It's been a whirlwind of a week- so jam packed with activities I can't even see straight anymore (not from the Pivo I swear)
I guess I'll take this day by day. I actually was keeping a running tab of each day's events, but that document accidentally got deleted form my computer so now I have to try to recall each day from memory. Bear with me; I'm sure a lot of information will be missing.Saturday: Our first night out in Prague! This night we had a complimentary pizza dinner at a local restaurant. The food was mediocre but the company was great. We got to meet all of the students- NYU students plus visiting students using our facilities. We met our RAs who are all local Czech University students. After dinner, my roommates, Timmy, and I wanted to get margaritas (How American can we be, honestly?) We found this Mexican restaurant in our neighborhood of Vinohrady called Las Adelitas that had the best margaritas ever! We ordered a pitcher of classic, a pitcher of strawberry, and a pitcher of mango. Apparently this place was also featured in Times Magazine as the best Mexican food in Prague as well, and there is another location literally next door to our campus building. I will probably be seeing this place again!
Sunday: This was the first day of our orientation classes. After navigating the metro and successfully finding campus in Old Town Center, we were greeted with a catered sandwich lunch followed by a lengthy lectures on surviving in a new city. Very boring stuff, but some valuable information received about public transportation, quiet hours, and general Czech cultural norms that we have to get used to. After our much needed coffee break, we had a more lively session where we went on a walk around campus with an RA. The RAs were supposed to act as tour guides; however, Czech students don't make the best tour guides. Not because they don't know their city- they all do very well and have a lot of pride in their culture- but rather because they're so damn quiet. Pavla pretty much just led us on a nice walk because no body could hear her "tour". I'm not complaining, though, because Prague is a beautiful city and sometimes it's just nice to walk the streets and soak it all in. We eventually made our way back to our dorms (about a fifteen minute metro ride) and were eager to go out again (go hard or go home has kind of been our motto since we arrived). After dinner we went on a hunt for a hookah lounge nearby, which was more of a task then we initially thought it would be. Not only was this place was very hidden and off the beat and path, but none of us have google maps because our iphones and 3G don't work in another country. We have been struggling to find things the old fashion way- fold out maps and asking locals for directions who barely speak english. Struggle is an understatement to be honest; it felt like we were walking forever. To top it off, when we finally found the hookah lounge, it was closed. Sunday. Damn it. At this point we were determined to go out. We had been walking for too long to not have some sort of light at the end of the tunnel. So we kept walking- toward our dorm this time. We were walking down side streets going any which way that looked promising, peering into any restaurant or bar that looked even the slightest bit lit. Our odds were only getting slimmer seeing as it was already midnight. The only places open were either Hernas or Casinos- both of which we were told to avoid due to pick pockets, Czech and Russian mafia, and general sketchiness. Finally, when we were two blocks away from home, we stumbled upon a hole in the wall bar. It looked a little sketchy, but we were desperate so decided we'd give it a try and make the best of it. Turns out this place was an absolute winner: open late on Sundays, awesome Ukranian bartender named Alexandr who gave us free shots, chess champions frequent this bar to drink themselves silly, they tolerate rowdy Americans playing drinking games (Na zdravi, govna!), and they are host to real local Czech beer- the only place in all of Prague to get these brews! We decided that Holba would become one of our regulars when we are craving a late night pivo. Also note: this was our first taste of Czech beer! WAY BETTER THAN AMERICAN BEER IN ALL POSSIBLE WAYS.
Monday: Today begins the most boring part of any orientation ever: Mandatory Czech Republic in a Global Context lecture. SNOOZ. So early too! We got another catered lunch and a small break (during which we obviously went out for a pivo) before the next part of Monday's orientation: a walking tour of medieval and Jewish Prague. This was actually very interesting and I learned a lot about the buildings surrounding my beautiful campus. Now when people visit I feel like I'll be able to provide some history, context, and interesting information about the city and its culture. After this, we got free pizza during our health and wellness lecture (what a paradox) before we were finally released. Things get a little hazy in my memory from here. I think this is the night that we checked out the local biergarten (about a five minute walk from our door!). It's a giant fenced in area with picnic tables, a giant theater-sized TV screen where they play sports game (fotbal!), foosball tables, pinball machines, a grill, and three bars- all located within a beautiful park. The beer is cheap, the wine is cheap, the atmosphere is awesome. Since this first night that we tried it, we have already gone back two other times, so we will most likely frequent this spot (great for pre gaming or whenever there's a game on!)Unfortunately, it's getting late now and I have class in the morning so I'm going to have to leave this one on a cliffhanger: what happened on Tuesday? Wednesday? Thursday- Sunday? It's all so mysterious! Will fill you in tomorrow.
Dobrou Noc, blogging world.
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