"I think you will enjoy many fun times here."

Our travel was definitely better going from Krakow to Prague than going from Bologna to Krakow. The only scary time was connecting to our second train in Katowice, Poland because it wasn't coming and wasn't showing up on arrivals board and we kind of thought we were going to be stuck in the middle-of-nowhere Poland. It was just a little late, and we made our connecting train in Ostrava to Prague without a problem.

Even though the train ride from Ostrava took three and a half hours (which for some reason was a really long time me to sit still, play sudoku, and begin to do homework), the Tatra mountains at twilight were beautiful. As we zoomed past picturesque little villages, I had the soundtrack from the Sound of Music in my head--the cheesy, musical, supposed-to-be-Austrian-but-really-Hollywood Sound of Music. I know. You don't have to say anything. I am sad and pathetic. But it is one of my favorite things!

We made it into Prague around 8:30 Friday night. Even from the trian, Prague is huge! Bologna and Krakow were both big cities, but they're not quite the sprawling metropolis that is Prague! We all were kind of plastered to the train windows looking at Prague's skyline at night. Strangely enough, when the train was entering Prague, and as we were disembarking from the train, I had this feeling of--I don't know how else to describe it--happiness. Of being almost contented. Even if I can't accurately describe it, I felt like I had in Bologna, happy to be where I was and happy to simply live in the moment. Maybe it was because I have been looking forward to seeing Prague, to be having a homestay, or whether it was just that the weather was nice Friday evening, but I got off the train with a genuine smile inside and out.

At the train our host families swept us up in a flurry of luggage and introductions in Czech. Iveta and the four of us in the big homestay were met by Betty, her partner Honsi, and Betty's sister. Picture this situation: eight people, five people's insane amount of luggage, and two compact cars. My luggage went in first. Honsi tried heave my luggage into the trunk, but I wouldn't let him do it. I have not been dragging my 32 kilo suitcase halfway around the world for nothing, and so instead of letting this tall muscular man lift the suitcase into the trunk, little me who doesn't weigh that much more than my luggage hoisted it into the trunk without a problem. Honsi was completely dumbfounded, and everyone totally cracked up laughing. I don't think I explained it very well but it was hilarious! Mahina said that she wasn't going to be that much of a feminist! The four us and Honsi piled into the taxi that only says its a taxi but is not a real taxi. Honsi speaks more English than Betty and was our translator for the evening, and wasted no time in breaking the awkward silence by asking the question; that if this women's studies major had a ten cents for each time someone had asked her the question she could pay off her student loans and work on paying for law school,

"So, you are all studying gender studies. What is this, gender studies?"

So of course with four women's studies majors in the car you can imagine what happened next...no one said anything, just a bunch of awkward giggles. It had been the first time on the trip anyone had been asked about her major, and it can be kind of difficult to explain women's studies to someone to someone who is not very familiar with feminism, particularly a man, that we'd just met, in the Czech Republic. Eventually one of us said something about women's studies and feminism and a women's perspective (obviously she wasn't me). Then Honsi, obviously intrigued, pressured us even further. This second question definitely pays for at least the first year of law school,

"So what can you do with this gender studies?"

Here I feel I should say that Honsi was not trying to be cynical or mean or anything, he was just genuinely curious and obviously had never had a car-full of American women's studies students before. Again, all the four of us managed to do was look at each other and giggle awkwardly some more. I didn't say anything because I figured my usual canned response of "anything I damn well want to" wouldn't exactly work in the situation. Instead I think I offered something like law. One of my more acceptable responses. But then,

"But how can you have this gender studies at your schools? Don't you have men at your schools?"

Oh yeah, this question fell right into my lap. I'm the only person from a women's college on the program. This one was all mine. And in a random situation like this I couldn't go into a spiel about the importance of being educated as a woman at a college entirely for women! So I think I said something along the lines of that my college was specifically founded to be a women's-only college, and that it wasn't going to change in the near future. The dichotomies of "man-hating" feminism and the preservation of age old tradition nearly choked me as I stumbled to find the right words. But it worked for Honsi.

As we were driving to the apartment, Honsi laughed with us and said "I think you will enjoy many fun times here." I think that was an understatement. The fun had already started in the car, and didn't stop when we reached the apartment. About the apartment. When we walked in, there were a ton of people! When we got there, we must have had at least 15 people in the apartment, including some random visitors from Canada that were apparently long lost relatives of Helena's (Betty's mother). It was loud and boisterous and totally chaotic! Introductions happened, but I can't really say who was who. All that I remember from the introductions was the crazy old Canadian man that came out of Helena's apartment waving his cane at us. And the dogs didn't particularly take to us either. In the middle of the madness Iveta was going around doing introductions. I do remember that we met Betty's older daughter Vicky and Vicky's boyfriend (Iveta: "And this is Vicky's new boyfriend; she must have gotten a new one." Right in front of the boyfriend; we hoped he didn't speak English.) Iveta has such a way with words. Back to the apartment. I feel like the only way to attempt to capture the eclectic character of the apartment is to say, well...I feel like I am living in a surrealist painting! Absolutely nothing goes together, with random paintings and magazines and pieces of furniture that really aren't supposed to make any sense to unenlightened outsider. Except for the references to cannabis throughout the apartment, including the hookah in the bedroom I share with Leah, which is the designated non-smoking room. The apartment is gigantic and is like a maze, with one room leading off of another. The four of us share the daughters' rooms at the front of the apartment, which are basically the size of a small apartment in itself. Leah and I have the small bedroom, but it is big enough that we each literally can take a side of the room. The apartment is so awesome! I have already begun thinking about how I would decorate it, and I totally want an apartment like this! In the whirlwind of introductions, Mahina whispered to us "I think these people are hippies!" I think that too is a little bit of an understatement, but I think I will be enjoying "many fun times here."