We Meet Again, Prague
This past week we finally completed our first trip as a
group. Yes, we had the pleasure of going to Prague. Needless to say, I had an
amazing time, learned plenty, and went on some pretty great adventures. Let’s
touch on some of the highlights.
Lennon Wall
By far, one of my favorite sights of this trip was the
Lennon wall, also known as the John Lennon Wall. In the 1980s the wall was
filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles
songs. However, in 1988 the wall became a form of venting to many young Czechs
who would write their grievances on it during the communist regime of Gustáv Husák.
This led to a clash between hundreds of students and security police on the
Charles Bridge. Even when authorities would repaint over the wall to get rid of
all these messages and these students’ feelings, in just a matter of days the
wall would once again be covered in poems, messages and graffiti. This movement
the students followed was known as “Lennonism” and today the wall represents a
symbol of youth ideals such as love and peace.
The Love Lock Wall
Another sight that caught my eye was a wall full of locks.
While this is a tradition in many places, not just Prague, I had surprisingly
never heard of it. In a nutshell, the wall symbolizes everlasting love. When a
couple gets married, they carve both of their names and the date of their
marriage on the lock. Then, with their left hands, they put the lock on the
railing of a bridge and with their right hands they throw the keys in the water
below. It signifies their love will last forever. It works the same for a couple
that’s just in love, but isn't married. They simply carve their names and the
date their relationship began. It’s really a neat tradition and you can find many
of these lock walls in other places such as Paris, Lithuania, and China just to
name a few aside from the Czech Republic.
Changing of the Guards
Something I found really cool was the “Changing of the
Guards” ceremony at the Prague Castle. Every day, the guards switch off at noon
and there is a cool ceremony that everybody watches.
In Mexican schools, we have what we call an Escolta, which
is a group of about seven girls who represent the school as a whole and carry
the Mexican flag as a patriotic symbolism. These seven girls are picked
according to their height (the tallest girls are the chosen ones) and they must
all be in the fifth grade (which in Mexico is the highest grade before going to
Middle School).
At the end of the year, there is a ceremony where the
graduating fifth graders pass the flag down to the future fifth graders. The
ceremony is very similar to the ceremony that goes on at the Prague Castle with
the guards. Of course, it’s not as legit, but there is still marching,
saluting, and strict posture involved.
When I was a fourth grader in Mexico, I was chosen as one of
the members of the Escolta, because of my height. Also because of my height, I
was the one privileged to accept the flag at the time of the ceremony; hence,
why the Prague Castle ceremony brought back so many memories.
The Jewish Museum/Cemetery
Perhaps the saddest sight of them all was both the Jewish
museum and the cemetery. The museum
showcased many drawings that young Jewish kids drew while in school in their
concentration camps. These drawings illustrated hope, love, and the desire for
a better tomorrow. It was touching to see the typical family picture drawings
because I knew the ending of all of these families was a terrible and tragic
one.
Not to mention, the walls filled with the names of the
millions of Jews that were executed was also very moving.
The cemetery wasn't any better. There were so many Jewish
tombs it made my stomach turn.
One thing I did find very interesting though, was this
tradition I found out about by observing some of the tombs. I quickly noticed
several tombs had stones, coins, or little notes on them. I asked Yan (one of
our Czech professors/advisers) about it, and he explained that many people who
come visit the tombs of their lost ones bring with them a stone from their
native country and place it on the tomb as a sort of symbolism that they have
not been forgotten. Yan also expressed that he had no idea what the coins
meant, but I figured it’s probably something along the same lines as the
stones. It was really interesting because one of the tombs actually Mexican
coins on it. What was more surprising to me though, was the fact that these
stones, coins and notes remain intact on the tombs.
No comments:
Post a Comment