Eat a Peach

I am currently sitting in a hotel room (alone) in Thomson, Georgia (when I should be in Columbia). Let me begin by explaining how I got here...

I left Columbia as soon as I could Friday and hit the road to Athens, Georgia for the weekend. AthFest, the annual music/art festival was going on in Athens & I hadn't seen my main dawg (pun definitely intended) Kaitlyn in a while. Unfortunately, Kaitlyn had to work until 10 that night, so I had some time to kill, considering I got there at 7.... It's safe to assume plenty of beer drinking and new friend making ensued... And it was great beer drinking and new friend making! They have such great beer on tap everywhere, including their local varieties of Terrapin, which tasted very good in the 20 or so times I sampled it this past weekend... 

Besides great beer, I had amazing food all weekend. I knew Athens had great music but more discreetly is filled with culinary gems. All of the places I tried were amazing & would recommend to anyone.  Late night Friday I tried Farm 225's food cart and got the vegetable bahn mi (Vietnamese stir-fry, more or less) with their homemade potato chips. Food that good is dangerous. Then for brunch, after our wonderful friend Kathleen got in from Atlanta, we headed to the Grit. The meal at the Grit was phenomenal! Who knew biscuits could be so amazing. And the grits... wow, I have to stop before I start drooling on my computer. This place was so good I bought their cookbook..... It's a southern style vegetarian restaurant, are you kidding me? It's like my dream couple food genre's love child. 

So, just in case amazing food, drinks, and friends weren't enough, the music was fantastic!!!! Lots of local bands and sense Athens does have such a great music scene, it wasn't the frat rock cover bands I am used to Columbia.

After a throughly great weekend in Athens, I headed back to Columbia. Well, to get from Athens to Columbia, you must drive through a huge portion of BFE rural Georgia. After stopping to get some peaches & boiled peanuts (very much necessary for any road trip through georgia) from a stand on the side of the road, wouldn't you know it.. my car broke down (unfortunately this was a good 30 minutes after the p-nut stand, because being stranded with that stand would've been awesome). I was literally in the middle of nowhere. When I called AAA and asked them to pick me up, we both challenged to figure out where the hell I was. Apparently "field on the road between Columbia and Athens" is not enough for them to locate me. While I waited for AAA, I tried sitting in my car (which the AC was out) and began quickly dying of heat exhaustion. So, as matter of life or death, I decided to pull out the camping chair I had in my car & finish my boiled peanuts while sitting on the shaded part of the side of the road. It's probably the most redneck thing I've ever done. To make myself feel better, I kept telling myself it's not that much different than going to a Nascar race. When going to a Nascar race is LESS redneck than what you are doing, you have a problem. 

Finally the tow truck arrives! Out comes out exactly what you expect, an overweight country boy with a camo Georgia visor on and a Ducks Unlimited shirt. Just in case he needed emotional support (he didn't provide any physical support that I saw) he brought his young friend along who got dressed up for the occasion in Georgia Bulldog pajama shorts. When I asked both about Athens, both them seemed kind of clueless about the place, which seemed odd considering the multiple Bulldog apparel item they had on. Also to ease my mind, the boy told me that this was the tow man's first towing job! Great, glad I got to the be the guinea pig for this man's new illustrious career of tow truck driving. 

We passed a motorsport track, which I had seen before and often wondered about on my trips to and from Athens. Of course, this was the only thing besides a random house sprinkled here and there in this tour de Georgia. 

(Don't forget to imagine this conversation in the deepest Georgia accent you can fathom.)

Camo visor ( to boy- not me ) : They had a tractor race out there this weekend. 

Me: A tractor race? Do tractors go very fast?

CV: No, they don't. They just see which one can push the most stuff. 

Me: What happens to ones that lose? Do they just break their tractor?

CV: Yea. I guess it's just for people with a bunch of money. I been to one once, it was pretty cool.

.... so apparently only the wealthy folks of Thomson, Georgia participate in tractor racing....

Well, I guess I should enjoy the rest of my time in the fantastic Comfort Suites. I have taken advantage of many of the perks of the Comfort Suites, including their large bathtub with jets (oooh!) and pool that sat a nice 100 yards from the main drag of Thomson (relaxing).  How quaint! 

The Deep. Deep. South

As I melt away in Columbia, South Carolina this summer, I often question why I chose to live in the heart of "land of Dixie." When I drive past the confederate flag that flies on the state house grounds & many of the buildings named after famous plantation owners & politicians that did everything but run for President because they opposed anti-lynching laws. OH WAIT! Just kidding, that really happened, and that Presidential hopeful, Strom Thurmond, name is plastered all over this city.
(read here for more great tales of everyone's favorite South Carolinian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strom_Thurmond, especially the part about his African American love child..)

Well this whole "deep south" thing was reiterated even more this past weekend when I travelled through rural South Carolina. Rural South Carolina consists of little more than farms, churches, farms and an occasional gas station. This isn't really as endearing as it may sound, I promise. I was driving through the country in order to spend a weekend with a friend, which would consist mainly of spending the day on the beach at the country club in which my friend worked. So, while she prepared overpriced salads, I laid on the beach and observed the frivolous patrons of "DeBourdieu" country club. 

This is an excerpt from the club's website, 

 "For more than two centuries, a privileged few have chosen to live in a special place called DeBordieu. A remarkably beautiful spot on the South Carolina coast between the Waccamaw River and the Atlantic Ocean. Today, DeBordieu is enjoyed by families of distinction who value its unique appeal."

Keywords: privileged few (aka WASPs), families of distinction (good ol boys), unique appeal (just like any other country club, but with a twist of southern superiority complex)

I don't think Scarlett O'Hara could have said it better herself.

the journey to school

In preparation for my next year back in Prague, I am going to practice my writing and to do so, I will go through some of the more pertinent memories of my time last semester in Prague.

This video is not the official video for Sufjan's "All For Myself" but I think it's a nice video for a song I consider to be brilliant. This album came out when I was in Prague & I'd often listen to it on my walk to school.  Listening to it puts me right back on that walk I'd take three days a week (no school on Monday or Friday !) My journey would take me past the famous tančí dům (Dancing House)

Then past the Goethe Institute (the German culture center) with it's amazing door. Man, this place looked so cool but it was all in German, so until I master that language, I guess those doors will remain closed to me. (This is a lie, I actually used the restroom here once while I was on a run. Germans are nice! They let me use the bathroom!)

Then past the beautiful Narodni Trida (National Theatre) & I'd cross the street and admire Kavarna Slavia, the famous cafe & restaurant that was so important to the dissidents and intellectuals in the 70's. Czechs seem to think it's passe now but I don't really get it. I enjoyed every experience I had there and it's exciting to think of what an important place it used to be.

Next on my journey I would walk across the bridge. We called this bridge the "Voda bridge" (voda = water) because while we were there, there was scaffolding on the bridge that was covered by an ad for Voda. I'm not sure what it was all about because I don't think they were advertising water as a commodity but I never found "Voda" brand voda... Anyways, I loved that bridge. It offered such a nice view of the Castle and you could peer onto the busy Charles Bridge & appreciate that you weren't pushing through hordes of Asian tourists to get to class.

Ah and then I'd get to the Kampa Park! What a great park :) Always filled with adorable little Westies and children running around playing. And the babies! Oh the faceless babies that laid in the park. Only Czechs...

In Kampa park there was Kampa Museum, which I never went to- I wanted to make sure I saved some for my return :)

Then I would get to the famed Lennon Wall. There was some actual art on there but mostly just bathroom wall style. Unfortunately, after the wall was school. And my nice little journey was over & I'd have to sit in class for blocks of 3 hours! (TORTURE!!!) Trying to decipher through the impossible accents of my professors. Sometimes treating myself to a tea from the school's cafe with tea or an espresso for the morning I didn't get any sleep or was struggling with a bad hangover.. 

So, there was my typical walk to school. It took around 30 minutes but I was really fortunate to have such a scenic stroll to school. Now let's hope I will have another pleasant walk to school next year :)

Who, Where, When, Why, What

Who
So, I am a student. I've been at the University of South Carolina except for when I was able to escape to Prague in the fall of 2010. I'm going back to Prague in September to finish out my senior year on a scholarship that has me studying Czech and their nuclear energy policies. Hopefully, by the time I leave, I'll be pretty fluent in both! Now which is more complex, the Czech language or nuclear energy... hmmmm...

Where
I'll be taking classes at Charles University. It's first name (in 1348, when it was founded) was "Universitas Carolina." Now I'll be going to the REAL Carolina!

When
I'll be leaving in September and will be there until July! Enough time to see all the seasons, experience a city for what I can, make some nice new friends, and return nice and homesick for America.

Why

And, now, why am I going back to Prague? Well, something inside of me just made me do it. When I was there the first time, I couldn't imagine leaving only being there for such a short time. It all came to me one day when I was riding a metro back from a nice long run in the outskirts of Prague and I realized, I can stay here. I just have to make it happen.

What

Well, this blog is going to serve as my story weaving mechanism so I don't forget anything important of my experience. Also as a way for any curious parties to keep up on me or roll their eyes at my attempts of humor, drama, and adventure.