Abroad in Prague: vlk a pes a žirafa!!! (wolf and dog and giraffe)

Why no... I don't know the plural forms of the animals- I'm not there yet in my studies. But yes, I went to the 7th zoo in the world today!! And guess how you say zoo in Czech- Zoo! It made things easy when we were trying to find the bus to get there. So the background to this story is Amanda and Sam went out to a bar last night, and met these three Czech guys. Lord knows I can't remember their names- but they were taking a little brother (ten y/o) to the zoo today, and invited Amanda and Sam. A & S invited me, so now we are a big group of friends! The guys are extremely laid back and fun, and they let me practice some Czech! The Praha Zoo is just gorgeous! The sad thing was we didn't get to see all of it, and it was a bit dreary and rainy, but a return trip is mandatory!

In other news, yesterday I went to a wine festival where they celebrated "new wine/young wine/living wine"- which is where they leave the grapes on the vine too long, causing them to fermentate themselves. It was very interesting, but there was authentic music and treats (mouth is watering again) and some very very very good wine! We were also inside the palace (Czech Castle) walls, which is absolutely beautiful! The weekend was great but another week of Czech intensive class is about to start. I did well on the midterm (thanks for worrying about me!) and I've been practicing a bit! I'm hoping to be able to have a small conversation outside of class by the end of the semester- I think that is doable! I just got back from dinner with my dorm mother and a family that lives near by. They want "babysitters" to hang out with their kiddos (10 y/o boy and 8 y/o girl) after school. They really don't need babysitters, but they want their kids to practice English. The family is extremely inviting and wants us to use them as a resource. They invited us to Thanksgiving and weekend trips. Also, its a great way for me to practice Czech, and I can do free laundry! (YAY!) The conversation today lead to a very intriguing possibility! There is a slight chance I might pick up rugby again and play a couple of times here! The dad is friends with a coach of a girls team- when he found out I played, he invited me to join the team for practice!

Today was a great day- and it's opening to all these great possibilities. I feel like Prague is too big to see everything and to do everything, but today calmed me down and made me realize it's all about (as cheesy as it is) quality and not quantity! And with that being said- enjoy some pictures!