The Prog Blague: Settling In. **UPDATED**

Ahoj!
Well, it's about 12:50am here in Praha, so technically I am entering Day 4 of my stay. I went out last night... and the night before that... so I'm taking a breather, despite the fact that the concept of a night without drinking doesn't seem to exist over here.

If you have even the slightest conception of Prague, you know that it's all about the beer. And after trying it... several times within the past 72 hours, I can certainly see why. I'm not a big beer drinker. At all. But Czech beer has got it right. Imagine if you will...

One pint of beer.

That tastes like rainbows sliding down your throat.

For 18kC, which is about $1.

Just slap this bad boy on the counter... and get change! I feel like I'm in High Plains Drifter.
And you can drink this ANYWHERE. In the park, while you're walking in the street, in the movie theatre... yeah. So much the beer.

And, wouldn't you know, beer is such a common staple around here that people exercise MODERATION. They drink in large quantities, sure, but beer isn't treated like that bagel that you try to shove into your mouth ten minutes before class so you won't be hungry until lunch. You know the one. People are reasonable. They pace. So, if they get drunk, it's not "oh my Bob get the stomach pump and a bear whip" drunk.

Is there such thing as a bear whip? I think so. There should be. Somebody's got to keep those bears in line.
I'm pretty sleepy so I want to wrap this up, but I have so many beans to spill. It'll be a mess. It'll take hours to clean up. You'll never want to look at another bean as long as you live.

The apartment flat, if I haven't mentioned it already, is pretty awesome. In terms of location it is right in Nové Město (literally "new town") which is like the center of Prague's selling points. Everything surrounding here is fascinating and walking distance, and if it's not walking distance then it's a brief tram ride or Metro ride away. FAMU is about 6 minutes walking distance away, which kicks some nicely-toned booty.

The Prog Blague presents...
A Brief Tour of my Flat

The inside of the flat is spacious-- two double bedrooms that are each twice the size of a double dorm room in Whittier. Here's my side of the room:

Messy...

Note that all these photos are from Day 1 of move-in, so there's a major lack of set-up/order/furniture/etc. I'll probably post some updated photos of the place when we make it cozier. It's slowly but surely getting there. The fridge is fully stocked as of today, and that's really all that matters.
Hmm... Blogger is being tempermental and won't let me post any more pictures, so I'll have to go back in and add them later. In the meantime, please allow me to exercise my literary talents by painting the picture of my flat through the magic of words.

I promise to stop talking like that. (maybe)

So you go up a few flights of stairs to our apartment. There's a sort of front entry way which breaks off into the different rooms-- to the right is Julia and Kristyna's room, and the toilet. To the left is the bathroom.

"Huh?"

Yeah. The toilet is in a separate room from the sink/tub/shower. It's kind of weird, but extremely convenient when one of us wants to shower and one of us needs to use the bathroom.

Anyway, moving on: forward and to the right is the living room. We're getting a couch tomorrow or something, for now we just have a futon. There's also a t.v., bookshelf, ironing board, et cetera. Again, we'll make this place cozier in the near future once we're not having our lives consumed by orientation.

Straight forward is the kitchen area on the right, and a little further is the "dining" area. If you go past the kitchen, to the left is my room, which I share with my roommate Vera.

We have a secret washing machine, too. It's under the kitchen counter next to the dishwasher, AKA the last place you would ever look for a washing machine. It's pretty James Bond. Our fridge is, too-- from the outside it looks like another cabinet. I like it.

Hmmm, what else. I'm getting really tired so I need to get brief about all this. LET'S GET BRIEF.

(Here's where I would post a picture of briefs... ha, ha, ha!)

THE PEOPLE:
-In Prague-- Friendly, but a lot more blunt than people in the U.S. It jostles you a bit at first, but it's refreshing to have that sincerity.
-In the program-- Awesome. They are awesome. I was really nervous that I'd be stuck with pretentious film jerks, because most/many film folk are that way. But no... these are 15 incredibly down-to-earth people. I like everyone, and we've already set the bonding ball in motion over the past three days. I'm so relieved and grateful I get to spend my Prague journey with these people.

WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING:
-Going out to bars.
-Going out to concerts-- the first night we saw a little folk group perform at a pub, and last night we saw an underground Czech band from the 80s called "Plastic People of the Universe" at a LITERALLY underground pub. They were pretty awesome.
-Walking around the city and sort-of-learning how the tram and metro work.
-Swimming at a "natural pool"-- that's what we did today. It was SO MUCH FUN, and absolutely perfect since it's been really hot and humid out. My understanding was that it's more or less the Czech substitute for the beach. There were hundreds of people at this pond, swimming around and tanning on the banks. And did I mention this was a clothing-optional natural pool? Yeah, didn't pick up on that until I saw a trickle of naked men wading in on the other side of the bank. People are so much more candid about their bodies over here, which I can certainly appreciate. I kept my suit on all the same. But in a month? Who can say...
-Seeing movies-- There's a big film fest going on right now. Tonight we watched "Bellflower," which was really good, though a lot of my Film Studies peers disagree. It's melodramatic and kind of abstract, but I enjoyed the ride. See it-- it's an independent American film. Tomorrow I think we're seeing more fesival films.
-Orientation-ing-- Overwhelming. We are going to be doing SO MUCH this semester. I'm chomping at the bit. Classes don't start for another week or so, though.

Aaaaand I seriously need to go to bed. I feel my throat getting sore and I'm concerned it might develop into something awful if I don't squish it early. Good night!

**UPDATES**

Photos of the flat!