Michaelmas Term: Week 1

Oxford's system is very different than most places... no one here seems to believe in using dates and it seems like there isn't all that much time that school is in session.  Instead of semesters, Oxford is divided into terms: Michaelmas (fall), Hilary (late winter/early spring) and Trinity (late spring/early summer).  Each term is 8 weeks long.  When getting an assignment or setting a meeting, no one says, "I'll meet you on October 18th", instead, they would say, I'll meet you Friday, Week 1 of Michaelmas term."  It takes some getting used to, but I like pretending I'm talking in code or something.

My first week of classes went pretty well over all.  The way my schedule is set up is a bit confusing.  This term I have 6 required classes, 1 required reading/discussion group, and a few all day Friday seminars scattered throughout the term.  I will not directly have an exam over each of the 6 classes, but I will indirectly.  The way it works is that I will have 3 exams in 4th week of Trinity Term (translate to mid-May):

1. Policy and Governance
2. Theory and Analysis 
3. Research skills

Each class I am taking now (with the exception of my elective), and each class I take Hilary term (with the exception of my one elective) falls under 1 of these headings.  For each exam, I will receive a list of essay prompts and have to choose 3.  I will then have 3 hours to write 3 papers... one on each prompt I choose.  The prompts will be spread out to include things from each class... so even though I don't directly have an exam... I still have to be prepared to be tested over everything and refer back to readings and important authors/thinkers.  My electives will be tested by essays that I will write over Christmas and Spring breaks.  

The classes I am taking this term are: 

1. Nature and Society
2. Governance, Politics and Policy
3. Decision Theory
4. Research Design
5. Environmental Economics
6. Elective (not sure what this will be yet and we had to apply and the elective classes don't start for another week... my first choice was international environmental law, so fingers crossed!) 

I also have a required reading group that meets once a week, 3 Friday seminars, and 2 bibliographic sessions with the librarian.  I have not spoken to any graduate student outside of our department who has more than 3 classes a week... so I think our program is just really intense, but I am happy to say that overall, I'm interested in the material and I think the program is a good fit for me, if not exactly what I expected. 

Even without the elective class meeting, this past week was super busy.  The professors assign "required reading" that we are expected to do and "recommended reading" which we are encouraged to use to explore ideas we are interested in, but by no means expected to read all of or read every week.  Even so, I'm swamped by the required reading alone.  The readings are really dense, and the ideas they contain and quite convoluted.  I feel like I've followed most of the classes reasonably well with the exception of Research Design (which really, I thought how hard could that be... but it was ridiculous... thankfully the entire class felt that way which makes me feel like less of a dunce).  I like most of my professors (there is 1 who seems to enjoy making things more complicated instead of more simple) and I really like the kids in my program.  

After one class some of us still had questions on Bruno Latour's actor-network theory, so we all piled into the graduate student break room and had one of our classmates who understood it (and the background influence of Kant and Foucault) gave a 30 minute mini-lecture to explain it.  We also are working together to find all of our readings and scan/upload them to drop box so that we don't all waste time fighting over 1-2 library copies of books and today I've organized a study group at 2 to go over some of the big ideas from the past week and really make sure we understand the broader themes.  Afterwards, we'll go for a pint. 

On top of class, I'm also staying really busy. I am determined to make use of all the amazing lectures and speaker events that go on here so Tuesday I went to a lecture by Dr. Charles Godfray entitled "The Challenge of Feeding 10 Billion People Sustainably and Equitably."  There were parts of the lecture I really disagreed with (like that raising animals for food production completely indoors is okay practice), but it was an interesting lecture and gave me some things to think about.  I also worked up the courage to ask a question at the end, which probably doesn't seem like a big deal, but I'm still a bit shy and intimidated, much like I was when I got to Penn.  As much as I know I earned a place here... it's still intimidating to be here. 

Wednesday I had a full day of class and then spent the afternoon/early evening MOVING.  I now live in a 3 bedroom apartment with 2 guys, Adam and Ali.  My room is MUCH bigger, and the kitchen is roomier and I am only sharing a bathroom with 2 people (score!) My room doesn't have a closet which isnt ideal, but I'm hoping the college is going to provide me with a wardrobe, and if not, I'll buy a cheap one off gumtree (craigslist equivalent).  Other than that, the flat is great and my roommates seem nice.  There isn't a common area so I really don't see that much of them but I think we're supposed to cook dinner together on Sunday night. Anyway, after moving, I went to a yoga class on Wednesday night.  I was a bit nervous that it would be too intense or too much power yoga and not the stretching and flexibility work that I enjoy, but it was a perfect balance and I'm still a bit sore, so I think it did it's job. 

On Wednesday I had felt like I was getting a cold, and sure enough, Thursday I woke up with a really sore throat.  I downed lots of tea and made it to class and then to the meeting for the riding team at Oxford.  I was encouraged to try out for the team, but to be honest, I'm just not so confident jumping unfamiliar horses (hard to admit, but true these days) so I'm going to stick to the lessons this year and see how I like the barn/trainers/girls on the team.  If all goes well, I may try out next year when I'll have a more flexible schedule (I'll only have 1 class my second year here) and perhaps feel more comfortable.  After the meeting I had wanted to go to "This House Has No Faith in Her Majesty's Government" which is a big debate held among government members at Oxford every year, but by this time, my cold was really setting in, and I knew the smart thing was to go get some reading done and get to bed. 

Today I woke up feeling really crappy.  I mustered all my energy and forced myself out and across the street to the pharmacy.  Thankfully, sudafed is over the counter here so I bought that and some eucalyptus oil and I'm drinking tea and taking care of myself- I'm still under the weather, but I'm able to function now.  I planned a study group for this afternoon to go over some of the more complicated ideas from this past week, so I will gather my energy and go to that.  Past kids from our program are also in town tonight and we were all supposed to go get drinks with them, but I'm not sure if I'll make it to that or not.  I really, really want to because I think they could have some really valuable advice, but I have a mandatory event tomorrow that will involve some time outside (cold and wet and rainy) and so I feel like maybe it's more sensible to try to get healthy.  Still undecided. 

Tomorrow is matriculation- which is the ceremony that officially marks our entrance to the university and is apparently seen as a big deal (if you don't officially matriculate, you also can't graduate).  I have to wear sub fusc (a certain outfit with a cap and gown) and the event is held in the Sheldonian Theatre, which should be beautiful (see pictures here: https://www.google.com/search?q=sheldonian+theatre&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=eBJhUoDFAY200QXqpICgDw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=622&dpr=1 )  

Anyway, I should get back to reading!  I hope all is well for everyone reading this! 

Oxford: Hard to believe I'm really here

After my last post which described Mallorca, Munchen, Garmisch and my final days in Prague, I headed home to GA.  It turned out to be a long trip... involving a very delayed flight from Prague to JFK, SPRINTING for my connection to ATL, making the connection and then not getting a seat, taking a shuttle to Laguardia and making a Swedish/American friend named Prudence, sleeping in the airport, not getting on a flight until the next afternoon and generally just being really tired and gross.

This summer was a bit of a challenge to adjust to being back in Madison at first, but more than that, struggles with Daisy's lameness and financial stress to pay for all of her diagnostic work and treatment along with paying for Oxford.  I spent a lot of time the first few weeks gardening and house/pet sitting and then I started working for a financial planner in town, Erik.  I haven't always had great experiences with bosses in the past (some pretty good but mostly really bad), and so it was a huge relief that Erik and I got along really well and he was a great boss, educator, and in some ways, friend.  I really enjoyed my time there and I'm looking forward to helping out there more over breaks.  I also got to ride some this summer, and judge 4 horse shows, which I loved.  Once life slows down, I would love to get my actual judging license.

The high lights of the summer were seeing the people I love.  I got to spend so much time with Mom and Dad.  For those of you who don't know them, they are pretty much the greatest people ever and feel more like friends than parents.  I had lunch with Mom almost every day and Dad and I hung out watching football every Saturday.  I also got to see Pepops on a whirlwind trip to Idaho, New Grandma, Uncle Norris, Tracy, Noah, Zoe, Liza, Uncle Curtis, Aunt Carol, and Andie on a whirlwind trip to NC, and Daisy, Ashley, Patrick, and other friends while in Philadelphia.  Thankfully, I even got to see Greg in August.

It seemed the whole summer like Oxford was a very distant pipe dream and then suddenly... it wasn't.  Before I knew it, I was on the way to the airport to board a flight to London.  After being judged (nicely) by the check in agent for the amount of luggage I had (2 suitcases around 48 lbs each, a very heavy backpack and a bulging duffle bag) I headed to my flight.  I got business class, which was great, but the flight crew was not one of the friendlier bunches I've had.  Upon landing, I went to customs and after a LONG wait, got to the front of the line.  I handed over my passport (with my student visa), my student # for Oxford, and let them scan my fingerprints, and that is when the trouble began.  When they scanned my fingerprints... nothing came up.  Then, nothing came up when they scanned my visa.  They couldn't find a record of it electronically.  I was detained for about an hour while they sorted it out.  I know an hour really isn't so long, but when you are exhausted and jet lagged and worried they might not let you into a country... it feels like a really long time.

Finally, they let me through.  By this time, my baggage had been stowed as "unclaimed" so I had to hunt it down which took awhile.  Then, I had to find the bus to terminal 5 and take it over so I could catch the bus to Oxford.  I somehow managed to get all my bags on the bus, and then back off and find the ticket counter for the bus.  Several buses came and went that were too full for any more luggage, but I finally got on one.  I was planning to watch the trip from Heathrow to Oxford, but I promptly fell asleep.  When we arrived to Oxford, I hailed a cab (the driver wouldnt load my bags... "too heavy" he said!) and took it to my college, St. Antony's.  Here, I finally met someone helpful.  The porter helped me get my bags to my house and showed me where my room was (though he did draw the line at doing more than getting my bags inside... I was left to carry them up 2 flights steep, winding stairs by myself!)
My room is very tiny, I posted pictures on facebook.  That said, I don't mind small and cozy (besides, it's easier to heat and stays warmer.)  However, I really dislike some other things about the house.  Mostly, that there isn't a bathroom on my floor other than a toilet, with no sink, on the other side of the house.  The other complaint is that there are 3 "kitchens"... but only two have stoves/ovens... so over 10 people share each of those and people are very territorial about kitchen space.  These issues, plus my difficulty meeting people made for a very lonely first week. To be honest, I'm still quite lonely, though it's getting better.

Difficulty meeting people?  You might be thinking I'm nuts... I'm on a college campus surrounded by other new students... meeting people should be easy.  And in some capacity, it is.  I've certainly met a hundred people easily... but as a pretty serious introvert, large, loud group settings just overwhelm me.  I know I can't rush friendships... but I am so ready to have a group of friends rather than 200 acquaintances.  I miss the constants in my life and change has never been really easy for me.  I push myself to make big changes and travel and do interesting things because I always end up loving them and I know they will be worth it... but the first few weeks of adapting are always a bit hard.

My department, Geography and the Environment (Nature, Society and Environmental Policy) has thankfully helped a good bit with that.  We had 5 days worth of induction, starting Friday over a week ago and running through Tuesday.  I really like the other people in the program and we've already had a roof-top gathering, trekked through some beautiful English countryside, suffered through the driest fictional documentary I've ever imagined existed, and gotten drinks at the Eagle and Child (where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to "think and drink") and contemplated attending a university almost 1,000 years old.  I'm also really enjoying the academic discussions already taking place surrounding commons, land ownership, land use, food scarcity, green growth, etc etc etc.

Thankfully over the past few days, I've been offered a new place to live (though the college has to approve it which could happen Tuesday... fingers crossed!) and I'll move into a 3 bed room, 1 bathroom apartment just across the quad with a German (Ali) and American (Adam) guy.  I'd have more space to cook and a much bigger room and a bathroom across the hall (!) and I think I'll like it a good deal more.  I've also borrowed a bike from a girl I horse showed with as a child (her fiance is here while she's back in the states).  Her bike is stuck in a high gear which makes the one hill I have to go up very painful, but I am already enjoying cycling and it's so nice to get settled before having to buy my own, so I really appreciate her generosity and it's looking like I'll end up buying one of my own soonish.  I've also started to meet people who are slowly feeling more like friends than acquaintances, though it's still slow going.

If I actually wrote about everything I've seen/done since I've been here, this would drag on for pages and pages more, but I'll just say that I've been incredibly busy with orientation, buying a cap/gown (which I have to wear for exams and special ceremonies as well as graduation), buying things for my room and getting settled, meeting people at socials, parties, themed parties, dinners, and lectures, departmental induction events (including multiple field trips), joining clubs, and getting lost (aka learning my way around and checking out gorgeous old buildings.  The weather has been a mix of some sunny and lovely days, and days like today... barely 50 degrees and pouring rain.

Classes start tomorrow and I'm already behind on my reading so I suppose I should get back to that.  Hope things are well for everyone back in the states or wherever you're reading this from.

Mallorca, Munchen, Garmisch, and the final time in Prague

July 1 is when it feels like my vacation actually began.  I got up extra early and headed off with a duffle bag and a stuffed suitcase to catch a bus to Munchen.  I was only going to stay the night and then catch a flight out to Mallorca.  Greg wasn’t meeting me in Munich this time because he was in NORWAY for his cousin’s wedding.  I arrived in Munich about noon and headed to Greg’s flat.  He lives on maybe the 5^th or 6^th story of a building without an elevator.  I buzzed up and one of his roommates, Camilla, buzzed me in.  I lugged my stuff upstairs and unpacked the suitcase of things I’d brought… all things for Greg’s flat since I am moving out of mine… a duvet, 2 pillows, a hair dryer, 2 bottles of wine, a bottle of super nice champagne, chocolate, and a food processor.  Needless to say, it was nice to not be carrying all that anymore.

From there, I headed to my favorite little lunch place in Munich.  There is a bagel shop around the corner from greg’s flat that makes all their bagels onsite.  The same 2 guys are always working and one is American.  I grabbed a lox bagel (so good) and sat outside to enjoy the afternoon.  Then I walked back to Greg’s and took a nice long nap.  When I woke up, it was time to go meet my friend Taylor, for dinner.  Taylor is a rising senior at Penn and I knew him when he was a freshman and I was a senior.  He’s in Munich working for the U.S. Consulate this summer and I was supposed to meet him there to head to dinner.  Instead, I got lost.  After a series of text messages I found my way there about 20minutes late and we headed to dinner at a Mexican place for margaritas and Penn gossip.  It was a good visit and nice to see a familiar face.  After dinner Taylor walked me home and I headed pretty much straight to bed for catch a 6:30AM bus the next morning to the airport.

Tuesday morning (July 2) was another early day and I was off to the airport and then on a flight to Palma de Mallorca.  Mallorca is an island off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean and Palma is the main city on the island.  My flight landed around noon and Greg’s wouldn’t arrive from Oslo until around 7, so I grabbed a bus into the city to check into the hotel and get settled.  Once I checked in, I headed off in search of beach essentials: a place to buy some bottled water, beach towels, sunscreen, and a nice bottle of wine to celebrate Greg’s birthday (he turned 25 on July 2^nd… happy quarter century, love!)  After a successful trip to the grocery store and a Vietnamese shop, I returned to the hotel to shower and hit the beach.  I wasn’t sure how long I’d be out or where I’d go, so I didn’t put on my swimsuit but just headed to the marina and the followed the coast line until I hit some nice beach.  Then, I just enjoyed the sunshine and pretty quickly had to turn around and go hop on the bus to pick up Greg.

Greg told me meet him at the hotel and he’ find his own way into the city.  As capable as he is, it was his birthday and there was no way that I wasn’t going to be there at baggage claim waiting on him.  After we found each other, we headed back into the city so Greg could get cleaned up and then we headed out for Japanese food for Greg’s birthday.  Japanese might seem like a random choice but there are actually some fantastic Japanese places on the island and Japanese is one of Greg’s favorites.  I’d already done some research on possible places and we asked the girl at the front desk for her favorite.  It was one of the one’s on my list and also nearby so we headed over.  We ducked into a small place and sat down.  Greg ordered a noodle dish and I ordered a soup and then we got a sushi plate to split.  Unfortunately, my gallbladder decided to flare up around the time I got my soup and I had to step outside for a bit for air. 

It settled for a bit so I went back in a nibbled on ginger and a piece or two of sushi while Greg devoured his.  It’s a shame I wasn’t feeling well because the food was really good.  Because I wasn’t feeling great, Greg hurried through his meal (another shame) and we paid and left.  Greg stayed downstairs to email my Mom and Dad and some of his family (free wifi in the lobby but not the room) and I headed up to the room to drink some water and lie down for a bit.  I fell asleep since I was feeling so crummy but we were in Mallorca and I knew I’d wake up feeling refreshed and ready to hit the beaches and explore the next day.  Thankfully I was right.

Wednesday was hot and sunny.  We headed out mid morning to find sandwiches for breakfast and snacks to take to the beach.  Then we grabbed a bus to Illetas Beach (Playa Illetas).  You should pause right now and google “Palma de Mallorca Illetas Beach” and look at the pictures.  It’s a perfect little cove and while it was a bit crowded, it was a quiet group.  The water is crystal clear and sparkling… a color blue I’d forgotten existed since living in Prague.  We laid out our towels and just lazed in the sun.  Greg coaxed me into the water (71-72 degrees… WAY too cold for me to enjoy) so as soon as he got me in (a long and difficult endeavor) I made it to our agreed upon point (a little reef/seaweed area) and then I booked it out of the water as fast as I could.  We spent the afternoon sunning and then decided to follow the coast along and see if there wasn’t another cool beach.  We were walking along some rocks in front of a resort when Greg caught his toe and ripped the bottom of it open.  My first aid kit had made it to Mallorca but not to the beach, so we patched it up best we could with Kleenex and decided it was time to head back.

After doctoring Greg’s toe and showering, we decided it was time to venture further into the city for dinner.  We wanted tapas and so we asked the same lady for another recommendation and she said the best place with the most authentic “Mallorcan” tapas was called La Cuchara and was along one of the main boulevards along the canal.  We headed there and got a great table outside.  The outside atmosphere was nice, but the restaurant itself (and the service) was a bit stuffy and serious for our tastes…. But the food was worth every time the waiter turned his nose up at us. We started with a bread basket that came with Spanish olives and a tomato and fish tapanade of sorts.  Then, we ordered boiled octopus served over potatoes with paprika.  Next came a tomato tartar that was tomato, basil and mozzarella.  Finally came a lamb stirfry (for Greg since I don’t eat red meat) and a tuna tartar that was the best this we ate on the trip.  It was raw tuna seasoned with a very slight touch of wasabi (which I don’t normally like), soy sauce, and sesame.  It was served with classic toast points.  The tuna was SO tender and just would melt in our mouths.  I could not believe how good it was. 

After dinner it was SO nice out, so we decided to walk around a bit and see some of the city.  We walked to the cathedral and admired it as the sun set and then walked along the coast stopping in at a few little markets to browse and just enjoy.  Once the sun completely set I got cold, so we decided to head back.  Since I’d been sick the night before we’d forgone the wine and decided it’d be a good night to open it.  Unfortunately, it was AWFUL.  Greg said it was “a bit heavy” and by that, I think it was a nice way to say “undrinkable.”  I’d randomly picked out a nice looking bottle of Mallorcan red and it was one of the pricier bottles (still less than 10euro) that the store had, so I figured it was a decent bet.  Wrong.  Oh well.  We laughed it off and settled in to read the Wheel of Time Series (we are both reading it right now).

The next day it was time to explore the city since the previous day we’d only done the beach.  First, we headed to brunch and decided to take the tapas route again.  This time we spotted a café in a little square with a pretty church that looked promising and grabbed a seat.  Since it was tapas and small plates, we ordered a lot of food… turned out with ended up with WAY more than we expected.  We had a tuna baguette, a salmon baguette (each baguette actually came with TWO), grilled baby octopus dressed with tomato, olive oil, onion and parsley, a manchego cheese plate with bread and tomato spread, and it seems like maybe something else.  Anyway, it was all delicious but way more oily than I expected so I had to take it easy. After brunch, we headed out to do some exploring.

We walked to the cathedral and paid to go in.  It’s crazy beautiful.  Notre Dame is bigger, and St. Michel may have prettier stained glass, but really it’s one of my favorite cathedrals I’ve been in.  After awhile admiring it, we wandered some of the old streets and then wandered to the old Arab Bath Houses.  There isn’t much of them left and it didn’t take long to see.  By this time, I was started to feel not great again and Greg’s toe was hurting and he was thirsty so we agreed it was time to hit the beach with the water and do some more of nothing.  Since it was already mid afternoon we headed to a closer beach than Illetas.  The main beach is much bigger and thus, less concentrated with people, but also much rowdier and not nearly as nice.  We longed for a bit and then decided (okay, I decided) that I didn’t want to leave without trying out one of those beach clubs with lounge chairs on the rocks right above the water that serves drinks. 

We found a nice looking one and sat down and ordered drinks.  Greg ordered a drink that I can’t remember the name of (a Portuguese one) and I had a Bellini and it was so nice to watch the sun sink over the water and sip cocktails.  After 1 drink we decided it was dinner time.  We spotted a little square/plaza that seemed busy and upbeat with brightly colored restaurants and good sounding but inexpensive menus.  We sat down at one and ordered some sangria and perused the menu.  The place was called Bar Cota and was super cool.  It was and eclectic mix of cuisines from around the world.  We ordered a red pepper soup with Indian spices to split to start and then I had an arugula salad with lemon juce, tomatoes, and freshly shaved parmesan and Greg got a toast like thing with parma ham, cheese and some other goodies.  We were both really happy with our food and since it wasn’t too expensive, we decided to get dessert as well- orange sorbet for me and chocolate cake for Greg.  It was all SO good.

Since it was another gorgeous night, and our last in Palma, we took another walk.  First, we stumbled upon some sort of party at the modern art museum overlooking the city.  We tried to stay out of the way and just took in the amazing view over the ocean before heading away from the coast and along the canal.  It was so pretty.  After awhile we decided to head back since Greg was starting to get a headache.  He felt better with some water and Tylenol and we got packed to head out the next morning. 

Friday morning we headed straight to the airport for our flight.  We were back in Munich for a late lunch, so naturally we headed straight to the bagel place. After that, we decided it was too nice of an afternoon so we headed to the English Garden to spend the rest of the day.  The English Garden is supposedly the largest public park/garden in the world.  It’s huge and so pretty.  I really think I prefer Munich to Prague- but maybe that’s just the company.  Still, walking to and from the Garden was almost as pretty as relaxing in the grass beside the stream.  Once it started to cool off, we headed to the grocery store to get salad fixings for dinner (mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, Balkan cheese, carrots, and chicken that we cooked in lemon juice and garlic).  After we cooked and ate, we thought it would be the perfect night to open the bottle of champagne I’d brought from Prague.  One of my student’s parents got it for me… it was a rose brut and much nicer and more expensive than anything I have ever had to drink.  We popped the bottle and climbed out onto the roof.  I made it about 4 steps before realizing that I could not play off my fear of heights.  I burst into tears and insisted we go inside. Poor Greg.  It’s a wonder he puts up with me.  Needless to say, we drank the champagne inside instead and chatted some with Greg’s roommates and their various visitors. 

The next day I was supposed to leave but I wasn’t feeling well  (thought it was my gallbladder AGAIN) and we figured it was our last few days together until possibly October when we both move to England so we agreed I should stay an extra day.  We had a lazy day.  Reading in the sun, chatting with roommates, and saw one of Greg’s friends and old roommates who just moved back to Munich from Guatemala.  It was a good day and nice to not feel like we had anywhere to be.  Greg wanted to take me to a nice dinner to say goodbye and so we went to a Turkish/German place he last went with his parents that he loves.  I ordered grilled salmon with artichokes and avocado and it came out looking amazing.  Unfortunately, about 3 bites in I realized maybe it wasn’t my gallbladder all day and that I might actually be sick sick.  I left to run to the bathroom and be sick, but at this point I didn’t want Greg to know. 

Of course, I sat back down and lasted about 2 minutes before I was positive I was about to be sick again and excused myself.  Greg realized I was looking green and tossed me the keys to his apartment and told me to head home (only about 2-3 blocks) and he’d pay and take care of things.  I bolted.  I just didn’t want to be sick in front of any of the nice restaurants with patrons dining outside between the place where we were and his flat.  Thankfully I made it to his street to some bushes.  I let myself in and thankfully none of his roommates were home.  Greg got home about 10 minutes after me and fixed me a puke bowl “like his mom used to” which made me laugh because that’s what MY mom used to do in case I couldn’t make it to the bathroom and I spent the rest of the evening watching Pirates of the Caribbean and praying I didn’t need the puke bowl.  Thankfully, I didn’t.  I felt miserable all evening but managed to fall asleep and didn’t wake up through the night.  By Saturday morning, I was fine.

Since I was feeling better, Greg and I decided rather than wasting the day, we’d head to Garmisch, a small, historic town in the German Alps.  We decided I’d stay yet another night so that we could really spend the whole full day up in the mountains.  Greg had never been to Garmisch either, and we both totally fell in love with it.  It’s a gorgeous town and surrounded by the Alps every direction you look.  We took a short walk around town and then decided we wanted to take the train up to the top of one of the mountains and have lunch.  Unfortunately, the train up costs 45euros per person.  We thought that was outrageous and it was a cloudy day and not so clear, so we sat down with some maps and reassessed.  We settled on taking a bus to the edge of town and then taking a 45 minute hike up to Lake Pflegersee. 

The hike was way harder than it should have been.  I am out of shape, but the altitude also really got to me and even when the trail was level I just could not get enough oxygen.  Still, I’d like to get my butt back into shape and hiking is such a fantastic feeling because I feel like there is a worthwhile and tangible destination at the end.  When we got to the lake we settled in at the restaurant by the lake and ordered.  Greg had some sort of fried pork with potatoes but I opted for the fitness salad (mixed greens, sunflower seeds, shaved radishes, beets, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, smoked chicken and balsamic vinegar).  Both of our meals were unbelievably good and we actually couldn’t believe how inexpensive considering the location and views.  After lunch we decided to detour on the hike down and check out the ruins of Castle Werdenfels.  The views were gorgeous and it was so cool to see the little town at the bottom with towering mountains all around.  We heard some pretty loud thunder and it looked like a storm was rolling in though, so we headed back down. 

Once back in the town we wandered in the old city area and stopped on a covered bridge to watch the river for a bit.  Then, we headed to a big park/garden.  We hardly saw any of it though because it started raining quite hard, so we headed to a café for water and coffee before grabbing a train back to Munich.  Once back, we stopped to print my bus ticket for the next morning, bought some bread to eat the next morning, and headed home.  After showers and some chats with Greg’s roommates, we watched Firefly (an old space-cowboy type show?) and went to bed so I could catch a 7AM bus back to Prague. 

Once back in the city, it was crunch time.  I was supposed to leave for the airport the next morning at 10:30, so I got busy cleaning and packing and repeatedly weighing my luggage to make sure I wasn’t going to go over the 23kg/50lb limit.  At 3PM, I headed out to meet Nikola ad say goodbye.  We headed to a café that is run entirely by people with special needs as a sort of training place and an opportunity for them to have a real job and income.  The food was really good (greek salad and homemade lemonade) and it was good to see Nikola and have time to spend together before I leave.  I would not have survived the year without her and I learned SO much from her.

After a long chat, we parted ways so I could get more work done.  Then I headed down the street to a cocktail bar with great drinks and a terrible atmosphere (trying way too hard to be swanky).  Tereza, Katy and Gary met up with me and we had a few drinks and said our goodbyes in case I left the next day, which was starting to look doubtful considering how full the flights were.  Sure enough, I woke up the next day (Tuesday) and the flight was way oversold and I was way down the non-rev list, so I decided to not lug all my things to the airport, which was a good decision since I would not have made the flight.  Instead, I spent the whole day cleaning our apartment.  Tamela was behind on her packing so I did pretty much all the cleaning.  That night we made dinner and watched the Bachelorette.  The next day was my new “Last Day in Prague.”  I did lots more cleaning and some more packing/redistributing weight.  Then, I headed to Gill’s for a bbq.

Gill lives way out past where I used to teach and my opencard (transit pass) had expired the day before.  I decided to do the right thing and buy a bus ticket from the driver rather than risk getting caught.  A bus ticket from the driver is 40czk and when I got on, I only had a 50czk piece.  I handed it to the driver and he told me (in Czech) that he didn’t have change and pointed to the door for me to get back off the bus.  Now, the bus out to Gill’s only runs once an hour and I wasn’t about to get off just to hunt down change and then wait, so I motioned for the driver to just keep the full 50czk and give me a ticket.  He refused, but by this point, we are driving along and he’s arguing with me in Czech (I say arguing… neither of us could understand much of what the other was saying.)  Finally, we stopped at a red light and the driver came out from behind his little driver cubicle and started yelling to the whole bus in Czech.  As I saw people start to pull out their purses and wallets… I realized he must have been asking for change.  Finally, some nice man from the back of the bus provided me with change for the 50czk piece and I paid the 40czk ticket price.  It was super embarrassing though. 

Anyway, once at the bbq, I was too nervous about the next day’s travels to really enjoy myself so I’m afraid I wasn’t the most fun.  Still, it was fun to see Gill, Tereza, Lauren, Katy, Gary and Nathan one last time and say goodbye.  I headed home and ran into a fellow teacher, Emily, on the bus and got to tell her goodbye as well.  Once home, it was final cleaning things (recycling and trash out, etc) and early to bed so I could start my next adventure by heading home! 

The Final Week of School

The final week of school was so busy!  I remember being a kid and being beyond ready for school to be out.... multiply that by ten and you get how I felt as a teacher.  Don't get me wrong, I will miss my kids and my co-teacher (and my awesome class parents) but I also felt like the week was so jam packed that I just wanted it to be over so I could take a deep breath and exhale properly.

To be honest, I don't remember if there was anything particularly busy about Monday other than I stayed late to start taking things down off our classroom walls and clean.  On Tuesday we were supposed to be taking a fieldtrip to the botanical gardens for a picnic with the kids.  Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas and when I awoke to pouring rain, storms, and 55 degree weather (yes, in late June), I immediately knew we'd need to move on to plan B.  We spread a blanket in the classroom and had a "picnic" on the floor.  Then we played with a giant parachute (I remember doing this when I was a kid, too... especially for field day!)  The kids seemed to love it and have a blast so it all worked out.  After school on Tuesday we had a staff meeting about cleaning our classrooms and to learn the dance for the teacher flash-mob that would happen the next day at the end of the year ceremony.  The dance was pretty silly and I'm not so into that sort of thing, but I was willing to be a good sport about it.

Wednesday was the end of the year ceremony.  It was supposed to be held outside but the rain and cold weather continued.  All of the staff expected it to be moved inside, but much to our dismay, the top few people insisted that the show must go on (outside) despite the flooded garden/field area where it was supposed to be held and the miserable cold.  Thankfully, they administration did recognize that it was too wet and cold to expect my little-bitties to stand outside for so long, so we didn't have to go outside and instead watched from the window.  Of course, none of this was clear until the last minutes so we had to keep the kids up from their naps b/c we thought we'd need time to bundle them all up and walk them outside (at least a 45 minute endeavor with that many 2-3 year olds... especially since we encourage them to try to do things alone).

The ceremony that we saw from inside was good.  I'm a little sad that I missed some of the speeches since last year that was supposedly the funniest part for the english speaking staff.  Apparently last year the owner of the school was trying to describe the homemade gifts for parents and said that they were the result of a "hand-job."  I can see the translation error but still hilarious.  I don't think this year there was anything quite that funny though.  After the ceremony started to wrap up, we bundled up the kids and took them out to do the end of the year giant maple leaf event.  Basically, they had outlined a giant maple leaf (b/c we are a "Canadian" school) and the entire school filled it in and then held red panels above our heads.  The original goal was to make it big enough to make the Guinness book of World Records, but I think we only succeeded in making the Czech record.  While it WAS cool looking (they took arial photos of it from the roof), the Czech record for the largest maple leaf was probably up for grabs...

Thursday was the last day for several of my students (including a few of my favorites... and Tereza... the little girl who absolutely stole my heart.)  It was a sad day filled with too many goodbyes.  I stayed late to do some more cleaning and hang out with Tereza and Lili since they were in after school club and it was their last day.  After cleaning and goodbyes, I headed into town and over to Jena's.  She was flying out on Friday morning, so we had to say goodbyes and celebrate the year.  We all went over to Jena and Will's place to drink the wine parents had given us as goodbye gifts and eat the chocolate (also from class parents) and just enjoy our last night together.  Because of weight restrictions, Jena was leaving tons of her clothes, so we had a blast all trying them on and dressing as Jena... even the guys, who hilariously dressed in her leggings, sparkly sweaters, and crazy hats.

I had morning club the next morning, so I was a party pooper and left quite early.  Tamela came with me.  On our way to the bus stop we were stopped and asked for directions by a very lost young guy.  He was heading somewhere close to where we live so we told him just to come get on the bus with us and he'd get off a few bus stops before us.  He was super friendly and works for Sony doing some sort of fashion/wardrobing and works a lot with celebrities and just seemed really cool.  He's also from London and promised me to send me a list of cool places to check out in exchange for our help.  He's friended us on fb so I think I can make him make good on that promise.

I had morning club on Friday, never fun but was almost totally empty on the last day.  Once that was over, I headed to Blue Bunnies for lots of sad goodbyes and our class party.  Kids were in and out all day (some only came for about an hour to say goodbye, some came late, etc).  It was a bittersweet day and although I am looking forward to my next adventure, and although this year has been less than perfect, particularly with poor school management and being sick constantly, I am none-the-less going to miss my little rugrats so much.  I think the stress, the emotions, and too much chocolate got to me, and I started to feel really ill on the bus ride home.  I was supposed to be going out with friends, but I opted to stay in and get my stomach calmed down and also just.... process the end of the school year and take some quiet reflection time.

Saturday was my first day of summer vacation... but I was still busy.  The first thing I did was go close my Czech bank account.  Neither of the employees there spoke any English (okay, a slight exaggeration... one was able to ask if I wanted to exchange money.)  Through a series of online translators, charades, and patience/good humor on both ends, I closed my account and got money out in Czech Crowns, Euros, and USD for the weeks that were ahead.  From there, a went and bought Andie a present (it's super pretty... hoping it doesnt get smashed on the flight home) and then I went and got a homemade lemonade (with mint and ginger) and a small sandwich at this adorable cafe that just opened about a block away from the apartment.  That night, Tamela and I made homemade falafel, homemade hummus, and had pita bread and veggies along with it for a delicious dinner.  

Sunday (June 30) felt like my final real day in Prauge since I was leaving on vacation for a week and then flying home shortly after my return.  I spent part of it packing, but I also wanted to say goodbye to Will, who would leave while I was on vacation.  After a morning of weighing suitcases down to the final pound, I met up with Will and we headed to see the Kafka statue in Prague.  I'd only seen it once and it's a very touristy place, and it was worth another visit.  After staring at it for a few minutes, we decided we'd had enough and headed to Charles Bridge to shop for gifts for Tamela (from me) and a friend of Will's.  I found a gorgeous copper bracelet and copper earrings with stained glass for Tamela and Will found a breathtaking necklace for Ang. At the same shop, I fell in love with a mini copper bracelet... Will bought it for me without me realizing it which was so nice and appreciated since I'm obsessed with it (which he said he could tell).

From the bridge, we headed to see the Lennon Wall once last time.  What Greg and I wrote last time is already painted over, but some how, what I wrote on Easter is still there. ("Liberty is something far too precious to be buried in books." -- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington).  After admiring the wall and looking for things we'd written in the past, we went to buy Trdelik (pastry things) and then finally parted ways.  I had dinner with Tamela again and crashed early so I could get up and catch the 7AM bus to Munich.

Recovery and End of the Year Fun

I was very, very sick for a few days there... I stayed in bed from the afternoon of June 5th through June 9th... I never went to the doctor because my boss chose to tell me this time that I'm not not allowed to come to work on antibiotics (according to Czech law) which I've already broken a lot this year.  Still, I decided to ride it out.  Thankfully I felt better over the weekend (the 8th and 9th) and while I forced myself to stay in over the weekend (missing a BBQ and other fun events), I was able to be back at work on Monday antibiotic free (though not 100% healed).

I honestly don't remember too much of the week after that.  I was still trying to get to bed early and survive until the weekend.  The weekend was wonderful (and worth resting up for).  It was June 15th and 16th... so 2 weekends ago, and it was the last weekend that almost all of our friend group would be in Prague (the next weekend some people had weddings and other travel plans and this coming weekend lots of people are flying out for good on Friday or Saturday).  To celebrate the end of the year and to start our goodbyes, we met up at a wine and cheese shop at JZP (a metro stop in a cool area of Prague) call Le Caveau.  The website is here: http://www.broz-d.cz/

My friend Katy found the place and I wish I would have known about it sooner... it's adorable.  Delicious and affordable wine, sandwiches, cheeses and desserts (we all indulged in all of those things).  We met up mid afternoon (Me, Katy, Tamela, Kate, Lauren, Tereza and Celieta and Jena joined after they finished skydiving) and started chatting and sharing wine.  By the time we left hours later, we all had finished too much wine but were quite happy to be heading off together.  The group headed for Riegrovy Sady to watch the sunset and I headed to pick up John (a guy I'd never met but a friend of my friend Jacob) and then took John to meet everyone.  We were tipsy and John was ... not.  I feel like we may have overwhelmed him just a little bit, but he was a good sport.  After the sunset I took John on a walk around Prague (and got us lost multiple times... no matter how long I live here I just can't get my bearings in Old Town) and then I dropped him off at his hostel and went to meet my friends at one of our favorite dancing spots, Radost.

By this time, the group had evolved a bit.  It was me, Tamela, Dino (a guy Tamela has been seeing), Jena, Tereza, Katy, Gary, and Nathan (a friend of Katy and Gary's who is staying with them for a month).  We danced on stage and hugged and desperately avoided the creepy guy trying to give us weed (not sell, GIVE.... Prague is... very liberal).  It was a fun night and I was very glad I was well enough to participate.

That Sunday I slept in and then started packing, did some shopping, and called Dad to wish him a happy Father's Day, but all in all, it was quiet.

Last week was a LONG week.  First of all, it was hot.  Overall, I LOVED it.  90-95 degrees is better than 50 degrees in my opinion, so I was happy to have all the windows in our apartment open and be in sundresses constantly.  That said, the school where I work is not airconditioned.  Every classroom has at least 1 wall that is completely windows.  Some classrooms, like mine, have 2 walls of windows.  It is a GREENHOUSE.  Not only is the place not airconditioned... there are also not even fans.  The school was stifling.

Although I will admit it was hot in the building, Czechs are really, really concerned about the kids getting overheated.  On that Monday, it was only about 75 out when we headed out for recess.... but my co-teacher was scared that the kids would have heat strokes.... she lathered them in sunscreen (that part is good practice), freaked out that one of them didnt have a hat, and kept pushing water at them.  The other mornings that week, she deemed it too hot to go outside at all.  Now, I know I teach 2-3 year olds and they are more sensitive and such... but to someone like me, raised in GA, this is just borderline ridiculous.  Then again, she thought I was being absurd in the winter when I would suggest that 18 degrees fahrenheit was "too cold" to take kids out into.

Tuesday of last week I had morning club (leave home at 6:20) and then we had a staff meeting and THEN I had to stay with Nikola and finish setting the color of the tie-dying that our kids did on handkerchiefs for their parents.  I didn't leave school until around 6:25 in the evening.  I went home, showered and changed and then Tamela and I went to dinner at one of our favorite places, Mood, for a nice dinner and our last roomy outing.  When came back and settled in to watch the Bachelorette and then our power went out.  Since it was steaming hot outside (and pretty warm in our unairconditioned apartment) and pitch black, we both just gave up and went to bed (we found out later there was a huge explosion in a suburb of Prague that caused the outage across about 1/5 of Prague).

Wednesday was another VERY long day.  I left the house at 6:40 to get to school for parent teacher conferences.  After a few, we had our class presentation that morning where parents stayed and the kids performed a whole list of songs they have learned this year.  The performance went really well, but it always makes for a stressful morning (and way more crying when parents finally do leave bc it is out of routine).  That afternoon we had more parent/teacher conferences (including a not so pleasant one) and then I had to teach Nikola how to do necessary things on the computer.  Now, I love Nikola.  I would not have survived this year without her... BUT... she cannot work a computer.  I don't mean she just kind of can't... I mean that I wrote a step by step manual for her, complete with pictures, on how to transfer pictures from the camera to the computer... following said manual involved 2 hours and LOTS of questions.  She has lots of talents I don't... but teaching her that computer stuff was painful and I was hot and tired and by the end of it... I was not holding my patience so well :( We left about 6:30 again that day... ugh.

By Friday, I was ready to relax.  Jena wanted to spend her last Friday night in Prague (she leaves this coming Friday morning) eating Mexican at our favorite place, so she came over to the apartment and we made strawberry margaritas and guac (help keep us from spending so much there) and then me, Jena and Tamela headed out to eat.  We had amazing food and a pitcher of margaritas and lots of good chatting and girl time.  After dinner, I headed home to be productive, and Jena and Tamela went dancing.

Saturday was another perfect day.  Jena and I met up at Letna (a huge park overlooking Prague/the Vltava River) and picked a spot in the sun.  We bought popsicles and lounged about.  Tamela showed up, and later Tereza and we just sunned and ate too many popsicles and talked.  It was a lazy afternoon, but absolute perfection with the weather and the lounging.  I headed home about 7 to continue productivity (goodbye letters to my students, putting together a photo album as Nikola's goodbye present, packing, planning Mallorca, etc) and everyone else headed to a music festival.

Sunday (yesterday) I got up and did some things for Oxford before meeting Nikola, Joanna, and Will to head to Konepruske Jeskyne- the largest cave system in the Czech Republic.  We took the train to a town near the caves and then walked... I expected a short walk... it was 7 km (roughly 4.5 miles).  Some of it was true hiking, other parts were along country roads.  The landscape, however, was GORGEOUS.  The weather was also cool and breezy and actually perfect for hiking.  The caves themselves are incredible.  HUGE caverns and very spacious... as a fun fact, in one of the caves, they found bones from a rhino that are around 13,000 years old.  Which means 13,000 years ago there were rhinos in what is now the Czech Republic.  Getting to the actual caves and through the caves was another 1.5 miles (and 500 stairs).  After exploring we took a route to Beroun (a different town than the one we arrived to) which was another 4 miles.  About 2 miles in to that portion I twisted my ankle.  It hurt but I was/am able to walk on it.  It's still sore but doesnt even feel sprained.

Anyway, it was a really cool day and I got to see a lot more of the Czech country side (plus, we rode there and back in a 2 story train and the upper level was SO MUCH FUN!)

Today was my last Monday teaching Blue Bunnies... only 4 more work days left.  Exactly 1 week until Munich, 1 week and 1 day until Mallorca and Greg's 25th birthday, and 2 weeks and 1 day until home!

Sick (again)

I spoke too soon about feeling better from that cold.

I've been in bed with a 101.5 degree fever since yesterday afternoon.  Scarlet Fever is going around the school (cause by Type-A Strep which also causes strep) and I have huge tonsils, headache, very painful swallowing, and a high fever.  No scarlet rash..... yet.  Fingers crossed.

I thought I could ride it out, but I'm heading to see a doctor in the morning since I still feel really, really awful.

Sometimes I'm not SO different than my 2 year old students.  When I'm this sick I just want my mom.  No matter how old we get, I don't think that feeling ever goes away.

Prague Floods

The past week has been a bit of an adventure.

Greg arrived last Thursday.  I still had a cold, though I was feeling somewhat better than I had been feeling.  We decided to stock up on groceries for the weekend and then treat ourselves to dinner out at our favorite restaurent in Prague... a little italian osteria.  Unfortunately, they were totally booked for the night, so we headed back to my apartment and cooked salmon, fennel, peppers, zucchini, potatoes, and onions.  After dinner and catching up with Tamela, I headed to bed since I had work the next day.

Friday Greg met me at Opatov (about 1/2 way out to where I work) and we headed back into the city to do some printing and scanning for our universities.  For those of you who haven't heard- Greg will be completing a fully funded PhD at Cambridge through their NanoscienceDTC program (essentially nanotechnology that is presented through physics, material science, engineering, etc).  I'm very proud of him and he deserves a big shout out.  Anyway, he needed to get them some paperwork so we did that and then rushed home to have a quick dinner before going to see a dance show, "Bounce," as part of the Prague Fringe Festival.  The description said, "Bounce is a must see performance from New York Fringe! Eva Dean Dancer's 'five brilliant dancers' (nytheatre.com) move with circus globes, poi balls and physio balls to create wondrous worlds.  Dance theatre that has 'mesmerizing choreography.' (The Wall Street Journal).  An 'unalloyed delight' with an 'infinite-seeming range of the lithe expressive physicality', (The New York Times).

Based on that, I think my expectations were way too high.  I was expected something whimsical and acrobatic.  Maybe like a miniature, amateur version of Cirque du soleil.  Unfortunately, it was more just like modern dance with giant balls.  Parts of it were quite entertaining, but parts were just too weird for me and a few parts were maybe even a little boring.  Greg said he liked it so maybe I just didn't get it.  During the show I also started feeling feverish again, but Greg had been dying to check out the Prague Beer Festival so I insisted we head over even though I was feeling really under the weather again.  By the time we got there, I was feeling awful, so Greg drank a beer and took a quick look around and then hurried me home.

The next day (Saturday) we were supposed to go sky-diving.  I got us vouchers for Valentines Day and we've had this weekend planned for a long time.  Unfortunately, it started raining Friday night and was still pouring Saturday morning.  The company called to let us know that the weather was too bad to go, but they asked if we wanted to reschedule for the following day, which we did.  We made a big breakfast and then headed off to the beer festival in the pouring rain to spend the afternoon.  As soon as we got a table, Greg went to order us beers and met a guy from California in line.  He was in Prague for the weekend from his study abroad program in Germany and none of his friends had wanted to brave the rain for the beer festival.  We invited him to join us and spent the afternoon just chatting and getting to know each other.  It poured the ENTIRE time we were at the festival and still hadn't let up by the time we left.  Greg and I eventually headed home to get changed and make out dinner reservation at Da Clara.

Dinner was, as always, spectacular.  We started with our favorite salad (arugula, gorgonzola, walnuts, apples, and a lemon/honey/olive oil dressing and then drizzled with balsamic.)  After that, we split a pasta dish with eggplant, tomatoes, almonds, ricotta, and garlic.  It was phenomenal.  It had sounded good to me, but I didn't expect it to be so outstanding.  For our main courses I had duck in an orange sauce with roasted veggies on the side (potatoes, broccoli, carrots) and Greg had a steak with asparagus and cheese and a side of similar roasted veggies.  Although the food and service was wonderful, as always, they charged us a table charge, and for the tap water, which they have never done before.  We didn't complain, but it made me a bit sad... I'd honestly rather just pay a bit more for the food than have little charges tacked on.  Still, it's a minor complaint and it was a wonderful last meal at my favorite place in Prague (I say last b/c I doubt I'll spend the money to eat there alone before I leave).

After dinner we walked the short block home and watched A League of Their Own, which Greg had never seen, and also skyped with our good friend Brittany who we love and miss dearly back in Philly. It rained all through the night, including what sounded like a monsoon... or more just like someone pouring buckets of water over my building.  It was nuts.  Sky diving was cancelled again (boo) and we instead had a very lazy Sunday watching movies (Totoro) and reading (Wheel of Time series for both of us) and eating.  We also booked our vacation for the first week of July to Palma de Mallorca.  I was hoping for Greece or Portugal, but we got a great deal on Mallorca and I'm actually really excited to have some neat history and a nice mixture of history/sites and relaxation/beach.

That night Greg was catching a mit fahr (carpool) back to Munchen and we realized that the city was in bad shape.  We started looking at how he was going to meet up with his ride and realized that 8 metro stations had been closed, some trams weren't running, buses had been re-routed, etc.  We managed to get him to his ride without too much trouble, but I was curious to see how bad things were getting so after dropping Greg off I walked down to the Vlatava to watch it rise.  Lots of people in the city had the same idea.  It was still POURING out, and the river was roaring and crazy high.  I took some pictures and then decided to head back to my apartment.  As I followed the news after getting home, I realized just how bad things really were.... parts of Prague were being evacuated... including animals from the zoo.  This was quickly turning into the worst flood since the devastating flood of 2002 and THAT was the worst flood in well over 200 years.  

Despite the fact that all public schools (and most private schools) were closed AND that there were major transportation disruptions, my lovely school decided to open on Monday.  To be honest, my commute wasn't so bad on the way to school, but it took some teachers nearly 4 hours to reach the school.  What quickly became concerning, however, was how to get home.  It was STILL raining outside, so routes that had been open to get TO school, were gradually being closed throughout the day.  When I inquired to management about whether or not there was a contingency plan to help get staff home (there were still open roads but none that have public bus routes for us to use to get back into the city), I was told that management was dealing with "more important things" and "wasn't keeping an eye on the transportation situation."  Now, about 75% of the staff commutes in from Prague using public transit... and a small number of students do as well... so tell me why this wasnt at least being monitored.  Thankfully, I was able to make it home... in the rain.

Last night it finally stopped raining.  I made it to school again and so did most of the staff, though some teachers were evacuated and several have had their flats/houses totally flooded/damaged beyond repair. It's crazy to see some of my favorite places in the city just under water.

Keep Praha in your thoughts!