Starting to Adjust

Well, that might be a bit of a stretch. Things here are in that weird limbo between eerily the same and utterly different. I am still really happy here. I am not feeling homesick anymore, though I do miss all of you! But about the differences, here§s example A. so, the other day, we, Jana and I, were hanging out with some friends of Jana at a local pizzeria. BTW, If you are wondering about the randomly awkward passages, it is probably because if Czech keyboards have an apostrophe, they hide it very well. They were speaking in Czech, then would stop and try to explain what was going on to me in Czenglish. We ended speaking in French for a while. But somehow, one of the boys told me that Czech Chinese restaurants actually serve dog. I was a little bit scared, and a little bit not too surprised. They seem to eat everything here. I do not think I have tried anything to crazy yet, though. But tonight, my family and I went out for Italian food. I decided to have penne pesto, but I was too proud to use the English language menu, so I did not know exactly what was in there. It came, and it did not look or taste like any pesto I had ever had. Then, it dawned on me. what if the waitress had misunderstood pesto, and brought me pes (dog!!!!) instead?!?!? My family assured me that was not the case, but I admit, I was still a bit leery. I guess that is the boring homebody in me. Next time, I just accept that it is Czech Italian food, not AMerican Italian food like I am used to.
There were a few big differences that totally caught me off gaurd on arriving here. On our plane from JFK to Heathrow, it was boiling hot. The whole time!!! I had my pants rolled up like a winner, and I did not even touch my blanket. when we got to the airport, all I wanted was a glass of ice water. But in Europe, or at least the UK and the Czech Republic, ice is nowhere to be found. I do not think that my family even has a freezer. Also, did I mention the slímace (slugs) ? They really are as big as chihuahuas. I drew a comparison for my host family. They thought it was funny. Or maybe just how hysterical I was about it. my last big difference for today is Czech towels. They are small and thin and about as absorbant as a Wegmans bag. I do not miss Wegmans yet, because the bakery section of our local market is pretty cool. I am satisfied :p
Now, I will finally share some pictures. I have not taken too many, but here are some. Oh, and there is an awesome picture from our Czech orientation swirling around the web somewhere, or at least on some memory cards, so I will try to get my hands on it soon. The internet here is not so hot, so it may be easier said than done.


Eli and me. He was THE other Amurrrican going to the Czech Republic, so we traveled togetehr an dhe got to spend 2 orientations with me. Lucky kid.




Chillin, well roasting, on a hot Czech afternoon at our Orientation. Down the left: Me- USA, Gabriella- Chile, Vinicius- Brazil, Marina- Brazil
and up the right: Vanessa- Brazil, Sandra- Venezuela, Sofi- Venezuela and Joyce- Hong-Kong. Joyce was the only one from China, though there were many girls from Japan and Thailand. Thankfully the weather has cooled down a lot since then.



Fernando- Italy ( ala Lady Gaga "Alejandro" which became our orientaion theme song. Kind of like how Bad Romance was our camp anthem, and every grade did something with Lady gaga at horizons.) and Me

I wish I had taken pictures at our first orientation! Our little orientation group was two people headed to the Czech republic, 4 for Hungary and the 2 "Latvians." They were all so cool! I was sad watching everyone leave even though I had only met them the afternoon before.

You will get more pictures when I feel like it, so keep your pants on. Oh, and I am halfway through my first journal. I have been here 5 days. I might need to buy some more.

NEW FEATURE!!!!!! Czech Stutus: Improving quickly. Almost to level of babies before they say their first words.