So this week has finally come; the last week of my semester here in Prague. After my delayed flight fiasco from Amsterdam, I felt ready to return home, but as I started the week, I realized that those feelings completely reversed. I've never been a fan of transition periods so I was dreading this last week here. I felt like I either wanted to be home in America or be in Prague without the thought of my impending departure. I imagined that this week would be one of drawn out goodbyes and depression about leaving, but the exact opposite happened. I feel like I (and my friends) took this week to do everything we've wanted to do but haven't been able to. We took this week to reflect on our amazing semester here but instead of mourn its conclusion, we laughed while remembering the wonderful times had.
I had two finals on Tuesday but I wasn't stressed about either so in between my two tests, I decided to take a walk through the highlights of the city center. I ended up taking a solo, two hour hour walk to all of these sites:
The Charles Bridge (an iconic site of the city and a bridge that I've crossed multiple times),
The Lennon Wall (one of my favorite places in the city),
Kampa park by the Lennon wall,
Petrin Hill (this is a beautiful hike in the center of the city. It offers panoramic views of all of Prague. At the top of the hill, I sat on a bench, listened to music that reminded me of this semester and just smiled. Passer-byes probably thought I was crazy, but whatever. I had a nice time),
And finally a final wander through the Jewish Quarter (my home neighborhood)
This walk allowed me to alleviate my anxiety about leaving and gave me an opportunity to reflect on the marvels of the semester. At the top of Petrin Hill, I didn't plan on sitting and overlooking the city for as long as I did. The reason I ended up sitting was because I was so overcome and overwhelmed with gratitude that I literally had to stop and sit down. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity. I could've never imagined that a mere three months could have such an impact on my life. I have seen more of the world and have learned more about myself than I could have ever asked and this experience will reside within me forever.
On Wednesday, DJ and I decided to take a hike in Divoká Šarká, a beautiful nature reserve in Prague 6 that I visited with James in the fall (recall my original trip here). We reminisced about the semester and had a wonderful time exploring the gorgeous nature in the heart of Prague.
On Friday, our program hosted a beautiful farewell reception. We had a chance to thank and say goodbye to the program managers as well as our professors. I didn't realize how wonderful my program here was until I began to receive feedback from other study abroad students in other programs elsewhere. UPCES gave us the tools, but was in no way overbearing. They provided us with ample opportunities but never pressured us to participate if we didn't want to. They simply let it be known that they were here for us and let us call the remaining shots.
On Friday night, my friends and I decided to migrate to our initial watering hole that we like to call The Goat Bar. It's a tiny bar in Žižkov around the corner from our original hostel in Prague. It serves Kozel beer whose symbol is a goat, so when we were newcomers in Prague and saw the Kozel/goat sign outside of the bar, it became known as "The Goat Bar." It's funny now because Kozel is an incredibly widespread Czech beer so there are essentially hundreds of "goat bars." This bar is sentimental because it was the original bar where my group of friends met and first became so close. We each had a beer and recalled our favorite memories from the semester. We climbed to the top of Žižkov hill and looked out over the entire city. Many of us were leaving the next day, so when we had to part ways and say goodbye, many tears were shed. Of all the goodbyes I've said in my life, this one may have been the hardest because of the uncertainty of when we'll see each other next. And even when we do see each other, it won't be in Prague and we won't all be together. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the night and was happy to sleep.
We woke up early on Saturday to watch the sunrise over the Charles Bridge. It's been a bit drab and gray in Prague lately because of winter so the sunrise was foggy, but it was wonderful watching the darkness turn to light with each other.
It's hard for me to articulate how grateful I am for these past 3 months. My sadness towards this semester's end isn't coming from dread of the months to come, as I have so much to look forward to in the States. I'm honestly just overwhelmed that all of this could've happened. The life I've lead for the past few months feels like a dream and I'm overwhelmed at the prospect of this chapter coming to a close.
I'm off to Italy to see one of my best friends from Tulane. Dylan has been studying abroad in Rome and I can't wait to see him and hear about all of his experiences!
I'll definitely blog about our travels but I felt it necessary to reflect on the conclusion of my program while it was still fresh.
Czeching out
Grace
At the top of Žižkov Hill.
(Photo by: Maddy Rossi)
Getting silly at the photobooth at the UPCES reception
Crossing the Charles Bridge with our program
Our program took us on a mini excursion to climb the towers of The Astronomical Clock in Old Town and St. Nicholas' Cathedral in Malastrana (Lesser Town).
L-R: Grant, me, Maddy
Goat Bar first night + Goat Bar last night
One of the last Prague pictures of the gang
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