Last night we went to a concert of four bands with the queen of the gypsies headlining. Esma Redzepova is the queen. Her and her husband fostered many children. She works for equality and recognition of Roma culture which is what this gypsy festival is all about. She was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And that woman can wail!! Last Thanksgiving we spent with friends in France where we met Uri, who is making documentary films of gypsies. He was on his way to Switzerland the next day to interview Esma. Now we know who she is. The gypsy festival has not had much of a turnout overall, though the concert was quite full. Music is the most important thing to the Romas. It is most desirable to be a musician, better than the doctors or lawyers that are esteemed in the mainstream culture. The Roma people do not have an easy time in the Czech Republic, like much of Europe. They have segregated housing and schools. The Romas have trouble getting jobs and are not always served at restaurants. We have been to two exhibit openings at museums this week in which their art work and culture is finally being recognized here. We also went to the traditional dress parade downtown which was nice, but incredibly small with both very few paraders and very few spectators.

Yesterday we went swimming. The outdoor pool is huge. It must be what people call Olympic size, or else I've never seen Olympic size which is entirely possible. Yesterday there were many more people than usual as the weather was finally hot. Still way less crowded than Ives in Sebastopol even in the winter. There is also a huge kiddie pool which Sofie has a great appreciation for even though she swims. It's nice to be able to stand occasionally. Even I cannot stand anywhere in the big pool except on the little ledges around the edge of the pool. The pool is about twelve feet deep everywhere. People swim slow, large strokes, not unlike myself. The women wear a scanty bottom or even a thong, and put their tops back on and their cigarettes out to enter the water. It is quite a relaxed scene. Though something to behold. I've noticed Caleb has taken to swimming with his glasses on. We all enjoy the pool. Our friend from Duluth, Chris says he gets dirty looks at the pool for swimming the crawl. Too splashy for the mellow meandering swimmers who merely want to cool off from their sunbathing. The pool is completely set up for a more athletic swim, but it seems the four hour swim experience wins out over the one hour workout.
After swimming, the girls went to their pottery class where they are trying to finish glazing their many works of art to get them re-fired before we leave this country. We go to Amsterdam by night train on the seventh for two days and then to Detroit on the tenth. Caleb and I had a walk in the park over looking the river and the city. We went to the Metronome where stalin's statue used to stand and beyond to a pricey little lookout restaurant for a cup of caj for me and a Kava for him.
After class we returned to the restaurant that forgot to put in our order last time behind the bowling alley. They really do have great food. Not what an American would expect from a bowling alley. Then we went to another fringe festival show. This time Andi Neat from the Scottish highlands was the evening's performer. She has a great voice and played guitar to accompany herself. I think Anja really enjoyed the show. Sofie had to be bribed with pop and a foot rub, but she did OK once she got her Fanta Orange. Speaking of relaxed, Sofie was even able to go topless to the bar, as she refused to wear her shirt, having spilt strawberry something- or- other from her dessert at the restaurant.
Today we're having a slow, play in the sand box kind of morning whilst we decide which performance to take in this evening. There is a magic show that Anja is rooting for, but the Queen of the Gypsies, Esma, is to play tonight as well I think though she plays again on the weekend so we shall see.

We just got back from the opening of the 'Paradise Lost' exhibit. It is an exhibit of Roma art and is considered a big event, gypsies being recognized for their art and culture here in a European museum. The event was really something with Flamenco musicians and a dancer followed by Roma musicians, free wine, sparkling water, and juice. To top it all off we previewed the exhibit. Anja was really impressed with the art that appeared to be painting until you approached it and realized it was millions of beads stuck together to form a picture. There was also photography and I really liked a painting of a gypsy caravan being carried in the air by doves.

Yesterday was the opening day of two huge festivals which include amazing cultural events and spectacles all over the city, the Fringe festival, and the Gypsy festival. We started off the festivities with a group called the, "Yellow Sisters." They are four young Czech women who have been touring Africa and writing new music along the way. They sing acapello. I can't even spell it and they can sing it. They reminded me of "Sweet Honey in the Rock" though they had no bass, there were less of them, and they were white, but they sang a song about that too, "Teu-Bah," what the children yell in Africa when they see a white woman. Also they did not sing any songs with even any innuendo of organized religion, atleast in the English songs that they were mostly singing (others were African). After quizzing the audience, they stuck with their Anglicky repertoire, as none of the English speakers knew Czesky and all of the Czech speakers knew English. Oh well, what more can I say, they're smarter than us... oh, and great singers.

Top Secret Greenpeace Demonstration

The girls requested a stay at home day yesterday, and had to re-request it about thirty times with Caleb home and itching to go out with them. In the end, they lost. We dragged them out at nine at night to the Charles Bridge to see a top secret Green Peace demonstration in which people took out a boat to project images on to river side buildings. The images turned out to be mostly English words with an anti-nuke message addressing the United Nations. The demonstration was top secret in order to avoid a police presence but I think they avoided a presence all together because there were very few people watching from the bridge. It wasn't exactly spectacular or eye catching unless you already happened to be looking off that particular side of the bridge. Maybe they did the other side after we left? There were quite a few tourists on the bridge still at that time, but most of them were busy viewing the singing wine glasses put on by the one guy still workin' the bridge at that hour. You may wonder how we would know about a "top secret" peace demonstration in Prague having lived here for about a month. Our landlords are well connected. He's a journalist. She's a medical doctor. So he's very well informed as part of the press committee covering the demonstration. Good Greenpeace didn't keep it top secret from the press.

Caleb's been back from his bicycle trip to Vienna for a few days now. He had a great time. We found out the root of Sofie's tooth was infected so it's good it was removed. Sofie had her birthday yesterday. We went to Beckiland, an indoor place to play in Prague with another family. She's an Aussi, He's from Duluth, Minnesota and they have two boys, one six and the other just under one. Afterwards, we all went out to eat some Italian food. The restaurant also had an indoor place to play in it and they have a great baby, so it was a very relaxing meal. The older boy, Walter is in Sofie and Anja's art class and they used to live in Bundeena (sp?) where Kathrin (Caleb's mum) lived as a little girl in Australia. So it's a small world after all. Today, the girls are in recovery from their all day intensive play session. Anja's writing a story and Sofie's in her imaginary world outside in the garden. Caleb went to Shakespeare and Sons for a cup of great coffee and the Herald Tribune. Last weekend, while Caleb was gone on his bike trip the girls attended Greek Mythology day which was a six hour Saturday class at the art studio. They made mythological creatures. Sofie made a Kook, which is the mythological creature that seems to be following us around on all of our travels. We learn more about it on an almost daily basis mostly from Caleb and his studies on the giant sea squid?? The Kook fit in nicely with the other creatures which ended up as a mural on the wall of the studio. Most of the children made Medusa as the story was about her. Kook resembles an upside down Medusa. That day was nice for me too as I was able to go to the Narodnie Gallerie modern and contemporary art museum. They had a very impressive collection of French artists works. It strikes me just how many pieces these famous artists have painted or sculpted. Not only the quality, but the quantity is quite amazing. The Czech art was really something to see. It was great and quite different! Darker art mostly though there was some on the lighter side in the deco category especially. There was also an exhibit of Japanese art while I was there, so that really filled up my day off though I was still able to have a lovely lunch and a cup of tea with myself before picking up the children and viewing Kook. The three of us also attended Greek day the following day at Muddum, the art studio where we saw a good movie, ate delicious homemade Greek food and listened to a long but interesting lecture on Greek art by a Greek woman art lover.

J.K. Rowlingova

In the Czech Republic, the family name of a woman has three extra letters. They are O-V-A, meaning egg in Latin. I knew this to be true before visiting, but was surprised to see the name of a British authorova changed in the Knihy (book) section at Tesco. C'est tres bizarre!

Today, Sofie had a tooth pulled at the dentist. She somehow managed to get a mercury filling at Dr. Hodges' office in Santa Rosa and had a growth on her gums, which we only just discovered a week ago. Caleb took her to the dentist this morning and they thought the growth was a reaction to the very deep filling, so they extracted the tooth. We hope the growth goes away now... It just looks like her gums only is growing outward. Hopefully it is nothing more than a reaction to the filling as assumed by the dentist. Now we don't have to worry about the mercury in her mouth anymore either.
Afterwards her and Anja met at pottery class to paint their pieces for a couple of hours and after that we went out to eat at a restaurant without an English menu where we received free beer and desserts because the waiter didn't put our order in and we sat there patiently for hours. The food tasted great. I don't know if it was a really good restaurant or if it was the wait, or the free beer. The waiter was very nice and said, "Sorry, sorry, sorry," when he realized his mistake even though he really didn't speak English.
Sofie was a hyper spaz all the way home, so I think Caleb was the only one traumatized by the extraction. He passed out and felt bad for taking the attention of the nurses away from Sofie, as they moved him to the couch. He's not sure if he's going to leave on his bike tour for Austria in the morning now.

Gypsies

Caleb spoke to his grandmother yesterday and she said her father was Roma so I guess we really are Gypsies, well, most of us, and my geneology isn't completely clear so who knows? There's a week long Roma festival happening in Prague in the end of May. We will definitely go to see the traditional dress day and hopefully catch some music. We went to an art museum yesterday complete with many gory paintings of saints being murdered in various ways. We caught a lot of free day museums this past week, it being the first week of the month. That's really the way to go with children because if it's really not working out, you don't feel so bad about leaving after a short time, and not seeing every painting or every floor even. Caleb found the perfect Cappucino today at 'Shakespeare and Sons,' an English used book store / cafe / bar not too far away. The only draw backs being the price of books is higher than the new ones in the 'New Town'-"Palace of books" -city almost center, and they don't open till ten A.M. which isn't prime coffee time for Caleb, but will have to do. The cafe is a really nice place though- reminds me of 'The Pub' in Albany, CA. Sofie's stroller broke down a few times and we are once again in search of a bolt for it. Caleb finally admits that we really can't survive the next month without it. See Sofie's blog- post about Walking. Exploring today was limited due to need for stroller reparations. We did go swimming and feel like we should do that everyday it was so much fun. Dogs around here don't usually wear leashes and are very well behaved and cute. They do all wear muzzles when traveling on the metro or the trams. Prague reminds me of what I expected from Paris, the romantic view you get from movies and books with the dogs running free and the people being tolerant but judgmental, or at least opinionated. One big difference between here and France is that they pick up the exkrementy here after their dogs like in the U.S. That's just another example of the just add a "y" language learning technique that works around here for so many words, it never fails to amuse me. We still do miss France. Anja has big plans to live in Cluny again in her not too distant future. Sofie on the other hand is going to buy a house in Florida next to grandma Janet. We are looking for a place to rent in Sebastopol in September if anyone know of anything, with or without the kids.

All the crucifiction scenes

In our travels, we have seen many a martyr up on a cross being slowly, left to die in this hideous fashion, usually Hay-Seuss (Is he related to the Dr. who wrote Horton?), but I hear there were plenty of others. We see them at the churches as statues, and stained glass. We see them at the museums as paintings. This has lead to many a discussion about the mythology of Christianity. It's not any uglier than some other fairy tales but it's really in your face and graphic, Everywhere we go. You don't notice it so much by the time you are 37 or so, until you have to start explaining it to the children.
We went to the protest against RADARU yesterday. Sofie and Caleb almost acquired a PRO RADARU balloon, but I stopped them. It had a peace sign hand on it, but the fingers on the hand had missiles on the ends of them so I worked it out and poor Sofie didn't get a balloon. We also went back to the National Museum, free day, and saw some fossils and rocks that were pretty cool. Today is pottery day. Sofie and Caleb are swimming right now. It's storming here.

Some Photos in Praha!

Fun playground equipment, it's a bicycle merry-go-round. Nature
in the city contrast or Lilacs in bondage. And an example of my natural
instinctive mothering style, or Headlock.

Stay at Home

Yesterday we had a stay at home day which was extremely challenging for Caleb so he went out, twice. The rest of us sewed little presents for stuffed animals, video taped each other dancing, and played in the yard. After the kids went to sleep, Caleb and I were finally able to watch the last of our 5 Euro Intermarche movies, N'AYEZ PAS PEUR, which is about the life of Karol Wojtyla, who was pope for many years. As it turned out, it was also about Communism and its battle with the Church, particularly in Poland as that is where Wojtyla was from. I remember reading Lenin and Marx in one of my Sociology classes and Communism not sounding so bad, in theory, especially from the perspective of someone living in a Capitalist society, and seeing the way people suffer under this system. This is becoming much more prevalent in the U.S. as the jobs move out, and the people become more hungry. I don't have any connection with organized religion so that part wouldn't have offended me. In fact I am offended by much of organized religion so I might appreciate a society in which there was less of a Patriarchy and more morals for the sake of humanity rather than just to save one's own ass from a bad after-life. Of course if it takes a Totalitarian Regime to end the patriarchy, then it's not worth it. There was one part in the movie where a leader of a church in America comes before the pope and is chastened for his Communist like attitudes, and instructed to go back to more traditional work in his parish rather than trying to help the poor, (by spouting communist-like ideals and concerning himself with the poverty and suffering.) Then he returns to America, follows the advise of the Pope, and is shot and killed in his church. The Pope is very sorry, but then he himself is shot too, not long after and has other things to think about here in Europe.
I, myself, no pope, but still thinking a lot about the people suffering in the U.S. from lack of jobs, etc.... especially in Michigan. Reports from home suggest the reality of the situation, economy-wise has hit California now too with food prices on the rise and house prices taking a dive. For us the reality is all in the exchange at every purchase. Anja is using a calculator at the Playmobil store and dividing by 15 from Czech Koruna to US dollars. She does enjoy getting 100 Koruna a week here, but her allowance is going down to five bucks when she touches down in her homeland. Things are a lot cheaper here than they were in France, except for Playmobil. We have enjoyed some delicious Goulash out and some great Italian food that we wouldn't want to purchase in Italy, though I am sorry we didn't make it there this trip. Still Prague is beautiful, though the Lilacs continue to imbibe me with the sweet sensation that I am a child on a swing in my backyard and then I am rudely awoken to the need to buy another bottle of hair dye, to at least disguise this ugly business called aging. Anja has a grey hair too. She got it when she was eight about a year ago, and I instinctively grabbed it and yanked it out like any good mother would. But it's growing back and she says she will never dye her hair, not that I'd want her to, Yuck! She also will never have her head frozen and thinks the whole idea is creepy, and won't let me do it either because she wouldn't want to have anything to do with me as a thawed head in a dish. Where does she get these ideas. I didn't let her read that particular Roald Dahl book.

We went to the Botanical Garden, Fata Morgana exhibit and WITCH day at the gardens yesterday. The girls acquired some seedlings and prizes, notebooks, stickers, and everything was free which was nice. My favorite part was the music. There was a band playing with people singing. Sofie and I were the only dancers. She was really the dancer. I was like the guy - I stood there, held her hands, and admired her as she swung about me in circles. These new seedlings are not the only plants the girls have. They are sprouting peas and radishes, the fastest growing things we could think of, but I'm afraid they won't be fast enough for truly satisfying results. The girls are also some of the most productive children in their pottery class. They work non-stop for the entire two hours each week and have a lot to show for only two classes so far. All I can think, is Natalie our friend upstairs may get more birthday presents than she wants. hmmm...
We also swung by the zoo to see the elephants, big cats, playground, lemurs, and to pet some goats. I was stiff from all the walking this morning, but Caleb was gone when I got up, walking by the river in town, and checking out his old favorite haunt, Starbucks. He found that Starbucks here is closer in price to California, so if he can convince the rest of us to go with him some day, it won't cost him forty dollars like France. His new 30-day transport pass was burning a hole in his pocket. For days Caleb was wondering why there are no cafes around our area before we went to the Prague museum and learned about the destruction of cafes during the communist era. This would be a great place to start a Cafe. It would be really cool if someone started one in the old style that we saw at the museum. There are enough Saunas and Solariums to go around already. Northerners like heat too. We know that to be true when we go to Calistoga, CA and the hot tubs are full of Russian people. Could use some more saunas and hot tubs in Michigan maybe.

Praha

Yesterday we went to the Communism Museum. I don't feel much more educated by it, though I learned and re-learned a little history. The Communism Museum is a for-profit business run by Americans and you can get directions to it on its website that tell you it is right above the McDonalds. I suppose this is not really ironic as it is a museum and educating you about a thing of the past. Still I like calling it the capitalist museum.
Today we went to the Prague museum which I really enjoyed. It had a very nice model of Prague's old town. Much of it is still intact as Prague was not hit as hard during WWII as many other European cities. We learned at the Prague museum that during the totalitarian regime many of the Kava (coffee) houses were destroyed because they encouraged intellectual ferment and were filled with the bourgeoisie. I am still unclear about why churches weren't allowed under the communist government. In the museum they had lovely old coffee bean holders and cash registers and glassware used for various kava drinks.
There are many very tall people in Prague. Quite different from France, where there were less tall people. I am told the people are of mixed euro-ethnicity here not unlike many Americans.
On May fifth, Condoleeza Rice is coming to Prague representing the U.S. and their weapons. There will be a demonstration / protest. I read that the majority of the people in the Czech Republic are against the U.S. putting their missile launcher just outside of Prague but it is likely to happen anyway. Does this sound familiar? We are both republics now. There is no longer a totalitarian regime, or so they say... I have also read that the majority of Americans are against the war(s) that continue in Iraq et al. I'm sure things truly were really ugly during the Stalin days and I am really happy for the Czech Republic and I hope things turn out better here than they have in the United States thus far. The change must be very dramatic. I was hoping to get more a feel for what it was like to live here before from the Communism Museum. Our landlord who kindly picked us up at the station, confronted me with the notion that I was likely to get first hand experience in limited freedom the way things are going in the U.S. as I got off the night train from Switzerland. I think he was curious to know how it feels to be on the fliip side -descending toward totalitarianism, whilst they have left it behind. I remember hearing stories of neighbors spying on one another from a young Hungarian woman who visited us at the lake in the late eighties.
Praha is a beautiful and safe city filled with gorgeous architecture and blooming flowers (at the moment.) I've been a little home sick as Praha smells like Michigan spring time. Lilacs galore. Also the intermittent rain showers and sunshine, hockey, cigarette smoke, and techno music contribute to the Michigan air. Not very Californian seeming, other than the many health food shops and one smoothie bar. That doesn't stop me from missing Brutus.