My RA's

Some of the most interesting people I have met in the Czech Republic have been my RA’s. Martin, 21, is from the Czech Republic about an hour outside of Prague. Once, he was telling a group of people who live in Slezka (my dorm) that on Easter, it is a tradition in most towns outside of Prague to beat women with a small stick so that they become more fertile. We were laughing in disbelief. Martin continued, telling us that the women subjected to this Easter beating (they don’t actually hurt the women-or at least I don’t think they do) are allowed to douse the men who taunt them in water. But only before 12 p.m. After that, “it’s best to just stay in doors,” Martin says. For my roommate’s birthday, Martin made Alex homemade schnapps. According to Martin, this is common of Czechs even nowadays because alcohol was limited during the communist regime. At 5’10”, and that’s pushing it, Martin is rather scrawny compared to most Czech males. I can’t see him being a bouncer and frisking people at Karlovy Lazne, a popular nightclub. Recently, he just passed his medical exam to become a doctor after failing it the first time. Most people refer to Martin as a “space cadet” which makes complete sense because even when people ask him questions, only half the time does he respond the first time. Lenka, another RA, and I made marina sauce last week but failed to understand that a little bit of tomato pesto goes a long way. After using a whole can, Lenka and I attempted to make the sauce a little less tomato-ee, but I assumed it failed. When I came back to the kitchen an hour later, she had eaten the entire pot. Lenka prefers speaking and writing English to Czech. This in itself is an unusual case for a Czech person because as my writing teacher informed my class, “Czech’s hate speaking English.” Lenka is tall, about 5’9”, wears sweats everywhere, even when she comes out with me, and dances with here arms flailing, hitting people around her. She has short black hair, fair skin and smiles even when nothing is funny.  (Read more about easter in the czech republic)