Concerts, views, and football

A week ago tonight I was at the square in front of Malostranka metro station attending a benefit concert the Czechs held for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Their generosity and the futility of their effort was crushing. I had to fight not to cry.

I say futile because the Czechs are not rich. The girl who works at the tea house downstairs makes about $300 a month. For them to put together a slick, televised concert, featuring at least 15 acts and two projection screens and a transatlantic live linkup with a correspondent in New York (why New York?) and a special SMS number to call to donate money, was staggering. Not because they aren't capable of it, but because they felt it was a necessary thing to do.

When I arrived, they had already collected 500,000 crowns (about $20,000) and when I left an hour and a half later the final amount was 3.1 million crowns ($126,000). Of course the money will help, but will the Czechs receive an adequate thank you from the American public or acknowledgment from the government? I doubt it. This is what bothered me as I stood watching the stage and the crowd.

In contrast, last Sunday was a fabulous day. Nothing amazing happened, it was just a great day to be out around the city. There's a large park, close to my hotel in Vinohrady, that has a view of all of Old Town and the Castle, that I visited for the first time. In the afternoon, I spent hours in the Museum of Decorative Arts looking through the display drawers, then went on a quick tour of the Jewish Museum sites. Really, I only wanted to go to the Jewish cemetery, but the ticket is 140 crowns (student price) for 6 sites so I made sure to see them all.

I went back to the same park to watch the sunset over the city. Unfortunately, (and being in architecture school you would think this would have occurred to me) the view faces west towards the city which means the setting sun is right in your face. The park was lively, though. There was a concert in the beer garden featuring a heavy horn section. Later, a stilt troupe accompanied by an accordianist, performed a series of dance skits complete with acrobatics.

And then I took myself to dinner and a movie. :) Goal! was the only English language movie that sounded interesting and I admit that I didn't believe the girl when she told me it was American. How could a soccer movie be American? But it was okay. A 7 out of 10 in retrospect, but fun just for it being a movie. Oh! And for the first time ever I was the only person in the theatre! I was so excited. Here, though, the usher sits in a chair by the side of the screen, I guess in case anyone needs them during the film, so part way in, I was no longer alone. Ah, but what a nice few minutes before that.

Seeing this movie reminded me that I'm in the land of football. Sparta Praha is the major club here in Prague and when I checked their schedule for the next couple of weeks I saw that they're playing Arsenal on the 18th of October. This is not just any British club, but the only club I am at all familiar with, thanks to Nick Hornby's obsession as he spelled it out in Fever Pitch. The downside? Our class leaves for Vienna, Austria on Sunday (the 16th) and doesn't get back until Thursday (the 20th). Ugh. *shrug* The other big game is between the two rival Prague teams, Sparta and Slavia, called the Derby, on the 23rd, so at least I'll get to see that.

It may be quiet around here this next week. Vienna has internet cafes of course, but our schedule is crazy tight, I may not have time to post.