Well hello there

My oh my it has been a while since I posted. In my defense, my schedule has been pretty, um, packed? Hardly: fall break, midterms week, and lazy week. What can I say, I'm on a freakin roll. But I'm sorry it's taken me so long to actually get back into blogging, and I hope this post makes up for my absence.

So fall break. 4 countries in 11 days. There's no point in giving a you a detailed summary of what happened every day, because while exciting things did indeed happen on a daily basis, who the fuck wants to read through that. So instead, here's a general list of what fall break was like:

• London: I was only in London for 18 hours, but in that time I managed to get fish and chips, Indian food on Brick Lane, get drunk, and spend a surprising amount of money. I mean, the Brits must travel in style because their money is worth twice as much as everyone elses. It's a little out of control.
  

• Istanbul: There's really not enough I can say about how goddamn cool Istanbul is. It is so different from anywhere I've ever been before- it's a Muslim country, there are these beautiful old mosques EVERYWHERE, there are so many ruins just scattered around the city, and it's still a little rough around the edges. So much hookah, it was ridiculous. The food is out of control delicious, and cheap! I could eat a dinner of amazing street food for like two dollars. Roasted chestnuts, baklava, sesame donuts, rice pilaf, grilled corn, and all sorts of other things. My favorite was the fish bread- you could go down to an area right on the river where fishermen would bring their catches, pan fry them on these giant griddles floating on boats moored to the dock, and serve it to you in an amazing sandwich with onion, salt, and lemon juice. Did I mention the hookah? One night Lisa and I got a little turned around in the slums going back to our hostel and stumbled upon a traditional Turkish wedding in the street. It was also right underneath the train tracks, so every ten minutes or so this massive train would roar by, separated from the wedding by a single chain link fence. It was very Slumdog Millionaire. Now I'm determined to keep heading east until I hit India. Graduation? Hmmm....

• Athens: I was only in Athens for a day and a half, so I didn't see everything, but it has to be one of the dirtiest cities I've seen. Not like piles of trash on the streets or anything like that, but it just felt really grimy. I got a little turned around heading to the hostel from the airport and before I knew what was going on I was standing in the middle of a huge drug deal. People were literally standing next to me on the sidewalk and shooting up heroin. The Acropolis was cool, the food was great, blah blah blah. Moving on.

• Rome: The overeating began even before we left for Rome. It turned out that we were on the first Easyjet flight from Athens to Rome, and so the airline gave us free hats and a catered lunch while we were waiting to board. Good stuff. Rome is a beautiful city, and it's like walking through a giant museum. We saw everything you're supposed to see (except the Forum, which mysteriously closed early on Saturday) and ate way more pasta than anyone should. It's our hostel that's worth mentioning, though. THAT shit was crazy. You may have seen my facebook status where I quoted the receptionist saying "If you need anything, ask me now, because I'll be drunk by 9." The place was run by this Italian midgit (not a real one) named Salvatore who was a little too old for this and spoke no English and his Irish sidekick, Jeff. It was just one long hallway with a bunch of rooms coming off of it, and every night, it turned into a raging party that usually ended with Salvatore standing on the table and pouring champagne into people's mouths. This, um, theme made a lot of people in the group uncomfortable, but I thought it was kinda fun. Inappropriate, of course, but oh so entertaining. I met many new friends and I could not tell you any of their names or where they're from (I have a vague memory of a fellow Red Sox fan). Free drinks will do this to you. You could write a movie about this place; in fact, Alex rightly compared it to a European version of Old School. Dead on.

So that was my little eurotrip. Totally worth the money. I came back and wrote papers last week for midterms, which is why I didn't get around to posting. I love how much the professors here seem to hate the American style of grading- it seems like in every class I have, the professor has made some surprised/annoyed announcement that they has to provide NYU with midterm grades, which is so stupid, but they have to do it. I have a feeling they just give everyone A's. My Reporting the Arts professor still refuses to actually give us letter grades on our papers, as did Jan Urban, so its anyone's guess.

Last weekend, lots of people went to Berlin, so Kush, Melody, Sean, Max, and their friend from Vienna did lots of wandering and drinking and, um, other fun things too. I had no work because the previous week was midterms, so it was a nice way to decompress after traveling so much over fall break. This week was more of the same, with work not really picking back up yet. I think all the Czechs are looking forward to the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution (next Tuesday. It'll be ridiculous, I am so joining in the re-enactment of the student march and partying in Wenceslas Square) so they can't focus on much else right now. I'm OK with that.

In other news, like many other NYU students, I'm currently mapping out my schedule because I have to register on Tuesday. My schedule for next semester, in a word, blows. I have a class, one class, on Mondays from 8:30-12:10. That sucks because Tom Beidelman is teaching a class called Anthropology of Death, but its MW 9:30-10:45. DAMNIT. Then I have a lecture Monday nights from 6:20-8:50. On top of that, I have to take Con West, and the only one I'm interested in taking has Friday recitations. UGH. I know bitching about a Friday class is probably really annoying to all you people who don't go to NYU, but I don't care. Going two and a half years with a four day week (three days last semester) will do that to you.

I also need to start applying for internships, but when you're living in a magical place like Prague, that shit all feels so distant. I'm thinking the Daily News as of now. It would be so great if I got an internship because then I would use that as my fourth class and continue to put off my anthropology major. Plus my resume is pretty bare. OK sorry I'm done talking like a grown up now.

Before I go, I'd like to point out that I'm really starting to hate other groups of Americans in Prague. They just suck. Chapeau was so full of them last night that I might have well as been back in New York. They're loud, obnoxious, rude, apallingly stupid; in other words, they fit right into the stereotype that Americans suffer abroad. Maybe it's because I've lived here for almost three months and I'm starting to feel like attached to Prague, but I'm sure that when I see them my face contorts into the classic Czech scowl. I'm sorry, but there are other bars in the city besides Chapeau and other restaurants besides Bohemia Bagel (although it is really good). Have you ever gotten yelled at by a Czech person in a grocery store? Do you know how to use the trams? Have you ever gone out for a beer before an evening class? Have you gone to Mecca on Wednesdays because even though it's so far, it's free? Do you know the joy of Radost brunch and sleeping beauties? Do you know how to get around Old Town without a map? No. You don't because you don't live here. Us NYU kids, we do. For these four months, this is our city. Remember that next time you head out on one of those idiotic pub crawls.