From Rohovce to Prague in 7 hours flat

Rohovce

I don't think the two places that I visited this weekend could have been much more different. My first stop was Rohovce, a quiet village in Slovakia that lies not far southeast of Bratislava. It is the site of one of the local refugee camps, where many of the Human Rights League's clients stay.

In Rohovce, the Human Rights League organized a Day of Slovak Culture for refugees and unaccompanied minors in the nearby camps. Several traditional Slovak craftsmen and craftswomen came to show them (as well as staff from the League and the camps) how to weave baskets, carve wood, paint glass, and make wire sculptures. Later (after I left), there was apparently some pretty awesome traditional Slovak dancing.

There were probably over 40 refugees or unaccompanied minors in attendance, and I hung out with some of them for a little bit. Some of their countries of origin included Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Algeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was an opportunity to hear more stories and to see camaraderie between people connected by a similar need.

Going into the event, I didn't think that "arts and crafts" in a remote location would interest the youths very much. I later recalled that the director of the home for unaccompanied minors only let the guys leave the premises to go into the city once a week--and even then only if their social worker was available to accompany them. All in all, an activity-filled day in a new place is not so bad.

The day was also a good opportunity for the League's staff to do something other than legal work. Next to me in the above picture are four of the women who work at the office, and they were just as glad as I was to have rotisserie chicken and bread for lunch. We didn't know what we were going to find to eat in Rohovce. With or without food, though, it was a lot of fun to be there.

Aside from the drama at the beginning of my trip (a Turkish woman asked very urgently if she could sit with me because she was scared of the dangerous man who was following her and subsequently visited her in what looked like a drunken stupor while she was sitting with me), I loved my train rides to and from Prague. I picked another picture with an "arbitrary sunset" to represent how relaxing it is to watch the countryside go by.

The Prague Photojournal

I'd like to share some of the highlight pictures from my weekend in Prague much like I did for my trip to Vienna. As I expected, I was a little less frantic of a tourist this weekend because I met up with Maggie (whom I know from school) and her friend Kristine.

A lot of people right by a cathedral in a big square with historic buildings--a familiar sight. Prague struck me as not too different from Vienna in its feel for that reason, although Prague is smaller and it seemed like the proportion of tourists was higher.

This is the philharmonica where I saw a chamber orchestra concert with Maggie and Kristine. I again heard one of the songs that the quartet played in Vienna (and the concert had a number of recognizable classics such as Canon in D), but some things are worth repeating. What made it unique was the mix of Hungarian and Slavic dance compositions that they played along with the well-known stuff.

I went to Prague Castle and shot a crossbow. I felt like a medieval James Bond.

Inside the castle grounds. On the left is St. Vitus's cathedral--the largest in Prague, with an usually large amount of gold plating. On the right is what you might call the executive office building of the government. The President actually lives within the castle grounds. All told, I guess that means that the little bridge in the middle of the picture is the extent of separation between church and state. I crack myself up.

This is the Lenin wall, where restless Czechs wrote pro-democratic slogans and lyrics during communist rule. Featured predominantly on the wall are lyrics and images related to the Beatles, whose music was banned at the time.

If you're in love, you and your co-conspirator can come to this bridge, put a lock on it, and throw the key away. Depending on your style, you can attach one of a variety of locks. Hope it works out for you.

Quite a statement.

This is part of the cemetery in the Jewish district in Prague. nazis left most of the district completely undisturbed because they intended it to become a relic of an "extinct race." This cemetery has about 20,000 individuals buried in it. Due to space constraints, they are stacked on top of each other, sometimes as many as 11 times.

Me with Maggie and Kristine! It was nice to travel with friendly people who could balance taking in all the sights with taking a break just to chill and talk. They are off to Berlin now, and I am back in Bratislava (a phrase that is hard for me to comprehend--even after coming back from Vienna, I can't yet fathom returning to a home base that was itself an exotic destination 3 weeks ago).

I don't think I can do 3 big city trips 3 weekends in a row. I think I'm going to stay in Bratislava this upcoming weekend, which means I'll see my new friends from France and hopefully get a breather before I start to prepare my trip to Krakow and Auschwitz in a couple weeks.