Pizza in Prague

I am on the search for the best pizza in Prague. It ain't easy, folks. Pizza in the Czech Republic is flat, flimsy, sometimes soggy, sometimes lacking cheese, always with interesting topping options. For instance, in the cheese category you usually find mozzarella but not always. Eidam (edam) is also very common and not a bad choice; it's one of the most common Czech cheeses and has a mild flavor (although a bit more smokey than mozz.) and melts nicely. But you can also find hermeline, a blue cheese. I haven't tried that one yet. Meat-wise, Czechs like to use salami, not pepperoni, so the flavor is different. I don't care for it. I like salami and eat it regularly but not on my pizza. Ham is often laid all over the top of the pizza and it's not hard to have more ham than crust. Other common meats, chicken and even tuna, salmon, and shrimp. Vegetables are pretty normal – mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, spinach (frozen) – except for CORN. At sometime in the past, the Czechs discovered corn. Now, I like corn. And I'm very glad that I can get it here. However, I do not want it on my veggie pizza or in a garden salad, which are two likely places to find it. As its own side dish, sorry, but you won't see it there. That is pretty much left to any way in which you can cook at potato, rice, maybe beans or salads. So, therefore, when it comes to toppings, I tend to either stick with mushroom or a simple cheese or margarita. Sometimes I give the ham a shot and I usually forget that I don't want the salami until I've had it a few times upon returning to the Czech Republic. What I'm trying to figure out is whether or not Czechs actually like their pizza like this or just don't know any better. There really isn't a real need for a more American or Italian style pizza because those places that rely on tourists don't rely on repeat business and we all know that most tourists will eat what looks familiar, even if it's bad.

Now, in college I spent three years working at a pizza place, throwing more pies than I could count. I ate pizza almost every day back then. Now, I still eat it a few times a week, from gourmet to frozen. So, since coming to Prague, I have been on the lookout for good pizza. The search is continuous. The upside is that pizza here is cheap. Most full pies, around 10-inch in size, cost from about $5-8; I've never seen one above $10. If I did, I'd imagine that it would be damn good. You can get slices on the go all over the city for about $1.50-$2. Here's what I've found.

Pizzerie Santini (Jeremenkova 920/7, Podolí): the only restaurant near my flat. Pretty good. What I like is that they have a wood-fired oven, or some way to make the crust crisp. Plus, they use enough cheese.

Pizza stand at Kotva: because it's only take-away, and mostly by the slice, this has a good, thick, firm crust. I haven't been there in a while, but it's just a few minutes from my "work place" so I imagine that I'll be hitting it more often. I believe this is a branch of Pizza Grosso (as described as the best pizza in Prague on one of my favorite food blogs, Czech Please...the actual description of pizza in Prague is much better than mine and right on!)

Little Caesar's (in Tesco): I know! Pizza!Pizza! Okay, it's not the best, or "right" as my friend Chris says, but again, good crust. Since I only go for the slice, I only get the one that has been sitting there a bit. I can only imagine how good it would be if it was fresh! Sigh…

Pizzeria Grosseto (Náměstí Miru): when I lived in this neighborhood a few years ago, I went here a few times. It's always busy. I remember that I the only thing I didn't like was that I felt that I was taking up a table being there just on my own. They have a lovely little garden in the summer. I guess I need to go back for a better review.

Chicago's Famous Pizza: I had such high hopes for this place. Alas, the crust was bland, too much ham, cheese was limited. Not very impressive and not worth a second visit. Although, the atmosphere of the place was cool.

I've been told that Pizzerie Kmotra is the best by my friend Laura. Their website shows a wood-fired oven, so I have high hopes. I've of course been to others, but these have been the best or those with the biggest reaction to me. Expect more to come…

Marks & Spencer Prague

Today, I "discovered" Marks & Spencer, or M&S. Yes, I have known that it has been prominently located in the middle of Wenceslas Square for quite some time. I just wasn't interested in it. It was another department store. Big deal. But then, I learned that it has a food hall. (Watch Heidi's interest perk up.) I have been reading "Watching the English," by Kate Fox, a wonderful ethnography about, well, the English. She basically discusses English culture by observing good, and by default, bad behavior. Inevitably, M&S is brought up in multiple contexts as a lens of sorts in determining an English person's value. Yea, yea, okay so what has this to do with me in Prague, you ask? Fox discusses the food hall in M&S. So, being the inquisitive person that I am, I googled the store and found the loveliness of this said food hall. The shiny and exotic food products that I can get there….Well, I just had to check it out for myself. On a window shopping expedition the other day – okay, I wasn't in the mood to shop, just scout – I found the corner of the store dedicated to making life for English ex-pats in Prague just a little more comfortable. A wall of free trade coffee and tea (including a symbol that says this grind can be used in the press pot that I have so now I know what to buy when my parents come to visit and need their morning coffee :), a corner of marmalades, shelves full of sauces like curries and creamy peppercorn, wines, chips, crackers, pasta, and frozen food...ready-made meals from every region of the old Empire, a pretty good variety of breaded fish, pasta, and fruit. And everything with instructions and names in English! So, there it is. I admit, my biggest problem right now in relation to my lack of language skill, is the ability to quickly and easily determine just what it is I am looking at in the grocery store. Maybe that's why I like the produce and bakery sections best – what you see is what you get! The deli and dairy sections, not to mention the canned foods, are not nearly as much fun to deal with. I go to the store armed with my grocery list in English and Czech, and then wonder if the zakysaná smetana is really sour cream, kyselá smetana, and what did I put this on the list for anyway??

So, while M&S is a bit expensive, and I can get pretty much anything that I want from the other grocery stores, it's just nice to walk in and understand what it is I'm looking at. But it's more than that. Although English, and not American, it's close to home food. It's the potential for food that is more familiar. That just because the words are from home, the taste will be too! I mean, I'm not into canned soups, I really don't care for curries (but might decide to give that a try eventually), and don't drink coffee...So, I bought some risotto and some frozen garlic bread. Not very exotic. But then again, no one really considers English cuisine to be exotic…which I would say is not completely true. To look at the offerings of M&S, there is definitely the idea of "world" flavors. So, I see myself wandering the small aisles of M&S on a regular basis, looking at the fairly regular offerings, with little changing but just imagining that there is a variety of food options in this land of somewhat bland cuisine.

Romano Hip-Hop in the house…Gipsy.cz in the house…

One of my favorite Czech bands is Gipsy.cz! They are this amazing mix of hip-hop and Romano, with sounds from Eminem to classic gipsy (at least to my untrained ears). They sing in Romano, Czech and English. After listening to them for over a year, I finally got to see them in action at the Lucerna last night. And they rocked! The place wasn't very crowded, actually probably only about about 60% capacity, which meant we weren't fighting a crowd all night. I (easily) convinced my friends Laura and Paul to come with me and as we entered, we were each given a tea light with the instructions to wait until we are told what to do with them. So we waited – the ticket said that concerts start at 9:00pm but it was 9 and still pretty empty. Since this was the gipsy.cz Christmas party, they were playing Christmas carols in the background. But not Czech, English carols and religious ones like 'Away in a Manger.' At around 9:30, a man comes on stage, who I recognized as Gipsy but in a long wig. He instructed us to light our candles and then went through a number of covers, changing his wig and shirt with each one, from 'So this is Christmas' to Queen to James Brown, complete with afro and cape. (I know, by now, you want pics. All I had was my camera phone but Laura took some pictures and I hope to add them to the post later.)

Next came a group singing blues/jazz, including a cool jazzed-up version of 'Silent Night' in Czech. Finally, Gipsy.cz came on. We were able to be pretty close to the stage – it was a small venue after all. While it would be difficult to describe the show in full, here are some of the highlights or things that I thought were interesting.

• There were kids everywhere, as young as 4. We know this because they brought one little boy on stage sawing on his violin and asked him afterwards how old he is. You couldn't hear him and he wasn't playing correctly anyway but he was completely welcome. There were also a number of little girls, who appeared to be the group members' children singing or dancing in the corners of the stage, not detracting but just adding to the relaxed (yet still pumped up) atmosphere.
  
• They didn't take a break halfway through. They played a pretty long set, about 90 minutes but different parts took breaks. Sometimes the musicians (forgot to mention that Gipsy has a keyboard/accordion/acoustic guitar player, a violinist and a bass player, using the computer to fill in the rest) took a break and Gipsy sang with the computer accompaniment or Gipsy took a short break while the musicians played extra long interludes. At one musician break, Gipsy did the most amazing beat box routine I have ever heard – alive or on tv. I can't even describe it but if I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed that he was doing it all on his own. He also apparently has a love for American pop music – in addition to his "opening act," the last bit of the beat box-ing was a bunch of Michael Jackson songs from "Do you remember the time" to "Billie Jean."
  
• The crowd was a wide mix of people. Young and old, as in the type of older men you expect to be sitting in the pub drinking every night and the beer gut to testify to it. Gipsy's mom was right in front of us. A lot more middle-aged Czech people than I thought we'd see. There were some people who were obviously dragged by their friends – obvious since their friends seemed to be having a good time and knew the words and they didn't and stood there not even dancing to the most up-beat songs.
  

For the first encore, the violinist brought his son up to join them on his violin (this time a kid who knows the song and had a mic and everything) to do a traditional Czech Christmas carol. And, then Gipsy came out again and they did a non-computer accompanied version of "Romano Hip-Hop." Great show. I think I lost my voice.

Czech Christmas Carp

I imagine that anyone who is in Prague (or I guess any part of the Czech Republic) during Christmas knows about the carp. Carp is the traditional Christmas Eve meal for Czechs. Of course, these days, you don't go catch your own but you buy one from one of various carp stands that pop up around the city a few days before the holiday, like this one at Staroměstské náměstí.

You can buy the fish alive – let it swim around in your bathtub for a few days until it's time to cook it – or you can have the carp sellers kill and gut it for you.

Since I didn't buy a carp, I don't have much to share other than my pictures of other people buying them. However, I did enjoy the protest.

My translation of the sign is: Carp suffocate, are afraid of hunger and pain, don't sleep. The organization is Vánoce bez nasilí (Christmas without violence). The website is in Czech, English, Polish and Slovakian, because those are the 3 countries where this tradition takes place. As with most animal rights group, they have their experts and propaganda. That's nice. And I'm not trying to get political here. I just love that there are protesters.

And, what makes it even better is that the butchers, take a break sitting right in front of the protesters with their sign and bullhorn.

Gotta love freedom of speech in Eastern Europe!

PS. If you think this includes a bloody picture, wait until I finally put together my zabíjačka photos!

Chlebíčky

One of my favorite Czech food practices is chlebíčky. Technically, translated as "little bread" or "open-faced sandwiches." I have been to a few parties – both small, informal and large, more formal – that have served these. The Christmas party at my workplace was my most recent encounter. I was talking to one of my Czech colleagues about them. She said that some people consider them old-fashioned – I believe she referenced the communist era in her description but, well, folks it was a party, I had a glass or two of wine and I was also tired because I had been working all day. Anyway, they are not necessarily "the thing" nowadays. I commented that the spread that we had laid out looked very nice, fancy, etc…She asked if we had anything like this in the US and I said not really. Not this elaborate. The photo here is of some leftovers that they forced me to take home (and which I gladly ate for dinner the next evening). Upon a brief reflection of what we do in the US, I said that we would have everything laid out separately – a meat platter, a cheese platter, a bread or roll platter – and that everyone would have to assemble their own. (Somewhat similar to the "roll-your-own-sushi" on a recent episode of Top Chef.) I think presentation-wise, ease of eating-wise, chlebíčky are better. However, when you are a somewhat picky eater like I am, you have to roll with the punches and either pick that sliver of boiled egg off or hope that the other flavors in that bite mask it. (Not a fan of the boiled eggs, am I.)

So, here are some of my observations about chlebíčky, regarding toppings and other things:

• Size: essentially, the size depends on the type of bread used. In my observations, most caterers use a baguette or Italian-style loaf, cut into ½ inch or 1 inch slices. I have been in an individual's home where she used a different type of bread, cutting each piece in half to make the size that she wanted. Most often, I have seen the smaller ones but the larger sizes allow more substance and make it more like a sandwich than hors d'oeuvres.
  
• Spread: the bread is usually covered with some type of spread. Butter, creamed cheese, or even mayonnaise-based salad. Those with the salad usually just have a garnish on top because the spread is the main component. Butter and creamed cheese (I say "creamed" not "cream" because I have had different flavors here and would not say that all use what we consider "cream cheese" but more spreadable cheese of different varieties.) are used (I believe) to help keep the other toppings on the bread.
  
• Toppings: meat and cheese are the primary candidates. Pick things that go together. Ham and salami are favorites, I believe because a) they are Czech favorites and b) they fold nicely. I have seen cheese deli-sliced and folded or rolled, or more thickly cut and then cut out into a shape (for example, a Christmas tree). You might also find a variety of vegetables that are more than just a garnish, like bell pepper slices or pickles, tomatoes, cucumbers, or the (accursed) boiled egg slice…really, whatever you think would taste good. And, then any other type of garnish – carrot curls, chives, parsley, etc, etc, etc…

Being a fan of meat, cheese and bread – which also explains my love of pizza, adding to the list my favorite fruit/vegetable the tomato – I like chlebíčky. As for a party setting, they really are lovely; little pieces of edible art in some way. I've decided that they will be what I bring to parties from now on…except the major drawback. They are difficult to transport. For the Christmas party at work, four of us walked down the street to the caterer and each carried back 2 or 3 large trays of chlebíčky. You can't stack them (like brownies). You can't quickly assemble them (like bruschetta). So, I guess in the end this is a question or commentary on the practicality vs. the artistic value of party food….Talk amongst yourselves - meat and cheese platters or pre-assembled chlebíčky, American or Czech…

Prague Christmas Market 2008 – Staroměstské Náměstí (Old Town Square)

All across Central Europe people are enjoying Christmas markets. My favorite in Prague is the one in Staroměstské Náměstí. I happen to have a soft spot for the square anyway. So, I have wandered through, eaten my way across more than once. And of course, have photographic evidence of at least the wanderings if not the eating. I've put together a gallery to share with you. I also suggest checking out the entry from the blog "Czech Please" from last year's Christmas market. It's in verse.

Váženej Revisted

If you remember my last experience with "váženej," you'll be proud of my progress. So, I was once again in the grocery store, a more than weekly occurrence for me, and I was picking out bananas. An older woman came up to me and started asking about "váženej," holding up the bananas. THIS time, I knew what she was talking about – she wanted to know where she should weigh her produce. I was trying to say that she didn't have to and couldn't quite figure out how to when a guy told her that they do it at the "pokladna," or in other words at the cashier.

My Alfredo (or white cream) sauce

More kitchen adventures, this time the Alfredo sauce. I used a recipe that I found on Allrecipes.com called "Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce." Of course, it does call for American ingredients. I've already described my shopping expedition so you know that I was a little nervous that I had bought the right ingredient equivalents. So, I got everything out of the fridge – parm cheese, cream cheese, butter, milk – including what I wanted to eat with the sauce, chicken and pasta. I had forgotten to buy mushrooms on my last trip to the store so I was a little disappointed that my chicken and mushroom with alfredo would be sans mushroom. Anyway, I had 3 pots going – pasta, chicken and sauce. A side note on the chicken. I had asked my friend who had just spent the year in Poland about the food and cooking and she mentioned that she didn't eat much chicken because it tasted gamey. Discussing this with my mom later, mom tried to look up ways to remove the gamey flavor from poultry, without much luck on the search. So, I've been a little leery about cooking chicken. Of course, the logical side of my brain realized that I eat chicken in restaurants all the time and it tastes good, so…I bought 2 fresh (as opposed to frozen) boneless, skinless chicken breasts (kuřecí prsíčky). I used my standard chicken pan-"fried" method (a little olive oil and a little lemon juice if you have it, cook on each side for 6-8 minutes depending on the thickness on medium-high heat, turn the heat off and let sit covered for another 6 or so minutes – I found this in an Italian cookbook and have been using it for years. The leftovers are great for pasta, salads, tacos/quesadillas, etc..). My stove/pots cook high/fast so the chicken was nice and crispy on the outside. So, the frying pan is spitting olive oil, the pasta pot is boiling and I am trying to make the sauce.

Melt the butter. Check. Add garlic powder and cream cheese and melt until smooth. Okay. I tasted the (soft/spreadable) cream cheese as I unwrapped it, tasted it – it tasted like cream cheese, although with a mild flavor. So, I cut it up and dumped it into the melted butter. It was not pretty. It didn't meld together and I was a little worried that I would have a failure. I was whisking, like instructed but soon turned to a fork for more control, splashing melted butter on my Texas A&M sweatshirt and watching the cheese slowly melt, slowly smooth out. Next add milk. I must also say that I was guestimating the measurements. My kitchen is well-equipped but lacks some necessary measuring devices, especially one for liquids. And I had to guess that 85 grams of parm cheese was about half the 150 gram package of cheese that I bought, and grated myself. Dump in the parm cheese, add some freshly ground pepper. And remember, at the same time that I'm trying to make sure my cheese sauce doesn't burn, I'm checking on pasta and flipping chicken, a normal evening in my kitchen (although this was lunch). And the results you ask? Pretty good. The sauce is mild, due to the mild flavor of the cream cheese and it tends to cool fairly rapidly. It also reheated nicely, so I'd say it's a success. Not at intimidating as I had imagined and when I make it again I'll try to remember to take some pictures to add to the post.

Everything is coming together

Wednesday and Thursday I spent much of my time getting reacquainted with my research contacts. I had lunch with my two main research participants. After explaining what my research questions, goals and planned methods are, they told me how they are now running their program. We have essentially been developing our projects (or business in their case) along the same timeline. Now, we've both reached a place where our projects are more focused and well-founded and, hopefully, successful! Gratefully, the way in which they have changed their process works very nicely with my goals and research plan. We've decided that I will work for them about 15-20 hours a week and have a legitimate role in their organization. Where I had planned to practice mostly the observation side of participant-observation, now I'll get much more involved as a participant.

On Thursday evening, I went to a concert with my faculty sponsor from Charles University Medical School. Marie has always been extremely helpful to me and is an extremely nice woman. She introduced me to a number of Charles University faculty and I have some tentative plans to work with them. The concert featured a quartet from the Royal Academy of Music, London; the first violinist is Czech. It was held in the graduation of hall of Charles University and it was really lovely. I'm hoping to attend a Christmas concert there next week.

I realized at some point this week that I really live in Prague. I'm not just visiting for a few months; I am living here. Granted, it's only for a year; it's a finite amount of time. But, I feel settled.

On a separate note, after I finished my research meetings on Wednesday, I spent some time in Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square) enjoying the Christmas booths. At that time, I only sampled the trdlo but I had some time before the concert on Thursday, so I had a palačinka with chocolate and a cup of hot wine. I burned my tongue on the wine, but it was worth it!

Conquering my food qualms

So, Monday and Tuesday were food days. Monday, I cooked a – if I may say so myself – lovely lunch. As pictured, I pan-fried a steak (flank of some kind?), made some boiled potatoes with butter and onions and sautéed some red and yellow bell peppers with spinach and fresh tomatoes. The sautéed veggies were the best part, but I think I under-seasoned the beef. Regardless, I cooked meat. Tuesday, I had the urge to be even more adventuresome. I went to the grocery store with a list, some ingredients with Czech translations, to make tuna salad and alfredo (or some kind of cream) sauce…not in the same dish but as 2 separate meals/dishes. This is kind of big for me because I'm not a big fan of tuna to begin with and there is an entire row of canned fish products at the store. I guess it's the Scandinavian/North Sea influence, either that or the fact that the Czech Rep is landlocked, fresh fish isn't as popular. Anyway, tuna was easy because in Czech it's tunák. Actually, it's the pickles that ended up causing more of a problem. Although I read the ingredients on the pickle jar, I ended up getting a type that is a little sweet and this recipe needs dill – sour – pickles. But they weren't too bad and so the tuna salad ended up nice (for the rest of the recipe, it's about equal parts chopped apple and tuna to about half portions of chopped onion and dill pickle, mixed with mayo). I'm eating with ciabatta bread. Finding supplies for the alfredo sauce was a little more difficult. I had two recipes listed, not sure if I'd find what I needed. One is based on cream cheese and one on heavy cream. I've made it from scratch from cream cheese and liked it (basically, cream cheese and fresh grated parmesan and butter melted). According to my dictionary, cream cheese translates to žervé or smetanový sýr. Well, Czechs love a nice soft cheese on bread, topped with a variety of sliced cheese, smoked meat or fish, cucumbers, etc...so finding cream cheese was both easy and difficult. There was a wide variety of spreadable smetanový sýr. So, I found a brand that had the English words "cream cheese" and looked for something similar in the right amount. I feel pretty confident that what I bought will work; whether it will taste like I want will be another question. I haven't tried it yet but maybe another day. I also bought ingredients for Tortilla Soup, but I think I'm going to wait for my friend to bring me back some chili powder after Christmas. On a final note, after all this shopping, I ended up going out for dinner BUT I did find the International House of Groceries (IHOG) owned by and American (who happens to go to my church) and part of a popular/famous ex-pat restaurant (Red, Hot & Blues). Anyway, they have Kraft Mac & Cheese (about $3.50/box), Dr. Pepper (which I later found at the beverage store next to my flat…now all I need is DIET DP!), American bacon, Stove Top, Oreos and a variety of other American food "staples." Expensive but sometimes you need a fix J

Movie-going

As the title suggests, today's topic is movie going. I tend to see a number of movies while in the Czech Republic. At first glance, many of the newer theaters resemble any American multiplex with one very notable difference – they assign seats (I've also found out this is not unique across Europe). The assigned seating, however, is somewhat flexible. When the theater is fairly empty, people might just sit where they want, rather than where they are assigned. If the ticket booth is slow, the cashiers might even ask the patron where she wants to sit in order to assign a seat to their liking. If however, someone sits in someone else's seat 1 of 2 things happen. The "rightful" owners of the seat may elect to sit elsewhere or they may make a claim on their seats. I watched a couple of Spanish-speaking women take seats to their liking – indicated by their body language that they were not their assigned seats – at a very crowded Harry Potter premier last year, only to be asked to move to their assigned seats when the other ticketholders appeared. I can see pros and cons to this arrangement, especially when in relation to group seating. If the group purchases tickets together, they can insure to be seated together, instead of having to save seat like at movies in the US (often scrambling for seat-saving devices like coats and purses). At the same time, the group does have to buy their tickets together in order to be guaranteed group seating.

Yesterday I went to see Mamma Mia! No, I hadn't seen it yet and had nothing planned so…I enjoyed it, love the music, blah, blah, blah but this is not why I'm writing. The end was one of the oddest movie-going experiences I have ever had. Normally, when the credits roll at the end, people start to get up. In general, Czech audiences will stay a little longer, or I should say a higher percentage will stay longer, but many people will get up and leave. But not yesterday. They stayed put. Now, granted, the beginning of the credits include Meryl Streep and her "back-up singers" singing in full ABBA costuming. When the song is over, the offer another song and then the rest of the cast shows up in full ABBA-wear, as well. After that song though, the credits just go on with the normal song in the background like with most movies. Still no one moves. Then a few people, less than ½ a dozen get up. Finally, it is down to the song lists and where to get the soundtrack, people start to move and I didn't get out of my seat (thanks to the family sitting on the aisle) until the lights were coming up. It was just odd that no one, I mean no one got up until after those two songs were done. What did I miss? Was there a memo that I didn't get that we were supposed to stay for the songs at the end?

Oh, and if you want the creepy part of any movie-going experience, let me tell you about the anti-aggressive driving campaign out by the Ministry of Transportation. In a word or two, gory and explicit. They show these commercials before movies, with the other commercials and previews and after 10pm on Czech television. I won't go into too much detail but can send you links of on-line videos if you want to know more.

Sunday’s Observations

Sunday morning I was on my way to church – it was a lovely morning, bright, not too cold (or at least not too windy). As I walked along the river (still walking between tram stops, since it was lovely, I didn't want to wait on the boat; but it should only be a few more days), I noticed the swans…again. I have been somewhat fascinated, or at least delighted, by the waterfowl on the Vltava. Swans, a few dozen at least, with their little ones, sometimes huddled along the bank, other times gliding across the river. Ducks, brightly-colored, ducks! Sleek, green heads, bright yellow bills and orange feet! The contrast with the gray of their feathers, the stone walls around the river and even the river itself is striking. And the gulls – I guess they are gulls of some sort – I don't know birds but that's what they look like to me. I guess it's that touch of nature that you don't often get to see in an urban setting.

When I got on the tram, I found a bird of a different sort. I believe the scientific term is undergraduatis americanus, and they were the female of the species. This creature tends to sport leggings (in place of pants), Ugg boots, waist-length down jackets, and heavy black eye-liner. While I only saw one of this exact plumage, the others in her flock wore some aspects of the "uniform." Regardless, seeing them together, even though not dressed exactly the same, I had the same thought that I have had numerous times walking across college campuses – how so they (the undergraduates) dress differently yet still look exactly the same? So, I started to think more about the Czech teens, young people that I have seen and have not noticed the same level of similarity. Czechs, in my humble opinion, have a set of fashion rules that truly allows for personal style and variation, but within boundaries. Now, these observations are primarily about women; men seem to dress using a much narrower array of options. But Czech women love to accessorize (at least in the colder weather) in a very matching way (what some of you may call "matchy-matchy"). For example, the young 20-something-year-old on my tram last night wore a green jacket, scarf, hat and belt, in a very unique and stylish yet counter-mainstream style. Another young woman caught my eye with her hat – it was a camel-colored felt/wool (?) pillbox meets army hat that sat on her head, topping off a up-do, lending her a very polished look. And the older woman with the maroon hat, purse and gloves to complement her brown boots and dark green coat. The rules of fashion seem to be those that governed fashion in the early half of the 20^th Century, maintained yet evolved. In American fashion magazines, they discuss ways to break the matchy-matchy rules, so not to look like your grandmother. Here, they seem to have figured out how to make it work.

Show me your Paso Doble!

I am watching Stardance – the Czech equivalent of Dancing with the Stars. Of course, I know that the show originated in the UK but just hearing the cheesy show music (complete with bongos, a guy in dreds, and variations on the basic) makes me feel like I'm at home…just a bit. Of course, I can't understand the banter or judges but it's something. Tonight is slowfoxtrot and paso doble. I don't recognize any of the "stars." They are Miss Czech Republic, some (former?) athlete (who I had rather not showed me his paso doble), and a bunch of actors/actresses. It's not quite as flash as the US version but I like it! The judges are also very harsh – someone just got a 3!

As I sit here, though, I realize that I haven't written in a few days. I've been "busy" settling in. This week I have done the following: spent an entire day getting the dsl in my flat to connect, only to find out that I had the wires in the wrong sockets; watched a lot of Dr. Who (I brought the first 2 seasons on dvd); spent hours trying to figure out how to watch free television on-line, only to have my younger sister "teach" me how to make the new surfthechannel work; scouted out places that might carry some of my personal necessities (like contact solution and ranch dressing – success on the first, failure on the second)…essentially, I've spent the week trying to figure out how to live my American life in Prague. Part of that has been a leeriness to cook meat. I'm working my way up. I've never really had the opportunity to cook in the Czech Republic. And for some reason, I fear it…okay, "fear" may be a bit strong. I think my problem is that I tend to cook a lot of Mexican (Tex-Mex) or Italian (pasta) dishes. So, my problem arises with the fact that the Czech taste in these two types of cuisine is different than mine. So far, I've cooked a fair amount of pasta. But, I did branch out with scrambled eggs the other day. All the eggs are brown, which means the yolks are very yellow. I'm not a huge fan of eggs to begin with but the Tabasco sauce I found went a long way in helping the dish along. I have a small crutch that I am using, which is the store Culinaria. I have been able to find Paul Newman's marinara sauce and Caesar dressing. What I have yet to find is a "real" chili powder. I found something, but I think it's more like powdered red pepper with some Hungarian paprika – it's very orange, in contrast to a "red" chili powder. I really want this so I can make tortilla soup. I can find a variety of Old El Paso products, including taco, fajita and chili spice mixes. I may have to explore those options. But first, I have discovered a spice store. Walking from Old Town Square to the Bohemian Bagel the other day, a wonderful smell stopped me – it was a mix of spices that I can't quite determine. It was a little store that I plan to visit in the future so see if they have what I want. If not, there is one more option that I may try – a Tex-Mex restaurant that – according to a review I found on-line – sells food products in addition to the restaurant.

And, continuing on the food theme, I'm already tired of the monotony of the food available here. Of course, if I broke out of my self-imposed food shell more often, I wouldn't get bored so often. I've essentially had pizza, pasta, hamburgers (not at McDonald's), KFC, and gyros. And last night, I went to a really nice little crepe place that made me long for Paris…any place where you can buy a crepe on the street is a good place. I went to dinner with some other Fulbright grantees and had a great evening. I love smart women. We talked about everything from racial issues in the Czech Republic to what kind of hat would be flattering on me and where to buy it - I look forward to getting to know them all better. And I have a variety of dinner plans for the next week – 3 – count them 3! – "Thanksgiving" dinners planned.

And on a final note, the Czech comes and goes. I forget my numbers but then have a teeny little breakthrough in random conversation, so I'm sticking with a 1 beer rating.

Váženej

"Váženej, váženej!" yelled the cashier at the Albert (supermarket)…to me. As I stare at him with a confused look and blank eye, he holds up the bulb of garlic and yells "váženej!" again. The woman behind me in line says very quietly that I was supposed to weigh (váženej) the garlic. In my defense, I was exhausted, and hungry. AND, at most of the other grocery stores that I've been shopping at, they do weigh at the cashier and it's been at least 2 years since I went to one that did want you to weigh (unless, we had to while traveling last year but regardless, I forgot this existed). So, needless to say, it was not a good language experience bringing me to a new feature on this new blog: The Language Usage Rating - or - How's my česky?, which is grammatically incorrect but sounds better than what it should be. One of my Czech teachers last year said that when I drink, I speak Czech perfektní. So, instead of stars, I am using beer glasses. The more beer, the better I speak/understand Czech. So the more glasses, the better I'm doing at Czech. I expect to have good and bad days and hopefully the really good or the really bad will be entertaining enough to share here.

The Bohemian Bagel – or – Where did all the students come from?

For those of you unfamiliar with the Bohemian Bagel, it's the internet café for hostellers in Prague. Reasonable internet prices and a café and bagel shop opened by Americans. It is also the home to the bottomless fountain drink, a commodity pretty much unknown in Europe. This and the internet is why I was there. But the place was packed with students. American students. Is it fall break somewhere? I couldn't help but overhear a few conversations which I will share with you. The first was between about 3 young men and one older men. He spoke with what sounded like an American accent but he was a leader of some sort, telling the guys that he could do anything alcohol-related for them, except whiskey and including absinthe, which the guys jumped on. You all know that everyone must have absinthe when in Prague. The second group was discussing the girls in their group who were apparently somewhat clingy to the guys in their group. But it wouldn't be so bad if they were really cool which would "make up for lack of attractiveness." I do give the guy a few points for his ability to articulate this without the use of the word "dude."

Was I ever that young?

Future topics: Old Town gearing up for Christmas and men in plaid pants with solid patches

Why I’m glad I have my comfy boots

Heading out of the flat, I jump on the tram heading to the city center – illegally since I haven't been able to buy a ticket yet – and then have to get off after just 2 stops. Unexpectedly, let me point out. They are working on the tram lines. What does this mean? Well, first, I have to walk about 10-15 minutes to get to the other tram stop (I now have 3 tram stops that I can call "mine" since just to get home I must use these 3). This trek does include walking under Vyšehrad castle, and through the tunnel, and I have a soft spot for Vyšehrad. I think of it as the "forgotten" castle of Prague. It's barely in the guide books, barely on the maps…it's also peaceful, probably due to the lack of foreign tourists (vicious circle of great places and discovery). I also have a "thing" for castles…just check out my favorite pictures page on my website. I also like it because I grew up near Vyšehrad...Texas. It's a little community that is nothing like a fortified castle and doesn't really have a hill. While walking though, I notice the general attitude of my fellow pedestrians. Very complacent, just taking part in their daily activities, not like this extra walk is an inconvenience. By the way, this also means that automobile traffic is disrupted so no bus and taxis have to go all the way around the hill or across the river…As my taxi driver yesterday from the airport tried to explain when he asked which route I wanted to take – through the center or via Barrandov. Apparently, I get a few glasses of beer on my Czech usage rating for the day because I used enough Czech while engaging the taxi driver for him to think I would understand him. Anyway, I also noticed while walking that boots are in! Knee-high boots with skirts and fabulous tights! I am so happy that I brought the proper attire to "fit in." And my boots are functional, all-weather, with treads on the bottom for ice but don't look it so they will be getting a lot of milage…kilometrage?...this year. By the way, as I continued to walk past Vyšehrad towards Prague Castle (Pražský hrad), and the afternoon foggy haze cleared, I saw the Castle and my heart lifted. It tends to do that. I see the Castle and I feel so happy to be here. I have a thing for castles. Maybe I was Libuše in a past life…

Thoughts on a Plane

To get to the Motherland, I must go through the Fatherland. Flying Lufthansa to Prague via Frankfurt. (Seriously, my mother’s heritage is Czech and my father’s is German.) So, I had about an hour to spare before boarding – after checking about 150 lbs of luggage, seriously, and “smuggling” another 70 in my carry-ons (really, who’s heard of the 8 kilo max on hand luggage?). Anyway, I decided to pamper myself a bit with a manicure at the airport spa, complete with deluxe massage chair, the kind that reclines to complete horizontal. Let me digress for a moment to say that not only am I a fan of airport spas but I have been known to support them on occasion. Overpriced, yes. But, sometimes, I just need to have a deluxe massage chair roll the travel stress away. And for those who say that I’m not a “real” anthropologists because I “complain” about not being able to find a reasonable pedicure price in the Czech Republic, I suggest you read the upcoming post about why I’m glad I brought my boots. So, getting back to the mani, from a lovely young lady named Tiffani. I could see out the door so I saw it coming – the flash of a camera. Tiffani was a bit taken aback and commented on the fact that people should ask before taking someone’s picture. I automatically put the two men into the category of tourist and obviously non-American. (I also thought about all the human subjects forms I’ve been building for the past months but that’s a different story.) I say obviously because they just didn’t look American. Some people claim that they can tell Europeans and Americans apart by facial features (and no, I’m not talking about 19th century anthropologists). I think it has a lot more to do with clothing and hairstyle. It’s that, again, look that people from different countries have. With these two I present the following “evidence”: the man who took the photo was wearing a track “suit”, track pants with a sleeveless t-shirt tucked in, all brand-named and a fannypack. The other had a rumpled kind of look that most American men just can’t quite seem to achieve; American men often seem to still look to put together. Remember, folks, this is a blog so I’m just offering my opinions here :). However, I have a so-called confirmation of my assessment because the men were on my flight and talking German as the mob was gathering around the gate to board. (Apparently the Brits really are the only people who know how to queue!) Since I could see them talking before the flash, my idea of their conversation went something along the lines of “look at those Americans who like luxury so much they have a spa in the airport!” Anyway, Tiffani’s comment started us talking, leading to that little serendipity for the day. At some point, I (relevantly) mentioned that I am an anthropologist. She asked me if I keep a log every day. I was a bit surprised because someone actually knows what an anthropologist does!! And she didn’t mention dinosaurs or bugs or Indiana Jones! I thought about commenting on that but I couldn’t figure out how to articulate my thoughts without sounding condescending. But what she really did was remind me that what I do is cool. Which is exactly what I needed because my introverted half was doing it’s normal pre-international trip monologue – I don’t want to go…I want to stay where I’m comfortable and can speak the language…Yes, folks, a half-introverted, half-extraverted anthropologist (I have come to realized since first writing this that this dual personality may actually help me more than hurt me but that will come later too). So, in the effort to bring the extraverted side into balance, I thought I’d chat up my row partner on the flight. As I was trying to figure out what to say to him as we had both finished our dinners, he asked me how long I would be in Germany. Serendipity of the day number 2. It turns out that Tony was on his way to Germany because his son was on a ventilator and in a coma. After a tour in Iraq, he gets hit in the head during a night out on the town in Germany. This conversation really forced me to put my own life into perspective. We had a great talk about everything from our own lives to politics to Texas (he’s a Longhorn). Tak, so, conclusion - my life is not only cool but blessed. I am about to embark on a year in Prague (funded…thank you taxpayers) and I don’t want to go? Get over it! Not only that, get out there, make the best of it (extraverted half in power with it sounds like introverted half in the chorus). All fired up but still hours before I land…I just discovered that Lufthansa serves wine in the galley throughout the flight…or at least the leftovers from dinner (I love the Germans!). So, carpe diem turns into carpe vinem for a bit.
(Tony if you ever read this, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family and especially Todd.)