Arrival and Mystery Cheese Party!

Date: 8/28

Location: Vinohrady (Praha 2)

Listening to: Traffic out the open window

Mood: A little zombie-like, thanks to jetlag (?)

Alright, I’ll explain the title of this post first, so nobody is confused, and then I’ll do things more chronologically. I think it started in high school, when we began making ‘parties’ out of everyday tasks. “Laundry party!” We’d all pile into the laundry room and hang out and share snacks while the clothes were running. “Dishes party!” One person washes, one dries, one puts them away. Well, at the Tesco (pretty generic supermarket downstairs, crazy department store upstairs, a LOT like the one in Otsu… I miss Japan. Anyways, I seem to have forgotten that Europeans take cheese REALLY seriously. I was hoping for a block of ambiguous orange cheddar, but instead I found literally an aisle of gouda and some stinky blue stuff and then a few shelves of foil-wrapped cheeses that dented slightly when poked. 11ck? That’s, what, 50 cents? Sold. I got that along with some other basics and bread, so now I’m having a mystery cheese and toast party.

I guess that sounded more exciting in my head.

The cheese is really good, by the way.

Right, so I left Chicago around 3pm yesterday and landed in Frankfurt at 6am today. I was supposed to sleep during that time, but it didn’t really happen. My seat was next to a very nice Indian couple, but they kept turning their reading lights on and off. I was also stressing out because my big hiking backpack (the one that can’t be zipped and locked, because it cinches shut) had to be gate-checked all the way to Prague, and I was worried about my stuff. In Frankfurt I connected with a few people in the CEA group and got even more excited. The Frankfurt-Prague flight was about an hour, then we touched down- thanks to my aisle seat, I didn’t even get to see my new home as I approached it. We encountered a few more CEA people on the way to baggage claim, and as the bags rolled out, I saw that once again I was among the lightest packers. A purse, a hiking backpack, and a standard-sized roll-aboard bag. That’s all. I’m not here to judge people who had a lot of baggage, but I’m pretty sure there are one or two girls on this trip who won’t be wearing the same pair of shoes twice.

We took a bus to our apartments, the whole time I was goggling, sleep-deprived, at the interesting sights. [1] [2] The CEA people are living in apartments around the city, there’s a group including some of my airport friends around the corner from us but my roommates (Karli and Bee) and I also have a group of 5 boys living a few floors above us. Our neighborhood looks really nice- there are some parks and green spaces a block away, the tram is conveniently close and the metro just a short walk, a few pharmacies, convenience stores, and restaurants close by. Here’s the apartment! The three of us share a room [3] you can see the feet of K & B’s beds and my chosen bed, with my two bags. The living room [4] has a map of Praha taped to the wall, and the kitchen [5] looks nice too. You have to light the stove with a spark thing, but that’s not too hard. The view out the bedroom is pretty sweet [6] and with the view out the living room [7], we’ll never forget we’re in Europe. Some of these pictures aren’t that great, but I’m sure there will be more coming.

The afternoon was spent napping (I know, I’m supposed to get on a ‘normal’ schedule, but the time difference was killing me) and greeting my roommates who arrived a few hours after me. We also took a short tour of the neighborhood with some CEA Responsible Adults. We did some boring stuff like buy towels and groceries, and that’s where the mystery cheese comes in. I also got a Vodafone SIM card for my old unlocked phone, my number is +420 774 039 247 if any of my fellow Praha folks would like to text me their names so we can meet up later.

Tomorrow, I see the university I’ll be attending this semester, and probably learn a little more Czech, but for now, doubrou noc! (good night)