"You Americans Are Obsessed With Communism"

"You Americans are obsessed with Communism!" one of my students said in exasperation. I giggled. I can't even remember what we were talking about that brought out her observation but I giggled because I knew it was true.

"We can't help it!" I said. "Our parent's generation and our generation's tax dollars went to fighting it. For years we heard how awful it was. When Mikhail Gorbachev ended the Cold War, it was like we could breathe a giant sigh of relief and could then spend all that money on something else."

"So then you went to Iraq!" she said with a laugh.

"Touche." I couldn't stop giggling cause I knew that was true too.

But she made me think about why we're obsessed with learning about Communism when we come here. An awful lot of my generation "fought communism" in Vietnam and I knew what it cost them.

I realized another reason we're obsessed: we want to see if everything our government told us about how awful communism was as a system was really true.

I'm happy to report my government didn't lie to me. It's much worse than they said. Here's what I didn't realize about communism until I got here - under communism, it's not just the government being mean to people, but the government forcing people to be mean to each other. You should hear the stories. They're awful.

Jeden Svet: One World '09

This is the 200th post on my blog! Since what I like to blog about is cross-cultural issues between America and the Czech Republic, it seems appropriate to devote my 200th post to celebrating the Jeden Svet '09 Film Festival now occurring here in Prague and outlying cities.

You know how there are some things you only do when you're out of town and aren't so harried? I realized there was a perfectly exciting film festival near my home in America and I never got around to going. By all reports, the fledging Beloit International Film Festival in Beloit, Wisconsin was fantastic. It was only 17 miles from my house. Here I am, out-of-town, so to speak, and I finally got off my butt and went to see some movies!

This is the 11th year of this film festival devoted to human rights. There are 120 documentaries from over 40 countries. In 2009, the festival has a wonderful subtheme celebrating 20 years of Eastern and Central European democracy in film. Indeed, the festival trailer (which you can link through by clicking on the title of my post) shows former Czech President Vaclav Havel helping in the maternity ward as a new generation of Czechs, born in freedom, arrive in the world. The Velvet Generation comes of age. What will they do with their freedom?

And as I looked around at each venue, it was the young people who had shown up for the films. The first movie I attended, directed by a Canadian, was called "Letters to a President." It showcased the cheap populism of Iranian President Ahmadinejad. People in Iran write him over 10 million letters a year asking him to solve their problems. Every letter is answered, which on the face of it, sounds like responsive government. It came across though as him setting himself up as a Messiah-like figure and the people, many of whom are lacking a decent education, being grateful for any little crumb. Not educating the populace is quite often in the interests of world leaders.

I also went to see "The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia" and "Paper Heads." "Paper Heads" is an especially useful movie for expatriates and young people to see because it shares what life was like under communism in the Czech Republic. Watching the movie, you can see how if you were a Czech back then, when the West had sold you out at Munich, and the Soviets were the ones that liberated you from the Nazis if you lived in Prague, communism just didn't seem like the threat we saw it as in the West. The Soviets probably saved your life.

Once communism was in place though, it was completely inhuman to those who objected. It's hard to look back and think of all the angry, nasty history that occurred here. It just doesn't square with the beauty I see around me every single day.

The festival continues until March 19th.

Everyday Wonders

Are you noticing all of the beauty around you?
Sometimes the brown eggs here
even have pretty freckles.

The Infant Jesus of Prague

My friend Sher and I decided at the beginning of the year that one of the things we were going to do together was visit each other's churches here in Prague. Now suggesting this to your pals is not something one does in one's twenties, is it? That already tells you something about us.

Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church
in Mala Strana, Prague

Is this idea one you can propose to all of your friends? No. You can have a whole passel of friends and not one of them might be interested. It's awfully nice to be able to share faith with someone though, isn't it? It seems intimate. If you were getting to know someone what greater representation of their culture is there than how they worship?

Sher and I are both Protestants but it's hard to find the same denomination over here that we went to in America. She attends Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in Prague and so I joined her there one Sunday.

Sher's big smile

is caused by seeing sunshine!

My friend Sher lives with chronic illness, asthma and the like, and if I can brag about her for a moment, she does so with considerable humor and grace. The three weeks prior to meeting her on this Sunday she had spent in salubrious solitude (otherwise known as quarantine to those of you not euphemistically-inclined).

Imagine, three weeks in a city apartment and not being able to go outside! Could you do it? I don't think I could. She figured out how to turn it into a positive experience by setting all sorts of goals and accomplishing them.

I love going to other people's churches. Back home in America, I especially enjoyed going to black churches because the music was usually gospel and usually amazing. If a Czech went to an African-American church it might seem as exotic and as foreign to them as Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church seemed to me. I had never been to a church that was packed with people from all over the world who had come on pilgrimage to see something.

The church is sooo busy that it has multiple masses over the weekend in Czech, English, French, Spanish, and Italian. Once Sher attended a Japanese mass there just to see what it was like. This isn't the kind of church that builds great local community because the out-of-town attendees are usually here for just one service.

Why have all these people come to this church? Because they want to pray to the Infant Jesus of Prague, otherwise known as The Prague Bambino.

I first heard of the Prague Bambino in Bohumil Hrabal's book "I Served the King of England." But others have heard of it through more conventional religious means. Wikipedia has a nice, short explanation of how the legend started here. Sher also explained that many people find praying to an infant representation of Jesus less intimidating than the full grown man.

While I found the Infant Jesus of Prague statue exotic to my own faith, one thing that happened during the service unexpectedly took me right back to my childhood. The Philipino choir singing for the service sang every verse of the great hymn "How Great Thou Art." My grandmother and mom used to play it on the piano when I was growing up. Mr. Hendrickson, my childhood neighbor who sang at my wedding, also sang this hymn frequently through the years. Hearing it made me homesick. It was beautiful.

The beautiful baroque altar
at the front of the church
is almost fully restored

The priest's pulpit
off to the side.
It's unused
in our more informal times.

Pilgrims from all over the world
pray to the Infant Jesus of Prague
for deliverance from their suffering
after the service.
Note the "thank you" plaques
on the side wall for answered prayers.

The Infant Jesus of Prague
or the Prague Bambino
in his glass case and white clothes

A beautiful baroque side alter
at the church

This is how people
stay warm in these old churches.
The pumice stones attached
to the backs of the pews
radiate gentle warmth.

The spiral staircase up to the Museum of the Infant Jesus.
Seamstresses express their faith by sending the Infant Jesus
clothes from all over the world.
Several of the most spectacular outfits are on display.

The exquisite craftsmanship
on these outfits
is meticulous.

This beautiful red overcoat
with the dragon came from Vietnam.

Immediately after Sher's day out, she had to go right back into her salubrious solitude because she got sick and so did her husband. Her can-do attitude regarding chronic illness is as beautiful expression of faith as this church.

Celebrating Four Months in the Czech Republic

On March 5th, I celebrated four months in the Czech Republic. It's more fabulous than I expected! So are the people. Over my next four months I really want to concentrate on learning the language. I saw a book "Speak Czech in 30 days!" Do you think it can be done? :-)

This is a picture from the window of my flat taken on a wondrous snowy Saturday when the flakes were huge and the spirit of the day was relaxed and cozy. I love living here.

Inspiration at the Post Office

A trip to the post office isn't always inspiring. Not so with this one one street off of Wenceslas Square. It's beautifully lit from above. Pictures don't do it justice. Different Czech archtypes from history are painted on the wall. I would have loved to show more but they chased me off.

Fantova Kavarna: Waiting Patiently for Its Closeup

For romantic expatriate culture, many have said that the most wonderful time to come to Prague was when it first opened up to the West. Everything was possible and nothing was certain. I much prefer coming later, when much of romantic Prague has been restored and is ready for us to enjoy.

In the Main Train Station in Prague, known as Hlavni Nadrazi, the government is upgrading the facilities. One glorious corner, currently very much out of the way, is patiently waiting its turn for a return to greatness. Come, let's enjoy it for a moment before the restoration teams come in...

In the Main Train Station in Prague
known as Hlavni Nadrazi,
there is a cafe known
as the Fantova Kavarna.

It must have been a
beautiful cafe in its day.

The stained glass window with city light pouring in

People hustle to their trains underneath the dome
while others relax for a moment
above them in the coffeeshop (Kavarna)

A table for two

October 28, 1918:
Independence Day from
the Austrian-Hungarian Empire

The architect who inspired the name of the Cafe

The rotunda of the Fantova Kavarna
had a separate window for each of the most
popular destinations - like Moscow

Each ceiling shield represents
one of the grand European destinations.

The ceiling is rotting while it waits for restoration
but you can see its former glories
and what it can become again.

Your train has arrived on time
A beautiful city awaits you

The hallway leading to where the
grand railway station restaurant
once bustled with travelers

This glorious old restaurant room
is now full of tables selling secondhand clothes.
What will it be when it's restored?

Your elegant entry to the train platforms

Beautiful fence detail

In some places you really have to
use your imagination to see what's possible
but I have no doubt beauty will return.

This is the Czech Republic
where beauty is created everywhere.