Czeching In: Dvacet Jedna (21)!!!!!

Tuesday, September 17

Today was our second day of intensive Czech. Surprisingly enough, the class is starting to make more sense even though I’ve only had class for a day. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to start a new language. Just to give you all a sense of what Czech is like, I’ll tell you two words that I feel perfectly sum up how unintuitive the language is. The word “chai” means “tea” in Czech, but it is spelled čaj. The Czechs are big proponents of J’s, K’s and other letter that aren’t necessarily that common in English, so I’ve definitely been thrown for a loop, but I’m having fun in the class. After class, we went on a tour of the Prague Castle. There aren’t really words to describe how incredibly gorgeous it was, so I’ll post some photos (although I don’t think the photos do it justice either). The castle grounds themselves are huge and the cathedral is massive and hauntingly gothic. The façade is so intricate and the stained glass inside is so intricate that one could stare at it all day and get lost in its beauty and enchantment. Walking through the cathedral was like walking through a time capsule into the Gothic Era. After the castle tour, we came back to our flat and rested. My birthday 21^st birthday is September 18, so I wanted to go out and celebrate the coming of my birthday with my friends. At midnight, we popped a bottle of champagne and had a mini dance party. We were all exhausted so we fell asleep shortly after.

Wednesday, September 18

Today is the day! Finally 21! I was so excited for my birthday, but what I’ve realized is that when my birthday usually rolls around, I end up thinking a lot about life. I’m not having a life crisis or anything, but the inevitable aging that comes with a birthday makes me become especially pensive and reflective on the time that has passed. My friends here made me feel so special on my day. I had Czech in the morning and because we were studying food and restaurant vocabulary in class, our class went out to lunch. Five of the girls in our class (myself included) had the opportunity to sit with our professor and get to know her a bit better. She is such a lovely woman and it was so nice breaking down the student/teacher barrier at lunch and having more casual conversation. I think the lunch was key to the bonding of our class because we had a chance to not be the timid new students learning a foreign language. Following lunch, UPCES (my program) took us on a guided tour of the Jewish Quarter. My flat is in the Jewish Quarter so it was very cool learning about the historic sites that are essentially right outside my window. As you could’ve guessed, the Jewish Quarter has been the main residence of Czech Jews since as early as the 1400s (somebody, please correct me if I’m wrong). While their community primarily flourished, they soon began to face major persecution by pretty much every dynasty. The Quarter was eventually turned into a ghetto and they faced major discrimination. During the Nazi occupation, the Czech Jews were sent to a termination camp about 40 km from Prague. 90,000 Czech Jews perished in the Holocaust. Only 7,000 survived. We visited the oldest synagogue in Prague that has been turned into a holocaust memorial. The tour was much heavier than I anticipated, but I’m so glad that I had a chance to learn more about Prague and the Czech Republic’s Jewish history. We visited the Jewish cemetery. It is FILLED with tombstones and is rumored to house over 90,000 bodies. It was extremely eerie, but beautiful at the same time. Just to be clear, the cemetery isn’t a holocaust memorial. Burials in this cemetery date all the way back to the 1500s, I think. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in the synagogues, but I’ll post a photo of the cemetery so that you can get a sense of how packed it was. The tour was incredibly poignant and enjoyable because of my interest in Jewish history and because I was able to connect it to everything I learned about while in Israel this summer. Such a great way to spend my birthday afternoon! After the tour, friends came back to my flat, we rested for a bit and then my friend DJ made us all dinner. It was delish! After dinner, we got dressed and headed to my friend’s flat for a party. We danced and hung out there. I’m really so grateful for the friends I made here. They made my day so special and even got me some amazing birthday gifts! I received a “Babar” book in Czech AND a “Praha Drinking Team” t-shirt. I’m thrilled. We headed to a fun club after and ran into tons of kids from our program. The night was so fun and I couldn’t have asked for a better 21^st birthday.

Thursday, September 19

Today was rather tame in comparison to yesterday. We had our last day of Czech and then embarked on a riverboat cruise. It was a bit rainy when we started the cruise, but by the end, it was sunny and gorgeous and the views of Prague were amazing. Like the castle tour, there isn’t much to write about it. Pictures capture the moment much better.