Leaving for Italy tomorrow!

I can't believe I'm writing this-- I leave tomorrow for my 2 week trip through Italy and Greece!! I have most of my research done on my location in Venice-- Santa Maria Della Salute, a Baroque Cathedral erected in the late 1600's in thanksgiving for Venice prevailing through the plague of 1630. And we're trying to work out taking a water bus to get a tour of the grand canal at sunset on the first day we get there. I reallllly hope that works out! If not, Mom and Crystal: we're doing that!

I'm generally ready to go, although I just found out that we can only bring one 50 lb bag(no personal carry on item)-- so I'm gonna need to re-adjust my pack and try to safely fit my camera in there... It's gonna be interesting living out of a backpack for 2 weeks for the first time, so when you see pictures and I'm wearing the same clothes the whole time you can just laugh at me.

This weekend wasn't that eventful, I mostly relaxed for the first time-- which was awesome! I got a little bit of school work done, but mostly I tried to mentally prepare myself for this trip and reflect on all my time in Prague so far.
The most notable thing last week was probably going to a ice hockey game with the two rival prague teams: sparta praha vs. slavia praha. Of course I rooted for the underdogs/team with the coolest name: SPARTA! One of the guys in our group, Garrett, explained the basic rules of the game, and we got really into cheering for our team. Unfortunately... we lost a bit of momentum in the final period and ended up losing.. but it was still really fun.





When I did go downtown this weekend I mostly just tried to go to new neighborhoods and I photographed a lot. It's been hovering around 45 degrees for the past week so walking around a lot was a bit cold, and coffee breaks were very necessary to warm up-- unfortunately I've come to find that there is pretty much no such thing as drip coffee in Prague, only extravagent lattes served in skinny clear glasses, often topped with whipped cream... and yes, that means whole milk. They're also relatively expensive, around 60-75 crowns (around 4-5 dollars) which is pretty similar to the states, and considering beer is about 25-35 crowns in a cafe (around 2 dollars) and around 12-20 crowns in the grocery store (1-1.50 dollars) so, your choice of beverage is pretty much made for you... and Prague doesn't have the highest intake of beer in the world for nothing. Yeah, that's right, they beat Ireland and Germany.



It's finally fully setting in that life at CNU and at home is carrying on without me, but I'm suprisingly fine with that. Of course, I miss the people, and the overall comfort of having a support system around me, especially in an unfamiliar place-- I've talked to many of you about my friendships here, and while they are fun, and I generally get along with everyone here, it is difficult to establish a real spark in any of these relationships and there are moments where I wish certain people from back home or school were here so that I could just feel understood.-- But hey, this is why skype is the greatest thing ever! And I think this is not only a real test for me, getting through this by myself, and growing through my adventures, it's a test for all my relationships back home with friends and family-- and it's wonderful to think of the immense love I have in so many of you, and I can't thank you enough for that reassuring thought in times where I feel like I am alone here.




It's funny because the latest film we watched for our sacred communication class called "blow-up" (a 1960's film about a photographer) really relates to this for me. It was all about reality vs. perception and whether anyone can distinguish the lines between these two. For me, there have been many moments here when I wonder what the heck kind of wack perception the people around me are in when, for example,they don't notice certain aspects of the city, or completely miss the point of a film after we watch and discuss it in class, or just seem to be taking this whole opportunity for granted... and this is a perfect example of where I need to grow and possibly expand my own perception on reality haha.
But all in all I don't regret coming here in the slightest, and I can already tell it's one of the best decisions I've made. And it's only just begun!
(although, i do realllly wish i had been there for the t.digs + scamper camp out!)

I'll leave you with some lines from the second film we watched called "Wings of Desire"/"The Sky Above Berlin"-- it's a German film, which America destroyed with creating the movie "City of Angels"(which we also watched and it is awful! Some of the girls here got on my case for laughing at the end while they were crying, but if you've seen the movie, and know me at all, you'll know why). The story lines are somewhat similar: based on an angel who wants to discover what it is to be human, but they take on completely different interpretations of what this means. Anyways, wings of desire is now one of my favorite films of all time and I STRONGLY recommend that everyone watch it if you haven't seen it. It's truly one of, if not the most romantic films I've ever seen, and not in a sappy love story sort of way --its about an appreciation of life and understanding what it means to yearn and long for a connection with someone, and then learn to love them.

This is one of the Angels, Damiel, talking about his envy of humans:
"It's great to live by the spirit, to testify day by day for eternity, only what's spiritual in people's minds. But sometimes I'm fed up with my spiritual existence. Instead of forever hovering above I'd like to feel a weight grow in me to end the infinity and to tie me to earth. I'd like, at each step, each gust of wind, to be able to say "Now." Now and now" and no longer "forever" and "for eternity." To sit at an empty place at a card table and be greeted, even by a nod. Every time we participated, it was a pretense. Wrestling with one, allowing a hip to be put out in pretense, catching a fish in pretense, in pretense sitting at tables, drinking and eating in pretense. Having lambs roasted and wine served in the tents out there in the desert, only in pretense. No, I don't have to beget a child or plant a tree but it would be rather nice coming home after a long day to feed the cat, like Philip Marlowe, to have a fever and blackended fingers from the newspaper, to be excited not only by the mind but, at last, by a meal, by the line of a neck by an ear. To lie! Through one's teeth. As you're walking, to feel your bones moving along. At last to guess, instead of always knowing. To be able to say "ah" and "oh" and "hey" instead of "yea" and "amen."


I thought those words were very powerful and really got me thinking about appreciating life and living as much as I can!
And thanks to Becca bear for this lovely picture from the Little Grill that also serves as such a reminder <3





I'll be out of contact for the next 2 weeks, but i'll update this as soon as I get back. I may be able to check E-mail(and probs facebook) at some of the hostels, so it would be lovely to get some updates from you all as well while I am away.
Send positive vibes into the sky while I'm traveling, please!

Live well Today!
Hugs and Hugs,
Amanda

Exicting travel news!

It's finally official that the two travel excursions with my class will be to italy and greece!
And we are leaving really freaking soon!!!!

The dates are as follows:

September 23: Leave Prague, arrive in Venice mid-day

September 24: Spend all day in Venice

September 25: Leave Venice, Arrive in Florence mid-day

September 26: Spend the day in Florence

September 27: Leave Florence, Arrive in Rome

September 28: Spend the day in Rome

September 29: Arrive in Athens

September 30: Spend the day in Athens

October 1: Spend the day in Corinth

October 2: Leave for Delphi

October 3: Spend the day in Delphi

October 4: Go back to Athens

October 5: Spend the day in Athens

October 6: Return to Prague


VERY EXCITING STUFF!! it's kind of unfortunate that we are covering all that so quickly, but it's awesome we're getting to go to all these places!

Also, our first big assignment for the program is to divide into 3 groups and plan the itinerary for each italian city we visit. I am in a group with two girls, Lauren and Tricia and we decided to do Venice. We are in charge of planning half the day of the 23rd and all day on the 24th. We are to focus on our class themes of sacred communication, religion and art and the vision of christianity so, we will obviously structure a large part of our itinerary around visiting cathedrals as well as comparing the different architectural styles in the city, primarily along the grand canal. This is probably the coolest school assignment I've ever gotten, but on the other hand it's kind of scary having the travel experience of 10 other people in your hands... so, we'll see how this goes.
Hopefully this means that I will get to know Venice fairly well and be able to be a tourguide for my parents and siblings when they come vists, haha.

So, that's the big news as far as school goes--
as far as exploring prague goes... this weekend was pretty good, but full of a lot of catching up on a lot of reading for my classes, but the four day weekends make this much easier.
I did have a lot of fun at a really strange/hillarious club here though, called chateau rouge. we randomly went to this place after we saw a jazz/blues band at a small venue near old town so it was a bittt of a change of pace..

It was just what i always hoped a european club would be: a lotttttt of techno music, fog and interesting people

The first floor was your average bar, but there were two levels underneath in the basement-- the first big room at the bottom of the spiral staircase had a windy hallway with one end leading to the bathrooms and another staircase to the lowest level, and the other end leading to a large dance floor, with a seating area and big bar.
We checked out the lowest level first, just to see if it was playing different music and different people and what we found was about 7 people frantically running in circles, rigidly moving their arms up and down, and singing along to the song playing... what song was that, you ask? "la cucaracha."
funniest thing evvvvvvvver!!!!!!! in case you don't believe me:



So, we quickly ran back up the stairs and encountered the bathrooms...which basically served as re-chargers for a certain type of strange, sweaty creatures who often piled in each stall 4 people at a time, and exited with fanny packs in hand, giggling with their newly found glowing eyes and headed for the dance floor... which was a wholllle nother story!

when we first got there, we all got a beer and tried to feel out the place, and at that time there was just a small group of guys dancing-- we started talking to them and found out they were all international students-- some from the states, others from australia-- and my group quickly stepped onto the dance floor... and we were ATTACKED my the fog machine!



and there was the token guy who was in outerspace, fist pumping by himself for about 2 solid hours. it was wonderful:



it was so funny! suddenly i couldn't see further than 3 feet in front of my face, just barely making out my friends hysterically laughing, just like me, and dancing to the pulsing techno. we ended up dancing for like 3 hours and tons of people starting dancing too... we didn't meet any puppies, but all in all it turned into a really fun night, and by far one of the best experiences of prague yet.

i tried to make this one shorter, and failed miserably so i'm sorry about that.
to make up for it, here is a picture of me and barty:



and the trailer for the phenomenal film i went to see downtown last night-- Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens--- (they are having 'top doc's: best of sundance' here for the next week)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEjho8I8XBY


i admire her so much, and highly recommend this film!


i hope you are all doing well back home, and please send me e-mails, skype calls and comments here to let me know how you guys are doing!

Ask this one about the dinosaurs...

So, it's been a bit diffucult to keep up with all the news from the states over here because i've been so busy and pretty much anything i do hear about is related to the election and negative campaigning etc... so it was really great when i found out about this video on youtube... it's just too funny not to share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc3Zxq078ns


"Global warming is just God hugging us closer" hahaha.

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

<3amanda

My Apartment

the entrance to my room-- the kitchen.

past the counters and the refrigerator-- hooks for my jackets,scarves and hats


my bed, nightstand, and osito.

from the other side -bathroom and kitchen.

view of my whole room from the window sill.

and the bathroom (below)

the view from my window. (left)

PRAGUE: THE BEGINNING

I'm in prague! It's crazy to think i've been here two and a half weeks now, but it's true. Time has been flying by and it is very difficult for my thoughts to catch up with me, so i figured this blog might aid in my ability to share my experiences as well as keep track of everything. I don't even know where to begin, but here goes...

First off, I'm SO HAPPY that i have my own room! At first I was bummed that all the other girls were together and I was down the hall, but that was for a very brief moment until i remembered who i am--- a total introvert who thrives off of interesting conversations and connections with people, but who can not function without substantial alone time. It's so wonderful knowing that I can come back to my room and be alone, and cook dinner or watch a movie or write or take a bath and just be alone and soak in the day. And the added bonus to this living situation is the ability to stay neutral in the drama-filled zone that is 6 girls living in close quarters of each other. Let me tell you, I am not envious of that! With only 10 of us in the group-- having all our classes together, eating meals together, going out together, and traveling together-- I am certain i would already be insane if I didn't have my own room.

Moving on to the good stuff-- my first reaction to this city is a general sense of disbelief, and awe and I often find myself very overwhelmed. I say this because everytime I look around I can't believe that Prague is as old as it is, not only because of the history that lines each and every cobblestone street, but the beauty and the overall 'clean-ness' of the city. I don't really know how to explain it, but it is simply one of the cleanest urban areas I have ever seen. Maybe the all the bridges, the large presence of parks and the bright signs blind me to see it, but there is something very unique about this city that i have never seen anywhere else. The awe starts to kick in next, being surrounded by such amazing architecture as well as natural beauty of the Vltava that flows through the whole city and promotes this sense of calm over the people here. In every direction you look, you are bound to see one of the remarkable landmarks of Prague, whether it is the castle, the charles bridge, the tv tower or petrin hill, there is something exciting around you at all times. And yes, this is where I begin to become overwhelmed... there is SO MUCH to see and do here!

I can't even believe someone could make a 'top ten list of things to do in prague' without having their head explode because there are seriously so many museums, parks, churches, cemetaries, cafes, and pubs that I would already highly recommend to any travelers and I've barely experienced all this place has to offer! I probably wouldn't feel so strongly if I wasn't trying to balance these adventures with all my classes and attempting to learn some czech (i find myself pronouncing everything in a spanish accent... which is only like 10 words anyways...) but everytime i think of doing research about other places to travel in europe my brain gets veryyy angry at me. It really is so much to take in all at once, and the excitement of the city and the people really make me want to spend all my time exploring more. The fact that we have all of our class hours monday-wednesday really helps, but at the same time, being in the same classroom for about 6 hours a day talking about sacred communication and the philosophical meaning behind art and religion really wears me out.

oh, haha, I must explain my two professors: Dr. Redick, the professor from CNU, is a total hippie and a generally ridiculous man. He often gets really excited about what he's talking about and then somehow always manages to relate our conversations about the symbolic meaning of religious traditions to a story about how he was high on shrooms... no joke! it's crazy! He is a very adventurous man who is generally happy about life and living and experiencing the most he can, which is a really great mindset for traveling, but at the same time he's not the best planner or communicater and I sometimes find myself wondering what the hell he's gonna do next. Like, yesterday instead of having class, one hour before we were supposed to meet he told us that we were going on a 3 hour hike. That's awesome, but at the same time, I was so physically and emotionally exhausted I was not ready for something to be sprung on me like that...and i ended up having a really bad asthma attack and crying on the top of a mountain... haha... funnnn times..... But yeah, I'm trying to find a balance between greatly appreciating him and dealing with the areas we clash-- particularly his inability to understand that not everyone likes to be spontaneous to the point of not knowing where you are going or what the heck you will be doing in 5 minutes... I guess it's something I need to work on too, but the second week in a foreign country isn't particularly the time I want to be doing that...haha

Moving on, my czech professor is absolutely adorable! his name is Dr. Kabat, and i'm pretty sure he is the jolly-est i've ever met. He sometimes struggles with certain english words, and he has a slight lisp which makes it even funnier when he cracks so many cute jokes. But yeah, he is a really great guy, and actually took part in protests and underground meetings during the communist era andddd he was a part of the velevet revolution! It's so exciting to learn from his stories instead of a text book, of how things really were and how scary it was to live here, just 40 years ago. To give you an idea of how cute this man is-- he took us on a tour of malastranska which literally translated is "small town" and it is the smallest quarter, next to old town square. He was walking around, showing us some old churches and then he got on the topic of Christmas, and how it's celebrated differently in the czech republic-- he then said something about baby jesus, and i quickly raised my hand and asked him about the infant jesus of prague that my aunt noemi had told me so much about, and his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe that I knew about the baby jesus, and was so shocked that he gave me a prize in class the next day, which was a little glass baby jesus.

soo, there's the background info, and i don't want to bore you with any more of the details of settling in, but you've got the basics. So far the best day was probably last weekend when i went with a couple girls to a photo exhibit called 'liberation, occupation.' It was a collection of a bunch of different photographers work, with the left side of the gallery being the liberation of czechloslovakia by the ussr, and the right side of the gallery was the invasion of russian tanks on wenscelas square. It was by far the best photography exhibit i've ever seen, and really helped me understand the czech people a lot more. I can't even explain in words how great not only the historical documentation was, but also the amazing composition by each of the photographers-- it was incredible. After the exhibit we saw a bride and groom in kampa park taking wedding pictures and then accidentally discovered a line of about 25 plastic, yellow penguins on the dock of the vltava river, behind the charles bridge-- i think they were associated with the museum of modern art, but they were hillarious. Then we went to the lenin wall (which i am very eager to get some paint and write on myself), and walked accross the charles bridge.... yeah, it was a pretty phenomenal day.

and in other news, last night i met a realllllly adorable puppy in a pub and his name was barty, and we became good friends.... and i was also offered cocaine and extacy.

ok, i think that is enough information for now.
talk to you soon!

<3

p.s. my skype name is the same as the blog, AROCinPRAHA so call me!
(just remember i'm 6 hours ahead of eastern standard time)