Orientation Day | September 11th 2013

Today was orientation day, we met at the institute (found it all by ourselves) and met the rest of the students, got keys to the institute and made sure that Josh was registered for the right classes.  We got a tour of the institute and then met for orientation which basically talked about rules, manners and a brief czech lesson.  Then we were given a presentation of the history and culture of the Czech Republic.  Although some of the information was good to know, I was so bored after 10 minutes.  But the smell of strong body odor from the presenter kept me awake the entire hour and a half.  After that, we separated for a hour lunch break where josh and I walked around the market up the street to find something to eat.  We finally found this little deli store that had small sandwiches, which we brought with a coke all for 67 kc or $3.45.  Very cheap compared to American.   We are still trying to figure out the czech currency  but the easiest way is to multiply the kc amount by 5 and move the decimal point over 2 points.   So 100 kc equals a little over $5 in American.  So in our minds, everything looks expensive but it really isn't.  We ate lunch and then met up with everyone else to take a small tour of the city.  Our tour guide was Anael  who is the assistant director of the institute.  She took us to several popular spots throughout the town.  Pointed out architectural buildings and statues and helped us to understand some of the history throughout the different sections of town.  She also took us to Church of St. James the Greater where legend is told about a thief that attempted to rob the Madonna Pietatis from the altar, but his hand was frozen the moment he touched the statue.  The monks had to cut off his arm to get the hand to let go.  The blackened arm has been hanging from a chain in the church to this day for about 400 years and is a reminder and warning for thieves.  The picture attached is very blurry because i got it off the internet since we were not allowed to take pictures inside the church, but just wanted to give you an idea of what the arm looked like.  It was gross seeing that arm hanging in the church, it was black and looked rotten.  Can't believe it is still hanging after all this time!  After that interesting stop, we walked to the river to take a peak at the castle that was across the way and then returned back to the institute.  We probably walked close to 2 miles throughout the city today, and the weather was beautiful, in the low 60's.   We were finished for the day so we headed back to the apartment and we both took a nap, it was an exhausting day and we were still not over our jet lag yet.  We did not wake up until 9pm and yet to eat dinner so josh headed to the little convenient store down the block, to get something for us to eat.  I was still sleepy and did not want to deal with the frustration of finding food in a different language, so I  FaceTimed Hannah while he was gone.  Anyways 30 minutes later, he came back with 2 bags, one store closed on him so he had to go to another one to get a few more things.  He came back with an assortment that cost 350 kc which equals approximate $15.  So we heated up leftover pizza from the night before and ate Nutella on bread.  Not the best dinner i have had, but it works....I keep telling myself, it is all about the adventure!

Old Town Square

Church of St. James 

Hanging hand

Assortment that josh brought home from the stores and yes that clock is accurate!

Prosciutto pizza from Tuesday night