Mas krasnyho psa

Saturday was a really relaxing day. I woke up and went for a run - thanks, Aubrey... you inspired me! - and then met Ricarda at Palladium just to hang out. Ricarda's from Germany and last semester was her first experience in an English-speaking country, so she's not yet that
comfortable with her English. That being said, she normally doesn't chime in when we all go out - kind of like me in Trujillo this past time almost breaking out into a sweat trying to understand my Spanish compañeras speaking a mile a minute, haha. So, we went to Palladium to do some shopping for her sister and just talked for a long time. And then we got some gelato and talked some more.

That night we first headed over to the Czech Inn for some cheap Chinese dinner and some hanging out while we decided what to do. I've been really tired lately, so I just hung out on the couch talking to Philip, who was staying in to do some work. But eventually it was time to go to
Chapeau Rouge, my favorite place! We took a cab and had to negotiate pretty passionately before we got in. Travel Tip for anybody going to Prague: Always settle on a price BEFORE the driver starts driving, otherwise you're probably gonna get screwed! Cab #1 and Cab #2 arrived
safely at the bar, but Cab #3 was nowhere to be found. (We would later discover that the driver had turned on some porn on his mini TV and had distracted the boys, driving them all around the city. A cab ride, which should have cost 150 K? ended up costing over 300 K!!! and they
even made the driver stop about a mile away from the bar!)

I wasn't really in the mood for a beer, so while the rest of the group was at the bar, I was scanning the crowd looking for a good group of people to talk to. I noticed a girl walk right by me - she looks like Neve Campbell!! - but it probably wasn't - I mean, what would she be doing
in Prague? And then a tall black man with a goatee walked by -- OMG, the guy from Law and Order!!! I knew it was too much of a coincidence for two people who looked exactly like two famous people to not actually be the famous people. So I looked again and asked an opinion. Confirmation!

Now, I'm the kind of person that gets super excited when she sees (notice how I didn't say "meets"?) a famous person, but I also don't want them to see me freak out so I always - because it happens to me so much, haha - glance quickly at them and then ignore them the rest of
the night. As I went to walk downstairs, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Toalety?" Neve Campbell asked me. As it was a bit confusing to explain in a bar, I kind of guided her towards the hallway and told her which way to go. And then I added, "Wow, that's pretty awesome that you're learning Czech."

To which she replied, "Haha (she actually laughed), I don't speak Czech. That's the only word I know. I just figured you were Czech."
And I didn't have anything else to say, so I just said, "Ok. Have a good night!? And went on to enjoy the rest of my evening. And I was glad I wasn't her because as soon as she came out of the bathroom, she was swarmed by people taking her picture, or asking to take a picture with her, or just saying crazy things and eventually the whole group of famous people, their protectors, and their friends just left.

Meanwhile, I was downstairs dancing and having a great time until Max, one of Yann's friends, decided it was a good idea to act like a middle-schooler and start pulling at my hat. I don't know how many times it was yanked off my head until I finally just forgot about it and went down to the bottom floor, three levels underground. But I couldn't escape him! My hat had miraculously landed back on my head and as soon as this realization dawned on me it was snatched off
again. It was slightly ridiculous, so Kevin and I went back upstairs, hung out for a hot minute and went home around 3 am (a shabby showing for anybody in our program, but at least it wasn't before 2, right?).

Sunday morning I woke up at 10:40. Jess was supposed to be at our flat by 10:30 - which apparently she was - and we were going to walk to Sv. Tomae for mass - which was twenty minutes away. I threw on some clothes and we took off running. We were only 10 minutes late, but I'm so glad we went. I know you don't go to a mass for the pleasure of marveling at the actual architectural structure, but it was breathtaking! It was established on 1 July 1285 by King Vaclav II and oh my God! The decorations inside, just the size of the whole structure, incredible! The service was a bit difficult to understand - last week the minister was actually from England whereas this week, the priest was a Czech man speaking in English, but still, very moving. We also got a special blessing in the name of Saint Blaise of Sebaste, Armenia. He was a bishop martyr who is invoked against illnesses of the throat. So, I guess I won't have to worry about getting sick!

After church, Jess and I met up with Kevin and went back to Palladium for some desert. We talked for hours until I decided that desert wasn't enough nourishment for me and we headed home to eat.

That night we met up with Laura and her parents at Café Louvrer so they could meet us. It started out pretty awkward, when Ricarda invited me, I don't think she planned on me bringing ALL of my roommates. But I didn't know - and the more the merrier, right?

The next morning, I woke up and went for a run - this time exiting the safety of my side of the Vltava River. I ran by Sv. Tomae again and then up some huge stairs. I didn't think they were going to end! At the top, I was soooo tired that I had to stop and actually gasp for breath. And then I leisurely walked back down the hill before continuing my run home. People running outside is apparently a huge anomaly over here, so I try to run as fast as possible when I get to
the alleyways.

Then I went to the Kafka Museum with my Czech class. Outside was an amazing sculpture by my new favorite artist, David Yerný - the guy responsible for the Entropa sculpture that got everybody talking over here earlier in January. The one at the Kafka Museum, though, is of
two guys who have rotating pelvises and penises that move up and down that urinate on a map of the Czech Republic. Sounds crude, but honestly, it's sweet. When it was first unveiled, you could text in to some number and the two guys would spell out the text with their urine. Anyway, the Kafka Museum had an amazing layout. I'm so glad I read Metamorphosis (Prom?na) beforehand, just to help me understand him a little better. Definitely a place to visit if you can.

Yesterday was crazy busy compared to the total day of sleep I had on Monday. After class, Michelle and I headed straight to our internship at Civic Concepts International. We arrived probably at the worst possible time. The Internet had shut down, the hard drive had crashed,
and only one of the people there spoke fluent Czech - although the other two are pretty amazing at it for being Anglophones. Eventually we were connected via Ethernet cables and back online. We were given our set of keys, our own e-mail addresses (sarah@civicconcepts.org) -
pretty legit, huh? ? and a schedule was made. Wait a second? It's my first day, and my schedule says that I'm in the office ON MY OWN from 10:00 - 16:00 on Fridays? Really? Ok, whatev. And we started organizing some spreadsheets with contact information, working on a pictorial representation of where the students come from on a world map, and organizing the first batch of acceptance letters. About five hours later, we decided enough was enough and headed home before girls night.

This girls' night was pretty relaxing too. I think everyone is

a) recovering from the past weekend,
b) actually starting to have to do some work in this program, and
c) storing up some energy for this weekend when Michelle's friends come from NYC and Barcelona for her birthday. We ate some dinner, watched Gossip Girls, raided a pile of clothes destined for charities and headed home to get some sleep.

Today I went for another run, then to class, then to Amnesty for internship numero dos, where I finally had some work besides proofreading Czech translations into English. Wait for it - wait for
it - I organized letters by date and filed them. Followed by cleaning out the storage closet and recycling all of the out of date material. Then I sat at a computer for about 2 hours doing something - I'm not really sure? I think I need to improve my Czech so I know what I'm actually doing - and then I had to sprint to class. Tonight we're laying low too, I think?