Ask the Brittan Bates that arrived in Prague on August 25, 2015, if she would ever feel like a local in this lovely Czech town, and she would have laughed in your face. Local? The very America-raised Brittan a Prague local?
That just sounds crazy.
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| The Lennon Wall in Prague is all inspired by John Lennon. The wall never seems to be the same. |
The first week, I was the girl that entered, browsed and left the grocery store without purchasing a single thing. A day later my roommate and I went to go to a restaurant below our apartment, we looked at the menu and went home because there was not a single work on that page I understood or could even attempt at guessing.
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| We had the warmest November 8 in 200 years in Prague with the temperature hitting 66 degrees! |
Then out of nowhere, it happened.
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| These are some of the buildings in Old Town Square. One of my favorite parts of Prague are how colorful the buildings are all painted. |
It wasn’t just some big realization like you might have thought happened. It was a slow progression over the past three months. Two weeks in, I was slowly starting adapt to the grocery store and began to feel more out of the way (I honestly don’t think I will ever master this one). Dobrý den, pardon, děkuji, na zdraví and dobrou noc (good day, excuse me, thank you, cheers and goodnight) have all become engraved in my vocabulary and I find myself cringing when I hear someone speaking in English to their waiters, etc.
When I arrived, cabs were easiest especially at night, come November the metro and tram are second nature and a cab isn’t even in consideration anymore. I’ve got my favorite places to eat and only burn half the meals I attempt to make at home now.
The torture of watching my newly washed clothes dry for two days on a rack that makes them crispy instead of soft, is just a part of my life now, not something I call my mom to complain about. Approaching people on the street and politely asking if they speak English is no longer a scary thought too. Then the city, after showing my mom around the past week it is clear I know it like the back of my hand, or at least the parts I have adventured thoroughly.
And while all these things have developed over time, what I find the best is how comfortable and proud I am living here. The streets feel like home now and I am so excited to tell people when I travel that I am currently living in Prague. I love to see the way their faces light up when they talk about wanting to visit, the same way my expression would change this summer.
It’s been a roller coaster, but Praha I will forever call you home.
Brittan Bates is the Fall 2015 CEA MOJO Blogger in Prague, Czech Republic. She is currently a junior at the University of Arizona.