Lenin and Lennon in Prague

When I packed for this trip, I brought 3 memory cards with me...just in case. And I'm so glad I did. Because the thing about Prague is, I can't stop taking pictures. Every building is its own piece of art. Which seems surprising, since the commies hated individual expression, color, and fun. But, I've already gone through one entire memory card and have made a significant dent in the second one. All I have to say is, Vienna better not be equally beautiful, or I'm gonna be effed.

I'm also worried about getting back into America or ever trying to get a job with the US government. Because for the second time in a week, I've visited a communist museum. I'm just thankful that Joseph McCarthy and his "ism" are dead. Because otherwise, I'm pretty sure I'd be deported or something. First it was the House of Terror in Budapest, and now its the Museum of Communism in Prague. If I'm honest, then I knew nothing about communism except for the few bits I learned for AP US History (Thanks, Nancy Clark). So this is all both new and fascinating to me. I think my favorite part about the era is that I don't have to "imagine that there wasn't a fire and then another one and that they didn't build this giant wall through the place where this ancient building was." Because that's what I get when I go to all the ancient castles in the area. This stuff is real, with pictures and even video.

So there is my new interest in communism and the soviet union. I also happened upon this incredible memorial wall for John Lennon, appropriately named the Lennon wall. In the 80's, Lennon's ideas really worried the communism regime, so his words were censored. When Lennon was assassinated in 1980, Prague citizens spontaneously graffiti-ed a wall in memory of him. Every day, the Communist soldiers would paint over the mural, only for citizens to come back the next night to paint again. This happened for years, until finally, the communist party was disbanded and the mural stuck. Notes read about love and peace. There were lyrics from Lennon's songs along with people's own person notes. I found some guys with some paint, so I got to add my own message: I Love People.

Not to get all sappy on you guys, but it felt really cool to contribute to the wall, knowing that for some period of time my statement would be read by people from around the world. And isn't that sort of what we all want, to leave something behind to be remembered by? And even if gets covered up by someone else's message, I contributed to the tradition started by Lennon more than 30 years ago.

Tomorrow? All things Jewish! Shalom!