in a new place, the families brought as many possessions with them as possible. One room showed all the suitcases, another all the shoes.

One was full of just hair- 35,000 victims worth of long hair, now grey from the chemicals they were murdered with and from the passage of time.

Our final stop at Auschwitz 1 was the gas chamber. While most of the gas chambers (2-5) were at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the first is the only one left standing- the SS officers destroyed the rest when the Soviets were closing in on the camps to destroy the evidence. It was eerie to be in the very room where a thousand people died together, naked and unsuspecting.

After a short lunch break, we headed over to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, which was built to ease congestion at the main camp. The second camp was much, much bigger (300 wooden housing buildings), and was built from scratch by the prisoners, so it lacked the brick building infrastructure of Auschwitz I (Auschwitz I was originally a military base). It could accommodate many more prisoners, and was built as one of the main steps toward the Final Solution, the extermination of all Jews. The Nazi plans to extend the camp was cut short by the Soviet liberation.

We left the camps feeling exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and headed back on the bus towards Krakow. We had about 6 hours to kill before our train home, so headed out to explore. On our way to the Wawel Castle, we stumbled across a memorial for the Katyn massacre just outside the entrance, which has now become a memorial for the President and his wife. It was an emotional place, and many Poles had brought candles and flowers to pay their respects for their deceased leader. The castle itself was beautiful, and was fun to walk around. The president is planned to be buried in the Wawel Castle after his funeral tomorrow, which is controversial because historically only monarchs have been bestowed this honor.

After grabbing dinner (obviously, pierogies- baked Polish dumplings!), we checked out the Jewish Ghetto, which was where the Jews were originally sent as a “safe zone,” but then were deported to the camps. Before our train home, we went back to the Main Market square for some ice cream and wine to use up the rest of our Polish money, and then jumped back on the sleeper train (the same one as the night before!) to Prague. After getting in at 7 am this morning, we all promptly went back to sleep. It was a long day and a lot of traveling, but it was definitely a worth while experience and educational, and Krakow was a very cool city.

Today was our first really sunny day in Prague, so we have been taking advantage of it by going on long runs, doing laundry, and napping! Tomorrow we head on a three day excursion to South Bohemia and over to Moravia. We have heard tales of a wine cellar, but we will see!

Love and miss to my family and friends! Wish you all could be here on this adventure with me..

Bears Guard Czech Castle

Yet again, it was cold, cloudy, and rainy on another field excursion. Will spring ever come? We are starting to lose hope. The current joke is “Oh, this would be so nice in warm, sunny weather”.

Today took us to Cesky Krumlov, a quaint town in southern Czech Republic dominated by an enormous and well-maintained castle complex. Our educational focus was tourism, so it’s funny that we were studying the service of tourism by being tourists. Despite the cold weather, it was a beautiful place to be- a lot of people’s favorite trip so far. It is a town of 15,000 people and gets around 2 million visitors per year! The castle that seems to grow straight out of a rocky escarpment, overlooking the beautiful countryside, is the Czech Republic’s second most visited place.

While most of the services provide for tourists, the town still functions for the locals. We were toured around the cobblestone streets by a Charles University grad student, Christina, who grew up in Cesky Krumlov surrounded by this gothic and baroque architecture. As she toured us around the main square, the gardens, the church, and the castle, she pointed out a huge ballroom where she used to have dance class and had high school prom! Imagine, just for a second, having prom in the heart of a castle founded before 1250. As much as I loved my prom at the Sheraton Hotel in Stamford, CT, I just don’t think there is any comparison.

So you would naturally think that water filled the moat that surrounds the castle, but as of 1707, grizzly bears inhabit the moat! No, there are no grizzly bears anywhere in the Czech countryside, if you might ask. But rather, the Rozmberk clan brought the bears to the castle in the 18^th century to be unique and impress the rest of the world.


My favorite part of the day was when we got a tour of the theater- one of the most preserved baroque theaters in the world. It was built in 1765 and is still 80% original (our tour guide was quick to say that they do restoration work, NOT reconstruction). We walked into the cold, dark auditorium to see a magnificent stage with the original scene work. The theater pioneered in quick scene changes (8 to 12 seconds to change the whole scene with ropes and pulleys from beneath the stage), special machines for sound and lights (she demonstrated the separate wooden machines used to create rain, wind, and thunder sounds), and optical illusions (the stage was only 12 m deep but looked huge!). In fact, they even used the relative size depth cue (hi I’m a psychology major) by having adult actors act in the front and children, wearing the same clothes, act in the back. I would have wanted to be an invited guest to one of these private performances! If this were London, it would have been a Shakespeare performance at the Globe Theater.

Our next adventure takes LJ, Julia, Rachel, Annie, Ana, Heather, and I to Krakow and Auschwitz. It will be an interesting time to be in Poland with recent events. So an overnight train for us tonight, and then an overnight train back tomorrow night! I can’t wait. Tylenol PM anyone?

Hope is well with all of you at home! We miss you!

Autos, Asylums and Apartments, Oh My!

According to my 14-year-old sister, I need to update the blog as much as Emily does, and get a European boyfriend. I am still working on the boyfriend part, but I'll do my best to be as much of a sweet blogger as my crazy roommate... So here you go, Julia. (Precursor: a little boring, we have been in school all week)

We have had a busy week so far of class and excursions. They really do keep our schedules packed- we normally leave our apartments around 8 am and don't return until about 8 pm, so they are exhausting days! I depend on my Haribo gummies and Coke Light to get me through the days, and frequent

power naps on the buses. People make fun of my neck pillow, but I sleep better than anyone. My iPod may or may not have had a slight incident involving water on our first day here, so

its out of commission (sorry Mom), but my Kindle keeps me entertained on our long journeys. I guess we could read the huge packets of handouts we have, but that would take the fun and surprise out of everything!

Monday afternoon we ventured to the Skoda Auto Factory and museum. Skoda started as a bike company in the late 1800s, but quickly switched to cars in the early 1900s. You can see how cool the old cars were in the picture. However, under communism the company was controlled by the state to produce small, cheap and functional passenger cars. Today it is owned by VW, and thanks to globalization and direct foreign investment from the west, the cars are of much better quality, allowing Skoda to compete in the European market. They even had a car that looked exactly like the VW wagon my parents just bought! It was fun to try out all the new cars in the showroom, but one of Dartmouth's main rules is no driving while abroad, so we had to be content just to sit in the seats. At the end of the day, we got to go inside the actual factory and see the assembly line, which is quite impressive if you've never seen an auto factory before! They produce about 800 cars a day there, even after cutting out one shift a day due to the recession. It was a long day, but a cool experience.

Yesterday we had another long excursion, first to an asylum center for refugees hoping to enter the country, and then to two typical Czech homes. Due to the privacy of the people living in these places, I have no pictures, but will definitely be able to remember our day there and the people we met.

This evening we went to an "Organ Gala" at the St. Nicholas Church in Lessertown, which is one of the most recognizable buildings along the Prague skyline and was constructed in the 17th century just as Renaissance style was replaced by Baroque. The organist, who we were not actually able to see as she was tucked away in the upper wings, played many short pieces that included both Mozart and Bach. I would not necessarily consider myself partial to either the organ nor classical music, but it was a cool experience to be at a live performance in such a historic church! It was also freezing- they don't heat it. However, it was short and sweet, and after an hour we were back out in the light, and per usual, headed to enjoy some more local culture at the nearest pub.

Tomorrow morning we head 3 hours on the bus to Cesky Krumlov, a UNESCO heritage site in South Bohemia that is now a top tourist destination due to its immaculate preservation and beautiful conservation of buildings. We are studying regional development right now, both in the Czech and European context, so it should be an interesting case study and a great day- assuming it doesn't rain, as it has almost every day for the past week...

Tomorrow night we hop on an overnight train to Krakow, Poland, and will spend Friday at Auschwitz. While it will be a more somber expedition than some our other adventures, we are looking forward to experiencing this part of European history.

It is late and we are up early on the bus tomorrow per usual, so I am heading to bed. To all you at Dartmouth, I hope you are enjoying Jason Derulo right now! I am jamming alone in our apartment as everyone else sleeps.... Miss you all.