Volcano Clouds Keeping Me Down!

The world is in mass panic as all of Europe has shut down flights!! The largest airport closing since World War 2 and I need this like a hole in the head! I can't help but imagine my father at this moment, pacing the hotel room, phone in hand, sweating, looking as if someone has attempted to violate him and announcing to the room, " a damn volcano erupts and you know who's problem it becomes? My problem that's whose problem it becomes!" This is truly a time a chaos and it is times like these that I am very glad that out of the million and one ways I am like my father, I differ from him greatly in situations such as these. Instead of panicking I took the opportunity to travel to Budapest with my two classmates from TEFL. So after hearing from the airlines I would be grounded for an undefined amount of time, I found myself standing on platform 5 the Nadrazi train station in Prague waiting for the night train to Budapest. The ride would be six hours from Prague to Budapest and we were fortunate enough to get our own compartment on the train. The three of us sat drinking some cheap bottles of wine chatting about our experiences in Prague and what we anticipated to see in Budapest. As the night wore on I couldn't help but again think to myself how fortunate I was to be in that place at that moment even if the moment was a relatively small one. We went in and out of sleep and before I knew it Adele was shaking me to wake up as we had arrived in Budapest. We stepped out into a grand station that was for me very reminiscent of one of the train stations you see in war movies where families send their men off to war. It was 5 am and we were very eager to find our hostel and get some rest. Our hostel is called the Thumbs Up Hostel and is located in a very old and scary building, but despite its outer appearance it is very pleasant and maintained very well by its owner Gabriel. Gabriel is about 35 and an extremely friendly native Hungarian who has a passion for meeting new people. He showed us to our room and informed us that he was hosting a pub crawl that evening with everyone staying at the hostel. We agreed this is something we would like to do and then aquatinted ourselves with our beds for the next few hours. After a much needed rest we woke up and headed out for some exploration. It didn't take long for us to realize that while Budapest had a very similar look to Prague's, the feel was much different. The people were smiling, the conversation were loud, and most of all the waitresses smiled at us and were incredibly friendly and patient. Which leads me to perhaps the biggest difference and that was the food. While Prague has very bland and dry food with a nice restaurant few and far between, Budapest has a fusion of middle eastern food and eastern european goulash and dumplings and absolutely delicious and rivals any cuisine I have had before. While I do love to eat basically everything in site, this was far from the greatest part of Budapest. We were told by Gabriel to head towards the Buda part of the city where the castle was as well as the highest point in the city where the Germans had posted one of there anti-aircraft stations. The walk was long but it didn't seem to matter as everywhere you looked a new and amazing building appeared. We reached the Danube River and from there we could see most of the city and more importantly where we would be heading. The Chellin hill is located right on the river and is the highest point in Budapest, a top it is a large cold structure with large guns protruding from it sides. It is here were German and Hungarian soldiers made their last stand during the siege of Budapest. Few know that this battle was one of the longest and bloodiest sieges of World War 2 as it lasted for over three months. The Soviets lost over 80,000 as the city was essentially brought to the ground. One would not believe that a city could ever survive the destruction that was brought on this city much less rebuild to be one of the most beautiful and charming cities around. Our journey continued into the night, we saw things like the Buda Castle and crossed the Chain Bridge of which was reduced to wires from soviet bombing raids. We stumbled upon the St. Stephens Cathedral which was completely different from Prague's Charles Cathedral and even more beautiful. It was late and we were sure it was closed, however we saw a few people walked in and we thought it may be fun to follow them. As we walked into this stunning piece of architecture our ears were filled with sounds of beautiful symphony and as we rounded one of the corridors we walked into the main hall where a concert was being conducted. We stood and listen and amongst the dim lighting and the arches of the St. Stephens Cathedral, no one said a word as our eyes and ears focused on the scene before us and it was clear that each one of us understood that this was what it is all about that these were things worth seeing and remembering and that in this moment we were truly immersed in the moment.

Chasing,

Jake

Under The Curtain

Upon arrival into Prague I was consumed by the city scape. The red roof tops blended together like the sea only interrupted for a moment by stern steeples watching over the city and its people. The cobble stone streets veering away from the many busy streets inviting you to their hidden pubs where the only drink is beer and the only beer is Pilsner Urquell. I was enchanted by the magic that at first glance Prague displays. However as the days wore on and I truly began to immerse myself in Czech culture my eyes drifted from the building and landscape of Prague to the people who inhabit these buildings, their faces gave a far different story. They walk faces to the ground and it as if there is almost a defeated look in their eyes. On the metro, tram, or bus there are not the familiar sounds of conversation that we are used to back home, but rather silence, and for those who choose to speak it is so soft that it almost goes unnoticed. One can not help but notice the the damage the Soviet Union did to the people of the countries it occupied. The gray skies over Prague seem to suit the city far better than the sunny ones. Yet these are merely observations and I was glad to find that my first impressions of the citizens of Prague couldn't have been more incorrect. Once past their sharp features and overall tough exterior is a people who truly are grateful for their freedoms and are truly happy for the simple things in life. As part of my TEFL training I must do one-to-one lessons with a Czech student. While I was hoping to be matched with one of the model gorgeous looking Czech women in my class I was placed Mirijana. Mirijana is late 50s to early 60 years old woman and lets say that she was not exactly what I was hoping for. But it wasn't ten minutes into our first lesson that I realized I was truly fortunate to have crossed paths with this extraordinary woman. In our first lesson I just wanted to get to know her so I asked her to just tell me about her life, what I got was way beyond what I ever expected. She explained to me that when she was a little girl her father was one of the leaders of the anti-soviet movement and in the middle of the night she awoke to the KGB breaking down her door and taking her father. The remaining men ransacked her house and as she explained it "punished her family" which she did not say directly it was obvious there was a great deal of violence involved. She said she did not see her father again for 25 years and as for the rest of her punishment she was not allowed to attend school, travel, or even allowed to do something as basic as ride a bike. She said she still lived a decent life and was able to find her true love, but after they had been married a short while he begged for her to flee the country with him, but she knew what would happen to her family if she did so she decided to stay, she never saw him again. Despite this horrible life that many of us cannot eve fathom, Mirijana arrives to our lesson with a beaming smile and an eagerness to learn. She is trying to make up for lost time under communist rule and it is apparent in everything she does. She travels, she hikes, she learns english, and she has even taken up bike riding. It is through speaking with her that I have learned that many people here live their lives just like hers, they just don't wear it on their faces because for so long they weren't allowed to. Thus it remains true we must never judge a book by its cover. So at first I was humbled by the city and now I am again humbled by it's people who truly understand the meaning of freedom. So it is with the utmost sincerity I say live life as the Czechs do.

Chasing at overwhelming speed,

Jake