My New Laptop Case

I forgot to buy one when I got my new computer and I decided I could save money if I just made my own:

It is made from one of those envelopes that has bubble wrap inside. It has then been adorned with tickets stubs, brochures and train tickets and a drawing. I 'laminated' it with packing tape

THIS IS IMPORTANT

In The Netherlands the street cleaners use this type of broom:

Yesterday

I have skipped a lot of the trip so far that I will get back to, but I have to talk about yesterday while it is still in my mind. Mirjam and I drove to Heemskerk, where her parents live and we dropped off the baby Evy to them for a bit so we could go to the beach. It wasn't too sunny yesterday and sprinkled a bit, but we sat on a terrace of a restaurant and had some bitterballen and I had one of my favorite beers, Wiekse Witte. We walked a bit on the beach and for some reason the seagulls here are at least twice the size of any I have ever seen.

The beach was near her Oma's (Grandma) house, so we stopped by. She spoke no English, but I still had a good time listening to them speak Dutch. Or having Mirjam translate. Oma said last time I was in the area of Heemskerk when I was six that she was in Scotland and missed us, but it was nice to meet finally and it feels like we are family because of the time Mirjam spent with us. I agree, I was honored to meet her!

Then we went back to have dinner with her parents. They are the kindest and most joyous. Her mother speaks English pretty well, and her father tries his hardest and I usually get it. The thing is, when he speaks English he says about 2 words of English for every 10 in Dutch. Quite funny. And I noticed both of us doing that thing where when you don't understand someone, you just kind of chuckle and nod like you do.

So her dad is 70 years old and looks ab

out 45. And has the energy as well. I told him this and he started to laugh and do high kicks for me. I am not kidding. HIGH KICKS UP TO HIS CHEST. Mayb

e ten of them. I cannot begin to explain the amount of joy it brought to the room.

He also told me about how in Heemskerk there are many, many people with the last name Beentjes, so they each have a second last name that goes along with it to identify which family they come from. So his grandfather used to drive a carriage and so his name is Beentjes-Bus. Very interesting. He showed me a phonebook for just Heemskerk after that and sure enough, there was about a page of Beentjes.

Seemingly Cutting-Edge Theatre

I did notice some legitimate theatre in Prague. On more than one occasion. But it seemed to me that maybe August is not a popular month for theatre. Well, most theatre.

Black Light Theatre is a different story. It is ALL OVER Prague. But at this point Eric and I did not know that.

After considering going to see a "Historical Fantasy Show" (where I got the name for this blog)--which was just a scaled down Medieval Times in a basement that promised juggling, sword tricks and live snakes all which are done at your table while eating--we ended up instead running by a show that looked really cool. It was Black Light Theatre. I told Eric I thought I had seen something about it when we were walking earlier, but just in passing.

It was sold out. We went back and bought two full-priced tickets minutes before show time that had not been claimed. And this theatre was packed to the brim. With tourist or locals--we weren't quite sure--maybe a mix of both. I still haven't made a decision on that. But this was a Tuesday night and it was sold out. From the feeling of excitement in the air, I could tell it was like this every night.

From the pictures by the door Eric and I were expecting some sort of amazing Cirque du Soleil-esque show with amazing lighting. Instead we got one of the most puzzling, strange, but somehow endearing shows I have ever seen.

It was not amazing at all. You could immediately figure out how each thing was being accomplished. I mean, they were moving around in black light and balls were 'flying' through the air or one of their legs was black so it looked like they were levitating. The only amazing part was how much the audience was in awe.

Just so you know the pictures make it look much cooler than it actually is. That person doing that upside down was the grand finale of that act.

But it got stranger. It was not only Black Light Theatre (because one can only watch so much bad choreography with black light to music for so long) every other scene was 3 actors doing a slapstick police mystery routine. It was in no way related and never tried to be. Except in the fact that there was no dialogue. A whore and a guy in a doctor's coat and green jeans (?!) robbed a bank, the policeman was accidently chasing them. Somehow there was coke in the briefcase, which the whore attempted to snort a foot and a half at once, but for some reason the policeman entered.

I have never seen someone get shot in the balls with a gun 15 times throughout a play and live until the end. Until now. Oh, and I just remembered, there was a scene where the black light and the cop show mixed. For some reason black light dancers were dancing hip hop with wands in the bar scene.

I laughed the whole time. I was in awe. I couldn't believe this existed and I was there too see it. That show was truly a once in a lifetime experience, unless I decide to go back to make sure it wasn't some mind-blowing dream I had.

And then there was the curtain call. The 7 people in the cast all bowed individually and then together. Then the curtain dropped and raised in the period of two seconds and they did it again. THIS HAPPENED AT LEAST 8 TIMES. Individual and cast bows.

Anyway, on the way home we realized this was a Czech thing. There were more Black Light Theaters. We found 5 brochures from different theatres. Eric and I passed the National Black Light Theater, which shows daily a black light version of Cats. Let's just say we wanted one more night in Prague...

The Story of the Golem

This is the version of the story of the Golem that I learned in Prague:

It was the 16th century in Prague and the Jews had their own part of town. But of course, they were forced to live there and they weren't allowed to leave that part of town. And at that time there were pogroms threatening their ghetto. So the Rabbi decided to take action. He created from clay, dust and dirt a creature called the Golem to protect them.

The Golem had the strength of 10 men, and was controlled by Rabbi Loew. The Rabbi would write some symbols and commands on a piece of paper and then he would place the paper in the Golem's mouth to awaken him. Golem would carry out the task. And this worked pretty well for a while.

The only problem was that the Golem did not like being lonely. He was a moody creature. So one day when Rabbi Loew's daughter really needed him (I believe she was having a baby?), the Rabbi left the Golem and forgot to deactivate him by taking the command from his mouth. Well, the Golem went crazy and started wreaking havoc on the surrounding area. Controlling the Golem had been difficult before at times for Rabbi Loew, but nothing bad on this scale had ever happened. So he decided to deactivate the Golem for good this time.

He put the Golem in the attic of the synagogue, where he remains deactivated to this day.

And do you know how we know? During WWII someone wanted to see the Golem. A nosy SS officer decided to go to the attic after they had overtaken the city. AND HE WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN.

And that, my friends, is the story of the Golem.

Evan and Eric in Prague

Did you know that Prague uses something called the Crown and not the Euro? Well neither did we. But we eventually got it situated and took a bus, a train, then a tram to the hostel. I do believe now that I overpacked a little, but I was lucky enough to have a good friend to help me carry my things.

I had slept little the day/night before, but we wanted to make the most of our time, so after we checked in and I took a shower, we walked toward the city center and the 'sites' on our hostel issued map. I already wanted to die from exhaustion and felt myself getting sick. Eric also got up about 4:30 that morning to catch his flight to Prague. Needless to say we were pessimistic about the entire that city.

And we walked in a huge circle all around what the Czech's call Praha. We disliked it. Their language was so boring and weird that it annoyed us, we didn't understand the architecture and we had no basis of knowledge while looking at anything, and the food was bland. Finally, when I thought it was late enough to go back to sleep, I looked at my watch and it was 4:30pm. We decided instead on a nap in the park. We decided it was a good thing that a stray dog started to lick us about 6:30 because otherwise we might have slept the night there.

The second day was much better. We took a free (!?) walking tour and loved it. The guide worked off tips and he was great, we learned about the city, heard funny stories and it really grew on us. It was uphill from there. It actually is a beautiful city with amazing buildings and a really interesting history...Though we did decide that it not only a stretch, but a lie to call it the Prague Castle. It may be big, but it is not magical enough looking to be a castle. It is a palace, at best.

We searched for Monks at the monestary and never found them, but did drink some beer that they brewed. We went in plenty of marionette stores, of which there are many. We drank a good amount of delicious cheap beer. We learned how to pronounce Dvořák's last name correctly. But we learned only one word in Czech: Po-Mots! (Help!).

We also got offered a combo deal by a man on the street:

"Strip dance, sex, then two free beers"

Though tempting, we were tired.

Czech Inventions:

• Beer (Czechs get angry because Germans get the credit)
• Cubed Sugar
• The word 'robot'

What they like to eat:

• Big Triangles of Fried Cheese
• Goulash
• Boiled Potatoes
• Potato or Bread Dumplings
• Tartar Sauce
• Carp (on Christmas night especially)

A few other of my favorite Prague facts/traditions/stories deserve their own post and will come shortly.

Getting Here

If you didn't already know, I was in Florida staying with my mom and trying to make some money this summer. I had a wonderful time and it was so nice to spend time with her since I haven't lived with her in about 6 years. I laughed more than I have in a while the time I was there.

So I left the 10th of August and went to NYC to get things around. Dropped off some of my summer things and got some winter things from storage. It was nice to see all my New York friends before I left and the best part was that all my Chicago friends were in town for the Del Close Improv Marathon, so I got to see them before I left. I even got to take them to get one of my favorite New York dishes: Fish Head Casserole.

It was a busy week, getting everything around and just wanting to spend as much time with as many people as I could, which I did, but which was incredibly exhausting. I was staying with my brother Josh and his fiancee Ashley and they live a little uptown, so I tended to stay out late and then get up early.

The hardest part was leaving. It seemed like I should have been so excited, but I think because I am used to going back to school now and gearing up to be with my friends, it was hard. And then because I got a little taste of my NYC life before I came here, I got sad to leave it. At the airport I was calling people and I was so emotional, a young woman across from me gave me a sad look, I think she thought I was moving to Europe permanently.

So it worked out that I couldn't sleep on the plane. Even after 4 little bottles of red wine. I was in a row of 3 seats but there were only two of us and the weirdo next to me insisted on staying in the middle and cramping me up against the window. He smelled wierd. I tried to sleep for a bit but the truth is I actually got hooked watching the movie '17 Again'. And as much as I made fun of that movie when it came out, I revise my opinion and say it is officially a sweet, heartwarming tale.

Exhausted at my hour and a half layover in Amsterdam, slept on 1 hour flight to Prague and then found the baggage claim where I would meet Eric after his flight landed. There I semi-slept on a bench for the hour and a half until I heard his flip-flops shuffling toward me. AND THEN WE WERE IN PRAGUE.

My First Chance to Sit Down

"Historical Fantasy" is a term that my friend Eric Mercado and I came across while traveling in Prague. It perfectly describes the city and the history there, some is true and some is not. Which may be what this blog turns out to be. That is not to say I am going to lie, but rather talk about both the facts and the fictions of my time abroad from now on.

So the basic idea for this blog is a way to keep people updated while I am in Paris this semester. But I also plan on writing about my travels and what I have experienced thus far the 10 days I have been traveling. And little trips to come...

Right now I am in Maarsbergen, the Netherlands visiting my 'big sister' Mirjam, who was my family's au pair when I was just a little guy. She just had a baby, and I could not wait to see her, Paul and cute little Evy!

Up until now I have had little time with my computer, so I think after this post I will start from the beginning and try to catch up! Also I have been terrible about taking photos, but I will try to be better about capturing and posting them.

Come back soon!

Evan