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