Ramblings from Prague

June 2001

Ahoy!

Yup, that’s one of the ways Czech people say Hi…
rather weird to hear I must say. They also say Ciao,
both for hello and goodbye.

Well, I guess I’ve been silent for too long… What?!
Meira silent you say in disbelief… Okay, not THAT
silent, just with email 😉 I have been meaning to
write but when you pay by the minute it’s hard to sit
down and write a long mail. So I think I’ll not be
overly ambitious and maybe do this in parts.

So, yes, I’m still in Prague. Been here for 6 weeks
now. The Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)
course took 4 weeks and was very intensive – hardly
had any free time – I actually worked very hard for a
change. Passed the course so now I’m qualified. When
I’ll actually work again is another story… 😉 Really
enjoying the life of a tourist. Of course, money is
finite, so one day I’ll start thinking about a job.
Right now I have dollars from New York (a tax refund
of $4000 really helped!).

I really love Prague – I’m so happy just to hang out
here for a while. Done a lot of sightseeing,
especially the Old Town and the Castle. Loads of
walking. Really have got to know the city. I decided
to use Prague as a base from which to make day trips.

Last week I visited this medieval silver mining town
one hour east of Prague called Kutna Hora. It’s a very
picturesque little town. What was really cool was this
chapel that I think had been an ossuary. The skeletons
of some 14000 monks and people who had died in the
plague centuries ago were stored there. Then in 1870
this craftsmen turned all these bones into “artistic
creations” – a huge chandelier, a coat of arms, and
others. Quite morbid but really cool I think! Check it
out at
http://www.ludd.luth.se/users/silver_p/kutna-1.html

In the coming week I plan to go to some of the spa
towns in West Bohemia, the former concentration camp
of Terezin in the north, this beautiful little town
called Cesky Krumlov in the south, and then onto
Olomouc in Moravia where I’ll stay with this girl
Lucie who I did the course with. I can then explore
the eastern part of the Czech Republic there.

By the way, for those of you not so acquainted with
Central Europe (like I was before I came here),
Czechoslovakia broke up into the 2 daughter countries
of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. The
languages spoken are Czech and Slovak respectively.
They’re very similar and people from the 2 countries
understand each other easily. The Czech Republic
consists of 2 regions – Bohemia in the west and
Moravia in the east. Prague is the capital city and is
in Central Bohemia. Czech is a Slavic language and so
is nothing like anything you know (unless you know
Russian). Not at all related to the Romance languages.
So it’s bloody difficult!!! This is the first time
I’ve been in a truly foreign country where I just
can’t communicate. It’s very frustrating. Luckily
Prague is very touristy so it’s not too bad, but I
fear when I travel outside of Prague it’s going to be
a nightmare. I have picked up a few words, but no real
conversation at all. I can say one sentence, one that
I hear every day: Please finish getting on and off –
the doors are closing (announcement in the
Metro/underground/subway).

Czech people are really quiet. I mean it. And it’s not
just me who thinks it. They do as well. Coming from
Israel and the Sinai where “whisper” and “quiet” are
completely alien notions (hey, what’s wrong with
conducting a conversation when you’re standing on
opposite ends of the street?), you really notice the
difference. Okay, where the tourists are it’s not that
quiet. But I was at a rock festival one day and you
wouldn’t have believed it from walking around.

There’s also the small (though not at all
insignificant) matter of deodorant, or rather, lack
thereof. Maybe it’s a hangover from Communist times,
but really, a decade has passed since then. Catching
the metro or the bus or the tram is so much fun, what
with everyone holding onto the bars above them,
armpits freely swaying right by your nose… Colds can
actually be quite a blessing in this case! 😉

For those beer-lovers out there, the Czech Republic is
your homeland. Everyone drinks beer (“pivo”) and large
amounts too! Even at breakfast. They tend to drink
them in half-litre glasses as well. Plzen in the west
is where the word “pilsener” comes from, and the Czech
Republic is home to the original Budvar beer,
otherwise known as Budweiser. So there’s some
interesting trivia to amaze your drinking buddies!

I can’t say that Czech people are fashion-conscious
much. A favourite of theirs is to wear sandles (kind
of like slops) with, wait for it, socks. Ah yes. What
can beat shorts, skirts and pants accesorised with
slops and (nonmatching) socks?….. Wait wait. There’s
more. Okay, it doesn’t bother me much, but this
American guy doing the course with me had serious
issues with women wearing stockings (pantihose) with
open-toed shoes.

For those of you who thought punk and reggae were
dead, think again my friends. It lives long and well
here. I’ve never seen so many dreadlocked people
before… and mainly young people. Also pierced and
tattooed like it was going out of fashion… Well,
obviously it’s not. I feel definitely very unhip and
uncool here. Does pierced ears count? Probably not 😉
I must say, I’ve started wondering about doing the
piercing thing myself… But I’m too chicken. That
tongue piercing thing really freaks me out. I mean,
WHY????? And then there are those spikes coming out
from below the mouth. How do they kiss??? And what if
they walk into a door or fall on the floor. I shudder
to think. And there’s this hairstyle guys often wear.
Head shaved or hair cut really short except for this
ponytail of hair. I don’t get it at all…

Okay, enough for today. must go home and get some
sleep in before Meira’s big day (or 2) out in the wild
wild west (okay okay, you can’t REALLY call spa towns
wild…)

So fare ye well me mates and keep those letters
rolling in… I miss you all so much and really
appreciate hearing from you. Travelling on one’s own
is very lonely.

All my love
Meira

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