School, a Visit from the Fam, Paris, and Budapest

Hey everyone! I'm soo sorry it took me so long to write this entry.. I know, I know, I can't really use the excuse that I'm so busy because I always am, but it's true! And then sometimes I am just a lazy bum, which is also true in this case, but ya know... So for the past month since I've last written an entry, I have been going to classes and bumming around the city. My semester courses started on February 23rd and we're in our 5th week right now of 13.. 8 more to go! SO crazy how time has flown by... But anyways, classes are really interesting. I'm taking four and their names are: The Sociology of Landscape, Does Central Europe Exist, Interculturalism, and Critical Pedagogy. My teachers are from the Czech Republic (Prague and Brno) and Poland, so that makes for interesting classes for sure. Also, I have some students from all over Europe and Australia in my classes, and in my Sociology of Landscape class there are about 5 Czech students, so it has been really cool getting perspectives from all different people from around the world, especially in the country that I'm now studying in. We have a lot of cool field trips planned and are figuring out and planning our final papers/projects, which are coming up so soon. But overall, classes are great and I feel like I'm gaining a lot of very useful and interesting knowledge about the Czech people and their culture, so I can't complain about that!

Two weeks ago my family came to visit! It was the best birthday present ever (which, by the way, my 21st is on Sunday! AHH!). I showed them all around Prague to all of the touristy sites and went to places I hadn't even gone to yet, like Prague Castle, the Communism Museum, the Astronomical Clock, and St. Vitus Cathedral. I also showed them a little bit of Prague that only the locals get to see, like some restaurants and queit streets, which was also really fun. It was definitely really cool to show them where I have been the past 2 months, and now my Mom can rest easy and know what I'm talking about when I tell her I'm going to the Hanging Pot (don't worry, its an awesomeee pub right near my dorm with reallyy good traditional Czech food). After staying in Prague for about 5 days, we went on to Paris.. which was the most beautiful city ever. I always thought that it was overrated, I mean, how beautiful and romantic can one city be? But it really was- I fell in love. We were only there for 2 days, but we did a lot of sight seeing and eating of awesome French food.. and I got to see Sarah!! Sarah is one of my close friends from Emmanuel, and my future roommate, and she is studying in Cannes, France this semester. So when I told her that I would be in Paris that weekend, not thinking she would actually be there too, she told me she would! Crazyyy huh? We met in front of the Louvre, which if you don't know, is a hugeee art museum in Paris right near the Seine river. It's absolutely breathtaking. After Sarah and I met up, we strolled through the Louvre and caught up on life in our respective countries, and of courseee saw the Mona Lisa!! It was really cool to see it in person, just this regular-sized painting on a hugeeee wall by itself with tons of tourists standing in front of it taking pictures. It was definitely worth it though. We went out to dinner with Sarah and her friends from her program at this awesome little hole-in-the-wall French restaurant down a little side street and had REAL french onion soup!!! It was amazing- panera definitely comes in a close second though haha! The next day we did more sight seeing, and the day after that it was time to leave, which was very hard considering the weather was absolutely beautiful that morning, and what awaited me in Prague a few hours later was, just guess- clouds and rain. But, it was nice to be back and to see my roommate and friends, who had just gotten back from Barcelona (which they loved and  told EVERYONE to go to). I was sad to say bye to the fam, but I know that these next few weeks will flyyy by, and the time we spent together was awesome!

After getting back from Paris, I had one more week of school to get through until I went to Budapest with my roommate Liz (from Minnesota), and my friends Jenna (from New Hampshire) and Nick (from Ohio). Jenna, Liz, and I took a night bus that left Prague around 10:30 pm and woke up in Budapest around 5 am... and basically had to find out how to get to our hotel on the other side of the city. Budapest is separated right down the middle by the Danube River, and the main part of the city is on one side of the River (Pest) and the castle district is on the other side (Buda). We were on Pest where the bus let us off, and we had to figure out how to get allllll the way to Buda at 5 in the morning. Thankfully, the public transportation system in Budapest is pretty efficient and easy to use, so we took the metro and a bus all the way to the hotel.. and I have to say, we wouldn't have made it there without the help of the nicest Hungarians in the world! After we found our hotel, we ventured off and had lunch at a cool cafe in downtown Pest and the waiter told us everywhere important to go in the city, which really cut our wandering-around-aimlessly time in half. After we explored Pest, and saw the beautiful St. Stevens Basilica (AMAZING.), we went over the bridge to Buda to the castle district, which was also incredible. The castle is on a huge hill, just like in Prague, except the castle in Budapest is almost like ruins in some parts. It is absolutely beautiful and makes you feel as if you are in a fairy tale. There we met up with our friend Nick and went out for dinner and then back to the hotel after wandering around the city for awhile. The next morning we woke up early for breakfast and then did some more sight seeing, such as the rest of the castle district, the Buda Labrynth (which are underground tunnels under the Buda castle- really cool), and then went to the famous Baths of Budapest, which are basically Turkish baths. My friend Nick went swimming, but Jenna, Liz, and I wandered around the city instead and saw a really old castle and the famous Millenium Square which was really cool. We then had dinner at a little coffee shop in the square near St. Stevens Basilica, where there was also a huge peace rally going on!! (Susy- you would have lovedddd this!) It was really awesome because everyone who was participating took torches and stood in the shape of a peace sign in the middle of the square while music and famous speeches were played. Liz and Jenna joined in, but I stayed inside because I met up with my friend Alli for coffee! Alli, one of my friends from back home at Emmanuel, is studying abroad this semester in Budapest. It was really awesome to meet up with her while I was there, I didn't think we would be able to, but we made it work! It was so nice to see a familiar face from home and hear all about Budapest from the local point of view. After coffee with Allie, we left Nick, who was staying one more night and then going on to Bratislava, Slovakia, and Liz, Jenna, and I had to quickly go back to the hotel on the other side of the river to get our stuff to go catch our bus back to Prague at 11 pm. The bus ride was not very enjoyable, as it was filled with about 20 old German people who not only cut us in line to get on the bus, but proceeded to ask the bus driver to stop about 5 or 6 times at rest areas for about 20 minutes each time. I was basically passed out this whole time, but Liz and Jenna were awake for most of it, so when we finally got back to our dorm in Prague at 7 am Sunday morning, they fell asleep right away. Even though I slept most of the way, I of course went to sleep too, because it is not in my genes to be awake before 12 noon on a Sunday afternoon. Never.

So plans for this week- Andi comes on Friday to spend the weekend, I can't wait! Then my 21st birthday is on Sunday, crazy!! And then, my friends who are studying abroad here in Europe are coming to visit me for a couple of days for their spring breaks (Lisa who is studying in Edinburgh Scotland, Charly from London England, Sarah from Cannes France, and Baird from Copenhagen Denmark) Soo, needless to say its going to be a crazyyy next few weeks, but you guys all know me, so you all know that this is exactlyyy the way I like it!! I am going to try to update this more often, I promise! But to be a little more realistic, I'll say the next time will probably be in 2 weeks, so you're not looking for anything before then. Hope everything is well back home, miss and love you all sooooooooooooo much!