discovery

Today in one of the back shelves of the supermarket I found peanut butter! They had Skippy and one Czech brand, both only available in very small containers. I am still glad I brought my JIF-to-go packs, but its good to know about this in case I need backup. ;)

Even better though, on the shelf below the PB, there was salsa! It must have been the international food section, because there was more Mexican foods below and Indian sauces on the other side of the PB. If I did not already have my hands full of fruit and muesli bars, I would have taken a picture. 

Jewish Quarter & Prague Castle

Friday we toured the old Jewish Ghetto. Starting in the middle ages Jews lived in this area (by choice I think) but eventually they were constricted to it and a wall was built to separate the neighborhood from the rest of the town. They endured a lot of oppression and eventually most of the neighborhood was destroyed. There are several synagogues but only a handful of them are still in use. Some were destroyed, and most of them are museums now. We toured these along with the cemetery.  Cemetery with Klausen Synagogue in the background.

Saturday we went to the Prague Castle. The castle and cathedral are super old and surrounded by a newer palace compound.

No one lives in the castle anymore, but the president has his office here. You can tell he is in by the presence of a certain flag. It was hard to get pictures of the castle because the courtyard surrounding it is pretty small, but here is one shot.

And here is proof that I am actually here. This view of the city was taken off one of the castle balconies. 

Today is Sunday and not a lot is going on. I've been out to the supermarket for a few items, got some ice cream, and did some exploring for a scavenger hunt with one of my roommates.

The roommates and I are also having some drama with our washing machine! Whenever we attempted laundry, the machine started shaking like a jet taking off. So much so that the neighbors were disturbed and knocked on our door because I think we were shaking the whole building! Turns out, it did not have the things underneath to stabilize it and absorb the movement. But that was not the only problem.  We are still confused because the controls and settings are unfamiliar, and even though they are pictures and not words, us grad students can't figure it out! But an english instruction guide is on the way, I think. In addition, during this process we found out that we bought fabric softener instead of detergent!! It took a roommate and I like 5 minutes in the huge laundry aisle to decide which one to get, and we were pretty sure of our final decision, but alas we were wrong. Sorry, no pictures of this story even though it has gotten the most words. :)

I'm in Prague

Ok, so I am too lazy to email everyone and say the same thing over and over. :) So here is a blog. 

Day 3- First day of classes, International Social Work in the morning and HIV/AIDS in the Czech Republic in the afternoon. The professor is very cool and has been working with HIV prevention for the past 20 some years in several different countries. 

I am exhausted because I was wide awake for most of the night. I have noticed that jet lag when traveling east is always rougher night 2. 

Have not seen much of the city except for maybe the half mile in between our apartment and school. But am going on our first tour tomorrow, so more pictures and stories will follow.