Random Thought Thursday

I've temporarily lost the ability to sustain any sort of thought for any length of time. So, here are my random thoughts of the day:

1. Best line of the trip (so far):

Kristy [at Olomouc train station]: "Praha, první třídu, dvé jízdenky prosím."
Woman behind ticket window: "You want two tickets to Prague?"

2. Second best line of the trip:
Kristy [at pub]: "shopský salat prosím." [while pointing to the menu]
Waitress: "ne salat"
Kristy: "This salat then" [while pointing to another on the menu]
Waitress: "ne, no vegetables."
Apparently Anthony Bordain was right (see earlier post)

3. Best garlic soup of trip:

with cheese, egg and sausage, and it really had a great garlic flavor.

4. Best picture of garlic soup (notice the egg . . . Zach, look away)

5. Biggest beer of the trip (a full liter):

6. Best sausage stand of the trip:

and cheese

7. Scariest Children's Entertainment of the trip (Let's do the hokey pokey")

8. Scariest Adult Entertainment (see absinthe minded boy's post about laundry)

9. Favorite Prague picture of the trip (yes, we took it ourselves):

10. Favorite Olomouc picture of the trip so far (there is a model of the city in the main square):

Press Conferences and Sunburns

It's been a fabulous couple of days here in dear ole Praha. I really love this city . . . we love this city. Despite the occasional sticker shock when we decide to order something without checking the price first, Prague can be very affordable, and lovely. We've not run into a rude person. And when I was shopping for jewelery on the Charles Bridge today in the wonderful sunshine, I was tickled to try out my Czech and that I could actually respond in kind, which seemed to make a big impression. The bigger deal was my schmoozing with political women today, introducing myself, and starting the conversation in Czech, but also making it clear that "trochu mluvím česky."

The Forum 50% held a press conference today in the Czech Parliament. Their goal is to establish a quota for the list each party puts forward for the election, that at least 1 of the top three spots on the list is filled by a woman. As of now, the political parties put forward lists with several women, but the women are all on the bottom half of the list--clever. The Czech political system for parliamentary elections is run by a proportional system, which means that whatever percentage of the vote a party receives, that party fills that percentage of seats in the parliament, starting from the top of the list. In other words, very few women are in the Czech parliament (18%, unfortunately comparable to the US). So advocating a quota of 1 woman in the top 3 (which technically means the top half) is a pretty big deal. Citizens can still make a preference vote, which means that candidates on the list who receive a high percentage of the vote move up the list, but this doesn't happen for women much of the time. The Czech Republic is at the bottom of the list of EU countries when it comes to women's representation in parliament. While my hypothesis has to do with the political party rules as a gateway or gatekeeper, the advocates here believe change will come with quotas. The two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, so I am excited to be a part of this campaign.

The parliament building itself--what a challenge to get in today--I had to say the right thing. But we made it. The press conference was very formal and I was told that this was the most media coverage the Forum 50% has ever received. They debuted their campaign materials and media spots, and I was lucky enough to receive copies of it all.

I introduced myself to several women, one of whom was Kateřína Bartošová. What an interesting woman; we are having lunch next week to talk more. But her quick story tells so much about the political climate here. She is a member of the Civic Democrat party and the only woman from a political party invited to speak out today at the press conference. Her party has not been welcoming to women; in fact, the Civic Democrats have actually expelled women for speaking in favor of women's representation. So it was a risk for her to take part today. I told her I thought she was brave and she told me that she asked her "party boss" whether it was alright if she attended and she gave him a copy of her remarks. She was "allowed" to attend. I'm interested in why a woman wants to be a member of this party when there are other options, but she is an interesting case of navigating the rhetorical landscape and taking advantage of what is there in front of you. Here she is talking to the media after the press conference.

I met several other women and I hope they will help me learn more about women in Czech politics. It was an interesting morning.

Czech Food: Part Tři

Friday night in Olomouc we decided to check out (ha ha) a "sport bar" to see if they might have the Butler game on satellite. I have no idea why they call it a sport bar. There were no TVs or athletic events, unless you count beer drinking. But they did serve traditional Czech food, so we have more food pictures to share. And in case you're wondering, we were able to stream the game live on our computer from ncaa.com. Go Bulldogs!

I had the goulash, which was beef in a gravy with onions (everything has onions), some attempt at vegetables and spongy bread to soak up the gravy. It was quite good. I had a tomato salad on the side (with more onions), which had sort of a slightly sweet viniagrette. It was also quite good.

Ian had the knockwurst in a beer gravy with another attempt at vegetables, of course topped with onions. There was some fabulous mustard swimming in there too. He said my goulash was better, and I agree, but they were both tasty!

Tonight we continued the pork fest, after all, it is Easter. This time we're back in Prague, and, taking a page from Anthony Bordain's playbook, Ian ordered the pork knuckle. Talk about a huge hunk of pork, and it was tasty. It literally fell apart, and no, we didn't eat the layer of fat. My iphone camera doesn't do it justice in the picture, but it was fabulous slathered in mustard and horseradish. Oh, and there's the half-hearted attempt at vegetables again, a couple pickles, a few shredded carrots and cabbage. There are hard pretzels hanging on a little pretzel tree on each table too. But no onions this time.

There was a family sitting next to us from Japan who apparently was very enamored with Czech cuisine, or at least dad was. The two little girls ordered dessert and dad ordered the half roast duck. Mom watched. Then dad ordered the pork ribs, which was the biggest slab of ribs I've ever seen, and I've seen some serious rubs. Mom watched with amazement. He was still eating when we left. I think he'll still be there in the morning. I didn't take a picture; after all, that would have been weird.

Czech Food: Part II

Here are the pictures to accompany the previous entry.

Gothaj, Hanácké Tvaružky, and Hermelin Part II.

This is the Gothaj:

Hanácké Tvaružky:

Hermelin

So, what do you think?

Czech Food: Part I

Czechs LOVE Lady Gaga. We heard her yesterday in the pub/cafe and now she's on the sound system again as I write this.

The subtitle of this entry is: Gothaj, Hanácké Tvaružky, and Hermelin, oh my!

We went to a brewpub last night, or a pivo house, and tried some authentic Czech food. We got there too late for dinner, which was disappointing (9:30 p on a Thursday is too late for dinner) but we were allowed to order from the starter menu. We met a bartender who spoke very good English and we asked him for recommendations. He was really nice and also slipped us a couple shots of pear brandy, apparently a drink of choice here. It included a slice of canned pear in the shot glass and I think we watched him make 200 of those shots in the time we were there. Also had FABULOUS beer. Anyway, here goes for the food description. Let's say that so far, I'm not a convert.

First, the Gothaj: This is a plate of "salami" covered in onions. I will post a picture in Czech Food: Part II. However, let me tell you about it. It is sort of a light pink color with white specs and I assume that it is mostly fat and animal parts that I don't want to know about. It literally melts in your mouth--another indication that it's mostly fat. But it's REALLY tasty. My new friend the bartender was teasing me that I didn't want to know what was in it; that it was the worst thing I could eat. He also said it included "nuts and balls." Then he said, just kidding. Whatever. It was tasty.

Next is the Hanácké Tvaružky: as the menu says, local cheese on bread with onion. I don't think I can do this one again. I had two rather large bites and I was done--texture, odor, taste--a perfect storm of things that might not be so bad individually, but gelatinous + the stinkiest cheese you've ever had times 10 + sort of a medicinal almost anise like flavor that hits the back of your tongue (I'm not a black licorice fan) and that was it. The "cheese" didn't seem like a cheese at all. It is apparently soaked in beer to within an inch of its cheesy life where it's still thick like a cheese, but takes on a gelatinous appearance. Won't do that one again. Our bartender said you can't get it anywhere outside the country. Perhaps there's a reason for that.

Third, hermelin--this is called the Czech gorgonzola. I like regular gorgonzola better. This was also covered in onions and perhaps some sort of pickling liquid. It was ok; we spread it on rye bread.

By the way, did you notice that everything was covered in onions?

I mentioned the pear brandy. That was yummy. Apparently everyone makes their own brandy, called Slivovice. Here is a picture of me toasting my friend Stephen King on his new book contract with a pear brandy. Yes, his name is Stephen King. And notice the giant beer, the local brew. YUM.

Finally, after spending a whole $25 including tip on 6 beers and the above mentioned Czech delicacies, we went back to a club we found the night before . . . that actually serves mixed drinks. Praise the Lord, I don't have to drink only beer (by the way, beer is cheaper than water). Ian had a martini and I had a cosmo and it was garnished with this lovely little fruit that the bartender said was a Fisaz (that's what it sounded like). It looked like a small, very compact orange tomato, with lovely long leaves. I don't know what it tasted like, but it was pretty.

Well, that's it for Czech Cuisine: Part I. Check back (ha ha) for Part II which will include pictures of the above mentioned delicacies. Until next time kids, dobrou chut!
 

Bars with Wi-Fi are a Beautiful Thing

Hi Kids, just a quick update on a Friday afternoon. No pictures to share, but we survived the first night in the new apartment and we were glad we happened to grab the "blankets" from the airplane. Wondering if they've already "turned off" the heat for the year. Today is rainy and high in the mid 40s. Showering in a European shower is a complicated process, bank tellers in Olomouc are friendly, the breads are out of this world good, and everything is so inexpensive we have to do the math in our head twice just to make sure.

A 2000 crown note in the Czech Republic is a work of art.

Bars with wi-fi are a beautiful thing.

After spending a lovely lunch and afternoon with my colleague Antonin and his wife and daughter, we located the nearest Budwar sign and were drawn in for a 25 crown (really Koruner, but they call it crown) half liter of liquid loveliness. By the way, roughly 19 crowns = $1 US. We were further enticed by a television blaring MTV in English, and the best thing of all, free wireless. So I'm catching up on my writing . . . er, blogging.

We have the day to ourselves tomorrow, to explore Olomouc. Then we decided to head to Prague for Easter, assuming we can navigate the language challenges of purchasing a train ticket. My new friend, Mr. Happy Walia at the Charles Hotel, promised us upgraded rooms for only 70 euro per night, so we decided to stay until Wednesday. The big campaign kick-off press conference is Tuesday.

I will be teaching on Fridays in Olomouc, but not today, because it is good Friday (they've been off all week through Monday, Easter Monday, a national holiday). And not next Friday because things still have to be arranged. But I will be teaching sometime. After all, gotta do something to "earn" my grant money.

People don't really speak any English here, and my Czech is very rough. We plan out what we want to say and hope that we don't get any questions in return. The problem is, sometimes we improvise vocabulary, which causes problems. For example, trying to get change at a bank, we needed 4 $500 crown notes in exchange for a $2000 crown note. We didn't know the word for 500, so we asked for 5 100 change. Obviously this caused confusion and after a few go rounds the teller just grabbed the 500 notes from the drawer and pointed. Problem solved.

But we do know how to ask for beer--pivo or a brand name, such as Budwar, Stella, etc. Pointing also works well as long as you say hello (dobry den), please (prosim) and thank you (dekuji, --de-kwi).

But enough language lessons. Happy Friday everyone!

Olomouc: Our New Home for the Next Six Weeks

We have arrived. Olomouc is about 2 and 1/2 hours east of Prague by Express train. It is the fifth largest city in the Czech Republic and part of the area known as Moravia (as opposed to Bohemia). I get the impression the city is much more reserved than Prague, perhaps downright traditional. For example, we know that Easter is a huge holiday here. But rather than the decorated squares and carnival-like atmosphere of Prague, it's more of a religious observation here. Families spend time visiting one another and attending church services. And there are definitely more churches, monasteries, and nunneries here per square mile than perhaps anyplace on the planet.

Now to our apartment. First, you couldn't ask for a better location. Right on the tram line, walking distance to the main square (like 2 minutes), very close to the university, grocery, anyplace we would need to go, and a tram ride to the train station. Our apartment is modest, to say the least. It has good light, it's on the 5th or 6th floor, so we're above the street noise, and it has laundry facilities. We have to maintain and clean, and it comes equipped with dishes and an Internet connection. The television leaves something to be desired as it has 3-5 stations, depending on the whims of the frequency gods, that may come it at any one time . . . and they're all in Czech. Here are a few pics of our palace! Probably the size of our garage at home!



The lovely kitchen/bar area:

Next to the "living room"

And the very long bedroom/office space combo, complete with two twin beds each with a mattress that is almost thick enough that you barely feel the hard frame underneath!

Look, you can almost see that TV from the bed. Unfortunately the remote isn't strong enough to work from that distance. Ha Ha.

So, this is our home. Home sweet home!