czeching out prague August 3, 2009

hello lady loves,
Im a little sleep deprived. after a crazy amazing two day stint in Prague, Im back to work. I cant believe ill be leaving here in 4 days. But ill leave that subject for another email entirely. this one is devoted to Prague (and dedicated to my dear friend and freshman roommate Vivian).
So. I dont even know where to begin. The whole 6 hour bus ride back, I tried to think of a good way to describe my experience in that incredible place...but still, im short of words.
Let me set up the situation for you girls, because you dont know the travel guide vivian compiled for me. i told her i was going to be in prague for the weekend with my friends over here, and asked her to send some suggestions my way since she lived there for a semester. i did not expect a 3 page guide, complete with detailed instructions of where to go, what to eat, and personal favorites. I forwarded the guide to my friends, who LOVED it. everyone printed out a copy. the very night we got into the city, we started wandering around, looking for the places vivian had suggested. "what does vivian say?" it became our mantra when we didnt know where to go next. we spent our weekend in prague faithfully following her guide, and because of that, i credit her for the amazing experience we had there.
prague is such an exquisite city. its almost cliche now to talk about how beautiful it is, but it has earned that cliche. the architecture is nothing less than arresting. the buildings, the roads, the feel of the city, forces you to walk slowly to soak it all in, because it really is surreal. it is exactly what i imagined europe to be like, and because of that, for two days it felt like i was in a dream. one big drunk dream. it is prague, after all, where beer is cheaper than water.
it was also so nice to be in a big, diverse city again. the greatest challenge here has probably been the monotony of language and people. im not saying authenticity doesnt have its charms-- of course it does-- but there is something really beautiful about cultural contamination, and, if i might refer to kwame anthony appia (thanks bryan waterman), something uniquely cosmopolitan about that too. and listen, i love visiting this slow life, but city girl needs the city. i almost peed my pants when i saw a black person, i was so happy.
vivian warned me about being mistaken for a gypsy in prague, which im sure is a problem in the off season, but in august its about as crowded with tourists as disneyland on a friday. i also have been dealing with the gypsy thing over here in slovakia, so i was aware of the issues with my skin color. i stick out like a sore thumb in rural slovakia. it was the same in hungary, but in my last village, everyone knew i was american before i got there, so i was treated with respect almost 100 percent of the time. Here, however, few people knew of my arrival, and slovakia is considerably less tolerant than hungary, for many reasons that are political and cultural and which we can talk about later. here, i have often been mistaken for a gypsy, which is a race that is highly discriminated against. so, here i have dealt with uncomfortable stares, rude remarks and generally soft racism. but racism nonetheless. im lucky that my american accent is so obvious, because it has saved me sometimes. when they realize im an american who just happens to not be white, they usually treat me much better. then they ask me questions and realize theres a lot they cant tell just by looking at me.
other times, people dont care that im american-- because of my coloring, i am a gypsy to them regardless, which i think is the epitome of hatred. there is nothing that can take a toll on your self-esteem more than being the "wrong" color. basically, i look exactly the way you wouldnt want to look living in slovakia. that has been difficult, to become self conscious about my outward appearance (having nothing to do with being pretty or thin) while developing and maturing on the inside...its a weird feeling, like being pulled in two different directions. wow, this email was not supposed to be about this ...its relevant, though, because in prague, i felt the relief of tolerance and regained a little bit of the confidence that was being rubbed away as my tan got darker and darker in the hot slovak sun.
we met some awesome people in prague. i met a very sweet Georgian during our pub crawl named bryan. of course, i go all the way to prague and kiss an american (an american with a girlfriend...eek....). but i cannot say no to a southern boy. it had been a while since someone had called me beautiful, and said with a southern twang, how could i resist?
we ate amazing food-- duck and potato croquettes, honey cake, pear juice--at vivians favorite restaurants. my favorite part of the trip was probably riding bikes around the city, across charles bridge, through the palace, and to the john lennon wall, which is this beautiful, grafitti-ridden wall that everyone writes on. i took my sharpie to it and made my own mark.on it, i wrote a quote from the little prince (of course): "has the sheep eaten the flower?"
i cant wait to show you guys pictures... im sure plenty of them will be up on facebook shortly. my friends are really good about putting them. as for me, ive got about 500 to put up and will do so when i get to budapest (in 3 days!! AH).
i love you girls
foram