Thanksgiving in Prague with PCF

We celebrated Thanksgiving here and I feel as though I have never had more to be thankful for!

Our 'micro-kitchen' as I call it where I made mashed potatoes for 20 or so people. (I don't want to say too much, but I got GREAT reviews from everyone at dinner!)

I bought 10kg of potatoes and used about 5kg of them... I have plenty of left overs!

Marketa prepared all of the meat for the celebration! She made duck, turkey and chicken! Nothing is as good as my family's... BUT... she came very close!! The duck was even from her parents farm.

Katri's kitchen is much nicer than ours (she just moved in to this place) and it quickly became full of good food and better company!

Some of the gentlemen in attendance. From left to right: Benny, Reed, Allen, ?, Mikah, David.

Dinner... it was remarkably similar to any meal people had in the states. And everything tasted fantastic! I was really impressed with everyone's good work!

And dessert! (The apple pie somehow escaped this picture...)

Now that Thanksgiving is officially over... I put up Christmas lights in our room to have at least a little bit of holiday spirit while in Prague.

Krakow and the Bull...(not really)

Last weekend went to Krakow, Poland and saw four things worth mentioning: Auschwitz  Birkenau, Schindler's Factory Museum, and the Salt Mines. It was an incredible weekend despite some inefficient use of our time because of a wonderful man named Janez...

I wrote this blog and then came back to the top to write this paragraph. I found it incredibly difficult to write about some of these experiences. I simply don't want to write about everything that I saw and felt. I don't think we should forget about these events in any way, but it is impossible for me to communicate the emotions I felt by writing here. It may be possible to explain in person the magnitude of these events... but I am not a skilled enough writer to do it through this blog.

So, shall we begin?

This rose was on a replica train car inside of the Birkenau camp... it is the most beautiful rose I've ever seen, especially within the context that it was seen.

This is Birkenau. It is another, less known, concentration camp in Poland. This road lead the prisoners to their execution if the doctor ordered them "left" when they got off the train after arriving to Birkenau.

Here are some barracks that the prisoners were housed in at Birkenau.

The railroad tracks inside of Birkenau. These tracks brought the prisoners in from all across Europe.

This is the outside of the gas chambers at Auschwitz where 90% of the holocaust victims were killed.

And the inside...

The wall where many people were killed by firing squad in Auschwitz.

This was one of the most shocking things about visiting Auschwitz... This is a room filled with hair. The room was about 150x30 feet and the hair was piled higher than my head. It was estimated at about 7 tons and roughly 10% of the total hair removed from prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Outside of the fences at Auschwitz...

The entrance to the barracks grounds at Auschwitz.

This is the outside of the Schindler Factory Museum. I believe, but am not certain, that this building was the actual location of Schindler's factory.

This is the highlight of the Salt Mines. This is the church that they built inside of the mine. The mines were so dangerous that they built several chapels within the mines and the miners would regularly pray and attend mass in the chapels.

It was really foggy most of the trip and especially at night. It added to the experience, but it made seeing the city difficult.

237th Marine Birthday Ball

Well I've eluded to this event several times and it was definitely one of my favorite things that I've done thus far in Europe. This first photo is of the two guys I've got to know the best. To my right is Luis, and to my left is Jose. Ironically enough, they are both from New York and of Dominican decent. I met Jose first through the church and home group and then he introduced me to Luis whom I play basketball with on Tuesday nights... We're trying to get Jose to come with us one of these days!

Olivia and I... isn't she pretty?!

Here are some of the military people that were in attendance. There were Marines, Air Force, Navy, and some other nations represented.

This is the ballroom. I was seated with half of the Marines in the center of the room.

On the far left is the US Ambassador to the Czech Republic. He was the guest of honor and had his security personnel present all evening.

Jose, standing in the background of this photo on the right side, was the youngest Marine and therefore was a part of the opening ceremony. The guest of honor received the first piece of cake, followed by the eldest Marine present and the followed by the youngest Marine present. This is a symbolic passing of the torch to the next generation.

These are all incredible young men and women and we are very fortunate to have them fighting on our behalf. I felt honored just to be in their presence for one evening. Remember to thank ALL service men and women, past, present and future, for their service and say a prayer for them. They do things that most of us couldn't imagine, let alone actually do all to keep us safe and comfortable in the great nation that we get to call home; The United States of America.

Punkva Caves and Graffiti Exhibition

Well I wish this post was about the Marine Birthday/US Embassy Ball... but I don't have the pictures yet, sooo this will have to suffice for now.

Last week we visited the Punkva Caves, they are located outside of Brno in Czech Republic. They are underground caves very similar to the caves we visited in Slovakia, except this time there was a much larger underground river that we took a boat on. It was incredible!

These are the people that went on the trip. Back row, left to right: Jake, Reed, Daniel, Gabe. Front row, left to right: Jamie, Cathy, Olivia, Bri, Autumn.

This retro trolley/train thing took us the last bit up to the entrance of the caves.

The most spectacular part of the caves was this opening that appeared about half way through. None of these pictures can capture the breath-taking beauty but maybe it will be good enough to remember for years to come...

Then, last night I went to a graffiti exhibit here in Prague where the gallery managers invited some internationally known graffiti artists to come and paint their walls for this particular exhibit. It is interesting to learn about the mindset behind these artists because they painted on the walls... and there is no way to preserve their work and it will all simply be painted over when the exhibit is concluded. This does not bother the artists because that is how it is on the streets too. If an artists reaches a certain level of respect that others on the street will no longer paint over their work... it is not uncommon for an artist to paint over their own work with white or black paint to encourage others to continue to paint and evolve the genre. It was fascinating...

 

Choj for now! ;-)

Moravia and Vienna

This past weekend we went on a trip organized by the CESP office (that's the program I'm studying at). They took us to a Southern region in Czech called Moravia. It is famously known for their wine. We also went to Vienna, Austria which is just South of the Czech border. There were about 15 of us that went on the trip all of whom I've become good friends with. We stayed in a little town called Mikulov.

Here the whole group is at a wine cellar. There are approximately 8 kilometers of tunnels all underground in this particular cellar. We tried 8 different kinds of wine. I'm not certain which was my favorite, but they definitely had very distinct aromas and flavors.

This is an apartment building in Vienna that is known for it's peculiar architecture. It is apparently one of the most visited sites in Vienna, but I didn't find it that remarkable.

This is the summer palace and garden of one of the kings of the region. I haven't learned much of the history behind some of these places, but I do know that this was by far the most beautiful place I've been to in Europe so far and I would say that Vienna has been my favorite city in Europe so far besides Prague.

Here I am standing looking back down to where the previous picture was taken from.

Vienna is know for their chocolates and sweets. These are hand-made, decorative candies. I couldn't help but think that this is something my mom and sisters would love to do, and they certainly could make these creations!

Vienna is a city that I would equate to Paris or Monte Carlo. It was significantly more expensive than Prague but also more of a luxurious city. They are known, like I've said, for their chocolates and sweets, as well as their fashion district and downtown shopping. There was a street that was Gucci, Dulce and Gabana, Versace, Burberry, and such, along with a dozen local designers. I felt like I should have been charged to walk down the street!