October 4, 2021: We had a great time in Slovakia, but we’re back in Prague! It’s been a busy last few days with our first clinic visit, a day trip to Kutna Hora, a social activism conference, movie night, and so much more.
Tuesday was St. Wenceslas’ Day, which commemorates the patron saint of Prague (and the rest of Bohemia). Most of the stores were closed, but locals congregate in pubs to celebrate the holiday. Some of us decided to celebrate with gelato at Crème de la Crème, a program favorite, instead (I would include a picture, but I don’t want to make anyone jealous).
On Thursday morning, we had our first clinic visit of the term! Since we’ve been talking about cross-cultural perspectives on eating disorders, we visited the eating disorder clinic in Prague to talk to Dr. Hana Papežová and two patients with bulimia.
In the first part of the visit, Dr. Papežová gave a presentation on the history of eating disorder clinics in the Czech Republic, starting with the first clinic in 1982. She also talked about the difficulties associated with chronic and severe eating disorders and the need for a multidisciplinary approach. A main focus of the clinic visit and our readings in class is the rapid increase in eating disorder prevalence following the fall of communism and the influx of Western media. As such, a major issue in the Czech Republic is the limited availability of trained clinicians and open spots in treatment programs.
Near the end of the visit, we were able to talk with two girls (around our age) that are diagnosed with bulimia and currently enrolled in residential treatment at the eating disorder facility. Both of them were very open about their struggles with eating and guilt and answered our questions about precipitating factors, family history of mental disorders, and the response of their friends and family to their diagnosis.
On Thursday night, all of us had a night out at a cocktail bar called the BeBop Bar, in Prague. The bar is known for its novelty cocktails with themed names and fun props. It was definitely a unique bar experience, and we had a great time bonding as a group!
On Friday morning, we took a bus to Kutna Hora, a medieval town with a history of silver mining. Our first stop was Sedlec Ossuary, a chapel decorated with the bones of plague and famine victims that were exhumed when the cemetery ran out of room. In the 16th century, some of the bones were arranged in pyramids by a partially blind Sedlec monk. In the beginning of the 18th century, a Baroque architect added garlands of skulls, intricately arranged bones, and carved bone crowns to place on the pyramids. Later, a Schwarzenberg coat of arms was created out of bones, as well as a chandelier containing every single type of bone in the human body. Overall, the ossuary illustrates the Baroque fascination with death as well as “very creepy vibes” (academically speaking).
We also visited two different cathedrals: The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption and St. John the Baptist and The Cathedral of St. Barbara. The first cathedral was early Gothic, with high ceilings and a spiral staircase.
The second cathedral was dedicated to St. Barbara, the patron saint of miners, and designed in the late Gothic style with flying buttresses. It was remodeled in the Baroque period but retained most of its Gothic features.
After a break for lunch, we toured the Museum of Silver and had the opportunity to descend into the mine. We were given protective coats and headlamps and then went down over 300 steps to reach one of the old mining passageways. The tunnel was dark, damp, and proved to be a tight squeeze in some places, with the smallest sections about four feet high and 16 inches wide. We passed by an underwater mining shaft and slides that were used to transport food and water to miners working below the surface. At one point, we turned off our headlights to experience complete darkness!
After a little more time to explore Kutna Hora, we boarded the bus and headed back to Prague.
On Saturday, a few of us decided to check out the popular farmer’s market near Charles Bridge. The weather was very warm and we saw a lot of people eating food and relaxing by the edge of the river. We had a great time exploring the stalls of fruits, vegetables, pastries, and flowers!
Saturday night was our first movie night at Ken’s apartment! Despite being (falsely) advertised by Ken as a comedy about soccer, the movie was a drama about racial discrimination in the Czech Republic, through the lens of the Sparta Ultra fans. We had a hard time keeping up with the entertaining and depressing plot, but we learned a lot. It also helped that Ken provided some great snacks for us!
On Monday, we went on a field trip with our history class to visit places of memory that are relevant to our discussions about Prague during Nazi occupation and communist rule. We visited the street named after Jan Opletal, a medical student who was shot by Nazis in a peaceful celebration of St. Wenceslas Day. We also visited the commemorative shrine for Jan Palach, a student who self-immolated in front of the National Museum in Wenceslas Square as a form of protest against communist censorship. We ended the tour by visiting the location of the Velvet Revolution, a nonviolent student protest that violently broken up by Soviet police, and which marks the end of communism in the Czech Republic. After the tour, we went as a group to the Municipal Library to sit in on a forum on the evolution of civil activism in America (moderated by Tomáš, our history professor). The panel speakers included Americans who had lived in the Czech Republic for many years, as well as a college student currently studying in Prague. It was fascinating to get an outsider’s view of American politics and social justice, and we heard a wide range of opinions from the audience.
Stay tuned for our upcoming clinic visits this week and our trip to Český Krumlov this weekend! Thanks for all the photo contributions, as always.