Nine Facts I Have Discovered in the Czech Republic

1.      My 3^rd grade maps skills teacher was wrong about me.  I was terrible at map skills.  Like highly noticeable difference in test scores.  And normally I am the last person in the world that you want navigating, but for one weekend in Paris I was the Map Queen, and I managed the streets and metros of Paris with (relative) ease. 

2.      I love riding trams.  I have gotten better at being alone while I am abroad, and I have found that there is nothing more peaceful than riding public transportation around Prague with nothing but your ipod and a view of the city whizzing by. 

3.      I’m into Art Nouveau.  I thought I had seen at least a little bit of every kind of art, but I had never run into the Art Nouveau of Prague.  Think bright, pastel colors—I just looked out my window and I see buildings that are yellow, blue, green, and pink.  And I refuse to leave without getting a poster by my favorite Czech artist, Alphonse Mucha.

4.      I can make new plans.  I had plenty of plans for after I graduated, but I re-thought every one of them this semester.  Staying in Kansas City would be great, but what about a year of Jesuit Volunteer Corps or Alumni Service Corps?  Or teach abroad?  Or apply to be a travel director?  Why not?

5.      I can eat Indian food.  An odd discovery in the Czech Republic, I know.  I have always been a notoriously picky eater, but I have tried a lot since I got here—Indian food being the most unusual for me.  But now I know that I can walk into a restaurant without panicking that I won’t find something on the menu.  And that chicken vindaloo is delicious. 

6.      I am an airport pro.  A year ago if you dropped me by myself in an airport without instructions I wouldn’t have been able to find the exit, much less my plane.  After several trips and a miserable 24 hours in the Rome airport, I could practically be a flight attendant.   

7.      I have many “persons.”  I have so many people in my life now both here and at home that I can share all of the good and the bad with.  My friends at home (and Sam studying in Florence) have kept up to date on all my adventures and have patiently helped me through both my homesickness and now my reluctance to leave.  But I have people here now too—Monica, Brinda, Dylan, Neave, Andy, Stef…the list goes on.  And I hope they will still be a part of my life after this semester.    

8.      I have the best family in the world.  And I can never, ever, even begin to thank them for talking me into doing this, providing me with the means to do this, and following every minute of this semester with so much joy for me. 

9.      I can start over.  Landing in a Czech-speaking country with no sleep, no friends, and no clue what my life was going to look like was terrifying.  But in only a few months I have found a home here—with people I care about, places that have grown familiar, experiences that have changed me.  And it breaks my heart to leave this new life, but I look back on my start here and I have hope that even though this will never happen again, new adventures will.