Hello from Prague!
Yes, I live in Praha. Technically I live in the Žižkov neighborhood, and last week I moved into a new flat one street uphill from where I was living before.
I somehow survived my TEFL course despite debilitating whooping cough, and now I'm recovering from strep throat. It never ends!
But I have learned some things:
1) just because the medical center is called Canadian doesn't mean that it's better
2) don't go on a trip when you're sick, it makes you more sick
3) don't go into a smokey night club when you're sick, it also makes you sicker
4) it doesn't matter how much you want to party and have fun, if you're sick, you have to stay home and be boring and rest. Sucker.
I actually love Prague, despite its proclivity to make me ill. The people are really interesting, and there's a whole little world of expats within the city. There are newspapers, a radio station, advertising, products, shops, everything for English speakers in Prague, and believe me we take advantage of that.
I find it fascinating that there are so many English-speaking expats here that we are a niche market.
The city is also beautiful right now. As I read on facebook about my friends in Minneapolis seeing the first snow flakes, it's still in a stable autumn here in Prague. Some leaves are still on the trees, although a walk through the park has me trampling them as I attempt to read street signs and go to new places in the city.
I'm starting to understand the city, be able to get from one area to another without hurting myself, although I still find a city map and a transit map very useful. It's a big city, and not always easy to navigate. I'm also so used to using trams, I sometimes don't realize that one thing is so close to another that I can walk from point A to B.
I'm slowly introducing myself to this city, letting us get to know each other. I still need to rest a lot, but I try to find new neighborhoods, new areas, new ways of navigating what is to me an entirely new universe. Each little thing is its own challenge, its own adventure, whether I'm up to one or not. For the first time in a very long time I do not have close family and friends to help guide me through my daily life. I must rely on practical strangers to assist me, must ask for help, must get things done for myself. It's hard, but I like it. I'm doing my own thing.
