Homework sucks. This week has been way harder too. I'm hoping that I'm just being awesomely prepared for class and that good stuff.
Just an example: This week, I got back from Vienna on Sunday. Because the museum we were going to go to on Monday (afternoon class, morning was cancelled so we could sleep in), afternoon class was cancelled (yay!). For Tuesday, I had an article to read (nm there), but for Wednesday, i had 3 articles to read, one was like 30 pages, and INCREDIBLY deep...very interesting, but it takes a lot longer to read and actually absorb, you know? And my professor was late, and ALWAYS goes over, so by the time i got home, it was like 4, and then that evening we had a class thing to do at 630. Don't get me wrong, that was AMAZING, but to have another 38 page article due the next day, that was hard. BUT I'm kinda really tired of just being bored in class, so I'm actually going to do all my homework. I forget that this is almost a 500 level class, and it takes a lot more work. It makes WAY more sense and is way more interesting if you can push yourself through the work. And I have 2 presentations due on Tuesday. And I'm writing a paper comparing whether it was "reform from above" meaning political reform or "revolution from below" (from the people) that was the major factor in the fall of the communist regime in Hungary and Romania. SO confusing. Not the paper, but the countries. And the paper is only supposed to be 5 pages long, and that's REALLY hard to do...i want to write like 10 or 15 pages! That'd be so much easier! I wish! Write and rewrite...who wants to edit for me? lol
That thing we did on Wednesday night? We didn't do much, only went to the opera at the State Opera House! Sooo amazing! We saw Carmen, written by George Bizet, a french guy writing about gypsies in Seville, Spain. It was interesting how the different cultures all came together. I mean, you have this story about these Spanish rejects (i mean, that's what gypsies have always been) who pull this white guy away from the proper christian girl, and then just play with the guy's heart. Its in French (which I was proud to still understand some of it! Thanks Ms. Peterson!), with English and Czech subtitles. I mean, is there a way to mix more cultures? That was facetious, i don't really need to know. I'm sure there could be Africans and Indians and native Americans. As I was sitting there, listening (and watching) the orchestra play the opening number, I couldn't help but think about how much my life has changed in the last few years. Its something that keeps hitting me in the face over and over again. Just over two years ago, I graduated from Bellevue College, and forgot my cap and gown at my boyfriend's house in Greenlake, and I didn't have time to go get a new one, so I didn't walk at graduation. I found out that I couldn't go to school the following Fall at UW, even though I got into the school, cause I couldn't afford it. I had a ton of debt, and a dead end, "non fast food job" at Chipotle. I had just gotten kicked out the the place I was staying cause of a jealous roommate, and my only way out was the bartending school I had to scrap together the money to go to. Today, I'm married to that boyfriend who's amazing and wonderful. I'm finally a senior, after 6 years of putting myself through school, I'm completely out of debt (even with a paid off car!) and I'm going to the OPERA in PRAGUE with UW's CHID study abroad program. It feels surreal. You know how in movies in the beginning of the movie, you follow the main character until the story starts? I feel like I'm watching myself. Its amazing.
I'm learning so much here. Not just my actual education, but random stuff that's crazy. For instance, Prague has 3 main forms of public transportation that EVERYONE takes: the bus (super slow and kinda really confusing to take), the tram (less confusing, but just as slow. Benefit: above ground and goes directly through the city) and my favorite, the metro. The metro is underground, in fact, so underground that you take these really steep escalators that make me feel like I'm going to fall just by standing on them. I'm not gonna lie, i have kinda bad balance...mostly stuff like escalators. You know, where I'm at an angle moving? I hate stairs and escalators. Anyways, the metro station is so far underground because they used to be bomb shelters for during the cold war. so yeah, incredibly deep. I love the way the wind feels in my face as the metro comes rushing to me. I realized that when I tried to follow Vera's instructions to get to the apartment, i totally messed up. There's 3 lines for the metro, A, B, and of course, C, and they're color coded. In Seattle, the metro system is the bus...the King County Metro system...so i tried to take the bus to the apartment! Yeah, way more confusing.
Another thing is that people don't smile. It stems from Communism. Since you didn't know who you could trust that they wouldn't be the secret police, you just didn't smile. Apparently smiling, or making eye contact for 3 or more seconds is flirting. And coming from the US, I smile A LOT. I think when I get back, I'm just not going to be smiling as much :( I'm going to have to work on that!
Walking in heels isn't as difficult here as you'd think it is. I realize that most of the streets are cobblestones, but its a different type here than in Seattle. Now, I'm not saying that I'd want to walk in heels all the time, or in stilettos, but its okay. The cobblestones here are smaller, and are closer together, and filled in between each cobblestone. And I'm starting to get used to the weather here I think. Its very similar to home. It was kinda ironic that on Friday it rained, cause it rained here too. I saw it on Facebook that people were talking about the rain, and I felt like I was on the same pace as home. I do miss the rain. And my rain boots. I want to go jump in puddles in the Quad.
The home situation is interesting. When I moved in with Gabe, I was so excited! I told myself that I'd never have roommates again that I wasn't either in love with, or i didn't create. So going back to having roommates is an interesting shift. I think the best way to make this work is to carve out my own little private space. Living with Gabe is so much easier, cause we always say "Hey babe, I'm gonna have 'me time,' k?" meaning Gabe will practice the guitar, or play video games, or whatever men do. I watch TV, read, or bake. or cook. I don't really like to cook with other people in the kitchen...I'm picky :) but here, we don't even have that space. And sharing food and stuff...weird! I forgot about the whole "figuring out who paid for what" thing. Thank goodness we don't have to pay utilities too!
Yesterday we had dinner at our professor's! It was so fun! They have 3 kids, two boys and a girl (just like what I want!) and just hanging out at their place was so cool. I even learned a little more about Czech life, unintentionally i think. People here BUY their apartments, but they're kinda like condos, like the size. and they pay dues, but sometimes those include utilities. And Ikea is so big here cause all the places are so compact, especially the kitchens, that you really can't fit everything in there. In that respect, Ikea kinda seems silly at home. I love it's modernity, and the cost, but I can fit a giant dining room table, so its really not as necessary. the problems of Capitalism :) People don't really drive here...except to go far out of the city. It explains the lack of cars I see here, only the really expensive cars, and the utility trucks. I see an astounding number of Audi's here, and in Vienna, I saw a Ferrari. Not as sexy as a Maserati, but just as expensive. And it was going so fast on Ringstrasse! I heard this little boy yell "Ferrari!!" so excitedly! Its an interesting conundrum: they get Ikea and have small apartments, but they have expensive cars...and quite often, summer cottages.
Summer cottages came cause they were really the only place that one could get away from the tyranny of Communism, and just enjoy life. I think we're going to go see Vera and Michael's at one point.
Bad news! I lost the top of my belly button ring in Stroudsburg, PA (Gabe and I were there right before this trip for a friend's wedding), so I took out the ring, and I didn't want to get a new one made with metal I didn't know, you know? Two weeks later, I find a Claire's in Prague, and I get a few cheap, but cute belly button rings (I trust Claire's metal, and I have white vinegar to clean it), and my belly button has started to close up! I'm going to have to get it repierced when I get home. :/
Its really late, and I need to get up at a decent time, cause MONDAY I'm getting up early for Yoga. It should be fun! Our housing director teaches yoga over on Dejviska...which is like 3 metro stops away and a quarter mile walk. yay!
I'll add a link to pictures soon!
xoxo
Leanna
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