Apart from being pooed on, it was an awesome day.

Last Wednesday, I went to the zoo [were you thinking something
else?]. The Prague Zoo is one of the best in the world, or so
Fernando, the State professor over here with us now, says. I love
zoos, so I was super eager to go and it did not fail to deliver.
Besides the poo.

It was a really beautiful day: 70 degrees, sunny, slight wind. I saw
the lions, tigers, bears, [oh my], giraffes, gorillas, weird birds,
emus, yaks, antelopes, and unfortunately, bats. Yes, bats.  I have
never been a fan of flying rodents, and this incident did nothing to
quell my fears. I innocently went into a dark room with
lizards.....AND BATS. Bats. And, of course, I got pooed on. Poo. On
my dress. Poo. POO!!! I do not wish bat guano on anyone. It was
horrible. I think that I have become less prissy during my time
here, but really. Poo. On my clothing. Veto.

I had an amazing weekend. I got to do all of the things that I
hadn't done...Petrin Hill, funicular railroad, mirror maze,
observatory tower, Wallenstejn Palace and Gardens, Kampa Park, and
my fav, wandering. I followed Parnell protocol and took naps in
three public places.  I brought my towel and zonked out. It was
lovely to sleep in the sunshine. It sounds like I didn't do much,
but it was good to relax.

On Sunday, my philosophy teacher took the class to a small town
called Lany about an hour away by train. We [unexpectedly] walked
two kilometers to see the summer house of the Czech presidents. The
gardens were beautiful [I wanted to take a nap there, but the armed
guards deterred me]. The house was an incredible early Baroque
mansion...I could learn to deal with it. There were huge fountains
and statues. Oddly enough, it reminded me of the gardens of a
plantation near Kiawah...Magnolia maybe? Anyway, I could have stayed
there all day, but we had to visit a fairly boring museum on
Maseyrk, the first president of Czechoslovakia. We made our way home
after a delicious lunch at a local tavern.

Yesterday was Easter. I was homesick because it was the first time I
had ever been away from home for Easter. I had this picture in my
head: Daddy in a seersucker suit, Mom in her lavender outfit going
to church ...of course I talked to them later and they were NOT
wearing these outfits...oh well. They'll be here in two weeks.

Here in the CZ, they have the oddest Easter tradition. Men chase
around women with these decorated birch whips and hit them. To
retaliate, the women throw water on the men. The only way the men
will stop is if the women give the men a painted Easter egg. It's a
pretty bizarre tradition, and it actually happens!! I saw several
instances today. Clearly a man came up with this tradition.

The semester is ending and I actually have to do work now! What a
thought. I'll write soon!