What a Wonderful (and Small) World

Well, it's the beginning of one of my favorite seasons of the year - Lent! Like much of Spain, my host family does not practice the Catholic faith on a regular basis. Contrary to popular belief, Spain is a highly non-religious country. It's taken me some time to get used to that. One of my professors said that ten percent or less of the population attends mass on Sundays. So, I explained to my host mom that I was not going to eat meat on Ash Wednesday or Fridays during Lent. She was really nice about it and said, "But chicken is good...yes?" I totally felt like Ian from My Big Fat Greek Wedding when he tells Aunt Voula that he is a vegetarian and she responds, "That's okay, I make lamb." We got it all cleared up, though. I kind of want to make a bundt cake and see what happens. (If you haven't seen the movie and have no idea what I'm talking about, you should probably check it out).

Speaking of culture, I went to Prague and Vienna this past week! Prague was an extremely cool city, and I felt right at home. I think it had something to do with the fact that people were tall(er) there, literally everyone spoke English, and that's the land of my fathers (I think...more on that later). It was a little strange because the Czech Republic isn't on the Euro yet, so we had to exchange our money for Czech Crowns when we got there. One euro is worth about twenty-five crowns though, so paying for things was ridiculous; dinner was cheap by euro standards, but it cost about 200 crowns. It was like having Monopoly money in your pocket. However, the country itself is very new- it has only existed since 1989 (as part of Czechoslovakia) and since 1993 as the Czech Republic. We took a walking tour around the city and got a brief overview of the history there. One of the tour guides knew a lady from the Czech Republic who had lived in nine different countries during her life - but never moved. That's some serious border instability. Therefore, I think I had relatives in the area at one point, but I suppose I will never know exactly where they came from.

Below: Lock Bridge in Prague - the idea is to snap a lock on the bridge and throw the key into the water

 Right: Tyn Cathedral in Prague (notice that the tower on the left is smaller than the tower on the right)

Left: John Lennon Wall in Prague - filled with Beatles-inspired phrases since the 1980s; it was also a source of communist opposition


Right: Giant Metronome, symbolizing the monotony of life under the Communist government


I had researched churches in both Prague and Vienna before going, but I wasn't sure whether I would be able to make it to mass on Saturday in Prague. So I decided to ask the receptionist at our hostel for tips on nearby churches since the big cathedral was far away. When I did, he looked at me with a thoroughly confused expression, slowly pulled out a map, and said, "Well, I know of one church." He then proceeded to circle the huge landmark church on the other side of the river. That's the church I knew about too. I ended the awkwardness and decided to go to church in Vienna. The next day I found out that the country is arguably the most secular in the world, with a population that is 90% atheistic.

Whereas Prague had a distinctly old-European feel to it, Vienna was very modern. I made it to mass at St. Stephen's Cathedral, but it was in German. That's the thing about Europe - you spend a few hours on a train and end up in a totally new country, with completely different cultures and traditions. Imagine if each of the states in America had its own language and distinct ethnicity. It's mind-boggling. In Vienna, we also visited Mozart's house (they're big on classical music there), ice skated in front of the town hall, went to the zoo (the oldest in the world that is still open) and topped off the weekend with a magnificent classical music concert. Definitely a phenomenal trip.

Ice skating in front of Town Hall in Vienna

Inside the Greenhouse near the Vienna Zoo

The Gloriette - across the plaza from the Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna

Concert Hall in Vienna

It's crazy how small the world is sometimes. In Prague, we happened to run into the people who were staying in the room next to ours in the hostel, and one of them was a classmate from Bucknell! We literally bumped into another Bucknell friend in Prague as well, in addition to seeing other students from our school in Spain. Then in Vienna one of the girls in our group saw a group from her high school staying in our hostel. I guess that's life - you just never know what's going to happen.

I saw a quote the other day that I really like: "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you."  I'm not really sure what exactly that means or how to do it, but I know for a fact that simplicity is a really complicated idea.

Until next time - ¡hasta la vista!