In Praha

In Praha

When I arrived at my flat I got my bedroom sorted out and then realized that I didn’t have a) anything to eat, b)anything to drink, and c)any Czech Koruna to buy a and b with.  At the airport, I had been too worried about meeting my ride to change money, and now I was stuck in a strange place with no cash.  Luckily, my flat mate, Helen, offered to spot me 200kc (about $10/US) to run to the market a few doors down.  I was able to get enough to last until the next day.  We spent the day getting to know each other…there are four other people in this apartment:

Maria – Barcelona, Spain

Helen – Bristol, England

Billy – Bethesda, Maryland

Jill – Los Angeles, California

Our floor plan is a little different than what I’m used to.  We have really high ceilings in all the rooms and the toilet is in a separate (tiny) room from the rest of the bathroom.  I knew that was common in Europe, but it was still a little surprising.  I was also aware that A/C was an oddity in most buildings, but as I’d checked the temperatures in the weeks leading up to leaving Prague had been in the 70s during the day…totally bearable, right?  But when I arrived in was in the 80s – 90s and the heat was relentless.  We opened every window in the flat to try and get some sort of breeze.

The school has two student flats and ours seems to be located the furthest away from the school, but in a better location.  We also were left a book that other students have used to write down recommendation, advice, etc.  There we learned that there was a mall and a TESCO (grocery store) nearby. 

On Sunday, Jill and I struck out to find the TESCO and get Czech phone while the other flat mates toured the city.  We successfully completed our errand and were leaving the mall when we noticed it was awfully dark outside.  It had started pouring rain.  With no other alternative we plunged into the street and walked as briskly as possible through the downpour.   When we made it home we realized with all of us out and about the windows had been left open during the storm.   There wasn’t any rain damage, but the wind had broken windows in two bedrooms.  Not off to a great start, there.  But with supplies purchased we all just hung out, got to know one another and chatted – luckily, even though we had a big day ahead of us we had a late start.  School normally starts at 8:15, but for first day it didn’t start until around noon or one.  So we were able to catch up on some sleep, and be ready for the first real day.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

KiLee was kind enough to agree to drive me to the airport (I still owe her some cash for that!) on Friday morning.  My flight left at 11:00 a.m. and the itinerary was Austin, Chicago, Madrid, Prague.  I’d purchased a ticket on a third party site that seemed a little sketchy so I was nervous about the whole situation.  I’d done enough looking around to know that the tickets were legit, but I was still nervous especially when I couldn’t check in online.  I got a message saying seats had to be assigned and to see the desk at the airport.  I assumed it was because the Chicago to Madrid to Prague legs of the trip were actually through Iberia Air, but when I arrived at the airport they couldn’t check me in either.  Now, I had arrived in barely enough time to check my bags and get on the plane so this delay made me very anxious.  The guy disappeared for a while and I just stood there praying that I would make my flight.

As it turned out, my entire itinerary had been flagged because the originating flight to Chicago had been delayed.  Delayed long enough to miss all my other connections – so they had to revamp my itinerary entirely.  Eventually, I was booked on a slightly later flight that flew Austin, Dallas, London, Prague, and the agent felt bad so she assured me I had my preferred seats the whole way. 

Austin to Dallas is barely enough time for beverage service – I assume people fly this route in order to connect through Dallas because I can drive to Dallas faster than the flight time, plus security, plus waiting around for my flight, etc.  My long leg (8 hours and change) was Dallas to London.  Y’all, that was a massive plane.  The agent had assured me I had great seats when she booked me, but looking around I couldn’t imagine what would be comfortable for eight hours.  The plane had 3 seats on the right, 4 seats in the middle, and 3 seats on the left.  I was in the 4 seat middle section, on an aisle, at a bulkhead-thing.  (I don’t think it was actually a bulkhead, it might have been a crew area or something, but bottom line, loads of leg room!)  I stressed about who would fill the other 3 seats until the plane was nearly full.  I was hopeful they would remain vacant, but just before the doors closed a mom came running in with two little boys (aged 1 ½ and 3 ½).  The youngest was technically a lap sitter so the seat next to me was actually vacant.  Hooray.  The bad news is that the youngest boy cried pretty much the entire flight so sleep was never going to happen.  Overall though, I thought I made out pretty well.

I’m sure you’ve all heard stories about the terror that is London’s Heathrow Airport, yes?   I had and I had consciously made a decision not to fly through there.  /sigh.  Luckily, my connecting flight was out of the same terminal (Terminal 3 – my British flat mate, Helen, tells me it’s the best one), but I still felt like the pioneers of old as I walked, and walked, and walked, and walked.  Also, even though we never exited the secure area we all had to go through another security checkpoint before boarding the connection.  Odd, that.  Other than that the flight to Prague went smoothly, all told, just about an hour and a half of flying time.  Just enough time for a lunch wrap and a tiny little beverage!

Leaving England

Mini-coke

Seriously the can was the same size as the tiny airplane cup.


Vaclav Havel Airport - Prague, Czech Republic

I was a little worried about customs passport control, baggage claim, and having someone there to meet me when I arrived.  It all worked out well, although the taxi driver hired to meet me, Vlad, was very reserved.  I tried to start a couple of conversations with him, but either he didn’t speak great English, or didn’t really want to talk.  Either way it made me nervous that I wouldn’t be able to communicate with the people here.  Vlad dropped me off at the flat and Maria (who had arrived early that morning) let me in and showed me around.  By this point I was a hot, sweaty, tired, hungry mess, but I was in Prague. 

The New Adventure

About five years ago someone mentioned that there were loads of opportunities in Prague, Czech Republic to become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).  I started thinking about it and checking into it then, but I didn’t think a)the timing was right, and b) that I was brave enough to try living abroad.

Now, having spent the last year unemployed and adrift, I finally decided that there was no better time.  If I wanted to pursue this dream the time was now.  It took a lot of research, pre-work, and stress but I closed out my apartment, visited my family in Utah, and hopped on a plane to Prague.  I am hoping to teach English here in the Czech Republic  or maybe I’ll be back in the states in a month, but I decided to go for it. 

Wish me luck and send all your prayers and good wishes… I know I need them… and stay tuned for more travel adventures both here and over at 1000 Places!

5 Things

5 Random Things About My Trip to Utah:

1.  If you are ever in Farmington, New Mexico eat at Three Rivers Brewery and order the Drunken Steak Sandwich Sliders.  I think the sliders were better, but the sandwich was also delicious.

2. Those swallows nesting in the carport will never, ever leave.

3. Hot air balloons kind of look like breast implants when they're all lined up.

4. Sometimes your Aunts have awesome childhood nicknames!

5. Buddy BINGO is awesome!

Genealogy, I Am Doing It

This visit home made me very nostalgic, and that coupled with some very sad circumstances (a good friend just lost her mother, and another friend her young son) made me start thinking about the important things in my family.  I decided that given my hobo-ish meandering around the globe I should start a project to start scanning all the family photos.

This led to so many great discoveries and the opportunity to see many photos of my father's family that I didn't know existed.  I got a crash course in my father's life (a subject that has always been emotionally fraught and taboo in our family) and I am delighted and so touched that he shared some of these stories.  Hopefully my sisters will continue the project in my absence and we can preserve these memories for the nubbins and their nubbins.

In the meantime...

Dad in his Army dress uniform:

Mom as a cute baby:

I think this one looks like me:
























I love this one.  I had never seen a picture of my paternal grandparents alone and looking like they were in love.  Any photo I had ever seen of my grandfather included children.  This was such an amazing find!


Thanks, Dad for sharing bits of your life.  Now both you and mom need to get to work on a full personal history!