Sunday, May 10, 2009

The Zoo and a day full of Czech

Greetings!

Yesterday was a beautiful day. It started with an extremely packed bus ride to the zoo. There I met some good friends to enjoy the great weather and amazing animals at the Prague Zoo. Somehow the otters almost always take the cake as the best part. They are always full of energy and playing around in the water. My favorite part though was the lions. I've always been drawn to lions. I remember doing a research project on them in 5th grade. Did you know that lions can run up 40 mph? Yes, it's a little bit weird that I remember that fact from 16 years ago... but what can I say? Lions are awesome. At one point yesterday, a zoo worker walked to the door where the lions were just on the other side... in an instant the male lion sprinted to the door, jumped up and put it's front paws at the top of the frame and roared (quite ferociously I might add). It was amazing. The wildness was beautiful. Lions to me are the most majestic animals. I used to want one... still do actually but I don't think it'll happen. I'm not sure if this makes sense, but I want to carry myself like a lion... Confidently. Not arrogant but confident, in who I am and who I was made to be. 
After the zoo I went with my friends to see one of their families in a small village about 30 minutes from Prague. The whole day I was the only American around. My friends can speak English but often speak Czech. I like this because it helps me learn more. Most of the time with the family was in Czech. Again, difficult but good. By the end of the day I was exhausted. When I hear Czech I try not to turn my brain off, but really focus on what's being said. I listen for words I already know and also guess at what is being spoken about. I hope this helps my learning. It's a difficult but lovely language. The more I pick up the more I feel as if it's home here. Please feel free to pass on any advice you have for learning a new language. I'm taking lessons and studying some at home. And I'm open to any and all methods.
That's it for now. I'll be writing more soon.

love,

d

1 comment:

Loc said...

When I was living in Kosice, Slovakia, the best way for me to learn the language is just to hang out with the locals and practice with them. I believed I know more Slovak language than French, which I took for classes in high school and college. Have fun man and laugh when you mess up trying to pronounce a word or a sentence. I said things in Slovak that was pretty embarassing before such as "I want some hot tea" turning into "I want some hot girls"