Terezin Concentration Camp

Today we went to the Terezin concentration camp located forty-five minutes outside of Prague. Terezin was a camp for Jews and others deemed "undesirable" by the Nazis during WW2. The camp served as a holding station to sort out people until they were eventually sent on trains to extermination camps to die in the east.

Terezin was beautiful in a very creepy way. The center of the camp had a beautiful park with roses but, the thought of what happened to the Jewish people there years ago gave Terezin a weird vibe. People still live in Terezin today and I can't understand how you can live in a place where so many people were sent to die. The trip was really interesting because we go to see the entire camp and explore around ourselves. We went into the tunnels that the Nazis used and visited the bunks of the prisoners.

Overall, the camp was a humbling and solemn experience. It was neat to get to see the history before my own eyes but, this history had a dark, evil past.

Hare Krishna Personality Project

I now feel like a real journalist. Yesterday I spent an entire day with a group of Hare Krishnas, photographing them and learning about their culture. I ate a meal with them, observed their daily prayer, chanting, and followed them around Prague on their "Harinam".

In my photography class that I am taking, we have to do a personality project. We have to find an interesting person who lives in Prague and follow them in their daily routine. I saw this group of Hare Krishnas several times around Prague on their "Harinam", which is where they walk around the town square chanting their mantra and dancing. I looked on their website and found out where they lived and away I went. When I arrived they welcomed me into their home and were very helpful to me in my project. The person I focused my project on is named Alalanatha Dasa. He is a preacher and cook for the group.

He let me photograph the group eating a meal, offering food and flowers to Krishna in their temple, and their daily life around the house. It was really fascinating getting to learn about these people and their religion. I then went with them to document their "Harinam" around the town square. This was quite a spectacle to see, considering that you wouldn't expect to see robed people with drums marching in the center of Prague. Later that night I attended one of their religious services and was allowed to take picture there as well.

This experience made me feel like a real journalist. Even though I don't share the same beliefs as these people, I enjoyed learning about their lives and culture. This was an amazing experience and a little taste of what being a journalist might be like.

Trek Around Czech

I haven't been able to blog in a few days because I have been traveling around the southern part of the Czech Republic, called Bohemia. Being in Prague I have become used to the loud noise of the city and, it was nice to get away and enjoy the peaceful countryside.

We started out journey by going to Castle Karlstejn south of Prague. This Gothic castle was fouded in 1348 and was designed to keep the royal treasures, especially Charles IV collection of holy relics and crowed jewels. This castle was absolutely breathtaking, figuratively and literally. The castle was on top of a giant 30 minute long climb hill, unreachable by automobile. Despite this, the castle was amazing and I found amazing beef goulash at a tiny restaurant near the bottom of the hill.

We then went to the Pilsen Brewery in Pilsen. This is the largest manufacturer of beer in the Czech Republic and one of the biggest in the world. We got to see the beer be made and go deep underground into their cellars. We even got to taste some of it too! ;)

We then ended up in Cesky Krumlov, which is my favorite city in the Czech Republic. It was like a smaller more quaint Prague. We met some Canadians and became friends with them, we also went rafting in the river. The castle there was also beautiful and the whole town was like a fairytale. The next day we visited Ceske Budjovice and Jindrichu Hradec, two more larger Czech republic cities.

This trip was fun and I got to experience Czech life outside of Prague.

The Jewish Quarter

The Jews had it bad... real bad. I mean why does everyone always pick on the Jews? They're not an agressive or hostile group. Throughout the history of Prague the Jewish people have had many ups and downs. Yesterday we toured the old Jewish Quarter of Prague, which is now mostly old synagogues turned into museums. If It wasn't for Hitler and his reign of terror their would still be a large Jewish population in Prague to use these places of worship. Now they sit empty as reminders of what evil humans can accomplish.

Going through the synagogues was quite an experience. The men had to cover their heads out of respect, so we were given a little hat called a "kippot". I was really excited because I have always been interested in Jewish culture. We learned about the history behind the synagogues and the struggles of the Jewish peoples. We also went to the old Jewish cemetary which has over 12,000 graves in a very small area. They would bury people until their was no more room and then put more dirt on top to layer more dead. This was the only place the Jewish people were allowed to bury their dead. The tragic thing about the Jewish quarter was that it has now been turned into a tourist attraction. There are so few Jews left in Prague that the synogogues are not used any more.

Even though the Jewish people went through alot in their history they have remained headstrong. The old Jewish quarter serves as a reminder to all that history is around us, and we can learn from the past if we just look.

We all live in a yellow submarine

The last two days of my journey have been filled with the theatre and museum visits. The thing that distinguishes these places from others is their one common theme, the Beatles. Yes, the Beatles. Yesterday I went to a blacklight performance of "The Yellow Submarine" and today I went to a Beatles exhibit at a museum.

Who dosen't love the Beatles? They were an icon in their time and in many ways still are today. You may be asking, "What is a blacklight theatre?" Well, I wasn't sure myself until I went and saw one. A blacklight theatre is a stage filled with blacklights and all of the props and costumes are covered in fluorescent paint. They are all non-verbal performances with actors using puppets, dance, pantomime, and other means to tell a story. The one I attended told a love story while using famous Beatles songs to move the story along. It was very strange and didn't make a whole lot of sense but, the effects were really cool. At one point people dressed as giant eyeballs turned into judges and sent the main character to prison. Yeah, you had to be there to understand.

The museum exhibit was also a really great experience. The museum had some Beatles memorabilia and told their story. It was really interactive and great fun. One of the areas had 60's clothing that you could try on, and another had a mixing board that you could mix a Beatles song with various beats. They even had a piano you could play; I played "Let it Be" because that is the only song I have memorized and it seemed fitting.

So in 2010 I got to experience the age of peace, free love, and the great music of the Beatles, even it was just for a day.

Medieval Madness

Knights, horses, fair maidens, and a court jester. Probably wouldn't expect to see these things in 2010, right? Today I went to a Medieval parade where a group of Czech people dressed up in period clothing and marched through the streets of Prague.

This festive occassion is called the King's Parade and it takes place every year in Prague. The parade follows a historical tradition, roots of which reach to the reign of the emperor Charles IV. The emperor kept the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire in his country residence, the Karlštejn castle and annually had them displayed for the eyes of believers during Easter in Prague. Shortly after that the jewels were brought back and that is the theme of the King´s parade from Prague to Karlštejn.

These perfromers walk for over 40 miles to recreate the carrying of the crowned jewels! This parade was alot of fun and a great photo oppourtunity. Not to mention Starbucks was close by, and I got my coffee drinking on.

Strolling Along Charles Bridge

Sometimes it just nice to be by yourself and explore a new city, and that is exactly what I did today. I decided to go to Charles Bridge alone and bring my camera along to see what I could capture. One thing is for certain, you do not want to go to Charles Bridge during the day on a Friday. The entire place was full of tourists! It was literally difficult to even walk on the bridge with all of these people. Now I know I am kind of a tourist, not really because I am living here for six weeks but, seriously people, it is just a bridge.

Anyways, I just walked around taking pictures and I think I got a few good shots. This was a very relaxing and care free day. I realized that some days you just need to be independent and go explore on your own, you never know what you will find.

The Tragedy of Lidice

Have you heard of Lidice? Probably not, and yet if you have there is no way of truly knowing the tragedy that these small town people actually went through. Yesterday I became just a litttle closer to understanding what Jaroslava Sklenickova went through on that day in June 10, 1942. Through her words we all became closer to understanding her experience at Lidice.

Lidice was a small town on the outskirts of Prague, where Jaroslava lived. Jaroslava was a 16 year old girl who lived with her mother, father, and sister. On the night of June 9, 1942 Hitler sent orders to completley destroy her village in response to the assassination of Heidrich, Hitler's third in command. The Nazi forces surrounded the town, shot all of the men in the village, and sent the women and children to concentration camps. The Nazi blew up every building and even dug up the graves as to completely destroy any memory of Lidice.

Jaroslava managed to survive and when she was 80 years old she decided to write a book about her life entitled, "If I had been a boy, I would have been shot..." She talked with us and read excerpts from her book for about two hours. This was probably the most amazing experience that I have ever had. To actually meet a survivor of the Holocaust and get to hear her story was something that I will never forget. I bought a copy of her book and she even signed it for me, which is an amazing honor and something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Jaroslava is a hero and you don't meet true heroes every day.

McDonald's, Historical Church, and Skate Punks

What is the one constant thing no matter what country you got to? McDonald's. They are everywhere and you can always count on their food to be delicious yet fattening. This is exactly where I went on my lunch break from class today. Two things I learned: You have to pay for ketchup and to use the restroom (water closet)! Yes, I had to buy my way into the restroom. Which by the way, wasn't even that nice. However, the food was a nice getaway from the Czech food I have been eating which mainly consists of dumplings and some sort of meat. One thing that the U.S branch of McDonald's should invest in is waffle fries. Apparently, all European McDonald's have waffle fries, and they are rather tasty.

The most exciting part of the day was when we went to visit the Church of SS Cyril and Methodius, which is where the assassins of Reinard Heydrich hid during World War Two. Reinard Heydrich was Hitler's third in command and oversaw the Sudetenland during the Nazi occupation of WW2. His two assassins, one Czech and one Slovak, were hidden in this church by priests after they assassinated Heydrich. They plus several of the other resistance fighters were ambushed by Nazi Gestapo at this church and held the Nazi off for about eight hours. They hid in an old crypt beneath the church and we actually got to tour this crypt. You could see the bullet holes in the walls left by the Nazi and resistance fighters’ exchange of gunfire during their standoff. Eventually the resistance fighters ran out of ammunition and committed suicide rather than be caught alive by the Nazi.

After this historic and somber visit we went to the local skate park to work on some motion photography. I know my little brother, Dillon, would have loved this. We went to the top of a cliff, after climbing what seemed like a billion stairs, to where the local skaters hang out. Most seemed ok with our presence, except for one disgruntled skater who eventually moved away from us. This didn't stop him from saying some nasty words in Czech to us. The skaters were really cool and I got some pretty awesome pics.

This was a very full and rewarding day here in Prague. I saw a historic church, photographed some skater punks, and ate a glorious Big Mac.