Let's go to THIS park...haha

Jana Dvmolvo Hostel
Prague, Czech Republic
Sunday, 18, May 2008
4:55 PM (USA)/ 10:56 PM (CR)



sitting on my bed listening to the "French" girls talk in the common room to our American boys...

Turns out they are Swedish girls, and no they do not have BBB: Blonde braided hair, Blue eyes, and Big boobs. They are actually quite medieval looking, or no, distinctly European with their dress. It's not matchy-matchy and very dark.

Dark hair and pale skin,

much like the Czech people who, honestly I must say, still give me an odd vibe.

What I mean by that is that Prague is indeed a medieval city, and by origin is a bit odd. Think knights, dragons, damsels in distress (with their pointy flowing hats), witches, wooden flutes...A Knights Tale with Heath Ledger. Two other cities that unbeknownst to me were medieval are, Venice and Barcelona; all three were all founded in the 14th century. One telling characteristic of a medieval city are the roads, which are very organic in flow. No grids to be found-- meaning a delicious pub found today, may be lost tomorrow because in my mind, the winding passages (pronounced like massage) are hard to keep straight, haha.

In comparison, the people of the Czech, I feel, were already textured in behavior by their medieval roots, gruff and unglamorous (think hairy moles and large women drinking beer followed by man belches) and then when communism came through, oppressing them into oblivion, which has only recently been lifted, you have the present personalities of the Czech today: dark, melancholy, and again, slightly odd.

Walking down eerily quiet streets, the gray drizzle can seem like white noise, and the colossal buildings seem to have a living presence. That is also true of the underground subways that usually are only dotted with one or two people waiting on these brilliantly crafted stations that are vast and monolithic, made of stone, and all you can hear is the silence, when you feel it-- the wind. It starts out gentle with only the loose hairs around your face sensitive enough to detect it fan like sea grass, almost forebodingly so, when then like in a thunderstorm it suddenly grows in strength, rushing down the tunnel and passing you like a runaway stagecoach.

The wind seems reminiscent of messengers for the great Moravian Kings that used to occupy the land, announcing the arrival of its Excellency.

If nothing else it too reminds me of the Totoro Bus that meow's when picking you up, and has waterbed-like, fur covered seats (a cartoon that my grandmother had when I was little). What I'm trying to say is that they subway seems to breathe, not unlike the ornate buildings.

Also, something else that whispers communism is the fact that everything is grand and of a huge scale but only a few people seem to inhabit the land. It's like an empty movie set or ghost town...where are the people? Where are the people that according to communism should be happy and abundant because they all have the same equal portion? All I can say is soon they will figure out how to use their freedom, it's just hard to learn a new mentality, after all, they don't have Oprah or Dr. Phil helping them be their best self ;)

The city is very quite with the most noise being either tourists in the Old Town Square (Asian, Italian, Hungarian) or mechanical ones. On the way back to our hostel you may find the occasional authentic person walking their matted dogs in clothes ranging from brown to gray.

The buildings have more color than most of the locals.

Also, there is no rule about picking up after your pet, so poop sometimes shows up. Prague is an extremely dog friendly city; however, the point is, no one seems outwardly happy, even the dogs.

By this I mean, I don't see outwardly warm smiles, laughs or conversation. The trams and subways are dominated by a doorbell like tone followed by a bodiless woman's voice announcing the platform name. No one speaks and if they do it is quiet. Couples are the exception when it comes to outwardly signs of affection as they publicly display it with NO SHAME. Even that though it is sleazy, not sweet. I don't see many small children; mostly my age and up.

The oldest people definitely show signs of communism with their dark shaws/hats and inconspicuous, almost paranoid movements.

I've counted three people that I heard laugh today and one doesn't count because it was a sarcastic one-- I SEVERELY under tipped the man and he scoffed while walking away (still trying to understand the whole currency thing).

I think perhaps communism hasn't left the mentality of a lot of people, and the children that were raised by people that lived through it carry on that mindset as well, one of hopelessness and only a government to serve.

The happy side to this is that they finally have their freedom and once they figure out how to use it, perhaps cheer will return to the city that now it lacks (in the locals only, most of the tourist are ecstatic, which come to think of it may be more the reason versus communism, haha). We as American grow up with so much more...hmmmm what word will do...honestly, the word here is freedom, than the Czech. We as a culture did not grow up scared and frightened of some government official outside our door listening in on our political opinions, nor were our parents forced to work a certain job because the government put them there. We were not raised in a society that crept on eggshells. As kids we were able to run and play in gardens and fields, developing the full range of our emotions opposite the Czech who like a plant in a dark closet shrink with in themselves.

Even if an American was raised in the city, in the mid-west, a broken family or the projects we as American possess spirit. Instead of becoming depressingly vapid and emotionless, we get angry. We rise up and work as we are known for being the "Can-Do" nation. We, as Americans possess an effervescence that I am not sure can be found here in the Czech, or at least in Prague, I haven't made it to the country side yet.

However, I have been looking for more subtle signs of happiness because first of all, the Czech Republic is an eastern european city, which is more modest by heritage, and too because I get the impression they do not believe themselves to be unhappy, or do not realize that they are, because they do not know what they are missing out on and I do. One place that shows signs of life and fledgling hope are in umbrellas. I find that they do not wear colorful clothing, but find outlets in their umbrellas which range from neon to pastel. Also, I saw a laughing baby and mama today which was cute and universal: babies make people melt, even the Czech-- or warm up in their case as they aren't icy but seemingly sad.

I just want to say that..."I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free!" And of course I say that to make a funny but it's true, I'm very happy with where I hale from :)

The Czech Republic is a quirky city but not something that I mind, only pause to muse over.

~` ~` ~`

As for Faran and I today, we went exploring trying to find a park only to figure out that it was on the other side of the river, haha, so no big deal, it was only RAINING! haha. Either way it was awesome and we had a great time actually and we plan on exploring more tomorrow before our 2:30 PM sustainability on world foods and populations class!! I love our teacher for that by the way, Professor Bob Patterson, haha, he's SO cute and has white hair, always wearing flannel :) love it!

Anyway, I know this post was longer than most and some may be, I just kind of get up here and spill my thoughts.

As usual, LOVE YOU ALL and be seeing you soon :)