Greetings from the Homeland!

It's a rainy, windy, cuddle-up under a blanket and read a good book with a cup (or two, or 10) of coffee kind of weather in Czech Republic this morning. And after a long weekend, that sounds just perfect.

Currently, this is what I'm reading:

 

I'm about a third of the way through and it's quite good. I'll do a book review as soon as I'm finished.

But I'm sure you guys don't really care about what I'm reading and you're more interested in where I'm at and what I'm doing, right? Well, I am in Ostrava, Czech Republic! I got here on December 1 (I can't believe it's already been 4 days...time is flying!) after a grueling 48 hours of travel. The flight from NYC to Prague was relatively uneventful, but that may have something to do with the complimentary wine and beer I very graciously took advantage of.  Judge away.

After landing and meeting up with Jorge, we were driven to the train station by two lovely friends where we took a 3 hour train from Prague to Ostrava. We had about an hour before the train and decided to get a cup of coffee (actually, I demanded it and threatened suicide if I didn't get it...have I mentioned that I'm a bit of a coffee addict?)...and then my world was shattered into a billion little pieces when I got this:

So what's the big deal, right? Please look at the size of the cup compared to that teaspoon. That cup was smaller than the size of my palm. That amount of coffee will get my left pinkie functioning; maybe the index finger too, but that's pushing it. Take a look at this and you will understand...hopefully:

And as I faked the fakest smile imaginable and pretended to sip on my doll-sized coffee with enthusiasm, there were only dark thoughts running through the mind.

"I wasn't prepared for this! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS?!? Why is the Universe out to get me? I have to go back. I can't live like this for 5 weeks. THIS IS HORRIBLE! Alright, Yelena, breathe. Just breathe. There you go, in and out, in and out. No! Don't cry! No! You can't jump under that train! It's just 5 weeks, you can do it. Breathe. In and out. In and out."

After inhaling my drop of coffee in a single gulp, I dragged my feet to the nearest grocery store to buy the biggest bag of ground coffee I could find when I saw something that turned my frown upside down...a pint of Czech beer. For $0.75. Now I'd say that's a pretty good trade off- tiny sized coffee for tiny priced beer. I'll take it.

We were greeted in Ostrava by the sweetest, most generous couple and that's where we'll be staying for two weeks. They live in a picturesque European country home surrounded by rolling hills and forests. Also part of the family, four huge dogs! They are soft, cuddly, and the cutest little guys in town. However, we're still getting assimilated to each other and I don't think they'd appreciate a camera shoved in their face for a picture...in fact, I'm a little scared they'd bite my face off. Sooo...pictures will come...just a little bit later.

This past weekend was filled with loads of Czech people, a drumbuilding workshop, a spontaneous jam/dance party (I have pictures, but this event needs a post of it's own...it was that awesome), amaaazziing food, a sweat lodge, lots of laughs and giggles, and just lots of genuine goodness. I will spare you the details and just mention one thing that really struck my heart deep;

Language, in the physical sense, is simply a convenient way of communicating, but you don't need it to establish meaningful connections. It is the soul language, the language of the heart, that establishes significant bonds. A huge smile with a wink is just as meaningful as an hour of conversation and a bear hug, a real hearty joining, will make strangers into fast friends. I met people this past weekend who didn't speak a word of English, but just by looking, really looking, into each others eyes we knew more about one another than any conversation could reveal. It was so powerful and so beautiful.

And another thing that really struck me...

These people don't care about nudity. At all. Alleluia! Since there were over 20 people staying in a house with one shower, there were naked butts running around everywhere. I didn't care. They didn't care. It wasn't uncomfortable...In fact, there were naked cartwheels on the front lawn. In the states, a slip of a nipple would result in a wave of whispers, judgments, and criticism. And most of you are probably judging and criticizing this right now...and that's a bummer. It's a human body. It's beautiful. Let's celebrate it, yes? I've always felt this way, and now I'm actually living it. It's refreshing, it's delightful, it's no big deal.

I will have pictures coming soon. I realized that I went from taking an excessive amount of pictures in order to physically capture everything to taking no pictures in order to mentally capture everything...I'm in the process of finding the middle ground. Please bear with me. But pictures! Soon! Yes!

And now I must get back to my perfectly-brewed, American-sized, cup'o joe. Until next time, Ahoy (bye)!