Ahuva

The night before I left America for Prague, I was frantically packing and re-packing, only to discover that my luggage was still over the 50-pound limit. I ended up taking out everything I didn’t consider essential, so I only brought one pair of sneakers. Well, I’ve been wearing that pair again and again, day after day, as I trek around Prague’s cobblestone streets. Now my formerly white sneakers are not only filthy looking, but also in need of a good airing out. So, I’ve been trying to get a hold of some new sneakers. I’ve checked in several shops, but I can’t tell what is leather and what is just some cheap, plastic knock-off. Katiri suggested that I go to the “Fila Outlet,” which is right near my apartment. So, I went in there today and ... read more

Yesterday at 9 am, we met by a nearby theater to be picked up in a van. No, not that kind of van. We were on a school trip to Chesky Krumlov, a little touristy town about two and a half hours from Prague. We stopped once at a gas station about 20 minutes outside of the town for a short potty break. Unfortunately, the women’s restroom was out of commission and everybody had to share the men’s room. One girl from the program, Ashley, was rather traumatized upon seeing a strange man urinate. The van dropped us off at a bus stop from which we walked to our bed and breakfast. We checked in, dropped our stuff off, and then went to get some lunch before a tour of the local brewery. A bunch of ... read more

Today we met with David Kraus’ father, the secretary general of the Jewish federation here. We talked a little about issues affecting the community, like how communism obliterated the population’s religious impulse and how the Jewish school they set up is far from academically competitive. David’s father also mentioned that they were creating a new place for the elderly Jews to replace the two, separate places where the elderly currently reside. The project is supposed to allow the elderly to stay where they are, even if they eventually start needing more intensive care. It sounded like a pretty sweet idea. Right before the meeting, Kim (the program director) told me that last night she had a dream about me. In her dream, I apparently took speed to study better, but then drank a lot of beer ... read more

Today was not the best day. After two weeks, I can already feel my sense of adventure evaporating, leaving only traces of good old-fashioned homesickness in its place. Rather than kvetch in paragraph form, I’ve decided to make a cheesy, semi-poetic list of what I miss in America. *clears throat* Things I miss by Ahuva Z. I really miss driers and fish without bones, unlimited text messaging and my own cell’s ringtones. I miss normal, noncarbonated bottled water. I miss feeling like someone’s sister or daughter. I miss microwaves and veggie faux meat. I miss not stepping in dog poo when I walk down the street. I miss authentic burritos and all of my friends. I miss not longing for when the Czech politika class ends. I miss professors whose English is intelligible and clear. I ... read more

I had a looonng day of classes yesterday—seven and a half hours straight (from 9:00 am until 5:30 pm) with only a lunch break in between. I have all of my classes on Mondays; I don’t know how I will make it through the first day of each week. Thankfully, I have no class on Tuesdays, so I have today to recuperate. I did homework all morning and then went out with Jessie looking for a place to eat. We were hoping to go to a specific Thai restaurant that the guidebook deemed the best Thai place in all of Prague. It’s only a block or two from our apartment, so we walked over there… only to discover that it was closed! (dun, dun, dun!!!) We looked at the hours posted and became rather confused. The ... read more

Today was, thankfully, the last day of intensive Czech. After class, we went to the Jewish Quarter and ate at the community center. I guess Kim didn’t know I was a vegetarian, so she ordered the meat meal for me. I could have made a big deal about it and gotten the vegetarian meal of pancakes with disgustingly sweet apple sauce, but I decided to stick with the goulash. I mean, when else am I going to have the opportunity to eat kosher goulash? It was pretty good, but I wouldn’t be sad if I never ate it again. After eating, the guys were enlisted to help make the minyan* for mincha.** It may not seem like a big deal, but it bothered me that my presence was not valued at their prayer service. There are ... read more

I had my intensive Czech class for six hours today. Normally, we only have it for four hours a day, but we were trying to make up for the class we will not be having on Friday. The professor has some other commitment at the end of the week, so we get Friday off. Intensive Czech is… well, intense. It’s like cramming half of a college semester into four days. We have about three minutes to memorize conjugations and declensions before we are expected to know how to use them correctly in new contexts. Then we move on to the next concept. The trickiest thing is the simultaneous chaos of cases and genders. You can’t just be like, “Okay, this is accusative. Let me do that simple change so that it’s no longer nominative.” You have ... read more

Today a bunch of us met up at 10 am to get a Charles University student ID card. With help from CET, it was a relatively easy process. Then we went to the little-known Jewish library of Josefov. The lady at the entrance was a little bit crazy and seemed overwhelmed by a group of six students. We weren’t making any noise, but she kept telling us to be quiet because it was a “study day.” After a ridiculous process of signing in and getting past two sets of secure doors, we entered the tiny library where we saw only one person studying. Otherwise, it was deserted. Then this evening we went to see an opera (Rusalka) by Dvorak at the National Theatre. It was apparently one of his most famous operas. The opera had three ... read more

Unfortunately while expanding my knowledge of the world, I discovered that some places get cold weather. I’m not talking about the 68 degree California winter weather for which I normally wear three layers of clothing. Apparently, other places—including the Czech Republic, Canada, and the back of my grandmother’s refrigerator—regularly experience temperatures below the freezing point. Yes, even subzero temperatures! (This is truer for the Czech Republic if you’re using the noticeably more popular Celsius scale, as there will be temps in the single digits on the Fahrenheit scale for the first two months of my trip.) I know; it’s quite upsetting. Cold… who knew? Anyway, I’ve been frantically buying things that will allegedly keep my Californian tuchas warm in the snow, like a puffy brown coat and waffle-ish “thermal” undergarments. I hope they work. I mean, ... read more