Otto Fest!!!!

Yesterday we took a bus to Otto's, our art history professor's, small village. They were having a huge celebration because they had just played the neighboring village in futbol. Even though they were slaughter at the game, they still partied. There was a lot of different types of music playing, but the best part was when DJ Satan (that's Otto's stage name) mixed it up. Also, David and Iram, two of the guys from our program joined in!! The clip above shows the chaos that they thought was music. It was really funny!!!

The best part of the night was when Otto asked us to go to the after party. He took us to the village library, which also serves as the village bar where the fridge with packed with pivo!! Otto played some tunes and everybody danced around. The bus couldn't take us back to Prague until 5:25 the following morning, so when we got tired, we camped out in Otto's back yard. The whole experience was so surreal. I'm glad that was how I spent my last Saturday night in Prague.

Yokki!!!

Yesterday I met Yokki. She is the topic for my photo story. Yokki is a freelance photographer here in Prague. She moved to prague from Japan a little over a year ago to come to school here. Her boyfriend is also a photography, with a little more fame. Her boyfriend, Daniel, just released his third photo book. But I love Yokki. She let me assist her in her darkroom. That was fun because since I have only known how to shoot digital, I had never been in a dark room before. She was so sweet. I also went to work with her yesterday to take some photos there as well. She works as a secretary, but her passion is photography. She really inspired me to take pictures for myself. I feel blessed to have met a friend here in Prague. She has this thing with her friend back in Japan where they send each other this notebook back and forth. Every time they add photos with poems and stories before they send it off. I plan on starting the same idea with her when I get back to the states.

Working...

This week is going to be pretty dull...I have my final paper due next Monday for Art History and two photo projects also due Monday. Today I tripped going up the stairs in the metro and I dropped my camera. My lens is barely hanging on by a little piece of plastic. I can still shoot, but I don't know how long it's going to last. As you can tell, things aren't looking too bright right now. I am still trying to make the best of things. This is my last couple of days in Prague...I need to keep my hopes up...

Vysehrad, Vltava, and more!

Almost everyone went traveling to other countries this weekend, but I decided to stay in Prague and save my money...Here is my weekend laid out...

Friday 20 June 2008:
On Friday, I rested in the morning, then I took the tram to Vyšehrad and walked around. The weather was ideal for shooting pictures. Vyšehrad is a hill that has the cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, a cemetery where Czech heroes are buried, a garden...It was beautiful!! It had a beautiful view too!! After that, I walked down by Vltava River and walked all the way back to the Staromestska metro stop.
In the evening, Kate and I researched this place called the Secret Lounge, so we got a bunch of people together, and walked to the secret lounge, only to find out that is actually on of the most popular clubs in Prague. So we went to Château, another club, instead. It was ok, but I do have to say that I think I'm done with the whole Club Europe scene...

Saturday 21 June 2008:
Again, Kate and I went to the Flea Market. It was a good day at the flea market. Then we came back to the room and rested. At the later afternoon, Kate, Emilio, and I rented a boat on Vltava river. We rowed all the way around Children's Island. After that, we went to eat at The Pub, walked around, then came back to the dorm.


Sunday 22 June 2008:
Kate, Emilio, and I went to English mass at St. Thomas. I really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we walked up to the Prague Castle, were we had a little picnic in the garden, a yoga session, and just chilled. After a while, we went to get some ice cream. Today was the hottest day in Prague since we've been here. It was in the 90's . When we came back to the room, I showered and took a 5 hour nap.

Kutna Hora and Cubism

On Wednesday June 18, 2008, we took another day trip. This time we went to the little town of Kutna Hora. We only had a couple of hours there, but the first thing we did was go see the "bone church" of Kutna Hora. The story is that there was a small cemetery that everyone wanted to be buried in because dirt from the Crusades was sprinkled over the land. People believed that the cemetery was holy. So what they did was every couple of years dig up the old bodies to make room for the new ones. They then used the bones to decorate the crypt. There was this really elaborate chandelier that was made using every bone in the body. After that, we just roamed around the town. I went to check out the church, but you had to pay to get in. So my friend Kelly and I went walking down the streets. We saw a house that had a cherry tree and chickens running around. Kelly wanted to jump the fence and play with the chickens...I thought we were going to get shot or put in jail, so I just watched. She was unsuccessful, which made me relieved! The train ride to and from Kutna Hora was really beautiful because it was the Czech country side.


That evening a bunch of us went out to Kross Klub. It was really cool!! They had all of these levels with different types of music in each level. Also, the decorations were all macinical parts...it's really hard to explain, but if you ever get a chance to come to Prague, go to Kross Klub!!

On Thursday June 19, 2008, I met with Dennis, my photo prof, to go over some of my photos. Then I hung around and waited for Art History to start. For our weekly Thursday Excursion, we went to The House of the Black Madonna, which is a building, cafe, and musuem that's all about the Cubism movement. First we stopped at the cafe, which, by the way, is the only Cubist cafe in the world. I had this chocolate cake with baked apples cooking inside. It was AMAZING!! I loved the little cafe...this is also a must see!! Then we moved up to the museum. I really enjoyed it. I really like the way that my art history class is set up because going to these museums and art exhibits, I learn to appreciate art that I would have never appreciated had I not had a very learned professor walking me through each piece and telling me about it.

Thursday evening, I crashed. I had been so tired, I pretty much fell asleep at 5:30pm and woke up at 10:15am, with some wake up time in between. But I'm glad I took some time to sleep. Now I'm energized for one of my last weekends in Prague!

This is me being way behind on my blogs!!!

I am way behind on my blogs so I am going to try to compress 5 days in Prague into one blog!! :)


Wednesday 11 June 2008:
On Wednesday, I didn't have class, but we did have guest photo lecturers come talk to us!! Fist we had Michael O'Brien who has worked for National Geographic and Texas Monthly. He has also released a book named "Faces of Texas" with all different kinds of portraits of all different kinds of Texans.

After that, a bunch of us went down to Old Town Square to watch the Czech Republic play Portugal in Futbol on these huge big sceens. It was crazy!! There were soo many people there...and sooo much Pivo!!! haha. It was fun, but I didn't stay long because we had another speaker come talk to us.

Daniel Sperl is a Prague native photographer. He really inspired me because he was so humble and still loved photography. He doesn't consider himself a photographer, he just says its a hobby, even though he's released several photography books. If you are interested in photography, defiantly check out his work at www.danielsperl.com

Thursday 12 June 2008:
On Thursday I had photo class in the morning, then art history class. For our Thursday excursion for art history, we first went to the National Museum of Modern Art where we studied Kupka and his abstract art. This was the first time in my life that I appreciated abstract art and it's beauty. The second part of the class, we went to the Rudolfinum to see an exhibit entitled Angels Sleeping by Gottfried Helnwein. I was in complete shock at his beautiful work. He is a painter, but for about half of the exhibit, I thought it was photography because his paintings are so sharp and life like, and I wasn't the only one. He does absolutely amazing work. The coolest part about the exhibit is that we had a guided tour by Helnwein, himself!! It was awesome. Check out his exhibit at www.galerierudolfinum.cz. After class, a couple of us went to an exhibit on sexism. It was really interesting and controversial. They showed the Andy Warhol film Women in Revolt, which was the most made movie I have ever seen, but it was still interesting. They had a lot of films and art about the concept of sex and how it may be viewed as a faux pas, and masculinity and femininity. In the evening, Dana, Kate, and I (Dana and Kate are my roommates) went to have some wine on Charles Bridge. This was my first time to be on Charles Bridge at night. It was so beautiful. I took some great photos!

Friday 13 June 2008:
Ashley and I spent the whole entire day at the Prague Zoo. It was amazing. The Prague Zoo was ranked 7th best zoo in the world. The Zoo was so big!! My favorite part was the Africa part. They have this huge field made to look like an African Safari. It was so beautiful! They had giraffes and zebras and other African Animals. I also enjoyed the elephants. They were so cute!! After the Zoo, we meet Dana and Kate for dinner at The Pub. In the evening, we went to the student pub in the dorm to hang out, then Ashley and I watched an episode of Nip/Tuck.

Saturday 14 June 2008:
We all woke up early to go to the flea market. It was really fun!! I bought two scarves. My friend Kelly is so funny. She bought an accordion and a skate board, haha. The flea market was a lot of fun! Then we all came back to the dorms and rested. Saturday night was Museum night, which means that all the museums in Prague are free from 7pm-1am. We started off by going back to the Rudolfinum. All the film kids hadn't gone through the Helnwein exhibit, so I walked them through it. Then we enjoyed a concert by a youth symphony. After that, we went to eat dinner at The Pub, again!! The funny part is that we always get the same waiter. After dinner, we went to the Museum of Pop. It was really bad. I'm glad I didn't pay to get in. By this time it was already about 1am, but we stayed out and went clubbing because it was Araceli's birthday. She wanted to go salsa dancing, so we walked around for about an hour and a half trying to find a salsa club, when we finally a man hooked us into going to his club with his one line: "It's free to get in, free to get out". We laughed so hard, that we decided we had to go to that club, plus it was free to get out!! A damper was put on the night when Micky got his camera stolen, but we all still had fun, and are more careful than ever.

Sunday 15 June 2008
Today is Father's Day. I wish I could have spent it with my dad, but I went to Mass at St. Vitus and prayed for all the fathers in my life. I am blessed to have such a great dad and other men in my life that I also see as father figures. After mass, Ashley and I talked to some of the clergy about maybe doing her photo story on one of them, but we decided to find a Priest that spoke English. We then went to Pizza Colosseum for lunch. I had pasta with tomato sauce. It was good and spicy! We then picked up some ice cream and came back to the dorm, where I rested for the rest of the day.

Terezin

Yesterday we took a day trip, and took an hour long bus to Terezin. Terezin is a fortress built in the 18th century, and was later taken over in the 20th century and became a concentration camp. We went through the cemetery, the cells, the execution grounds. Terezin is different than any other concentration camp because it is still a small town. People live and work there. Its weird because every building in the town has seen so much. For example, the town bank used to be the Gestapo Post.

Another interesting thing about Terezin was that when the Red Cross wanted to investigate concentration camps, Terezin was changed to look like a beautiful resort where people wanted to be. This is why it took so long for people to learn about what really was happening in concentration camps. Terezin was more of a holding place before people were sent to the East to die in Auswitchz.

Probably the saddest part of our day trip was the Terezin Museum, which displays art of the young children who were held captive in Terezin. The sad part is that out of all the child artists whose art was displayed on the walls, I only saw that two of the hundreds had survived.

Terezin was difficult to visit, but I glad I went. It reminded me of what had happened in this area of Europe decades ago. Also, it reminded me to be thankful daily for freedom, democracy, and human rights, and to help those who still lack those gifts.

Pictures: The first photo was taken on the execution grounds. The grounds were a small hallway with slits in the walls so the nazis would just stick there guns in and shoot. On the wall, someone had craved in the word "Rage". The second photos is of the cells. It shows the beds that hundreds were crammed into, and also how people were know by a number, instead of by name.

Bohemia Excursion!!

So this weekend we had a little excursion to different areas just north of Prague. It was really awesome!! Here is what we did:

So after we were picked up on Saturday morning, our first stop was to this old coal mine called Maira in the town of Kladno. The mine was still completely in tact and persevered. Like all the miners boots were still all out, and all the machines were still out, just like it used to be. But the coolest part of it all was that it is also now used to house all these crazy art pieces. The art was put into places that didn't disrupt the setting. For example, in one of the lockers of the locker room, there was this art mold of a naked woman (Picture shown). It was really funny. We also got to go into the actual mine. It was really awesome and cold.

After that, we stopped at a grocery store to pick up food. We then climbed up this huge mountain named Hazenburg. At the top was one of there most beautiful views I have ever seen in my life. Also there were castle ruins we could climb up. It was amazing. That is were we had our food that we got at the grocery store, and we had a picnic.

After that we went to a pub to watch the Czech Republic slay Switzerland in Futbol. I honestly didn't really care, so I took a nap, haha.

After that, we finally got to the Hotel. I took a shower, then we ate dinner. After that, we went to some punk rock pub. We were staying in a really small town, and it was the only open pub. We all stuck out like sore thumbs. It was really funny.

The next day we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. After we checked out, we had to climb up another mountain. This mountain was a lot steeper and didn't have as good of a view, but it was still cool. This mountain, the Rip Mountain was were the first settlers went and decided that the area was beautiful. That is how the people started to inhabit the Czech lands.

After that, we stopped at a random lake. Some people decided to jump in, but not me. I just sat down, shot some pictures, write a bit...then when the people came out of the water, they found out that there were leeches all over them, haha. Soon after we were all leech-free, it started to pour!! I got soaked trying to get back to the bus.

We then drove a bit more to the small town of Melnik for lunch. After lunch we went to Kostnice. This is a church/Bone crypt. So pretty much what this was is a cemetery that ran out of space, so people dug up all the old bodies to make more room. So they decided to use all the old bones to decorate a room and make crosses and stuff. It was really creepy, but really really cool.

We then went to another castle, but I was so tired by this point and really had to go to the bathroom, that I didn't pay too much attention.

After that, we came back to Prague. We were all sooooo exhausted, smelly, and wet from the rain, but we all had sooooo much fun!!!

I will be posting more photos on Facebook and Flickr. Check 'em out!!

Love,
Naema

Mucha, Another Photo Opening, Crown Jewels, and Sex and the City!!

Yesterday, 04.06.08, was a long day. We had photography class from 10-1, then Art history from 2-5. On Thursdays in art history, we always go to a museum. Yesterday we went to the Mucha Museum. It was awesome!!! If anyone is interested in Art, look up Mucha if you don't know who he is. He's awesome. After that, we had another Photo Gallery opening, but it definitely wasn't as cool as the St. James one. On our way back, Dana, Ashley, and I stopped by this sketchy Chinese food place for dinner. It was really good. Later that evening, we did laundry. Dryers are not common is the Czech Republic, so we had to buy clothes lines...Our room looks pretty ridicules right now and is like a maze to try to get through...

Today was fun. There was this re-enactment of the moving of the Crown Jewels from St. Vitus to the Castle. That was actually kinda frustrating because "the press" was there and blocking all my good shots. So I ended up just wondering around for a bit. Later on in the day, I went to the movies by myself. It was nice to get a way from everyone for a bit. Plus I went to go see Sex and the City...It was AMAZING :)

This weekend, we have an excursion where we will be traveling in the north part of the Czech Republic...I will let you know how that goes...

Naema Kalifa

Rain and Art Gallery Opening...

Yesterday it rained all day. It was nice because I didn't have class until 2, so I just layed in my bed, with the windows open and listened to the rain all morning.

I had Czech language class at 2. For class, we went out to a little restaurant with a great view. We had to practice ordering food, and such...I got a hot chocolate.

In the evening, we went to a photo gallery opening. It was amazing for numberous reasons. The gallery had multipal photographers showing there art of the same topic. In Spain, there is a pilgrimage called "The Ways of Saint James." So all of these photographers went on the pilgrimage separtely and shot picutures along the way. It was so awesome to see different interruptations of the same thing. Another reason why I liked it was because there were a lot of people from Spain, so I could understand people again!! And the final reason why I enjoyed myself was because of all the free food and wine! They had all these kinds of Spainish sea foods. Some of it didn't look too good, but it was for free!!

Even though I got soaked in the rain, I had a really nice day yesterday (don't worry mom, I took a shower as soon as I got back to the dorms so I'm not going to get sick).

Ps- I really want to do this Pilgrimage now...Is anyone intrested? Next summer?? If so, check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James

...Let me know!!


Naema Kalifa

resting and shooting...

So this weekend, I pretty much just rested and caught up on sleep and reading. It was really nice and I needed it.

Yesterday (monday), I woke up early, and just walked about the thrift shops. I also went to Tesco, which is like the Czech Walmart. I needed a lot of cleaning supples. Our bathrooms were pretty nasty. Then I had art class from 2-5. After class, I went though Charles Bridge to take some pictures of street musicians. That is my first topic for my first photo assignment. After a couple hours of shooting, I met up with some of the girls in my program for dinner. Dinner was AWESOME! We went to this place called The Pub. At The Pub, every table has it's own tap to fill up your own beer. Also, at the front of the restaurant, there was a big screen that showed how much each table drank...so it was like a competition...We did not win, haha.

Today, I had photography at 10am-1pm. After class, we all went to a really old cemetery where Kafka is buried. We shot pictures there too. I just got back to my dorm. I am about to take a shower and get ready for our social. Tonight we are going to a bar to meet our "Czech Buddies". That will be fun.

Naema Kalifa

A day on my own...

We don't have classes on Fridays, so I took our first Friday to hang out by myself....first, i slept in until 11am, then i got dressed and went back to Wallenstein. In the Wallenstein gardens, they have peacocks just running free and chillin'. It was sooo awesome. I spent some time there, just hanging out.

Then I went to go look for some food. I just walked the streets for a while until i found a little cafe. As i was looking for some place to eat, i walked into every little store that i found. It was really cool. The area that I was in, Malestraska, has a lot of little second hand store :)

After lunch, I found the Church of Our Lady Victorious. This is where The Infant of Prague is housed. The Infant of Prague is a little wax statue of Baby Jesus that was given to Prague by the Spanish (i think). They say that the statue kept Prague safe during times of war. I went through the little museum, sat down and prayed, took pictures, and then they had mass in Italian, so I stayed for that too. It was really beautiful!!

After Mass, I went to find the John Lennon wall. After John Lennon died, the youth of Prague devoted a wall to him, painting art and Beatles lyrics on it. But since Czech lands were still under communism at the time, it was all painted over. People continued to express themselves, and it kept on getting white washed, but now, the wall have all this art on it. It's really cool. Not only does it remember Lennon, but the fight to end communism.

After all that, I came back to the dorms for a nap. In the evening, a group of us went to a play. The play was called FeatherHeads, and it was about how we spend a third of our lives in bed. It was sooo interesting. After that, we went to a little italian cafe and had some wine and pizza.

Today I'm laying low. I'm probably just going to hang out at the dorms so I can rest and save money. But I think we are going to another play tonight...

Naema

Gypsies!!

Today was so amazing!! this morning we went to a Gypsy parade!! They had come from all different parts of Europe and were in their traditional dress. I even got to take pictures of the "Queen of the Gypsies". I am not sure how one becomes the Queen of the Gypsies, but she was awesome!! She was this fat little old woman. She was cute. I took hundreds of pictures!!

After the parade, I grabbed a Euro Dog for lunch and went to my Art History class. For class today, we went to the St. Agnes Monestary, which is now a museum. I saw all of this beautiful religious art work. I am so greatful that I got to see that in my lifetime.

Now I'm going to go eat Italian with some of the other kids in my program.

Have a good evening!!
Naema

Classes starting...

I started my classes this week. We had Modern Art in the Czech Lands on Monday. That was ok. Our professor is a trip. He came out to a pub with us the other night and got so drunk that he peed in the sink. So yeaa... Photography with Dennis is going great as usual. He is a great professor and is so passionate about what he does. Today we went an art gallery with an exhibition called The Little Match Girl by Sara Moon. It was really intense and beautiful. I was really inspired.

Today after I wondered around with some other kids from my program, just shooting photos. It was really fun. I think tonight we are all going out somewhere. Last night all of us just stayed in. I was asleep by 7:30, I was so tired!! So today I'm rested. I will probably go the pub (we have one in the basement of the dorms!!), but no more Pivo (Beer in Czech) for me!!

Naema

Around Prague

So last night I had Absinthe. I didn't see a green fairy, but it was still crazy. That was something I wanted to do while I was here in Prague.

Prague is so much like New York City!! It has the trams, which are like buses and the underground metro, so it's a big city, but their are a lot of ways to get around. Today we had a tour of the main parts of Prague, all on foot!! But it went by super fast because everything was so beautiful. The best part was the Prague Castle, which is where the presidents of Prague have lived. Also within the Castle grounds, there is a Cathedral. It was so beautiful. I am planning on going to Mass there next Sunday. The Castle gardens were so amazing. After the tour, a couple girls from my program and I went to go eat our first real Czech meal. I ate pork with dumplings and sauerkraut. It was super good!! Not what I'm used to, but good. Then we kind of just walked around the city, sat in a park, walked by the river, got lost. It was just really fun. I really need to post some pictures. I start classes tomorrow, which will fun. Dennis, our photography prof has been hanging out with us these last couple of days. He has been to Prague 3 or 4 times, so he really know his way.

Hope everyone I doing well!! I love y'all!!

Scavenger Hunt!!

Today was really fun!! We went on a Scavenger hunt all over Prague. We had to find different things all over the city to earn points to win the grand prize. My team thought that the prize was money so we ran for 4 hours, trying to get everything!! It was nice because I kind of a got to skim the city and see what I want to go back to.

One of the most beautiful places that I saw was the Wallenstein Palace. The Czech Republic’s Senate is housed there. It has this beautiful pond and a beautiful view…Also, the Letna Gardens were breath taking. The Letna Gardens very much reminded me of Central Park in New York…people walking their dogs, bike riding, kids playing...It’s on top of this hill and you can see practically all of Prague. It was really amazing. Also, I went to the Letna Beer Garden where I had my first Czech Beer. It was surprisingly pretty good, which says a lot coming from someone who really doesn’t like beer. And it was super cheap!! Only 27 Crowns!! (Only about $1.68) So that was really cool.

I am having such a blast here in Prague, and really getting to meet some really amazing people. My suit mate is from Russia, and then my other three suit mates are Americans. My two roommates are both in the UT program with me…so that totals to six people, all using one bathroom, but it works…Hope you all are doing fine. Na Shledanou!!

I'm HERE!!!

Hello everyone!! I am here in Prague!! I loved the ride from the airport to the dorm. It was soooo different and beautiful. I wanted to pull out my camera and start shooting right away, but, I didn't want the taxi driver (who didn't speak english) to think i was weird.

I had the best conversation with this little old 88 year old Czech man on my flight. He looked like my Grandpa with blue eyes and a big nose :)

So in short, I have all my luggage, nothing broke apart, i'm not bleeding...I am fine (Mom :)).

Ok, I am going to dinner with my roommates now. Talk to y'all later!!

-Naema

Waiting in airport...

Hello friends!!

I am just about to begin my adventure, but first I must wait at the McAllen Airport. It's not too much fun at all...but with time, I will be in another country!! I am looking forward to to my 2 hours layover in Amsterdam! We'll see how that goes...

-Naema