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Published: November 14th 2009
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So, this is my first weekend of not traveling in a whole month. I can definitely say that it is relieving to be in Prague with a sense of permanence. However, there were not many others in the dorm this weekend. In my suite it was just three of us! But we decided that we would do something fun this weekend.
On Thursday night, we went to Cross Club. Its a really cool bar with weird industrial artwork and fixtures everywhere. Every night they invite an artist or a DJ. Thursday, it was a Reggae DJ. It was really cool. It was a nice laid back night with just three girls and four guys.
Friday night we went to a cool indie place where they have indie movie showings and bands. We bought tickets to see Matt Bauer and Marie Sioux. Marie Sioux was a Native American folk singer from Nevada. Matt Bauer's band was very unique. The instruments in his band were a banjo, an upright bass,and an electric guitar. His voice was kind of eery, but the music was so unique and interesting.
The next morning Zuzana told me that my friend Raila who had been
in the hospital for a few days now (for Mono) needed visitors and a few things brought to her. We decided to visit Vyšehrad first, and then make our way over to see Raila. Vyšehrad was really cool. It is a grave yard that was built in the tenth century. It has many saints and famous people from Czech history buried in it. I think it is one of the most beautiful cemeteries that I have ever seen. Instead of being grid-like and flat, the Czech let nature take over. There are hills and ivy grows over the stones and up the trees. It is almost like a secret garden and a cemetary in one. Beyond the cemetery is a spectacular view of the city. You can see almost all the bridges from this angle, not to mention the castle and the cathedral.
After Vyšehrad, we went to see Raila. We took two buses and then walked some to get there! It is definitely secluded from everything! The hospital in Prague is kind of like a college campus, each branch has its separate building quite far away from one another. We had a hard time finding the Infectious building
because no one spoke English! But finally, we found it, and it was not what we were expecting.
It was an old building with broken wooden sheds around it perimeter. We walked in and it was like we walked into a time machine, back to the 1950's. It was almost completely empty, the equipment was old, the walls were a faded yellow color and no one spoke English. Finally, we found Raila. The room was aweful. It was like a jail cell. She had an iron bed, painted white. There was another just like it next to hers, but luckily unoccupied. There was no TV, no magazines, no books. Raila was just sitting there. I felt so bad! She said that for lunch, they fed her "soup" which looked like water with a few pieces of meat with the consistency of cat food.
Raila, who is from Finland was not so surprised about the state of the facility she was in. We we wondering if it was an aspect of universal health care. I mean, I think that everyone should have equal access to healthcare even if it means the quality of my health care goes down, but
I can't lie. I was shocked to see this hospital.
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Mom
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I was especially interested in the hospital conditions. Loved hearing about your 2 nights of music in Prague too!