How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon! December’s here before it’s June! How did it get so late so soon? –Dr. Seuss
My dorm has had a few potlucks now, and I’m consistently amazed at how many people participate. In general, the programs here seem to get a lot of student support, but I wasn’t really expecting a dorm-bonding event to have a big turnout. I love my dorm: the building has a pretty small number of students living here, and everyone is very chill. It’s not like the monstrous dorm from last year where I didn’t know 9/10 of the building and constantly had to deal with vomit in the elevators and smoke in the staircases. This is a really good group of people. They’re all radically different personalities, which keeps things interesting, but overall they’re very friendly and great to live with. And it helps that we have such approachable RAs and a helpful building manager. Unlike in New York, here I’ve had a chance to actually spend time just hanging out with these lovely people. They’re friends (though ever professional, of course) who I’m hoping to keep in touch with and maybe even see again when I’m in Berlin next semester.
After the boys over fall break reminded me that American pancakes aren’t a regular part of life here, I decided to make some for the most recent potluck. They were chocolate chip. Yum! I also made pumpkin soup and pumpkin butter with the remaining half of my orange squash. So much seasonal goodness!
Friday the 5 was the last of the NYU-sponsored trips that I managed to get on. At first, I hadn’t really been interested in touring Plzen. Back in September, the history of beer-making in a Czech city hadn’t seemed so interesting. Since then I’ve had my share of Plzen brews. That new understanding combined with Plzen's becoming one of the 2015 European Culture Capitals convinced me to sign up. Maybe Sam’s nagging helped too. Regardless, it was a great trip and I’m glad I went. My advice to NYU in Prague students of the future: take advantage of the school sponsored trips. Instead of spending each weekend jetting off to Western Europe, as you may be tempted to do, sign up for the free weekend trips. You have your Thursday night in Prague instead of on a plane; your Friday and/or Saturday touring part of this wonderful country; NYU pays for tours, hostels, and (most) food; and you get home before dinner on Saturday so you still have part of your weekend to spend exploring Prague. Which you should pretty please be sure to do! Because suddenly it’s November and you’re wondering where the semester went.
Excuse my tangent. Now then, back to Plzen. This was a day-trip so we got on the bus at 8 and were in Plzen by 10. We started out with a tour of the major sites of the city. The school where Smetana studied under his uncle’s watchful eye was one of the tour highlights, along with the park that was built when the city moat was filled in and a mural depicting famous people from the life of the city. A more curious stop on the tour was a memorial of thanks to American soldiers who liberated Plzen at the end of WWII. Apparently, Soviets forbade history teachers to mention that Americans had any hand in ending the Nazi occupation. This would have been fine except that there were photographs of US soldiers that told the real story. So they had to concoct a cover-up and, long story short, the monument that exists today was build in very recent history because it could be built only after the old myths were expelled. Interesting stuff.
Two other stops on the tour were a Franciscan monastery and the gothic church in the main square. Our group walked into the church at the monastery to admire the decorations. This would have been fine except that they then walked up the main aisle to the alter, stopped to discuss the design of the pulpit, and took a few photographs…all while some old Czech women were trying to hold Eucharistic adoration! I hung out in the back and wondered about the places where the religious lives of some overlap with the academic (touristic?) lives of others. I’m all for admiring holy buildings, but it’s disrespectful to do so without understanding the basics of their community lives. The Jewish museum in Prague handles this really well: they hand out kippahs so that even the gentile men who visit the synagogues can cover their heads. Maybe the Catholic churches should put a sign out during adoration asking visitors to remain quietly in the transept. I was really uncomfortable.
Outside the gothic church in the main square, we got another dose of Czech superstition. I feel like wherever we go, there is something that you’re supposed to rub or hug or kiss for luck. In Plzen, the legend says that the town executioner was once waiting outside the church on his wedding day. Because he was considered an unclean person, he couldn’t enter the church and a legal stand-in groom had been appointed to take his place in the ceremony. As he waited, his nerves overcame him. He clutched at a sculpture of Christ’s head that was part of a decoration on a gate by the back of the church, and he started to pray. An old lady walked by and saw him. Since it was believed that executioners had some sort of mysterious power, the old lady immediately went and told the town that she saw the executioner transfer some of his magic into the sculpture. Even since, people have touched it for luck. It’s supposed to make your wishes come true.
If all of the good-luck rituals I’ve heard of this semester work, I should be fluent in multiple languages, tending a huge garden, writing pretty decent books and able to pay my parents back for every penny of my tuition…all within a year or so. Hold your thumbs for me! (Which apparently is the Central European version of crossing your fingers.)
The tour ended at lunch time, so Brianna led Becca and I to Andel Café for some to-die-for vegetarian food. This semester has been filled with great veg food, but I’m going to try to make those baked tomatoes when I have fresh tomatoes next summer. If I’m successful, I’ll post the recipe asap. Promise.
After lunch, we took tours of the Plzen underground, the original Plzen brewery and pub, and the current Plzner Urquell brewery. We learned that the underground cellars were originally for storing food and collecting well-water, but that they were eventually connected and could be used to making/storing beer, traveling between houses, and hiding valuables during times of war. We also watched a video about barrel-making and a video about Plzner’s growth as a company. We tasted hops and barley and unfiltered yeast-y beer. Then we watched the sun set over Plzner’s heliport before heading back to Prague for a quiet night.
Saturday, Sam and I had intended to explore some of the outer neighborhoods of Prague on foot. Instead, we started by taking tram 22 to the end of the line to see Bila Hora. We stopped off at a monastery on the way and ended up at the Star Castle on the way back. Then it started to rain so we hopped from tram to tram to stay dry. We went all over the city before eventually ending up in some southern outskirts. At that point I got cold so we came home to eat soup.
After dinner we headed to A Studio Rubin to an excellent concert featuring Megaphone and Milo. We had met one of the guitarists from Megaphone at an NYU event put together by one of the RAs a few weeks ago, and it was fun to see him perform. He even recognized us (well…he recognized Sam immediately), which was unexpected but pretty sweet.
After the concert ended, we walked out into the street. A few drunks were being a bit loud on their way out—not obnoxiously loud for NYC but annoyingly loud for Prague—until suddenly we heard pigeon wings and gunshots. We looked up, startled, and saw someone leaning out of the window of his apartment. He fired a few more blanks from his handgun before leaning back inside. Perhaps a bit of an over-reaction? In a city where you can be arrested for making too much noise after 10 pm, maybe not. Although that’s what you get for living over a concert venue in the tourist center. Just saying.
Sunday was pretty lazy. I went with Sam and Skjviana to get Afghan food at Ariana (which was sooo good!) and then we crossed the Vltava and walked down the river bank until we reached the Staropramen brewery. At which point we turned home to get caught up on work before class.
So now it’s Monday. Tomorrow, I turn old. To celebrate, friends are coming over for food. These are a few of my favorite things!
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