Thursday, February 5, 2009

Life at Beneditská

I looked at my wristwatch when I woke up. 12:00. Again! I haven't been able to wake up at a decent time since I got here. Maybe it's some sort of survival mechanism to deal with the blistering cold? Jess was supposed to be at our apartment in a half hour to go to our orientation. I showered and got ready as fast as I could and when Jess got here, we went for a walk to find her some passport photos and then headed to Rytirská 31 for our first meeting with the Euromasters. There were eight new faces for us!!! 1 French guy, 1 Bulgarian girl, 1 Belgian girl, 1 German girl, 1 Polish/Canadian guy, and 3 German guys… it was definitely awkward at first. The Euromasters sat on one side of the table and the TransAtlantic Masters sat on the other. I think both of us were trying to decide if the other would be fun, if they would be overachievers, or if we would stay completely out of each other's way. But after the meeting we seemed eager to make new friendships and we all headed to a bar right around the corner from our apartment. And we went straight back to elementary school, going around in a circle saying our names, where we were from, our favorite color, and one interesting fact about each of us. Sarah, America, used to be green but now it's purple, and I had a seizure in the Sahara. I think the pivo definitely helped to break the ice.

That night we went to dinner at Staročeska Krčma and it was our first adventure outside of Praha 1. We hadn't had the chance to get our metro cards yet so it took us a second to figure out even how to pay for one ticket. It turns out that you buy a ticket and walk through without even doing anything. There really is no way for them to even know that you bought a ticket. You walk through (no gates or anything), get on the metro, get off, no gates. Then we got to the restaurant and had an authentic Czech meal. My only option – pasta with a blue cheese sauce. It was actually really delicious, or maybe I was just starving! The Euromasters students came and we all chatted for hours. Charles University picked up the tab and at the end of the night, we headed back to the metro.

Remember how I said that there was really no way to prove if you'd paid for your metro ride? We got to Dejvicka metro stop and I noticed several Czech men leaning over the banister, "reading" a book or doing other things that looked "normal". It reminded of a Bourne movie or something where everyone is undercover and you don't know what people are actually doing. Michelle and I got kind of nervous and decided to shell out the extra 18 Kč. Kevin didn't. When we got off at Mustek, we were almost home free when this guy in a huge jacket came over to us, flashing a tarnished looking badge. We thought he was trying to sell us some relic from the past so we just waved him off and said, "No, we don't want. No thank you. Really, we don't want. No!" And finally we understood, he wasn't a street vendor trying to make a buck, he was saying "Ticket." Kind of sheepishly, we showed him our tickets. Then it was Kevin's turn. He tried to show the guy a used one, but he was wise to our games. Rather than paying the 18 Kč, Kevin had to pay the guy 750 Kč (roughly equal to $35! Kevin didn't have the money and so the ticket guy 'kindly' took him to the nearest Bankomat – after having relieved Kevin of his ID and other credit card. Needless to say, we learned our lesson and Kevin and I went home while Michelle and Rachel met up with our Euromaster friends.

That next morning when I walked into the kitchen, I came upon a strange scene. Michelle was sleeping on the kitchen floor with her mattress on the ground! It turns out things had gotten quite exciting the night before and Yann from France was in the other bedroom with Rachel. Just a fun night of PG making out, but still GO TAMILY!!! Once again, I woke up with barely enough time to get ready before heading to Jinonice for the Library orientation.

The library is probably the most confusing thing I've ever come across. There are two libraries, only one you can actually check books out from. You can't bring in bags, cell phones, laptops or jackets. You put all of that in a locker and then carry your notebooks around with you. We have 3 different passwords for three different things – don't even bother asking me what those passwords do. Then we went home to rest again before starting to pregame.

Circle of Death with Jim Beam is always good, right? Well, good in comparison with the Circle of Death with Absinth that Jack, Phillip, Yann and Andy brought over. After drinking until about 1:30, we headed to Roxy. Roxy is an amazing discothèque we had read about on the internet and had wanted to go to since arriving in Prague. When we GoogleMapped it, we found that it was less than 100 m from our flat! So, rather than being encumbered with huge winter jackets, we took off running to the disco where we danced until about 5:30 – on tables, on chairs, on the stage, with sketchy Czech guys that Toby had to save me from, laying across Yann and Andy while they played the drums on my stomach… crazy night! So by 5:30 my feet were killing me and I had had enough! Rachel and I skipped out and tried to go to the Cellar Bar (it has a real name, but I don't ever remember it, so I renamed it. When you go to Prague, do NOT look for Cellar Bar, it doesn't exist!) and we thought it was closed, so we went home. Michelle came walking in around 6:30 and neither of us were tired, so we talked, watched Grey's Anatomy and ate some risotto before passing out, with every intention of being productive when we woke up.

And we woke up with enough time to shower and get some groceries from Alberts before we were supposed to meet Jess at her apartment to bake a cake for Antoniya's Name Day. Of course one of those cake in a box things would be easier than making a "from scratch" cake, right? Wrong! The directions were in Czech and the numbers didn't match up with what we thought was typical in America. So we translated word by word. Teaspoon – Check! Veg – Must mean vegetable oil? 6 somethings of that oil – 2 tablespoons, right? And ,2 L of water? How many grad students does it take to figure out that ,2 L is 4/5 cup? 4!! But we were successful and the cake was ready for Antoniya's dinner.

We went home to get ready, planning on dressing up to the 9s. For those of you who don't know, Antoniya is our Bulgarian TAM student. She is probably the most extravagant person you will ever meet. She's kind of like a Russian princess, if they had those still. A different coat for every occasion, manicures and massages whenever she wants, a REAL ESTATE AGENT to find her an apartment in Prague and just an air of expensiveness. So we wanted to impress.

Just for reference, the first several days Michelle and I were here, we went out in thick leggings, jeans, 2-3 pairs of socks, 2-3 layers of shirts, sweaters, jackets, plus a winter coat, gloves, a scarf and a hat just to stay comfortable. Apparently it doesn't take that long to get acclimated because last night we were in dresses with stockings, heels and just one jacket. My nose didn't even sting with the cold. Be impressed!

We get to Antoniya's apartment she shares with Randy, her boyfriend and are greeted by amazing smells. A full Name Day dinner had been prepared – with brussels sprouts, potatoes and a Bulgarian salad for me! Everything was so nice. Cocktails followed by wine followed by champagne from Russia and Bulgarian music to set the mood. Three of the Euromasters students came over to celebrate too. It was a great night! But we had to head home before midnight when the metro stops.

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