The other side of Prague

More work on Sunday - but we got out at 12:00 and it was time to explore the interesting Jewish life in Prague. The museum was very unique, a collection of buildings that was formerly the Jewish Ghetto of Prague. Before 1850, the Jews of Prague faced oppression and were forced to live in the area that was no more than 10 blocks, tiny in a city with small streets and alleyways. Because of this, the size of the population dimished and by 1850, there were about 100,000 living in the city. At that time, the restrictions were lifted and the community began to flourish. Buildings were demolished and new fancy apartments were built. New synagogues were build on the site of old ones. The Ghetto transformed into a beautiful area of Prague and still is to this day. Unfortuantely, the Nazis invaded Czechslovakia and the majority of the population was put to death during the war. Today, there are only about 6,000 Jews still living in the city.


We walked into the cemetery and a few synagogues. It was striking, because the synagogues were lines with gold and beautiful walls of artwork. It was the first time I saw a jewish religious house that looked like a cathedral. We made a few other stops, including the Jewish cemetery that contained headstones from the 16th century, and a few museums. A return to the restaurant we ate at the first night to try a Czech pot roast, a local delicacy.

I liked Prague a lot. It was a beautiful city full of old buildings and lights, but I have to say that the people were not nice... and because I live in the city with the nicest people in the world, I’m spoiled and expect that. They did not want to help you if you asked on the street, small talk was not accepted, and the waiters were just not willing to communicate and would get angry. I don’t know if it had something to do with communism, but I was so disappointed that they were so blase about communicating with us...and most of them spoke English.

On being Czech

Saturday was a work day -- so not much going on, except for an interesting conversation I had with someone who was very fluent in Czech history. The story is that my great grandfather came to New York on a ship from what was then Czechslovakia. On this trip, he met my great grandmother. He was from the countryside and she was from Prague. They did not understand each other well as they both spoke a different dialect of Czech. A few years ago, my dad and I spoke with someone from the region - he had told us that he was not from Czech regions, but from Ruthinia, an area bordering the Ukraine in the east that was part of Slovakia and the Ukraine at different times. Well, speaking to this teacher, he backed up those assumptions. Because of our language (mixed with Yiddish), the type of religion the family practiced, and our family’s last name, he said that it was most likely we were Ruthinian, who live in what is now western Ukraine, an area that is very dangerous because it is an entry point to the EU - a place with tons of smuggling and is one of the poorest regions in Europe. I don’t have enough information to distinguish my grandmother and grandfather - but it was a start and a good feeling that I knew more about where my family was from.

If Walls Could Talk in Prague...

It was a unique medieval city with a progressive introduction-to-the-west like attitude that was gleaming from its walls. It was a city populated with people and a culture I knew little about, except for its star hockey players and the what little I learned from my dad and grandmother. The city was quaint and eclectic. The cobblestone corridors of the old town were narrow and the walls were gray and cold. Yet there was something about the city that was bursting out of the cavernous halls. I know that communism was ended 20 years ago, but there was something about this clash of totalitarianism, monarchy, and democracy that made it interesting.


I left on the 8:00 PM flight from Mexico City on Air France, my first time on the airline and my first time on a 777. I was very excited and was surprised to see personal video players with on demand video. HOWEVER, I was pissed that before we took off, the flight attendants sprayed insecticide on everyone! As a newly minted Mexican resident, I was quite offended, but to be honest, it made sense that I was flying Air FRANCE. The flight was relatively uneventful, with a 30 minute walk gate-to-gate through De Gaulle airport to transfer to my Czech Airlines flight. Along the way, I spotted my personal hell - a tiny room with an occupancy of about 10 filled with about 20 smokers puffing away before their next flights. My flight from Paris to Prague was quick - I had a warm Czech beer on the way and touched down at 5:00 PM.

That night, I met a few colleagues for dinner. My meal was delicious - meat dumplings. We also had a ham appetizer which was funny because it came with two slabs of butter that I could have SWARED looked like cheese.. Three people at the table took a bite out of it and had to spit it out finding out what it really was. One of the people at the dinner was a curriculum director working in a NYC school and living on the Upper West Side. We got to talking and decided to take a stroll the following day.

Breakfast was PORK, PORK, and more PORK.. Sausages, bacon, you name it, they have it. Now being fond of the meat, I was pretty happy, but it wasn’t the most kosher of breakfasts. We left on the Metro (which was relatively clean) and headed out to the main square. With no destination in mind, we just walked around the city, looking at the architecture, and admiring the feeling of quaintness... Everything was in walking distance. There were a ton of tourists, which surprised me, but I paid no attention. We must have went into 6 beautiful Catholic churches with ornate statues and paintings. A few more hours of walking around town, it was time to stop at the Easter market for something to eat. We ordered the Czech Kielbasa and Prague ham... the Kielbasa was absolutely amazing.. but I think so far, I ate about 1/4 of a pig.


Friday evening was the highlight of the visit. We were invited to the Lobokowitz Palace for dinner with the “price” of the Czech Republic. To make a really long story short, the family was royalty for many years, but were kicked out when the Nazis took power and had all their possessions confiscated during communism. After the Velvet Revolution, William Lobokowitz came back to the country to collect the possessions his family lost, including the palace located in the Prague Castle Complex, tons of artwork, and other collections, including Beethoven’s original copy of one of his most famous works. It was a great evening.

Reflections on my first month in Mexico City...

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Reflections on my first month
I've been thinking a lot lately about all the differences between Mexico and There have been a lot of adjustments to the life and culture here; 'ahorita' could mean five minutes or next month, the biggest meal of the day is lunch - it starts at 2 and usually ends by 3:30-4:00 (15 minute lunches in NYC are MAX!), people don't go out to the bars until midnight and usually stay until 6 or 7 AM, bottle service at a table is like $70 as opposed to at least $300 in NYC. The traffic makes Los Angeles look uncongested - drivers DONT yield to pedestrians. The weather is absolutely amazing. NO is NOT in the Mexican vocabulary (and beating around the bush is common - major difference coming from a NYer). Family is VERY important - I've never been around such a warm and inviting community - I feel like a 'chilango' already (the name for people who live in Mexico City).

I've also finally moved into an AMAZING apartment in La Condesa, a very artsy & trendy neighborhood in Mexico City, just 20 minutes walk from my office. I have two terraces, a roof garden, and am minutes from at least 100 restaurants and bars. As expected, this apartment is WAY less than a comparable one in the Big Apple. The area reminds me of everything great in New York all consolidated in a ten block radius. There's the club, the local pool hall, the sports bar, restaurants from every ethnicity you can imagine, and of course the most incredible tacos (El Califa) you can ever eat.