BLUE SKIES!!!

The pictures are all out of order...but I'm sure you get the point. 

Camera man attacking me with Dangerous Dave...right before I burp in his face. 
Just landed. 
Landing! 
Before we got in the plane. 

The phone call from Alexis "BLUUUEEEE SKIIESS!!"
Before our first out of the country flight we did ALL BY OURSELVES lol. 
Shane me and Caitlin on our tour.
Me and Caitlin on the trolley.
At Sprungli drinking my chocolate coffee.
At Pur Pur BEFORE the creepy guy. 
Me and Corey. 
Caitlin Shane and Caleb at fondue. 

Mountains by skydiving. 
THE SMALLEST PLANE IN THE UNIVERSE. 
Parada Strasse I think...
Sprungli window =)
Sushi place!
Computer and rotating sushi

Stephan the main man who helped us out. 
We had to take like 10 pictures together because he wasn't satisfied. 
He messed this one up.
Landed! 
Landing!! 
Dangerous Dave. 

Right when we got to Interlaken.

So let's back up a little before my whole Switzerland adventure so I can tell you I got an A on my Czech language final =) Ya I know, you're all very happy for me. But the weird thing is, is I really don't know anything soooo I don't know how I did that. I went shopping after my final too because I was depressed about how I thought I did, probably shouldn't have done that lol. Anyways ok, soooo Thursday was my final we went out Thursday night to this bar called Radoste and it played super old American hip hop and pop...like Michael Jackson "Thriller" old, and just for future reference Czech people don't get as excited as Americans do when that song comes on, so if you bust out in the thriller dance in the middle of a club in Prague don't expect anyone to follow you, or talk to you for that matter. So it was a lot of fun, there was this guy from Chicago that tried dancing with me. I say tried because he got close to me and started doing doing some John Travolta moves from Saturday Night Fever, then he threw in the robot along with moon walking, and ended with what looked like crumping...and this all didn't work because he looked like he jumped out of a John Wayne film. He had on tight jeans with a belt with a giant buckle and a red plaid button up shirt TUCKED INTO his jeans. All he was missing was the cowboy hat. So now picture THAT guy dancing with THOSE moves in front of you and ask yourself what you would do....ya I ran away..I might have had a few drinks but I think I would've had to have been blacked out in order to dance with him unfortunately. Lol. 

The next day we didn't do much. Corey, me and Caitlin packed and got ready for Switzerland and I talked to the woman for Skydiving and she said she wasn't sure about the weather but she was going to try her best to get us up there =) SOooooooo we woke up at 4am to get to our plane at 730am and I'm gonna say I'm pretty proud of us all because we got all the way to the airport without a taxi, although I did have to phone home to check the terminal, but we took tram and then a bus and we got there so that was excited, especially because we didn't miss out flight! Anyways so we get to Zurich and I get off the plane and turn on my phone to wait for Alexis (sky dive lady) to call me and tell me the weather report, because in Zurich it was not clear. So my phone rings and Alexis says "Ok, well I'm not sure what you guys want to do.." (oh no..) "because we got some blue skies over here!" and I was like BLUE SKIESSSSS YAYYY!!! So she got us the train schedule and we hopped on the next train to Interlaken with Caitlin's sister Shane and her boyfriend Caleb. When we got off in Interlaken Stephan was there to greet us with the Skydive EXTREME van. And then we got in and signed our lives away. He took us to the jump site like 10 minutes away and when we pulled up I saw a tiny plane that looked like 2 people might fit inside, and I thought I mumbled but I guess I said allowed "that plane looks like a toy, it better not be what we're jumping out of..." and Stephan was like "YAH YAH That's our plane HA HA." haha He was way Swiss or German and loud. So there was uncomfortable moment #1:realizing the plane looks like it was crash and burn if there are more than 2 people my size inside. Then we got out and they taught us what we're supposed to do in the plane and when we jump and what it means when they tap our shoulder...like I'm gonne remember all of it...and then we get our jumpsuits on. THEN we are told we are jumping in separate groups...like Caitlin Curtis goes up with a different group and me and Corey go up at a different time. Not because we all can't fit (they fit 8 people in this plane) but because they just wanted to split us up I guess. SOooo Caitlin got her harness put on and jumped on the plane, while me and Corey waited until she hit the ground. Which she did, about a half an hour later. Then I got introduced to my tandem guy...Dangerous Dave! haha. He's from Australia. He told me what to do and after the next flight went up we hopped in the plane...Corey and me and our tandems and 5 other guys all squished into the airplane and OF COURSE I had to be right by the door because I was jumping first. So on the way up all the people in the plane I guess could tell I was nervous and started making jokes, like saying my hooks looked rusty and all that, and they kept showing me how high up we were. Then I had to get strapped onto him, so he asked me to lift myself up....Ok I'm in a teeny tiny plane with 8 other people, there's no room to breathe let alone move and he wanted me to get on top of him so he could buckle us in...Needless to say it was about 5 minutes of me maneuvering myself on top of this guy, while everyone was making sick jokes. Finally we hit 13000 ft. And Dangerous Dave and I had a hard time putting on my goggles lol. I was nervous and he told me to put my feet on the ledge and I asked him if I had to jump and he said no he was going to. THANK GOD. I wouldn't have gone. So I put my feet on the ledge and he goes "1...2.." and then jumps....What in God's name happened to 3. It felt like the drop on a roller coaster...only more intense and 13000 ft in the sky. So the camera man was trying to take pictures of me and ask me things and all I could concentrate on was breathing, because I had 225 mile an hour winds that were cold as ice hitting my face, so catching my breathe was hard. So if any of you see the video and I look like a pregnant woman going through lamas class, that is why. Then he pulled the parachute and I felt like someone gave me the heimlich. But then everything slowed down, and at first I felt like I was upside down, but then it stopped and we got to just look at the mountains and the houses and it was so cool. I saw the Matterhorn and some other mountains they pointed out. And then we landed which was a lot of fun, I got to land butt first into the snow. It was great. Then the camera man wanted pictures. lol He was all up in my face before I could say anything, asking me how I felt lol. It was ridiculous, then Dangerous Dave gave me a handshake and I said thanks, and proceeded to burp in his face. Ya. Mhm. I did. The landing made me a little nauseous so that's what he gets. Anyways after we paid we left and said goodbye to everyone and headed to Zurich. 

When we got to Zurich we went to Shane and Caleb's apartment where we made some guacamole and got ready for the night. We went to fondue at a Swiss restaurant and met up with Caleb's friend Jeff, and as much as I love cheese...this did not smell good AT ALL. We walked in and it was foul. Oh my god. I was almost happy when Caleb said we might not get in, but we did. We sat down and and ordered some wine, which for me at this point was unnecessary but of course I drank it. =) Then we got our fondue, and our bread and vegetables we were supposed to dip in it. We also got a shot of what I think was called Kish (sounds like keesh) I'm not sure and we drank that which was disgusting. I only ate a little of the fondue because the cheese was really strong, plus the waiter was filling me up with wine because I was the taste tester...and sometimes I apparently didn't do it right so I would have to redo it...lol I dunno. Then we went to a club called "Pur Pur" no idea if that's how its spelled but thats what it sounds like, and there is where I met the guy from Turkey who stalked me all night. When we got into the club Caitlin Curtis bought me a drink (Vodka tonic) which about 15 minutes after she gave to me, was gone =) (I hope you see where this night is going..) then we're dancing on the dance floor and this guy comes up to me, and I can't understand a word he's saying but I see him point to the bar and I guess that he wants to buy me a drink which is definitely ok with me. lol Considering everything there was super expensive. So we get the bar and we have about a 15 minute conversation about what I want to drink, because he doesn't understand "VODKA TONIC" so I tell the bartender and then I grab my drink and walk away lol. WELL apparently when you buy a girl a drink and you're from Turkey and you're this guy, it means she has to hang out with you all night...yaaa negative. So I go back to the girls and start dancing and tries to grab my hand, but Shane helps me out. And then he starts doing this insane Thriller clap...you know like the part in the dance where you clap over your head....ya that was him. So I'm trying to ignore him but this guy is persistent, so Caleb's friend from Australia goes up to him and tells him I'm not interested...which apparently means "She is WAYYY interested" in his language because it was like something fueled his fire. Needless to say we left soon after that, thank goodness. After we left we went to a bar called hotel California where all the 16 year olds hand out it seemed. So we had a drink...which was definitely a bad idea (I honestly just remembered I had that drink now) and left and went home. Where we played a card game drinking game and I consumed even more alcohol...then apparently I passed out. I don't remember it happening, I don't remember what happened before, I'm not sure how the game ended, and apparently I passed out in the superman position. Super great. ANYWAYS so the next morning, I woke up feeling semi-ok. Tired but decent. I guess I had called Chase the night before, so I had to clear that up. But then I started to not feel so good...at all. Three hours later my agony subsided and we all went to Starbucks and then to a super fun sushi place, where everything was super high tech. The sushi rotated around the bar and then you put your dish on this censor and it tells you what it is, and you have a computer to order. It was just a great place. I wish they had one in California. After that we just went back to the house and watched movies until bed, and Corey had to leave in the morning for her flight. I woke up with Corey the next morning after really not sleeping at all (I gave the girls the couch because they had slept on the floor the night before because I had passed out on the couch). So I walked with Corey to the bus stop, and Caleb's apartment complex door locks automatically so I put a rock in between the door. So Corey's bus comes and I tell her to call me if she gets lost, and I walk back to the apartment....no rock...closed door. I'm locked out. And everyone is sleeping. So I try knocking on the window but I decide to wait until some person walks out. About ten minutes later Caitlin I guess realized I was missing and came out and let me in. Then we went back to sleep, until I got the call from Corey saying she missed her flight. It took her too long to get there, so she took another one at noon and missed her class. That day Caitlin me and Shane went to Sprungli, this AMAZING chocolate place where I bought truffles and chocolate coffee. It was great. Then we went to Wagamama this asian food restaurant where we met up with Caleb and some of the people we were hanging out with the night before...whom I had to reintroduce myself to because I definitely didn't remember. =) After lunch we went on a trolley tour of Zurich which was informative and beautiful. And then Caitlin and I headed home. And we successfully finished our first trip, with little to no problems! 

This weekend its Amsterdam and Brussels, which should be exciting. There are more of us going, and we don't have people to show us around so we'll see how this one goes! =) 

So your names Kathleen? No Kaitlin. KAREN!?? No Kaitlin. Ohhh Katherine!! Forget it I'm Yaya.

Chocolate bars at the Chocolate Museum. 
Chocolate sculpture of a dog in the museum. 
Man sitting on the sidewalk playing his own Czech song on a weird instrument. He sounded like he was telling a scary tragic story I wish you could've heard his voice. 
Weird picture of me and Ruby but the background is pretty. 
Me imitating art.
Caitlin and Corey. 
Everyone on a giant baby...creepy baby. 
Caitlin Clarke under the creepy baby. (they're done by an artist I'm not sure what the idea behind them was). 
Caitlin Curtis and Meredith imitating art
Birds at the carnival. 
Walking to the carnival. 
In a random park. 
By the river there were all these swans being fed...they ran away when I came. 
Top of the Jindrisska clock tower. 
View of Prague from the tower. 
Another view. 
And yet another. 
And another. 
And another...
Last one I promise. 
Caitlin-Caitlin-Meredith-Me and Lauren in the dorms 
Carving in one of the churches we went to in Moravia. I know the story behind it but its rather long. 
Train to get up the mountain that has the amazing caves! 
Boat ride into the caves. 
Caitlin and I. 
Caitlin-Megan-Lauren-Me-Ruby-Claire-Corey 
Cave outside. 
Inside the caves. 
Corey-me-meredith-caitlin in the caves. 

Corey-Caitlin-me in the caves. 
Lauren and I at another winery. 
Another church. 
Gregory Mendel Museum. 
Mendel did the Punet squares. 
In front of a memorial for those who fought and died in the Napoleanic war. 
Lauren and I. 
Where Napolean first saw the troops from the other side coming. 

So it's been about a week of just being in Prague and not having to worry about side trips or meetings at 8am informing us that we're Americans and have no manners and that Czech is hard to learn, you know the important stuff that I would GLADLY wake up insanely early for. I started my Czech intensive class on Monday which is basically Czech 101, you know the supposedly easy half of the language courses (101 and 102)...WRONG. Apparently the Czech language has this sound that is only in the Czech language and sometimes even Czech people can't do it and they have to go to a speech place and learn. It's a mixture of a Spanish rolling R and Z so its like rrrzzzzrzzrzzzzrrrz. YA. REALLY? If the Czech people need classes to learn that sound how in God's name am I supposed to figure it out in this two week course? So basically I walked into this class thinking "Thank God I'll finally be able to speak some Czech instead of walking into a store or restaurant and trying to mime or point at what I want and wait for the person helping me to go try and find someone who speaks English because they're too frustrated with the fact that I don't know Czech." And FIVE hours later I walked out with a gigantic headache thinking "who in hell would decide to take Czech classes??" So I'm sorry to all the Czech people who are going to encounter me in the next 4 months because I'm either going to COMPLETELY butcher your language or I'm going to give up and speak English, so get ready. 

So how about some examples to show you what I'm talking about... Ctvrtek. Yes, that's a word. Take your time...Sound it out..You don't know even know where to start do you? haha. It's something like sshhtaverrrrrtek Btw. That means Thursday, ya I know that would've been my first guess too. Oh how about a number...ctrnact...sounds like sshhhhterrrnaughts. That's the number 14. Now imagine trying to put sentences together, and further try imagining ME trying to put sentences together. It's a lot of me beginning a word slowly "Znnnaa..?" and at the same time looking at the teacher to see if he has that "Wow, its been 3 hours and I've gotten no where with this girl" on his face. Or looking at the people around me to see if they at least know what I'm trying to get at when  I say the words. 

They also say things in an entirely different way here. For example: when we go to a restaurant or go out to eat we say "Can/may I have blah blah blah" Here their sentence goes "I will be having blah blah blah" There's others but that's just a little taste. But anyways so imagine my surprise when I walk out of the classroom the first day thinking..."Holy shit I feel like I just sat in a classroom and listened to one of the adults from the Charlie Brown movies talk for FIVE hours." (Waa waaa waa wa..) Because going into it I was excited, maybe even a little happy. But now, NOW I know why Rosetta Stone didn't have the Czech language....They gaurantee you to learn the language or your money back..a lot of people would be getting their money back...

Anyways besides that course that's been running my life I've had minimal adventures this week. Believe it or not a lot of people here don't know how to pronounce the name Kaitlin...sounds simple but they always think I say Kathleen or Karen or Katherine, its beyond frustrating at this point because they walk around with names like Jiri and Marketa and Yana and they can't get Kaitlin right? So from now on if a person asks me my name it's going to be Yaya like yoyo but yaya haha. One sound..two syllables. Should be easy enough. Oh and another thing, for every Czech or foreign person out there...saying a person's name LOUDER every time you get it wrong DOES NOT make it right...

I did have the opportunity this week to go to the movie theatre and see the movie Revolutionary Road, which was a completely depressing movie. Their theatres keep the movies in the original language that they are made in so I got to listen to English for 2 and half ish hours. It was a nice break =) They had Czech subtitles so every time I saw a word I recognized "Pocitac!" I'd yell it out. =) It was a nice refresher. Also a field trip for my language class was to go to the movies and see the movie ONCE which I had never heard of until now, it's in English so don't ask me why it had anything to do with my class, but it was actually a really great movie but also rather depressing. It's a love story between an Irish man and a Czech woman...so if you have an hour and a half on your hands (ya short.) I suggest taking a look at this movie. 

Besides classes I've pretty much figured out the public transportation around here so I can get to things rather easily. Although on days like today, when I did my laundry and had to take a tram and the metro along with walking and carrying my backpack and a bag full of clothes looking like a weird American....I miss my car. also on my way home from the laundrymat today too I also found an insanely smart way to make a hot dog. There's always this stand in front of the metro selling "Eurodogs" and I thought wow another hot dog stand. BUT NO. Not just any hot dog, I bought one today and its like a baguette with a hole in the center but not all the way through so its like a little sac and the guy asks what you want on it i said ketchup and he puts it in the hole and then puts the hot dog in....easy to eat...not messy at all...and overall VERY good. Amazing concept lol. 

Anyways a story about public transportation: So first of all trams stop for NO ONE here, so if you think just because your a pedestrian you have the right away...think again, because that tram will run your ass over while your standing there pondering the situation. But anyways I met myself a smelly man on the tram the other night. We were coming home from Tesco and I was exhausted and just wanted to sit down so when we got on I was relieved to see an open seat in the second row. As I sat down though a homeless man sits in the seat in front of me, and on trams the first two seats face each other. At this point I was fine with it because he seemed harmles...then the doors shut. About 10 seconds after the tram started I start to smell it..A mixture of an insanely dirty diaper, baby powder, maybe some rotten fruit, and B.O like no other B.O I had ever smelt in my life. I had the intense urge to throw up and the thought crossed my mind thinking it might smell better than this, but I didn't want to be THAT American that throws up on the tram. lol. I prayed for him to get off  the tram and I took advantage of all the fresh air or perfume that came by me everytime the doors opened. So your probably wondering why I didn't move. You know that point where an event happens and you have to say or do something but then you wait too long, so now if you say or do what you needed to do it would be awkward or rude. THAT IS WHERE I WAS AT. I felt bad that he was homeless, its not his fault he smells like the diaper of a baby with nasty diarrhea so I felt like if I moved down the tram he'd feel bad. Not to mention there were no seats left. So I was stuck. He eventually got off and that nauseous feeling eventually went away. 

Oh another interesting event that happened this week, so me Caitlin Clarke, Meredith, and Corey decide to go out to a bar after going to a concert thing in Praha 3 with the girls (which we missed because we got lost) and so we were all the metro but then me and caitlin and corey and meredith decided to get off somewhere around Praha 1 so we could go out. So we say goodbye to the girls and the second we get off the metro and over to escalators there's the public transportation police. Ya they exist. They flash their badge at you and you need to present them with your pass. WELLLLL turns out Caitlin Clarke had given hers to Caitlin Curtis to keep in her purse...Caitlin Curtis was on the metro back to the Kolej (Kolej=dorm). So I'm in the process of getting carded and "I'm like Caitlin just go around and run" (because one of our directors Yana told us that's an option lol)...and she just keeps saying "shit I don't have that..shit...shit.." Finally they get to her and she goes "My friend has it" they don't care. AT ALL. No sympathy. No transport pass = 700 crowns on the spot..OR ELSE. So Caitlin pulls out ALL the money she had for the night (700 crowns) and hands it to the men and says straight faced and pissed as hell "How do you even sleep at night??" Best moment of my life. All the man said was "this is what happens no tram pass you pay." They look for American looking people, because I've gotten carded 4 times and the first time on the tram he just came up to the four American girls on the tram, like we obviously didn't belong. And at first I thought he was kidding, because their badges literally look like a plastic badge from a police costume on halloween and they wear plain clothes, but he continued to stand there and talk in Czech to me...like I understand you, you moron...and finally someone pulled out their pass and I was like Ohhhh I have that! But I think if I ever get caught without it I might just run. They don't seem prepared for diversion tactics. 

Another story of the week is Caitlin Curtis' lost wallet filled with 250$ credit cards her debit card, her public transportation pass, and her school ID. I didn't go out on friday night I just decided to stay in because my brain hurt from Czech and apparently they came back in a cab off the street, which can be sketchy because sometimes they'll charge you more unless you negotiate first and you also don't know their company, and it dropped them off and she paid and the minute it left she realized she had left her wallet in the cab. So I'm awake at like 3am and decide to call the Caitlin's and see what they're doing and come to find Curtis is canceling all her cards and talking to the bank because she lost all her stuff. So now she is down 250$ and she can't get any more money because she has no debit or credit cards. So she's in a definite pickle. I called all the taxi companies I had a number for and tried to see if they found a wallet but I only was understood by one...every other company thought I wanted to order a taxi

"You order taxi?" 

"No I'm looking for a wallet" 

"Tomorrow, yes?" 

"No I'm missing a wallet." 

"In the morning?" 

"NO! Have you found a wallet in one of your cabs?" 

"Ok what time??" 

"Omg I don't want a taxi!" 

"No taxi?" 

"No, no taxi." 

"Ok bye!" 

...........Ridiculous. So we're all having money problems now, because I still need the rest of my loan check, Caitlin lost her wallet, and Caitlin Clarke put the wrong pin number in an ATM one too many times one drunken night so she got her card flagged. lol. So it's been a long week. 

Oh and just to throw it out there, my favorite drink is now a vodka tonic. Tastes like sprite with a vodka after taste...but after a while it just tastes like sprite =). Vodka tonics also have the effect of making me feel like I have rhythm and I'm super cool so it useful at dance clubs. Like the other night I was at this bar called M1 and these girls were on the dance floor and they were so good, and I thought I could compete. Pretty sure I was wrong. Thank god there are no pictures to prove it. I met one of the girls in the bathroom (where I seem to be meeting a lot of people lately) and I was like "you're a really great dancer" and she goes (with like a jamaican accent) "I don't exercise I just dance" and I'm like.."oh ya..me too." lol. thank god I'll never see her again. 

Valentine's Day was also pretty amazing. There was a carnival in Malastranke Namesti and they had roasted almonds and saurkraut pancakes, and sausage dogs and there was a live band singing American songs in Czech and there were stands selling things and painters and men on stilts and dressed up like gorillas. I'm not sure why it was there but it was fun. And we went to the Belgian Chocolate museum, which was fun only because we got free chocolate in the beginning other than that it was uninformative and boring. It was great chocolate though, and Caitlin Curtis gave us all flowers for Valentine's Day and I wrote them all funny poems, and we took pictures and it was overall a pretty great day. 

Other than all that everything has been pretty amazing here. I'm going to Switzerland with Caitlin Curtis and Corey next weekend and I'm gonna go skydiving. I think I'll be needing a few xanax before that one. And your probably thinking "Whose idea is this??" Its mine =) and some of the other girls are gonna join I think. And then the next weekend I'm going to Amsterdam and Brussels with Caitlin Curtis, Corey, Claire, Lauren, and Ruby. We just booked our hostels and they sound pretty interesting ("Co-ed dorm room with 14 beds and co-ed bathroom and showers") Ohhhhh Europe. So open and accepting. haha. We'll see how that one goes. I might not be showering for an entire weekend....=)

More soon!