Wrapping Up in Prague

Well, finals are over and I am officially out of Prague for the last segment of my first adventure! I have no idea where the time went . . . Arriving to Prague a month ago feels so distant, but still like it has been hardly any time at all. At this point I really don't feel like any of my time in Prague was real. Everything between that first day that Aly, Katherine, and I went exploring, and now just seems like a big blur that I know technically happened but am really having a hard time comprehending how it all went by so fast . . .

Thursday night, Aly, Katherine, and I waited up really late/early to try to see the sunrise together over Charles Bridge. We made it until 3, but then decided to go back to their apartment to see it off the balcony. The sun is up at 4, so we didn't have much longer. From the balcony we couldn't see the actual sun, or even the glow of it, but it was still nice waiting for daylight with them. It was fun, but also really sad-- it was our last night together . . .

Aly left yesterday for Venice, while Katherine, Karen, and I are on the field study to Vienna, Budapest, and Bratislava, but we'll eventually go our separate ways too. I just have to say how great these girls are, and how much I'm really going to miss them! It can be scary coming into something like this; there are only so many people and it can be kind of hit or miss as far as how well you click with the others. There will always be someone you can at least tolerate, but of course you hope for someone who is more than that. Honestly, I don't know if I could have met anyone better for me to have clicked with. Aly, Katherine, and Karen have been great friends, and are really some of the kindest, most genuine people that I've been lucky to get to know. The trip definitely would not have been the same without them and I so sincerely hope that this won't be our last adventure together.

Getting everything together the last couple days has been such a pain. With all of the things I have to bring to Africa that take up significant suitcase space, like a sleeping bag, my suitcase had been bulging even on the way here. I didn't buy too many physical things here but enough that I would have needed to expand and then check what is currently my carry on suitcase. If I was flying home I wouldn't have cared, but I have three more times that I'm going to have to check in at an airport and pay for that extra checked bag, so shipping the uneccesaries seemed a little more logical . . . So I went to the post office and mailed some clothes and such that I know I wouldn't wear or want in Africa. It was an interesting experience. The lady didn't speak any English and I had forms to fill out in order to send it. Luckily the forms had French on them with Czech, so most of it I was able to figure out. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I make it home before my box does, but I guess as long as it gets there than I'm okay . . .

The next week is going to be so exhausting! I'm really excited for all of the places we're going, but I will literally be traveling between five different countries the next seven days before a long international flight with two layovers . . . not excited! I guess I get a little antsy, or anxious even, when I have a long trip ahead of me-- like the next week will ultimately be. Once I've finished with wherever I'm leaving from I just want to be home and skip all the traveling time in between. I not even going home, but I am definitely feeling anxious to move on to the next thing. And don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm ready to leave everyone and everything here, I think it's just me dreading, in a way, all of the chaos of going everywhere the next week. I guess that I like to be well grounded and to have a concrete, stable place that I can fully settle into. So, needless to say, living out of my suitcase and dragging it around everywhere this week does not exactly thrill me . . .

So, as I've kind of talked about before, I'm currently on the field study optional portion of this program. Today we're going to the Czech countryside somewhere. We'll be doing some hiking and then going to a festival. Tomorrow we go to Vienna, Austria, where we will toe round and see a lot of the big sights. Monday and Tuesday we will be in Budapest, Hungary, where we will be doing much of the same. And then our last stop is in Bratislava, Slovakia on Wednesday. Everyone else will be going to Prague from there, but I will be taking a train to Krakow, Poland! I have my trains and hostel booked, but no other official plans yet. It will be really weird being alone, but I'm hoping to just do a lot of group tours to see the city and surrounding sites, so at least during those I will have some company. I'm not too nervous for the train to Krakow, but the overnight one back to Prague does scare me. I'll be in a compartment that I can lock, luckily, but you just never know what the other people will be like. I have a lock for my bag and a money belt to wear for my money and important documents, but I'm still so paranoid about being robbed . . . I probably won't sleep much that night, but I figure that might be okay since I have my really long flight that afternoon. Another thing I worry about is the train itself. This is truly me just being overly paranoid, but if anything happens with that train and it gets in late, I could end up cutting it close to my flight. I have plenty of time in between, so there's really no need to worry, but if there's anything that could seriously mess up my day, that is it.

I am getting excited for South Africa! I'm really not quite sure what to expect, but I'm sure it will be great. We went on a dinner cruise on Thursay night, and all of the professors and their families came as well. Aly and I went to thank Petr and eventually got into talking about the rest of our summer plans. When I told him I was going to South Africa, he clearly had an opinion so we asked him about it. He told me that, of course, I would be fine-- as long as I stay with others (which I definitely will)-- but he had friends who had gone and who were robbed by gunpoint. That really could happen anywhere, but really didn't help with all the pre-travel nerves I have anyways . . . If anything like that did happen I would be able to get over losing my money or having to go through the hassle of getting a new debit card, but I would be absolutely wild if anything happened to my camera. So now I'm all paranoid about that, thank you Petr . . .

Can you tell I'm nervous?!