Study Abroad Fall 2013: Oh wait! We're here to study?

Last week I left off with DJ and I heading to church on a boat. It was really interesting. The area looked a little bit sketchy and I felt more like we were meeting people to start a revolution than to go to a service, but it turned out to be really nice. We were given headphones and a man in the back of the room spoke the service in english over a radio station while the woman preached in the front of the room. The music was great and most of it was in english with english and Czech subtitles!!! So it was easy to feel like a part of it. I feel like we will go back at some point during the semester especially since we now know where it is.

This week was the first week of classes!!! The week in a word: hectic! On Monday I was meant to have my first internship meeting at the school, but alas the wonders of Czech doors I ended up locked inside (yes inside) the apartment and had to reschedule for this upcoming week. As the week progressed I continued my czech language courses and also began my history coursework as well. During all of that, there was a confusion with my schedule and which section I was supposed to be in for a class and I then had to reorganize some things around, but by the end of the day Thursday, everything was officially set in place and I am now able to start getting into a routine (my favorite).

I am really excited about this semester overall. My professors are passionate and excited to teach us about this region, and I can not wait to learn about it. During the semester, I will be analyzing the effects the fall of communism has had on different nations that were previously under the iron curtain, reviewing several case studies about minorities in the Czech Republic and the effects the post communistic world has had on them, develop further understanding of the art movements of the 20th century, explore the city of Prague in a walking tour class, and of course continue to expand my Czech language skills. I could not have asked for a better location to do this all. This city has beauty in every corner and it is nearly impossible to walk looking forward. There was things above, below, and right next to you while walking that have a story to tell if you are curious enough to look into it.

Besides classes and learning, there was fun and adventure this week! On Wednesday I had lunch with my friend Lindsey before she had class and we debriefed on all the hectic things occurring as we got settled into our regular schedules. After that I went out for coffee and dessert with my friend Rachel. We ended up wandering through all the old streets of the lesser town. I was amazed at how pretty everything was. It was all right by where many tourists like to go, such as the St. Nicholas Bell tower, and yet just one street over there was hardly anybody. We also wandered into the gardens behind the senate building and almost got attacked by a peacock. Well ok, maybe not, but it got really close. So we decided to leave. Along the way we also stopped by the school we are both interning at and took some pictures. You can actually see the castle behind the school from the right angle. It really is a dream!

Now the weekend is left for homework...or not! I spent Saturday in Berlin! But there will be more to come on that later.

Dessert time!!!