I have no idea how this happened so fast, but I'm currently on a plane back to the United States (no thanks to Heathrow airport. My flight was cancelled... again... with perfect weather). I can't really comprehend that I'm leaving Prague, it hasn't hit me yet I guess. I also can't wrap my head around the idea of seeing all my friends graduate and my family again. I guess that will hit me soon regardless.
I spent my last week mostly doing work to be honest. I wrote two papers, took three tests, and did an art piece. The art was cool, I tried my hand at graffiti for the first time ever! The project was for dissent class, and I created a stencil piece based on a picture of a Roma girl in Auschwitz. The piece is supposed to draw attention to the lack of remembrance of the suffering experienced by the Roma people in WWII. I learned in my history class that there are two sites in the Czech Republic where the Roma were imprisoned, tortured, and murdered during the Holocaust. However, instead of a memorial or museum like you would expect, one of the sites is currently a pig farm while the other was turned into a vacation resort. I was so disturbed by this that I felt Roma remembrance a perfect topic for my dissent final. I ended up spraying the piece onto a legal wall in Prague which was a total blast. I also thought it was exceptionally cool to feel like I had left my mark in Prague, literally.
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| My Graffiti! |
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| Me and my Piece |
The girls from my apartment and some other CETers went to our favorite spot: the Three Pigs for our last Kozel tmavy (my favorite beer) and bread dumplings doused in creamy gravy. I headed to the airport this morning feeling like I had successfully seen everything in Prague I wanted. It was amazing seeing Prague castle and Charles bridge fade away as we took off. The plane provided the best view of Prague I've had thus far. It was surreal to be able to see my home for a semester all in one sweeping view.
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| Three Pigs |
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| My Favorite Czech Dinner |
Overall I really enjoyed Prague. The city is absolutely beautiful and every street holds amazing architecture. I fell in love with Mucha, Kafka, the Czech language, and Czech beer. While the city was practically perfect, I'm not sure I would want to live in Prague for longer than a semester. Honestly Central European culture is extremely different from anything I've ever experienced. The strange sense of style, slightly conservative political views, and overt sexism had me reeling more than once. I'm excited to not have to tell my program director why what he just said was inappropriate anymore. The history of Central Europe is fascinating, and has clearly impacted the society today. For example, in an effort to leave communism in the past, the entire country has shifted to the right. If anyone strays too far to the left politically they risk being labelled a communist. Even more shocking is that the communists promoted gender equality (you know, men and women work in a factory all day), leaving the Czech people slightly sexist today. Though the Czech Republic was much more bearable than Poland in this regard, I still know I wouldn't want to live there forever.
My semester abroad opened my eyes up to a new historical perspective, a completely new culture, and some really great beer, but I'm extremely happy to be on a plane heading home today. :)
I'll see you all (and many of you graduating) so soon! How shocking...
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| The Castle on my Last Day =) |
Na schledanou Praha, nikdy nebudu zapomenout ty!
A Dobře den Ameriky a Grinnellu!
- Patty
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