Wednesday was a half day at our office, not because it was the U.S. Independence Day, but because one of our 
colleagues was celebrating his birthday. Of course, it was really only a half day for our department. We traveled to his residence as a group to attend a BBQ which lasted well into the night. There I met some people from the library I hadn’t gotten the chance to meet yet, including the director of NTK. The director was a lovely man and we had a great talk about jazz music, which led me to learning about a jazz festival going on in Prague early next week (hopefully I’ll get to attend and be able to report back). It was quite a nice way to spend this American holiday (our birthday boy brings out his U.S. flag for his birthday each year), as it was a group of great people, good food, and no fireworks.
Thursday and Friday were Czech holidays, so I got to spend the days exploring. As I’ve been quite tired on the 
weekends recently (and trying to spend at least one day decompressing each week), I took this opportunity to explore some areas that I just haven’t had the chance to get to. After a short conversation about cemeteries with a colleague, she suggested going to the two in Praha 3 (a large cemetery in the city and the New Jewish Cemetery).
Thursday I walked the larger cemetery, spending most of my day there, taking in the beauty, while Friday I did the same at New Jewish Cemetery. They were lovely days of reflection and pictures capturing the beauty.
Of course, with the quarterfinals on Friday, I also found myself watching soccer. I even caught a couple Wimbledon matches, and found a few new coffee shops. The Croatia-Russia match on Saturday evening was definitely the most exciting I’ve attended so far. I went to the dorm bar to watch, as it has been a quiet place to watch the matches in the evening, to just end up sitting at the bar trying to see while the bartender and I
got some good entertainment from the other fans. I have never seen more than 10 people in this space before, and this match filled the room (probably close to 75 people). It was quite amazing.
My Saturday morning was spent exploring a part of Dejvicka I hadn’t made it to yet. 
There are a couple places that have piqued my interest while I walk home, so I decided to go exploring. It really just led to a nice, long walk, but it’s nice to know more of what it around. I know my explorations next week will be much more organized, as my family will be in town and I’ll be showing them around.
I spent my Sunday at the dorms. I had planned on doing laundry, but had no access to the keys to the drying room (maybe Monday), so I just took the time to relax for the week ahead instead, as I have been doing on many Sundays.
Raven K 