Running is Always the Answer

Prague is a little snow village right now, and it’s beautiful, even if it is also bone chillingly cold. Fun fact from the tour guide at Prague castle today: While Prague usually sees about 9 days with snow per year, it has, as of today seen 63 this year. The high today was 23 degrees Fahrenheit, and I did my own research on weather.com to find out that the high is 35 degrees today on average. Nice. I love that I have had three separate two-hour walking tours this week. Impeccable timing.

Yesterday, I woke up late, and it was my turn to buy toilet paper for the apartment, so I ran up to the Albert’s to get some last minute baking supplies AND the bright blue toilet paper that had such a profound effect on me when I first got to Prague (See the post about “Irrational Fears of Culture Shock etc.”). Then I headed to the school around 1 for a tour of the Jewish quarter of Prague.

The Jews have a long and incredibly sad history in Prague. The first Jewish was, I think, established in the 11^th century, and over the centuries, they have faced rounds of persecution. This would happen when, for example, a king would borrow money from wealthy Jews and then go broke. An easy solution to the problem of paying back the people he had borrowed money from was to banish them. At least twice, the Jews were banished from Prague, and then let back after about five years. However, even during the more peaceful years, Jews were forced to live apart from the rest of the population and wear clothing that differentiated them from the other residents of the city. In the early 18^th century, more Jews lived in Prague than anywhere else in the world, but they were kicked out for a while when a new ruler came to power. In 1867, Jews received full rights in Prague. Prior to WWII, 92,000 Jews lived in Prague, Franz Kafka among them (he wrote Metamorphosis, The Penal Colony, and The Trial, among other short stories and works). More serious persecution occurred, of course, during the holocaust and under the communist government. Even though Jews are now allowed to freely practice their religion now, there are only 1500 in Prague, and 3000 total in the Czech Republic.

We saw a few synagogues, which was cool. None of the places we visited, however, were still actively in use; they were museums.  We got a tour of the Jewish memorial and graveyard, and I thought that the cemetery was the best thing we saw, visually. There are gravestones side by side from over 12 layers of graves, and it’s the second oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe. Graves from different centuries have risen up through the dirt beside each other, and many of the gravestones lie beneath the surface, still. Here’s a link to the wikipedia page about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Jewish_Cemetery_(Prague)

After the tour, I came back to the apartment and made mom’s awesome pasta with garlic, almonds, parsley, and PARMESAN CHEESE. Yum. I had the leftovers tonight for dinner.

After dinner yesterday, we walked a couple blocks through the winter wonderland to our favorite pub to get gin and tonics. When we got back, I talked to Dad on Skype for the first time, and the video worked! Very exciting.

Today, I headed to the school around 1 for a talk by a woman who works for the American Foreign Service in Prague. She told us about her career, and I think it actually sounds pretty interesting. There’s an idea..

After the talk, we went to Prague Castle, and got a tour from my favorite tour guide ever. He knows everything about Prague, I swear. There are so many types of architecture that comprise the castle, and I think I will simply say that you must be there to appreciate it. To describe the cathedrals and other rooms wouldn’t really do them justice. AH! But here’s something I can talk about in a blog: we saw the room where the Second Defenestration of Prague occurred!!!!! AND I got a picture by the window where it happened, where it looks (sort of) like Kyra is throwing me out!

When we got back, I did the most responsible thing I’ve done since I got here: I was dragged by Jeannie to the gym downtown, where I signed up and went for a run (she promised she would buy me a drink if I went with her). I didn’t want to go, because I was frozen from the tour of Prague Castle, but it was a good idea, and not just because I’m getting a free drink later. I think that running solves all problems. I don’t think I’ve felt this good since I got to Prague, and I attribute it all to the 45 minutes I spend on the treadmill. Outside would be better, but, let’s face it, it was 22 degrees at 5pm when I went running… and even though my South Dakotan parents will make fun of me, I am sort of a Virginia girl, and I don’t really enjoy cold runs in the snow.