All that information I was waiting for in the last post? It finally came, around midnight. Well, not all of it. I still don't know where I'm living, but I do know it'll be within a 5-15 minute metro-riding range of where I'm studying - unless I take a taxi, and get scammed by a driver who will drive me in circles for half an hour, call it traffic, and charge me enough money to pay for brain surgery.
I've been warned about at least sixteen different "typical" ways I might get ripped off, pickpocketed or robbed. I know that the "biggest test of my cultural sensitivity" might entail waiting to be seen for ten hours in a Czech hospital (although, really, I don't see that as much of an improvement over US care.) They estimate that I should bring several thousand extra dollars with me, with which to buy things like winter coats, which "might be wise to leave at home, to conserve luggage space."
They will provide me with a cell phone, but the connections will be bad, and the price for minutes will be sky-high. Internet access will be scarce, and I'll usually have to pay for it. They assure me that if I bring more toiletries than a toothbrush, I will regret it (luggage space again). It is absolutely possible to eat Kosher in Prague, but only if I don't mind skipping vegetables. It is absolutely possible to eat vegetarian in Prague, if picking the meat out of the stew isn't a problem.
Oh! They'll also issue me two guidebooks upon arrival, as well as give me a three-day crash orientation while I adjust to the time difference. However, it is not reccomended that I sleep through orientation, lest I skip the lecture on scams, theft and pickpockets. Following orientation, I will have a week of intensive Czech, followed by a semester's worth of the following courses:
Beginner Czech
The History of Jews in East Central Europe
The Culture and Politics of East Central Europe, 1918-present
Jewish East Central European Literature
The Destruction of Central European Jewry (and this is different from the first course how?)
Of course, I have yet to find out if I got the internship I applied for. However, I do know that I can attend four different kinds of Orthodox services on Shabbat, one Masorti (Conservative), and one marked "Progressive/Liberal (maybe English translation)." Not bad!
Finally, the water is safe to drink. Unless I'm on the nine-day death camp tour of Poland.
4 comments:
Hmm. Eating Kosher or vegetarian. How does one choose and still maintain a healthy diet?
This is a very cool blog (BTW), Dane. :D
Have fun abroad!
Thanks Elliot!
Actually, I'm neither kosher nor vegetarian, to many people's surprise. It's just that I learned how to cook in a big veggie/vegan kitchen, so I never learned to cook meat. Also, I would argue that being vegetarian makes you almost kosher by default, since most of the kosher rules have to do with meat!
You're welcome, and, huh... very interesting, about the veggie/vegan comparison thingie.
i think all kosher rules are about milk/meat so if your veggi all you got to worry about are the milk rules. the difference between the history course and the destruction ones an overview while the other is about a specific few decades.
-Ari
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