Counting Down

Yea, yea, yea. I haven't posted in over a month. Well, I'm leaving in less than 3 weeks and life is crazy busy. So, bear with me. I plan to update my life post-Prague...if I have time then! :)
Stay tuned.

American sense in a Czech world

So, when my parents visited, my mom commented that the Czech women seem to like tight clothing. This comment touches on some thoughts that I've been trying to articulate to myself, which is why it has taken this long for me to write about it. It appears to me that Czech woman have a sense that the clothes are the outfit and whatever it is supposed to look like it does. For example, a woman might wear a tank top, belly shirt and low-riding tight jeans - a common site on the streets of Prague for woman of any age...well, let's say below 50. On many women, it looks fine, even great. On some, though the clothes are too small and their bodies are spilling out of the outfit, in what most Americans would say is very unflattering. It's like if the outfit is supposed to be sexy than it is, regardless of how the body inside the clothes make it look. Now, I'm not sure if women buy the clothes this tight or if they are old or borrowed or what. I was discussing this with my friend Hanka and she said that Czech women are confident in their bodies. Okay. I'll accept that. I'm not saying that there is no pressure for women to be beautiful and skinny like in the US. The documentary Ženy pro měny (Beauty Exchange) does an excellent job of showing that. But women do seem more confident in their bodies here, in general. Which leads me to my next commentary - the human body and nudity.

So, I live near žluté lázně, a beach area on the banks of the Vltava. I go sometimes in the afternoon to sit in the sun and work, usually with a nice cold beer. Now, it is Europe so there are plenty of men in speedos. And you can tell you spend a lot of time out there. Men and women who are brown, I mean really brown, the kind of brown that you only get with long-term, intensive exposure to the sun. But the first time I was there, I noticed one young women sit up from her spot on the grass and take her bikini top off. Okay. I was a little surprised. The next time, though, it was like I had walked into a nudist beach...almost. Women were topless everywhere. All ages. All sizes. Just sitting there on their towels, talking to their friends, playing cards. One woman looked like she had just taken her clothes off and was wearing ther underwear thong and nothing else. And weighed probably 200 pounds, not a small woman. I guess that is confidence. :) I will say that they clothed themselves when going to the concession stand but only a few feet away were the shower spouts to rinse off and there people were rinsing off, wearing bottoms only in many cases. And I can't just talk about the women. Across the street from the beach is one of the biggest pools in Prague, open all year round. Next door is a building with a flat roof. The tram goes right past this and one day I was riding in to the center and happened to look up and see an older man (white haired) standing on the roof, rubbing lotion on his butt. I thought, he can't be...then he turned around and yep, he was nude. Just standing there in full view of the street, etc. On the way back a few hours later, he was standing up again and a woman was there, too, also in the buff.

So, what am I trying to say here. Well, first, I feel that I have exhibited the classic American prudishness that Europeans accuse us of so often. Nudity is such a negative thing in the US. We are so body conscious - too fat, too skinny (which you can be both, I am not saying that these do not exist but I think that we are too critical), too naked. And I'm not saying that we should all walk around naked but that we need to loosen up our views on what nudity means. In the Victorian era, men were turned on by the sight of an ankle or the chance to touch a woman's skin (and the woman would be tittilated by that touch, too) because it was so restricted and skin and limbs were so sensationalized. An old professor tells that story how Malians think that bikinis are so silly because they cover up the breasts, which are no big deal, they are for nursing babies, but show off the thighs, which are the really sexy part of a woman. So by restricting the human body in American public life, we sensationalize and highlight the sexual meanings that our culture places on these body parts.

Now, I'm probably contradicting myself with my fashion critique followed by my desire to see more bodies but they are linked. I'm just trying to figure it all out for myself :) However, I have been wondering about all of this for some time. Specifically, since I read that Hooters is supposed to be opening a Prague location later this year. I have never been to Hooters for the obvious reasons, despite the fact that I love wings and theirs are supposed to be really good. However, I am wondering if Hooters will have the same meaning or reaction in Prague that it does in the US. If ideas about clothing and nudity are different here, how does the Hooters uniform of super-short shorts and tight shirts worn by skinny, tanned, beautiful women fit into the Czech schemata of sexuality? Unfortunately, I don't think it will be opening before I leave because I would have to visit it here (both for research and for the fact that I am craving good wings!) I mean, Czech beer gardens are family places, with kids and strollers, half of the kids at the beach are running around naked, will this be a family restaurant in Prague? To be continued...

Talking about talking

So, a main theme of this blog has been my love/hate relationship with the Czech language. After 3 weeks of intensive language school I can say that I did make some progress but not as much as I had hoped. For example, yesterday was recruitment day. During the recruitment firms monthly informational meeting, I get a few minutes to introduce my project and recruit participants. I have been doing it in English but last time said some in Czech. This time, I had hoped to do it all in Czech. I had it planned in my head. It was perfect...in my head. Then I opened my mouth and it came out all smushed. At the end, I said (in English): now you know how bad I speak Czech so don't be afraid to speak English with me. I got a laugh. Afterwards, my Czech friends gave me the following comments: "Skvele" (brilliant), "Very sympaticky (likable)," "It's a shame that you can't use it in communication" - so mixed reviews. The good news is that while I was sitting in on a one-on-one interview between recruiter and candidate, I was able to understand about 80% which is a high number for me. I mean, I did know the context but I felt good about it. I apparently do better when I'm just observing.

However, the issue of English language has been a huge theme of my research. Primarily, without very good English skills, and confidence, a healthcare worker can't get a job abroad (at least not in the Middle East where English is the lingua franca). So, English is a requirement for employment in this phenomena. However, many of the nurses that I talk to want to go abroad to improve their English, so it's also an incentive to go abroad. More on that in the analysis.

But this has been both good and bad for me. Good because even though my Czech isn't very strong, I can still do my work. Practicing English with me is a benefit to people who do interviews with me. However, I am not forced to do my research in Czech so it's been bad for my motivation. I've been taking classes in Prague since January, trying to improve. I watch Czech tv, I study vocab on the tram, I've even gone to non-subtitled Czech movies. However, living in Prague it's a little difficult to learn Czech. I am not forced to use it. I don't even hear it on the streets as much - I work in the center so I head German, Russian, English, Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese, etc spoken around me on an almost daily basis. And still, people want to practice their English OR just use it because their English is better than my Czech so it's just easier to use English. Besides, it's sexy!


So, I guess what I'm gettin at is the role of the native language in Anthropology. Using the native language is a cornerstone to anthroplogical research. I know things are changing, we are problem-focused researchers now but where does that leave native language versus English in a world where English is becoming a form of universal language? I know that I am not getting everything. I may only be getting half if that much with some interviews. And I know that I have missed out on a lot of contextual aspects. During interviews, I offer the interviewee the chance to speak Czech when they feel they don't have the adequate English and at times I have asked the questions in Czech. So, does not being able to speak the language fluently make me a bad anthropologist? Does it exclude me from certain research projects? I've been studying this language for 4 years, done 3 summer intensive programs, tried a number of resources, only to be told that Czech is the most difficult Slavic language to learn and, from many Czechs, that if they hadn't learned it as a child they never would. Now, I know it is possible to learn. I know plenty of Americans who have done their research here and now speak Czech brilliantly. But I am also not very good in languages. But back to my question - where does the lingua franca of English fit into anthropological fieldwork?

Zlín - home of Bat´a

So, a few weeks ago, I went to Zlín to do an interview. A nurse invited me to visit her and to tour her maternity ward. Although it was a 4-hour bus ride, I went and wasn't sure how things would go. So, she met me at the bus station and we went for lunch at a lovely little cafe that specialized in crepes. I ordered one with ham, cheese and asparagus. It was nice...except for the ketchup artistically splooshed on it. I am the odd American who does not like ketchup on everything. Afterwards, we went to visit her hospital.
She was very happy to explain to me that their ward is very baby and mother friendly, including this sign outside that said so...in English!
Afterwards, we went for a small tour of the town and then to the hotel. Now, this was a surprise for me in a few ways. First, though a miscommunication of mine, I thought I would be staying with my host. No problem, though, because I was a little nervous about staying with someone I barely know anyway! But the Hotel Moskva (Hotel Moscow for you non-slavic speakers) was in a word, amazing! I felt like I was in a cliché. Now, I've been in a few Czech, Slovak, Polish-owned hotels and hostel so it shouldn't be a surprise to me how things have not been remodeled much, but I felt like I wanted to look for listening devices! Maybe I was biased by the name.
My room was very spare.
but it did have internet, which is good because I had to communicate with my family about a crisis so that was good. And the tv had CNN World News so I was able to get some English-language television. I've recently realized that's something I miss - being able to understand what's being said on the news.
The exterior is just as fabulous...complete with socialist-worker statue out front.


I had a few food options at the hotel - and Irish Bar or a Mexican Restaurant. Since I had eaten at that Mexican-food chain in Olomouc, I opted for the Irish Bar. It was nice.





The next day, we toured the Bat´a Shoe Museum. Now anybody that knows me probably knows about my love for Bat´a shoes. It's my own special way of helping the Czech economy. So, a little background for everyone - in 1894, Tomáš Bat´a founded his now-famous shoe factory. At the time, Zlín had about 3 000 people. By 1930, he had 42 000 employees. So, Zlín, although having an old history like most Czech towns, has a very young history as a city. With this growth, Bat´a had to build factories and living quarters for his workers and the city reflects the architecture of that age. It was very functionalist but with an emphasis on maintaining gardens so today the city has an interesting look to it. You can see a neighborhood of Bat´a worker homes nestled in the trees here.


Well, kind of...they're in there, I promise! Anyway, the original Bat´a died in 1932 but his son, also Tomáš fled to Canada in 1938 where the company continued to flourish. In 1945, the company was nationalized and the named changed to Svit, which remains today since Tomáš didn't get anything back from the state due to allegations that his uncle collaborated with the Nazis. However, in almost every Czech town, or at least city of any decent size, you can find at least one Bat´a shoe store. The shoe museum that I mentioned actually has a really nice collection of preserved and replicated shoes from around the world and throughout history. My internal anthropologist was fascinated by thinking about how much we can learn about a culture just by studying their shoes!

Back to the grind

So, today started my fourth round of summer intensive language school. I haven't done one since 2007 and this year I decided to try a new one. I'm using SF Servis, which is the program that I have been studying with for my evening courses since January. Overall, I think it will be good. We're right in the middle of Old Town. The teacher is good. The class has 5 people and we are all at a similar level, or at least no one will hold the group back. So, I've got (high?) hopes of progress!

Search for pizza: an update

So, I have found a solution to my pizza dilemma. A frozen pizza that is actually better than a lot of frozen pizzas in the US AND reasonably-priced. Now, I had been buying frozen pizza from the foodhall at Marks & Spencer for about $8, then dropped to $6. These are really good, "gourmet" if you will, pizzas but a bit expensive. But when I was at my friend's flat one night she fixed a few of Dr. Oetker's Casa di Mama. I had already eaten so I only ingested the visual. It looked really good. So, then I gave it a shot, buying 2 at one time - knowing that I was going out of town and didn't have any food in the fridge. Two cost just a bit more than 1 from M&S. The result: a great tasting pizza that looks like the box. I've had two kinds: a veggie with pesto and the diablo meat one pictured here. Now, I still say that Pizzerie Kmotra (translates to godfather) is the best in Prague, but when I need a quick meal after a long day, Dr. Oetker is the man.

Who would've thunk?

So, apparently English is Sexy! So says this billboard at the Prague bus station, Florenc. I've been noting the large number of English language schools advertising around the city but this one really caught my eye. Don't worry, I'll have a nice scholarly analysis of it at some point :)