Today has been an awesome day. This morning was Studio orientation and I was one of two people who don’t have a studio this semester. So everyone walked over to the institute only to find that the general ed kids were not needed. So Jacob, the other general education student, and I decided to kill time until the afternoon session by exploring the area a little bit. We basically walked in whatever direction looked interesting and we ended up in the Old Town Square multiple times. By the end of it, I felt more confident about getting back to the institute and/or the metro station.
We ate lunch at a really nice restaurant and get this. We walked in and I greeted the waiter with “Dobry den.” The waiter thought I was Czech! That’s half the battle! I was a little embarrassed when I had to ask what he was saying after the initial greeting haha. Anyways, I enjoyed a spaghetti dish for only $7! It was a fancy wine place, too. I needed to pick up shampoo/conditioner and face wash so we stopped at a drug store. The Garnier Fructis products were in Czech. However, for some reason the face wash was in Hebrew?
We eventually made it back to the institute to find that no one was there (They were let out for their lunch break). Therefore, Jacob and I went on the computers in the lab while we waited. We had a small orientation about how to travel around Prague and Europe. Unfortunately, a group of us didn’t pay attention very well because we struggled getting back to the Pension later. I’ll go more into detail about that in a minute.
I fell asleep while I was attempting to plan trips out of Prague that afternoon. When I woke up, I had planned on going to dinner with the program director and Art, the guy that took us out the night before, but they had already left. So instead, I went out with a couple of the girls from the program. We went to Mustek, which is the center of the Old Town. I was looking forward to another Czech meal, but the girls had a hard time giving up American food and wanted to go to TGI Friday’s. I’m a little embarrassed that we went there for dinner. Especially because it was double the cost of what it usually is in America. I paid $20 for a typically $10 meal. Prague has a couple places that we could find in America. For example, there is a Subway Restaurant on nearly every other street. Also, we saw Ben & Jerry’s, KFC (which they call the Deep South around here), and Adidas shops.
We headed back to the pension where I found a group of people playing “Asshole,” a drinking card game, in the internet lobby area. I joined in and had a great time. One of the rules was that if you were declared the “asshole,” then you’d have to chug rum. Well, Jonas was declared the “asshole.” (This was just the beginning of a good night for Jonas.)
Half of the program had to wake up at 7am the next morning to apply for a Visa, but the other half- including me- didn’t have anything planned for the next couple of days, so we took advantage of it by going out. About 9 of us went to a bar/club called Chapeau Rouge located in Mustek. We took the metro and found the bar relatively easily. After ordering a $2 Staroproma beer, I got separated from the group. When I say separated, I mean that I met two gorgeous lawyers from New Orleans. I was a little distracted. We talked for a good 20 minutes until I saw the other girls I came with and we went downstairs to the dancing section to meet up the boys. We met this awesome couple from Prague named Kat and Tony. Tony was actually from England, but he lived in Prague for the past 5 years. They were so friendly. They were giving us advice and kept telling us how much they hate Americans, but love us. Actually, Kat later clarified that she only hated Americans because her hot Austrian boyfriend cheated on her with an American named Lauren. I told her Lauren’s a bitchy name anyways, but I didn’t mean it because I really like all of my friends named Lauren. At one point, she looked at me and asked if I was Jewish. I have no idea how she could tell since I have inherited the features of my Christian mother, but she told me she would take me to the synagogues in the Jewish Quarter and that her and Tony would meet up with us for Halloween. (They are in the middle.)The dancing part of the night got pretty intense. There was another American group from Indiana that was CrAzY. We tried to bond with them, but they kept screaming “AMERICAAAAA” and clinking glasses. It was kind of annoying- but not as annoying as a creepy Arab man that was dancing by himself but lingering closely to one of the girls we went to the bar with. I don’t know if he was actually Arab, but that’s what Kat told us. The boys tried to dance with him, but their dancing abilities didn’t meet his expectations. (And yes, I got a picture of them with him. He's in the black.)
That wasn’t the beginning to our adventure, though, because first we had to find the tram tracks. There were about 9 of us trying to find it, but I was the only one who was either sober enough or drunk enough (I’m still not sure which one) to approach people and ask. I would start with a heavy Czech accent and a “pardon?” Then, I felt silly, but I would follow with a very American accent, “Tram?” We made a lot of friends this way. The first was a gypsy and a British man in a deep conversation about politics. The British man was very old and wished us a lot of good luck when we parted ways. The next group we bonded with was a group of Poles. They were looking for the tram, too, but were heading the opposite direction. We tried to help them- they tried to help us. Ultimately, the only thing we got of that conversation was a map of the immediate area we were in and that they like the Greyhound bus system in America. Finally, two shop owners directed us in the correct direction. The next task was to figure out which tram and which stop. I remember the number 59. We hopped on that one and made friends with a couple that was making out beside us. We asked them how to get to our pension and it was a struggle because of our awful Czech pronunciation. Eventually, we understood the same metro station and they walked with us to find it. They were awesome (not as awesome as Kat and Tony, but choosers can’t be picky). They were landscape engineers, while the people I was with were landscape architects. I pretended to be one too for the sake of simplicity.
Luckily, we found our way back to the pension! It was really impressive. I’m proud of our efforts. I slept in for the first time this morning and it felt great. Since I have nothing planned, I wanted to send some emails, post this blog, and check up on the hot goss from home, but the internet has been so stubborn for my computer the last few days. Sometimes, I can receive it in my room (which is nowhere near the internet lobby) for 5-minute intervals. Other times, I receive the connection but can’t actually use it. By the time you actually read this, my adventures may or may not be outdated. LAME.
water in Prague. I’m not kidding. Laura went out and got a 2 Liter (what the!?) bottle of beer. You might be thinking to yourself, “wow, that must have been expensive.” No, it wasn’t. It was 30 krowns, which is the equivalent of $1.50. I might become spoiled here. 
So, yeah that was the highlight of my day. I had my first grocery store extravaganza afterwards and it was really challenging. I was about to mistake butter for hummus spread until I looked down at the package I was holding and it said "Maslo." Well, thank goodness I'm the Mrs. Butter. We went back to the pension and met up with the guy that started the program 5 years ago. He gave us a little walking tour of the restaurants around our place and then we sat down at the friendliest restaurant we've been to yet. I got Gnocci with mushrooms and it was muy deliciosa (wait, I'm not in Spain?). I had a new type of beer called Lobkowicz and let me tell you... I had one beer and I felt drunk. I thought it was because I didn't eat much that day or due to the fact that I was exhausted, but at one point, someone else at the table admitted that they felt drunk and everyone sighed in relief that they weren't the only one (the alcohol content is a little heavier here). We finished our meal and the guy that took us out showed us a small pub that he loves to go to. It's called "Scheisse Katze" which can be translated into "The Shitting Cat." Don't let the name fool you, though. It was the best pub I've been in yet. There were vintage chairs and classic couches. None of the furniture matched. The light fixtures on the walls were iron and surrounded by a picture frame- obviously without the picture. There were authentic old pictures on the walls, like the wedding portraits of a couple from the 1910's. Art, the guy that took us there, recommended that we go in there for a beer at least once a week so that after a few weeks, the people will recognize us and treat us like we were locals. Therefore, we tried really hard to blend in when we got there. We talked in lower voices and avoided being those loud and obnoxious Americans. However, in Prague, it's custom to greet the people who work in restaurant businesses with "Dobry den," meaning good day. It's considered impolite if you don't. Unfortunately, we couldn't hide the fact that we were American by saying "dobry den" to the bartender with our thick American accents and none of us were confident enough with our Czech to attempt it. Instead, we all walked in with our hushed voices and heads down which the bartender took as us being rude. Yikes. Not a good start.