Skull and Crossbones

I really don't make my stories up. They really happen to me...

Friday night was spent going to bed at a super early time. This having been said I awoke Saturday fresh and ready to take on the day. My laptop is acting up. It is not connecting correctly with my powercord. If its not one thing its another right? So during my last lesson of the day I had one of my computer savy students help me out. He looked up different shops for me to go that would be able to help me with my computer. So, Saturday I drug my laptop around the city for bit. I walked to the shop and found that it was closed. Only open Monday-Friday till 4! Ah! Tomorrow I finish lessons at 1:40 so I am going to duck out and go see about my computer. Hopefully it is a cheap and easy fix. But, this is me we are talking about so I should just order a new computer now and save the time and hassle....

The rest of Saturday was spent watching my friend play rugby. Rugby is a crazy game and a lot of fun to watch. Of course though I got lost on the way there. Got distracted on the tram and missed my stop where I had to change trams... So I ended up in a part of Prague I had never been before. Then the two girls I was meeting there got lost due to my bad directions... Whoops no high five for me. We showed up at the 2nd half and they won! After the rugby one of my friends who happens to be Scottish and has the best accent ever texted me to go watch some football at this horrible sports bar. I venture there and catch the last ten minutes. Afterwards both Scotland and I head back to my place to get our game faces on for a Saturday night. Scotland falls asleep on the couch, Lindsey is running around, and I go out round the corner to meet 2 of my other teachers for a drink. I sit with them for a while and realized I hadn't heard from rugby guy who said he would meet up with us. I call him. He is piss drunk and doesn't know where he is. Great... Hes rambling off tram numbers that I think he made up. I tell him to call a cab and then call me right back. He doesn't call back. I continue to text/call him for the next hr. Start to get a little worried. Remembering I have the keys to his flat, me and my other two teachers decide to adventure to see if he made it home. Buzz the door, nothing. Open door and call his name, nothing. Using my phone as a light I go into his room. He is passed out and dead to the world. I pour him a glass of water and head out.

I call roommate and Scotland to find out where they are. At a pub called Al Capones. Sweet. This place has to be cool. It was and cheap. It was also right next to the old commie secret police. After hanging there for a bit we decide to go to Red Room where some of our friends are. We venture that way and claim some couches along the wall. As the night went on we realized that Red Room is 'Cheers' to a large group of people in Prague. The night wore on and the place got more and more crowded but everyone seemed to know each other. It was kinda cool. Finally around 3am we decided to call it a night. Four of us pile into a cab to share home. I get home first living the closest. I go upstairs and figure that its bout time for me to hit the sheets. Not so much... Our door buzzes. Roomie has lost her keys and is very angry at a certain Welsch guy. She comes storming into the flat etc etc. I listen to the story then she starts talking to one of her friends from home on webcam. Bed time for rachel? Nope. I get a text about 3:30 from rugby player who had passed out 5hrs ago. He has woken up and texted me to let me know that he was home. I call him and tell him to look at that glass of water next to his bed. Then the story spills out of my adventure chasing him blindly through Prague. Finally at 4am Rachel goes to bed with her alarm set for 8am.

I teach Sunday school every week. Why? I remember how much I didn't like my Sunday school teachers and want to give the kids a different experience. Plus I love it. I go to CCD (sunday school for you non-catholics) and have a good time with the kids. I skive out on mass to go on my next adventure, Kunta Hora.

This is a small village an hour outside of Prague that had its heyday in the 1300's when silver was discovered in the area. My friend and I hop on a train and are on our way. We get the village and go right in the wrong direction. Whoops. Back on track we have one goal in mind, bones. Yup, bones. About 40,000 humans and their bones. Where do I begin? Most of the victims were from the plague and from when the Turks came in and murdered a bunch of people. Their bodies were buried. Tell me Rachel, how did their bones surface from above ground? Welllllll....they had to make room around the grounds. So they dug up 40,000 peopleish. Some never got buried from the Turks.. About 400 years ago some creative Monks were given the power to decorate the church. Apparently they didn't want to hire a person to paint or someone to sculpt. They literally decorated an entire church with skulls, leg bones, fingers, everything. It was the most bizzare thing I have ever seen. I am not sure what else I could see in my life that would top it. Well, knowing me something will...

Anyways, back to the story. You walk into the bottom of the church and are greeted by bones of human beings. There is a chandelier that includes every bone in the human body. Dates and names are wrote out in finger bones and jaw bones. In the four corners are countless numbers of bones stacked. At the top hangs a crown. God is above all but we are all one under him. Thats the symbol. It also is supposed to remind us that the church is a community of both the living and the dead. Well you could have just told me that and not put 40,000 humans in front of me.

I can't even begin to explain to you this place. It is crazy. Just google bone church + Czech Republic. It was insane.

After leaving that church we ventured into the town. Nothing much going on in little village. The catherdal was beautiful and the view was great. We walked back to the train station and waited for the next train. As we are waiting about 200 Spanish students join us on the platform. Swweeettt. Annoying kids the whole way home. Turns out they were a lot cooler than given credit for. Outside of Prague, the train stopped. I was tired (still am) and I wanted off. We waited for about an hour. I was supposed to skype the family, relax, etc. Not happening tonight. So I use up all the credit on my phone to call my family. I hang up with them and we are still standing. Through translation I figure out that its technical difficulties with the train station in Prague. OK... Cool. Some people start to get off the train and walk. I watch. The train starts to move and erupts with cheers from the 200 spanish kids. Also a lot of noise being made by hanging out the window to the people who got off to walk. Home free? Nope. Stop again. Someone has a guitar and is playing Nysnc. Sweet. Start moving. Go into a tunnel that I know is very close to the station. Stop again in the tunnel. AHHH. Finally reach the train station to see crowded with grumpy looking people. Apparently not just our train was screwed up. We jump on the metro than a tram and here I am back at my flat. Roomie kindly lets me use her computer and soon I will sleep. More adventures to be updated soon including the time I asked 2 students to do a favor for me...

Is this life we lead just the worlds accident? Not a chance. So I move on with a smile.
-OAR