My apartment here is located in Praha 3, which is a little further away from Vyšehrad and the city center. I don’t really mind it, though. This way I’m getting to learn every little part of the city and not just the tourist ones. All the apartments here are scattered across Praha 1, 2 and 3 and are very different from each other. I feel like I really lucked out with this IKEAesque place:
When I first arrived in Prague, my flight ended up being a bit late so the bus that took all the students to the hotel had already left. I knew I’d have to find a cab and take it by myself. The only problem was figuring out how not to get ripped off by the driver. CIEE recommended AAA taxi, but there weren’t any at the airport. I ended up taking 111 taxi and paying 600 kc. I still don't know if that's a good price or not.
While driving in the cab I couldn't help myself but attempt to read all the Czech signs and billboards. Surprisingly, thanks to my Ukrainian and Russian, I actually understand some words. The rest kind of overwhelmed me though, and I then realized this is the first time in my life I’m truly in a country where I’m not going to be able to communicate with a lot of people right away. This kind of made me glad to be so far away from my comfort zone. Now I know what many immigrants feel like when they come to the US.
When my cab drove into the city, the first famous building I recognized was the Dancing House. I then turned my head to the left and saw the Prague Castle. That's when I realized I was crossing the Vltava River. My first thought was I can't believe I'm actually going to be living in this beautiful city and seeing these places every day.
Five days later my feelings haven’t changed. We took a boat ride today and the views were incredible. I’m actually pretty upset that I didn’t bring my camera on the boat. I guess I’m going to have to take another boat ride. ☺
Since I’ve been here I have realized that I seriously need to learn Czech. Two days ago, my roommates and I decided to go shopping for things we couldn’t fit into out suitcases like toiletries and some food for breakfast, etc and who would have thought that the trip would turn into such a disaster? Apparently “smooth and silky” is written in English on the Czech shower products but the important words like conditioner or body wash are all in Czech. I just figured I’ll buy one bottle of everything and when I start washing my hair with body lotion I’ll figure it out.
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