You have to end to begin.

Today was an interesting one. Not a particularly good one on the football/soccer front: the Germany game was rough at best, the US got robbed- but didn't play well in the first half either, and then England simply didn't hold their own playing against Algeria. In spite of it all, though, I still enjoy watching the games here. The atmosphere in just incredible, and I look forward to three more weeks of screaming at a screen in multiple languages while enduring bone-crushing agony, heartbreak, and other forms of emotional turmoil in the hopes that my team emerges victorious. Anyway, enough about the World Cup (for now). Back to my day. After a slow morning, I went to lunch with my wonderful roommates at the Italian place down the road. We've gotten to know one of the waiters there well, and despite the fact that he doesn't speak much English, it's always nice to have a familiar face! Afterwards, we headed to our photography final- we wanted to get there early so that we we could wrap it up and go to the game! And what a game it was.... it was agonizing! And to have our win torn away like that- oooh, that hurt. Afterwards, I ran by Tesco. I wanted some travel-sized soap and shampoo to take on my next adventure, and I wanted some granola bars too. I also grabbed a pastry for breakfast tomorrow morning! I also found a giant bottle of lemonade. I was thirsty, and two liters of lemonade was four crowns- as opposed to nine crowns for a third of a liter. So lemonade it is! And it was delicious. Once I came back, we hung out around our apartment until we met up with the new crew who came in today. The kids going on the field study showed up- five more will be coming next week, I believe. We were very excited about meeting them, and upon bursting out of our front gate and seeing a herd of kids our age gathered, I eagerly asked (in that characteristically enthusiastic fashion of mine) "Are you our new friends?!" which provoked great laughter. Icebreaker? Check. They seem like a lot of fun- I'm very excited about getting to know everybody! We ate dinner with the at the bar downstairs. More Czech food- some kind of meat, venison maybe, and fried potatoes... I think. I'm not sure. It was delicious, regardless. Cleaned my plate. I suppose I'm not a particularly picky eater, which is sort of surprising to me. I mean, I won't eat things with eyes still attached, and I prefer to avoid heads and limbs that still appear operational (with the exception of crab, obviously. But really, I enjoy nearly everything. I've gone almost six weeks now without a bad meal! Either food is better here, or maybe the food at Carolina Dining just isn't that spectacular. Hmm... maybe it's both. Anyway, we had a wonderful time meeting and greeting. We did have to say some goodbyes though, and that was very sad. We've made such wonderful friends here! Tomorrow morning, we leave for Cesky Krumlov. Then, we're off to Vienna, Budapest, and Bratislava. I can't wait to see all these new cities!

Photos for the day: my final photography portfolio. A focus on sunshine and natural lighting. You've probably seen all- or at least most- of them before, but here they are, compiled.