Praha

I spent Saturday thru Wednesday in Praha (Prague) with the other Fulbrighters, where we were very excited to meet up with each other. Most of us live in very small towns, where hardly anyone speaks English and there is not a very exciting night life. Praha was a welcoming change of pace and scenery for all of us.





Of course, the first thing we did was go out for some beers. Mariel brought us to this pretty cool bar, which I would describe as a "cave bar". We went down a flight of stairs and entered the underground. In order to get to other rooms, we had to duck our heads to get through the archways. There was exposed brick everywhere, and the decorations were different types of exposed pipes. I loved it!

Top: Rosie
Bottom: Mariel, Lee, Harrison

We were three shy of the whole gang, but managed to have an interesting night anyway.

Andy, Me, Emily

Why were we really in Prague all together? We had a second orientation and met the other Fulbrighters, those who were here on research grants and just arrived to the Czech Republic. Most of them were centered in Prague or Brno to study and do research at the major universities. The university classes do not start until the beginning of October, hence their late arrival.

Do you know what's kind of awesome? We were invited to a reception at the U.S. Embassy and got to meet the U.S. Ambassador here in the Czech Republic, Norman Eisen. Our mentors were invited and we mingled with returning Czech Fulbrighters who had just spent the last year in the States.

Invitation

Me, Mariel, Emily, Lee

Ambassador Eisen, Me, Vashek, Eva

Another fun event was going to the National Theater to see a French opera, Carmen. The Fulbright Commission would have rather had us see a Czech opera, but there were none playing this week. This play is about a French soldier, Don Jose, and a Spanish gypsy, Carmen, and their love affair. It's similar to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but different at the same time.

National Theater

As you can see, it is quite a gorgeous theater!

Inside View of the National Theater

Ticket

I have never seen an opera before, but I thought this one was quite good. The singing was amazing! I was told the acting could have been a bit better though. Oh, by the way, attending the theater is a very big deal here. You have to dress all fancy and dapper!

Top: Lee, James, Mariel, Andy
Bottom: Emily, Rosie, Me, David

I'd say we were quite the good looking group!