Starving in Prague

The one thing I have felt almost constantly since being here is hunger. And I'm not alone, my roommates are experiencing the same issue. Our lack of a decent kitchen combined with a desire to not spend all of our money at restaurants has created conditions of extreme hunger pangs. Also, everything that is portable and does not require cooking is bread-based so it is gone and you are hungry again in about an hour after consumption. Desperate for some form of protein, I ventured out and got some red lentils tonight, which when boiled with any number of spices, were actually quite nice. My first lentil soup, very fancy. I think I'll wait for this weekend when Erin comes to visit to try the real Czech food I've been anticipating (beef and whipped cream, MMMMMmmmm). Today was the first day of class. It's intense, we're there from basically 9:30 until 5 or 5:30 M-T, then on W-TH-F we go in a little later, and stay until around 7 in the evening, because that is when we 'practice teach' Czech people who volunteer to be our guinea pigs in exchange for the off-chance that they might actually pick up some English. There are 8 people in my class, 2 men- Lawrence (English), and Patrick (also English), 6 women- the two I live with, Lucie (Czech), Dianne (Slovak), Patricia (English), and me. Everyone seems very nice so far. We had our first lesson of introductory Czech today, which let me tell you, is HARD. J is pronounced like K, and that's the least of my worries. We only have it until Wednesday, just a taste, but enough so that all the shopkeepers in Prague don't blacklist me for not saying hello properly when I walk in the door. We took the tram to and from school today, I felt like such a local. The other two who I live with seem to defer to me when it comes to directions and getting around town, which to me is just hysterical. I don't have any sense of direction, I just read 2 streets ahead on the map, then have to stop and look again. I'm getting lots of use out of my trapper hat that my brother gave me, I fit right in with all the locals, although my roommates told me I looked more Russian. As long as I'm warm. I'm going to bed now, I am exhausted. The church outside our window, while beautiful, tolls its bells at 7 am sharp during the week, at least it did today, so my only defense is going to bed early. Was going to upload a picture of me on the tram, but the internet is slower here in the evenings and uploading seems to be beyond its capabilities right now. Miss everyone.