PROJECTS:
Cultural Connections Project 1: Two Travel Writing Pieces
Paddle boarding along the city
July 4th, 2019 As we wait for the water taxi to pick us up to head to the island, I am thinking, “why in the world did I think it was a good idea to try paddle boarding for the first time in Prague?” We watched as ferries, party boats and canoes go by, the water looking busy with people. We arrived to the island and met our guide, Finbar. Finbar is a twenty one year old student, studying architecture, who has lived in the Prague his whole life. He taught us how to use our boards, paddles, and the trick to keeping yourself balanced on the board. Seemed easy enough. Feet wide, body still, knees bent- what could go wrong? As we get onto our boards, we start out on our knees, getting a feel for the water. Finbar tells us we are going to paddle up to the third bridge, take a break on the water, and then paddle back. Although I am feeling more comfortable on the board, I know a small wave from a boat could take me down. Making our way up the river, Finbar points out the different buildings along the water. He explains how some of the buildings are examples of the cubism movement in Prague. It is neat to see these buildings from the water, each building towering over us. As we make our way up the river, we see how the styles of the buildings change. Closer to the Charles Bridge, we noticed that the buildings were older and looked more like “traditional” style Prague buildings, painted in pastel colors. Not only was this tour great for learning about the architecture of buildings in Prague, we also had time to talk to a local who could tell us his perspectives of growing up in the city. Finbar explained that both of his parents worked at universities to teach English, so he able to learn English at a young age. Although he didn’t himself play hockey, he explained that many children learn to play hockey or futbol (soccer) from a young age. We make our way to the third bridge (the bridge before the Charles Bridge), Finbar pulls out some water bottles and bananas, and we sit on our boards and enjoy the views. We observed people sitting out at restaurants and others strolling across the bridge. After snapping a few photos, we turn around and make our way back to the island. By this time I realize that although I can stand (and wobble a lot) on my board, I am more comfortable on my knees. We paddle back, enjoying more of the views and avoiding water taxis. |
The Jewish Quarter
Prague Prague is a beautiful city, filled with neighborhoods, each with their own personalities. The Jewish Quarter is a neighborhood, located in Old Town that is formerly known as the “Jewish Ghetto”. Today people travel from all over to learn the history of this neighborhood and observe the famous cemetery. When visiting the neighborhood, you can start at the Jewish Museum to take a tour to learn about the history of this area. At the beginning of the tour, you will learn when this neighborhood was founded and get to see the Old-New Synagogue. Built in 1270, this Synagogue was one of the first gothic buildings to be built in Prague. Here you will learn details about the services and whom you might see at these services. Throughout the tour, you will visit other Synagogues and see personal items that were collected from Jews who were taken from Prague. When Jews were forced out of Prague, their belongings were taken and stored in the Synagogues since there was no one left in the neighborhood that was able to attend these services. Today the museum has thousands of personal items left to remember the ones who were taken. You are able to visit the old school building located in the Jewish neighborhood. In this building, there is a picture of a class of students, taken right before these students were sent to Terezin. In the picture there is a young boy, who we later learned was a survivor. After sent to five different camps, he returned to Prague and is now a historian in the city. Many people are familiar with the famous Old Jewish Cemetery. Created in the 15th century, this cemetery is made up of twelve layers and has over 100,000 bodies buried. The headstones are close together, some leaning on others. The oldest gravestone, belonging to rabbi Avigdor Kara, dates back to 1439. |
Cultural Connections Project 2: Scripted Duologue (Plotagon Animation)
Cultural Collections Project 1: Mapping Cultural Themes (Clio)
The Unitas hotel was built in the 18th century, not as a hotel, but as a monastery. This building was built by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. Maria Theresa closed this monastery in 1773 and the building was used for storage. It even became a place for concerts that Ludwig van Beethoven visited to perform in.
It was not until the 19th century that the Congregation of the Grey Sisters of the Order of Saint Francis took over the building. Their congregation grew to be 500 members. The Grey Sisters inhabited the building until the end of World War II. In 1948 Czechoslovakia was taken over by the Communist Party. The Grey Sisters were sent away in 1950 and the building became home to the State Secret Police.
When the building became home to the State Secret Police, a prison was added to the building. This prison housed people who were being interrogated, including former president, Vaclav Havel, of the Czech Republic.
The Congregation of the Grey Sisters was given back their building in 1990 after the revolution. The building was not in great shape, so the Grey Sisters converted part of the building into a hotel so that they could earn money to fix up the building. This building became popular and had celebrity visitors including the Prince of Wales and former president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, visit. The whole building became a hotel after this and is now named, Unitas Hotel.
It was not until the 19th century that the Congregation of the Grey Sisters of the Order of Saint Francis took over the building. Their congregation grew to be 500 members. The Grey Sisters inhabited the building until the end of World War II. In 1948 Czechoslovakia was taken over by the Communist Party. The Grey Sisters were sent away in 1950 and the building became home to the State Secret Police.
When the building became home to the State Secret Police, a prison was added to the building. This prison housed people who were being interrogated, including former president, Vaclav Havel, of the Czech Republic.
The Congregation of the Grey Sisters was given back their building in 1990 after the revolution. The building was not in great shape, so the Grey Sisters converted part of the building into a hotel so that they could earn money to fix up the building. This building became popular and had celebrity visitors including the Prince of Wales and former president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, visit. The whole building became a hotel after this and is now named, Unitas Hotel.
Cultural Collections Project 2: Curating Cultural Themes (Padlet)
Cultural Collections Project 3: Neighborhood Analysis (Weebly Slide Show)
For this project, I chose to visit Prague 2, a neighborhood called Vinohrady. When doing research for this project, I read that this neighborhood is close to Old Town Square and other major tourist attractions, but is a place that many local young professionals reside in. When visiting this neighborhood, I quickly realized that there was a lot of construction happening and seems to be growing. Because I visited in the middle of the day, there seemed to be a lot of people out and about. I did not notice a lot of young kids or families.
In Vinohrady, there seemed to be many businesses in the lower parts of buildings and apartments or flats in the top floors. I saw many restaurants, coffee shops and a few tourist shops, but not as many as I have seen in the neighborhoods around Old Town or the Castle District. There were many trams going by, with a lot of people coming and going. It seemed like there were more people traveling by tram or metro. As we walked away from the main road in this neighborhood, there weren’t as many people out on the sidewalks or in the roads. I also quickly noticed that there weren’t many trees or grass along the streets.
I found it interesting that I didn’t find any schools in this neighborhood as I was walking around. I wonder if it is because this is a neighborhood known for having many young professionals. It also seemed interesting that I didn’t find any parks or natural areas. I enjoyed exploring this neighborhood and stopping inside a coffee shop to talk with a local.
Cultural Collections Project 4: Museum Artifact Analysis (Voicethread)
To embed a copy of your Voicethread here on your portfolio page, copy the "embed code" from your Voicethread and paste below where it says "Click to set custom HTML." Finally, click "Publish" in the upper right corner to save your portfolio changes to the live site. Then you may delete this text block.
Cultural Reflections Project 1: Czech Education System, "The Last Word" Discussion
It was interesting reading about the Czech education system. The first thing that stood out to me was that 86% of children attend preschool. This includes children from ages three to six years. I found it fascinating that their pre schools go until a child is six years old, while most children in the United States start kindergarten when they are five years old. The article says that a traditional Czech preschool focuses on social and communication skills, skills that are taught through playing games. It seems that if more children in the United States had the opportunity to attend preschool, they would benefit from these early social and communication skills.
Cultural Reflections Project 2: Cultural Writing
We will be working with different cultural writing forms in Raleigh, and then you will choose one form to develop in Prague (e.g., a bio poem about a famous Czech layered over an image using Pixlr). Please include ALL of your writing here, including the test pieces from Raleigh and your original piece from Prague. Drag over relevant blocks and place below (e.g., an image block for a Pixlr image, an embed code block for a Prezi slideshow, etc.). Two image and one embed code block have already been placed below for you, but they can be deleted/changed as needed.
Cultural Reflections Project 3: Czech Film Review
Milada, a film directed by David Mrnka, tells the story of Milada Horakova. The film shows the struggles Horakova faced as a pre-WW2 Czech politician under communist rule. Ayelet Zurer plays the role of Horakova in this film. It begins as Nazi’s take Horakova to trial during WW2. She is sentenced to eight years in prison for conspiracy theory. At the end of the war, Horakova returned to Prague and was reunited with her daughter, husband and sister. After returning, the Communist Party quickly took over and because of her strong political views, Horakova and her family were in danger staying in Prague. Milada Horakova was captured and imprisoned and later put to death by the Communist Party.
Milada was an informational film that was able to teach me a lot about Milada Horakova. I enjoyed being able to see the story build from Milada’s trial in Germany, to being free again in Prague, and back to being tried in Czechoslovakia by the Communists. The ending was extremely intense as Horakova was being questioned by the Communists. The film allowed me to really appreciate how brave Milada Horakova was to resist. It was hard to watch as she was beaten after questioning for not cooperating. Ayelet Zurer does a great job showing how strong Milada had to have been for resisting during this impossible situation. This film was able to show many city scenes,but was also able to show the beautiful countryside scenes of Czechoslovakia as Horakova traveled. I also enjoyed seeing part of the Czech culture in this film, such as having tea with family members. Milada Horakova was very close with her family, and this film showed how important her daughter, and husband were to her. Horakova was also close with her sister. It was sweet to see the sisters together near Horakova’s death when her sister announced that she was expecting a baby. Although this movie was intense, I would recommend it. I learned a lot about Milada Horakova and how the Communist Party took over Czechoslavakia during this time. It is hard to believe that someone who was trying to do good for her country was so cruelly treated. |
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Cultural Reflections Project 4: Czech Book Review
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera tells the story of a woman who falls in love with a man. The man, Tomas, has a hard time committing to a relationship, but finally decides to marry Tereza, even though he is still in contact with his lover, Sabina. Sabina helps Tereza find work and is welcoming to Tereza, but Tereza has a hard time accepting this. The novel describes the feelings of each character in this complicated relationship.
I enjoyed that Kundera focuses on lightness and heaviness in this book, something that everyone can relate to in their life. I like the idea of lightness and heaviness being described in this story, but didn’t necessarily love the characters. I wanted the characters to make different choices, but I suppose that is what makes this novel so interesting. I enjoyed reading when Tereza, Tomas and Sabina all left Prague when the Czech Communists took over the city. It was a realistic story of what was really happening at that time and how it affected the people of Prague.
I enjoyed that Kundera focuses on lightness and heaviness in this book, something that everyone can relate to in their life. I like the idea of lightness and heaviness being described in this story, but didn’t necessarily love the characters. I wanted the characters to make different choices, but I suppose that is what makes this novel so interesting. I enjoyed reading when Tereza, Tomas and Sabina all left Prague when the Czech Communists took over the city. It was a realistic story of what was really happening at that time and how it affected the people of Prague.