Monday, June 23, 2008

The End of the Line

As I sit here looking at my cutie doggie Benji, I think of the last three years. The last three years have been full of so many moments that I never want to forget. There's people here that are more important to me than I would have ever imagined. The good times far outweigh the bad times.

In the last few weeks, I have some good times and bad times. I've been utterly sad and happy. I've learned so much, yet yearn to learn more. I really can't express how much these years have showed me. When I came here, I was nothing. I was a little kid who had just finished college, and who didn't know, but wanted to know so much, what life was all about. Who wanted to know about the world. Who wanted to know what was really out there. At this point in my life, I'm still only 23 and therefore I can't say that I have a good grasp on what life is all about. Quite the contrary, I feel that there is even more out there than I could've realize before. But I feel like also that I will never know enough to truly see what i need to see to fulfill the life of what I want.

That's where the whole thing about trust comes in. I have faith and trust that my life has a purpose and I know that, though there are bad times there are good ones also and that I will learn from the good ones and exponentially from the bad ones. I hope to really find myself in these last few weeks here. I really can't believe how fast the time goes. three and out; it's an unbelievable feeling. How could it go so fast. I know I'm gonna look back in 20 years and be like, wow, how the hell did it go so fast. how can life just sail by? So... how can I relish it? The thing is that I really need to cherish the time I have. Life happens fast, and if you don't cherish it, you're not even gonna realize what you're experiencing. You have to really reach out and touch what you've got in front of you and live life like it's supposed to be lived.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Day of the Goat

So, last Saturday, I took part in an adventure with 3 of my former students Tomas, Tomas, and Pavel. We made the journey down south of Prague to the city of Velke Popovice. In the village is brewed the beer called Kozel (goat). We got there about 10am and started with the festivities. I was really hungry, so i started off spending way too much money on what I thought would be some cheap pasta. Bad move on my part. We sat down and had a look at the festivities of the day. During the day they had really bad country music bands and between sets, they'd try and break world records. It was really funny to watch. For example, one guy tried to balance a soccerball on his head for 2 minutes, but on the soccer ball was a bottle of beer.

After this we went on a tour of the brewery. Nothing special really, just another one of those. Seen one, seen em all. The MC of the day was a really funny guy and did crazy things also, but the craziest thing he was doing (I thought) was wearing the shirt he was wearing. If you have a look, his shirt is from some auto dealership in Wichita :)

Continuing with the day, many people found it necessary to visit the head, or the mass of portapotties in sight in the corner, but if you get closer, you see something that I had never seen before. I like to call them porta-urinals. Interesting for me. But weird to have people staring at you, I waited my turn in the normal ones.

This is a picture of me and Tomas with our goat beards which we received complimentary for being so awesome.


We left the Day of the Goat and headed back home. It was difficult getting back since it was a weekend and there were less buses but more people who wanted to go home. We were finally able to cram onto one of the buses, but unfortunately, about 10 minutes into the drive, the bus broke. It was really sad.

After about 45 minutes, a new bus came and we finally got back to prague safely and continued onto Kralupy. It was an interesting day, and a Saturday well spent

Monday, June 16, 2008

Bad Luck

If you're not familiar with the Euro Cup, it's the World Cup but in Europe and it's way cool. Anyways, the Czech Rep. was playing the other night and so far, we had won one game and lost our second game. In order for us to advance to the second round, we would have to defeat the mighty Turks. In the past, the Turks have ravaged the land and plundered the villages, but the luck of the ungods were on our side. As the game drug on, we got out to an early lead of 1-0 with a spectacular head shot. I was sitting at home watching under the most dire of circumstances. As the game rolled on, I continued to clean my flat. and before the first half, I was all cleaned out!!! Wow, great, I love football. And I love cleaning. So... what should I do now? The answer was clear, We're winning 1-0, so I'll go shower.

When I got back from the shower, what was it to my surprise that we were winning 2-0!! Wow, how was it possible. We weren't supposed to match up very well to the Islamic Front of the East. The game dragged on and on and of course, they managed a goal against us, but that was it... until the end of the game, when in the 88th minute I believe they managed another goal, and in the 89th, a sorry play of events occurred and the distraught Czech team went home wet from (not the rain, though it was raining... ok, it was from the rain, but also from the tears of a team that would undergo a fortitude of changes in the next years). Good luck in South Africa in 2010. They'll need it.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Wine-0s Galore



Last night was a very fun and special night for myself. One of my adult students, of who I have been teaching for the duration of the school year him and his family several hours a week, was throwing a party for his customers from his private company. The party, as it turned out was quite an interesting and fun adventure of which me and my fellow comrade-in-action took part in.

The party was at quite a nice restaurant/club in the center of Prague. The basement was reserved and there were about 50-70 people there I believe. The first action of the night was the wine-tasting. We were tasting wine from Moravia, from the selection of red, white, and rose. Lots of really high quality drinks also. (Let me not forget to mention everything was free). After the wine tasting, we continued on our extravaganza of food and a continuation of any of the wines we felt necessary to indulge in once more.

Next I would like to mention the food. First off, we came there and there was lots of cold food such as roast beef and cheese and great things like this. After a while, they brought in a 2.5 foot loong pig (head pictured below), and after this was the opportunity to partake in a side of prime rib. Wow, really excellent time. And the desserts were just as delicious.


In the end, I bought a really tasty bottle of wine, and am looking forward to the christening of something important with it. Wish you all could have experienced it with me. It was def a night of magic and remembrance.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Last Retreat

Just got back from a trip in south eastern Bohemia. Pretty fun. It was the last official retreat that I had with my organization and my American friends in CZ. It was really fun. The weather was perfect. We stayed at this camping ground with several cabins and most of the weekend we were having different meetings and then just walking around or sitting and talking and playing cards. It was nice because it was basically just us there and there weren't many people to bother us. We had a cookout one night and made another campfire on the second night
Anyways. we've got only a few more weeks of grades at school and it seems like things are starting to wrap up pretty quickly. Hope things end up well. I'll keep u posted on what news is going on in the final 2 months I'm here. Thanks