As the schedule heats up..so does the weather

Hello everyone and welcome to my second installment of "Garrett's Adventures In the Czech Republic." Last time we spoke, I was coming off of a great party that didn't end until 4 am and, well, this time I am writing after a great party that didn't end until 4 am.

Now, when I say "end" at 4 am, I don't mean the party ended at that time. That is the time that I had to tap out and say "no more." The dancing was still raging on by the time I left the club with dead feet, ringing ears, and a sweat soaked shirt. I don't know how these people do it. It seems as though they have a party every single night that NEVER ends. I must admit though, that I love it. I love being able to just spend the night, a weeknight nonetheless, with a group of growing good friends and turn it into memories that will last a lifetime.

I will admit, I'm not the greatest dancer, but last night I was "en fuego" (or "on fire" for those of you who no absolutely no Spanish). I was bustin' moves even I didn't know I had and displaying them for that club to see, whether they liked it or not. I was so dehydrated and sweaty, I felt like I had just run a marathon in dress shoes and a tie. It was a great time, even if the rest of the group did bail on my roommate and I early, just like they did on Monday night. It's whatever, we know we are warriors and it will continue to be that way until the day we leave on that plane back to the States.

I do miss the United States. I miss the currency, I miss the routine that I had become accustomed to, but most of all, I miss the English language. While I am embracing the differences that do exist over here, it is so frustrating to have questions, but in order to get them answered, I need to pray the person who can answer them, knows just a little bit of English. We have taken our first two Czech language classes and I have learned a little bit. I have learned how to say hello (ahoj) and where are you from (odkud jsi), but the rest is filling in slowly. I can tell it will be difficult to piece together the puzzle that is the Czech language, but I know I can do it, especially after taking four years of Spanish.

I know you are asking yourself, 'Hey, Garrett..I thought you went overseas to study and do schoolwork, not party?" I assure you, we are just about to start lectures next week and we are already beginning our language classes. Take that, naysayers. Anyways, to kind of recap the past two days:

Yesterday started out good. It was St. Patty's Day and I had just gotten seven hours of sleep. We woke up and hit the tram to go take a tour of city hall. Once we were in city hall, we learned a lot about the history of Olomouc and then got to climb the clock tower where we were treated with a bird's eye view of the city. It was breathtaking, nonetheless. Pictures will be posted as soon as I get my computer fixed. From there, we had a lunch break where I had roast beef and potato dumplings. It was exactly like salisbury steak, but it was damn good. Once we finished lunch, we headed to Globus, a humongous Wal-Mart type place a few blocks away from our dorms. I purchased some chocolate, apples, bananas, pringles and other goods to munch on in the room. From Globus, I hurried back to my room because it was 2 pm and I had class at 3..I had to call my dad to let him know I needed a hard drive mailed to me for my computer. I made class at 3 and after that was relaxing and the aforementioned party.

Today has been laid back. After getting home at 3 am, I read a little bit of my book and hit the sheets to wake up at 8 am. I had brackets to fill out. We were to meet at the University courtyard at 10 am to get initiated with the library. This turned out to be a 15-minute tour and we were set free until our language class at 3 pm..what a waste of sleep. It was, however, the nicest day yet here in the Czech Republic. The temperature got up to about 55, maybe warmer, and I was able to bust out the shorts and feel really comfortable. The group had lunch at McDonald's and then it was back to Globus to get things I forgot yesterday. After that, I hit the room for a quick nap before our class and now here I am, typing to you and watching some NCAA basketball on the internet, since I am missing it in the States.

Well, I'm gonna keep watching basketball and then enjoy a quiet night in my room. I miss you all and hope you miss me too. God bless!