happy thanksgiving!

wow,

it's been quite a while since we've written on here. sorry for the delay, we've been busy with school and other events. nevertheless, we are back to update you on the recent ongoings in our lives.

since we last posted, a lot has happened: alie turned 22, we protested a nazi rally, we visited a church made of bones, and we celebrated thanksgiving. i'll start from the top...

alie's birthday was a big success. i planned a little celebration for her at a trendy club/restaurant in the city. i made a reservation for 15 people, and over 20 came, so we were both very pleased. alie felt loved (because she is). everyone ordered drinks and appetizers like hummos, grape leaves, soups and other dishes. a few of the girls bought alie a chocolate cake from a local bakery. it was delicious.



november 10th marked the anniversary of crystal night, where the nazi occupation began in prague 69 years ago. on that night nazis stormed through the city, destroying jewish storefronts, killing many jews, burning down synagogues, and hauling jews off to concentrations camps. the still-thriving neo-nazi group in prague attempted to march through the jewish quarter in commemoration of that day. alie and i took part in the protest to prevent their rally from occurring. heavily armed swat teams patrolled the city all day. when evening came, we stumbled upon a confrontation between the neo-nazis and the police force which was an incredibly intense moment to witness. we were shocked to see this hatred first hand. after hearing countless personal accounts of the holocaust from my professors here, i can't believe that people still deny its existence. ridiculous.







this past weekend aifs took us to a town in southern bohemia called kutna hora. kutna hora is famous for it's church made of bones called the kostnice ossuary, and the santa maria which is a beautiful cathedral with intricate stained glass. the santa maria is the largest of the 3 cathedrals in the czech republic. the bone church was really creepy, adorned with countless skulls and other bones. it was composed from the bodies of 40,000 people who died of the plague in the 1500s. it was a really frigid day, but we warmed up at a restaurant by eating heavy czech food and sitting by the fire.











as you all know, europeans have no reason to celebrate thanksgiving. however, we attended a lavish thanksgiving feast at the marriot that aifs reserved for us. we ate blackened catfish, venison, duck, quale, delicious pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, greenbeans, stuffing, hot cider, and of course turkey, among others. considering we were away from everyone that we are thankful for, the meal couldn't have been any better. plus, it was alie and my first thanksgiving spent together, so it was special in that regard. because we ate so much (who wouldn't? it was a free meal!), we waddled home feeling slightly sick. we've since recovered and are upset that we didn't steal more leftovers (alie brought tupperware). man, i could go for a nice turkey sandwich right now...





our last few days have been spent christmas shopping and museum hopping. hope you all had a great thanksgiving. we can't wait to get back to the states and celebrate christmas with you! less than 3 weeks!!!



love you,
drew

poland...

hey all,

as some of you know, aifs took us to poland this past weekend. we left prague friday morning and arrived in krakow at 5 that evening. we strolled into the town square, which was one of the most beautiful and biggest town squares that we've seen on this trip. as we entered the square, on the left stood a large church that had the most ornate alter inside. The rest of the town square houses little shops and a sheltered marketplace to buy souvenirs. we spent the evening in search for traditional polish perogies, but our search was unsuccessful, so we had pizza... lame, i know.









the next day we toured the town, visiting many of the historical churches and monuments. we also went to the national gallery in the afternoon, where they have works by da vinci and rembrant. they also had a large egyptian exhibit which was really neat. they had mummified cats, mongooses, and birds. i should probably mention that we attempted to redeem ourselves in the perogi search from the night before, but the restaurant we chose was out of them! so drew had a polish sausage and i had... gelato. i was starting to think we'd never find perogies

finally, for dinner we made a reservation at a place that was recommended to us for large portions. and they had perogies! the group of us that had been on the perogi hunt came away feeling very satisfied. afterwards we went to a mediterranean bar to spend time with everyone. we went to bed early that night because we knew we were going to have an emotionally draining day the next morning.

we got on the bus early again, unsure whether to feel excited or solemn about where we were going: the auschwitz concentration camps. we won't elaborate much on here, because it is definitely better to hear it in person, but as we walked through the camps there was a somber feeling among the group. walking in an out of the former barracks was very surreal and began to become more realistic as we passed through rooms filled with shoes, glasses, brushes and other belongings of the once imprisoned jews and other outcasts. one of the more shocking sights was seeing a large room filled with over 3 tons of human hair. we visited both auschwitz 1 and auschwitz-birkenau 2. birkenau was the camp specifically designed for extermination, and was even more eery than auschwitz 1. appropriately, the weather was very grim and dark that day. please feel free to ak questions, because we've been very vague.

"work will set you free"


these are the empty cyclone b cans which held the gas used to kill the prisoners


these next 4 pictures were some of the personal belongings of the prisoners








a view of auschwitz from the end of the railroad tracks which brought the prisoners to the camp.


the trip was fast, but we really saw a lot. it was a very bittersweet trip; friday and saturday was really fun, but sunday was a bit of a downer. this week is filled with more midterms and papers, and the second half of the semester is here. tomorrow is my birthday so we have plans for going to the zoo, having appetizers and drinks with friends, and then going to dinner ourselves. although this birthday will be special because i'm in prague, i am a little sad that i can't celebrate with friends and family. i'm so glad to have drew here.

until next time,
drew & alie