The Opera; Getting to Know Brno

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On Thursday, February 7th, I was able to explore the city a bit until my intensive Czech language course at 2:00 pm. I was so proud of myself; I got from Vinařská (which is my residence hall) to my class, which is located at one of the buildings at the Faculty of Arts, all by myself. (Because Masaryk is a university, it has faculties, or colleges). This requires exchanging trams and walking several blocks. It is no great feat, but it felt good to know where I was going and be able to get their on my own. Hahhahahah... I am so easily impressed!

Our teacher let class out a bit early so that some people could go back to Vinařská and prepare for the opera. I had my dress in my bag, so I wandered the city square until I found a stand at which I could change money. The independent stands give a better exchange rate than the banks and don't have the fees.

At 6:15 or so, many international students, including myself, gathered to head over to Janáček Theatre (http://www.ndbrno.cz/en/) to see Prodaná nevěsta (The Bartered Bride). The theatre was lovely and the Opera was beautiful, even though I didn't understand it because everything was in Czech. It was a wonderful experience. (If you would like to know more about the production, visit this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bartered_Bride ). Afterwards, a few of us found a late-night pizza stand and got some food, then headed to the pubs to relax before going to back to Vinařská.

Friday was long and busy; because class had let out early on Thursday, we had 4 or so hours of Czech language to make up for the missed time! My brain was rather "mushy" after that! Several people went to get groceries after class, but I was hungry so a friend named Matt (from North Carolina) and I called up one of the Czech tutors, Blaza, to come have dinner with us. Blaza took us to a steakhouse near the city center. The food was good, but it was definitely no Iowa (or even Georgia) steak!!! Blaza had a soda called "Kofala" (I think that is the right spelling). It is the rival of Coca-Cola here and is quite tasty. It is very dark and is made with several herbs. It was nice to sit and talk in the restaurant with my new friends. Blaza is actually a literature student as well and we will have a class together! I am very pleased to have met her because she is very kind and outgoing.

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