So, on that note, here is my week in a huge nutshell:) Our classes are held in the Tutor Building in Prague, where study abroad students have the option to rent out a room for lecturing. It is a tight space, but our teachers are fantastic and dedicated to the program and it has plenty of room to sit, listen, and learn. The first day of classes was a bit embarrassing, though....A group of about 15 of us (out of 25) met to go to class together on the metro (subway). Once we were all on the subway, somebody asked if anyone knew where the classroom was once we got off at a certain spot......we didn't. Therefore, we spent 35 minutes walking up and down the streets as a huge group as Victoria pulled out her map and attempted to find the Tutor building. Finally, we asked somebody where it is and they gave us a general idea of where to go, so we back-tracked our steps and finally found the school only 15 minutes after 10, when we were supposed to be there. That first day was more of a meet and greet with the professors, followed by a tour to Olde Town Square (famous for the clock tower that we climbed up), and ending with an amazing pre-determined lunch at a restaurant as a group. Of course at this restaurant we were allowed to have two drinks, which most of us took advantage of. It is definitely strange to be drinking beer/wine with your teachers, that's for sure! 
The next couple of days involved going to class from 10-3 with a lunch break in the middle that I utilized to explore the city, attempt to get lost (which is hard to do because I am starting to understand Prague more and more), and stopping at a 'cool' restaurant to eat and have a Pilsner. These two class days were followed by a lengthy nap as I continued to fight off jet lag. Finally, by Wednesday evening, I was ready to let loose and have fun with my roommates and some of the guys, in order to get ready to go out for Mexican food for Katherine's birthday. Unfortunately, it is really difficult to seat 20 people together at restaurants in Prague, so we had to split up for dinner. Those of us who had cracked out the Captain and Coke at 5 pm were equally satisfied to just be in the same restaurant :) Then came my decision to buy some cheap speakers so we could have a dance party on the balcony, which went quite well actually. Kelsey and I went to Tesco (it's like a walmart) and bought some for only 150 Karunas (about $6 US dollars). The dance party was a successful way to kick off and prepare for our weekend in Vienna!
Thursday morning at about 8AM, we left for Vienna by train. The trains are amazing and just like you see in the movies: compartments for 6, a restaurant cart, bathrooms that flush into the tracks etc. For 5 hours we rode the train, and as soon as we got to Vienna we hopped on a subway and dropped off our things at a hostel and within an hour we were all out for our first tour day in Vienna. I have to say, VIenna is GORGEOUS. The architecture is stunning, the streets are wide and paved, and the people speak good English. Our hostel was located across the street to a market similar to Pike Place Market, where scarves, pastries, vegetables, fruits, and Gyros were prominent.
Our first outing in Vienna was to attend a conference/meeting at the USOSCE stationed in Vienna. This program has 56 members that specializes in promoting security, non corrupt elections, and human rights among other things. We had the opportunity to sit in a real conference/presentation room for an hour and a half to hear two government officials explain their roles in the government, as well as promote the ideals of the OSCE. It was amazing to see this all in action! Throughout their presentation, we were allowed to ask questions which, of course, I took advantage of. They were very informative and nice and for a program I didn't even know existed between the US, Canada, and 50 some-odd European countries, I definitely learned a LOT! After this academic rendezvous, we ventured to dinner to eat at Cafe Central to have a group dinner. This Cafe has a lot of historical ties to World War 1 and 2 both politically (Hitler, Stalin, and Lenin used to dine here regularly when visiting Vienna) and architecturally (the interior of the cafe has not been changed or altered to fit contemporary standards, which is why it was chosen as our destination for our Vienna group dinner. 
Back at the hostel, people started making plans to go out--but seeing as I hardly slept the night before, I wasn't sure that was such a good idea, so my roommate Arial and I decided to find a pub that served fried food. Deciding on an Irish pub around the corner, we collected two more girls and headed over to enjoy Black and Tans, good conversation, and lots of fried food. By that point, my adrenaline had picked back up and I wanted to try to hang out with people at the bar again. We ventured into the bar and realized we weren't the only ones with the idea to have a good time! The hostel bar was JUMPING with people (it was a Friday night, after all), and made the atmosphere seem more fun and social now that we were mingling with people from other programs and travelers from other countries all over the world! Night two was similar very similar to night 1, in that we ended up calling our buddies from the night before, who were going out to celebrate a bachelor party and invited us to join. Again 6-8 of us went while other people stayed at the hostel bar. This club was much larger than the first, though still somewhat sketchy, containing 3 stories with different music--one of which was a techno/big band/swing dancing floor! It was amazing to laugh along and attempt to dance to this as a group and we all had such a blast, dancing all the way until 5 AM! Vienna sure knows how to have a good time at night, and has a lot to offer during the day!
After such a long couple of days, and such a long night, I was ready to go for day 3, our last day in Vienna. My enthusiasm this day was less than the previous day, but 6 year old Sebastian, our teachers' son, brought out my inner child/babysitting role and we held hands and followed the group all over Vienna! It made me miss the girls I babysit back home so much!!! With Sebastian in tow, we started out touring the home of a Viennese artist from the 80's who believed in nature, non-straight lines, and promoting a healthy environment. His artwork was abstract, bright, colorful, and a bit crazy, but what he is really known for is his architecture, though he does not view himself as an architect. For example, the floors of the first floor matches the earth it was originally on, and therefore has some bumps in it as high as 3 feet! The walls, too, were based on curviness and were also not straight, and never met the floor at a straight 90 degree angle. Very eccentric!
The best part was going to an amusement park (more like a carnival because you have to pay for each ride) and riding a super old ferris wheel that has, instead of seats, something like miniature portables that hold 20 people! It went up so high and was really slow moving, so we were able to scope out all of the rides we would go on! Again, Sebastion (Seby/Sevvy for short) was by my side the whole time, even announcing to everybody, after asking me to go on the ferris wheel with him, saying that he is going with me :) Adorable!! I want one! But clearly not any time soon . . . :)
The train ride back was full of conversation and excitement, too. Our group took up 5 compartments that were all next to each other on the train, so we were all within a small distance of each other. At 10 PM approximately, we hear this AWFUL, loud, ear piercing scream/howl from down the hall, followed by a series of doors slamming and people talking/yelling. All 5 of our compartments slammed their doors shut, wondering what in the world was going on. We thought somebody was getting murdered, raped, or that Sebastian (who has diabetes), had something happen to him. After the talking subsided, we all peeked our heads out one by one from our compartments in efforts to find out what that horrific hollywood-worthy scream was all about. Vera, our program leader/teacher came out laughing hysterically. Her scream was surely warranted, but apparently she woke up to a man in their compartment trying to steal their bags! So being caught off guard, she woke up and let out a howl/scream. The guy (a Roma) she caught grabbing her and her husband's bags proceeded to tell her he just wanted to join them because they were so cute... ya right! We all got several laughs out of the scream, and were glad everybody was safe!!
That was a hysterical way to end our trip, and I was happier than ever to get back "home" to Prague, which has surely already started to feel like home. Hope you enjoyed my accounts the days and nights of Vienna :) Oh, and it is currently snowing in Prague on this lovely, lazy Easter Sunday :)
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