Stats

Most of my first week in Prague updates have been on Instagram (link here if you wanna see different photos or to follow me). Based on feedback there, this post is framed in the same manner. It's organization and info is little different than my typical post.

A few stats from my first week in Praha...

17,040 steps on average/day
Coming from Mumbai where I rode everywhere and considering this isn't a workout, I feel great about my daily step average. Using public transport, preparing for my apartment move and doing a bit of sightseeing encourages a lot of steps. Before I moved to Prague, I was curious about how living here would impact my daily movement so I joined the fitness tracker club (mine's a Garmin) and do feel that sense of satisfaction others raved of when I walk more than the previous day. I'm loving the ease of getting around here. It's one of the reasons Prague felt like it would be a good fit for me.

Gotta love Google maps & easy navigable public transport

Bus station timetables are posted and easy to read

Glad I've got comfy shoes for these streets.

3+1 = my apartment
In Prague apartments are rented and sold by the number of rooms. My new apartment is a 3+1 which means 2 bedrooms, 1 living room and a separate kitchen. When you read the apartment ads it's like a new code with things like 2+kk, 2+1, etc. I found a great place for me. Great neighborhood, rigth across from a large park with a beer garden, close to public transport and a farmer's market. Inside it has some old charm, great lighting and a modern kitchen. I'll get the keys later today and share pics soon.

By apartment building's door

My new street with some cloudy skies

??? liters of pivo
That's how beer is ordered in the Czech Republic, so don't think I'm suddenly drinking the whole day away. The Pilsner's cold and delicious. It's also cheap! It's only about 80 cents (USD) for half a liter. It doesn't fill you up (no carbonation) and is the perfect thing to have at the end of the day while catching up with new friends and colleagues.

Beer and bowling at my hotel

1 Free Tour
Since this is my first time here, I had to play tourist for a day. I took a advantage of a 3-hour free tour. It's organized by a company who's guides wages are based on tips. It was a great way to see some of the city and get oriented. I didn't go photo crazy either during the tour nor with my sharing here, just took some of those things I found interesting and/or beautiful.

Church of Saint Ludmilla

David Cerny's UnUtero; A pregnant woman who's womb you can climb into

The medieval astronomical clock at Old Town Hall

Old Town Square

20 tourists
I'd read and heard that sunrise and sunset over the Charles Bridge are the best times to visit. I had tried mid-day earlier this week and hated the crowds so decided to get up early yesterday and try it out. Now sunrise here is at 5:27 am with it being summer, so I didn't arise that early but made it to the bridge by 7:30 and at the most I only saw about 20 tourists. The peace made the area even more enchanting.

A gate to enter Charles Bridge

A bride out early taking some photos on the bridge

Canal in the Castle district

John Lennon wall

A few love locks on a canal bridge

View of the castle and Charles Bridge and this is just my iPhone not a postcard I swear!

??? cafe au lait
Cafe culture is big in Prague and I've had the caffeine to prove it.

Complimentary cookie and Sudoku at Cafe Lounge

13:00 - 17:00
Tomorrow IKEA will deliver my sofa, dishes, glasses and a couple of pillows. It's a sleeper sofa for those who are wondering...

It's crazy how easy shopping can be sometimes

Shopping for the "needs" like storage under tiny sinks

So not my typical post, in format or content, but thought I'd share a few more stats and some photos from my first week in my new home city.

Waiting Room Humor

Being in the U.S., I find doctor's waiting rooms always more interesting than those I wait in abroad. Why? My fellow patients' conversations and the ability to understand the nuisances of English and American humor.

Two stories from my waiting room time this week.

1. Changes
A man and woman who were in their late 70s entered. While he was checking in for his appointment, the nurse asked him the usual questions, "Has any of your personal information changed since your last visit? Insurance? Addresses?"

"No, I was just here last year," he replied.

"Actually sir, you were last here 6 years ago."

Laughing he responded, "Well, then yeah, a lot has changed."

The gentleman spent a bit of time reviewing his paperwork and then came to sit by his wife who was reading a Woman's Day Magazine.

As he sat down, he said, "So, the last time I was here was 6 years ago."

She nodded.

"And you came with me."

Another nod.

"But then you were listed as my friend."

"Oh," she said with a sly smile.

"So I crossed that out and wrote bossy wife. Figure that way they'll know it's you."

They both chuckled. She shook her head and looked back down to her reading as he kissed her left cheek.

2. Aging
A women, I'm guessing was in her late 50s, went over to the magazine table that all doctors' waiting room offices have. She picked up the magazine on the top of the stack.

She chose People.

"I won't know any of the people in this magazine. Not one. That's how I knew I was getting old, when I didn't recognize anyone," she chuckled.

I smiled at her.

"Every time I read one, I go home and ask my husband if he knows who these celebrities are and he'll answer, 'Who? No idea.' That always makes me feel better to know he's old too."

We laughed.

Waiting rooms always test your patience but this week they also gave me a few laughs.

Home Revised

It seems like there's a trending topic with bloggers I follow lately. The concept of home. I wrote my own version while on my flight home from Mumbai to Chicago a week and a half ago. 

Then I was met at the airport with huge hugs. 

After just a few hours back in the the States, I realized my original "home" post needed a major rewrite.

Until I boarded the plane, I had called Dekalb, Illinois and Mumbai, India home. In DeKalb, home held memories of Christmas Eve traditions including matching jammies. In Mumbai, it facilitated escape from beautiful chaos. Both places created safety, peace and comfort. 

The final few weeks, I felt like I'd lost home. My sense of having a place had evaporated. 

Which is where?

I was in stuck in-between places Trying to accept that I'd spend the summer holding a pin to put onto my map.

But then unexpectedly, I found home. A bedroom in my parents' new house that was decorated less than 24 hours after 2 closings. 

My bedroom for the summer including cute throw pillows

A sister trip to Vancouver with the Goo. Watching soccer out with my parents. Spending a Saturday catching up with dear friends in Chicago. I realized that sometimes home isn't one place. It's not the place your parents lived for 28 years. Not the apartment you painted in vibrant hues in Mumbai. Home is anywhere and everywhere. It's where I make it.

For this summer, not only does Kermit have a home but I have one too. The uncertainty I'd struggled with the final few weeks of the school year in Bombay has been unexpectedly reattached. Stitched back into the place by the people I love. Thank you.

Crashes

Yesterday the walls came crashing down. Literally.

One of the cabinet doors in my kitchen broke away from the wall as I attempted to put away my freshly washed french press.

At the time I thought it was funny. The external, literal falling down of things around me. Lately it's felt like I've been driving in Mumbai again; trying to dodge collisions and this one I couldn't avoid.

Yesterday though, I shrugged it off, put in my School Dude request to have it repaired (Yes, I know I'm spoiled by only completing a brief online form to have a handyman come to my apartment and make the repair for free) and went about the remainder of my day.

About 11:30 this morning, though there was a pile up. This crash came in the form of a doorbell and a table.

My friend's movers arrived to pick up the table she bought from me.

The movers slide off their sandals, picked up the table and were out in again in moments. This move was perfect. A green light. After closing the door, I sat back down to work. My eyes glanced back to the lesson plan and suddenly, I started to cry. The collision A full on, noise making, eye squinting, boogery cry. I'd been hit.

Also when you move furniture you also realize just how dirty your walls are.

While washing my face, I realized this crash had nothing to do teaching but was all about my space. I'm a nester. My home space is important to me. It's sacred. This new emptiness made me feel as though the end had arrived.

The longer I live abroad though, I realize this is part of transitioning. It comes in waves. Today hit me. It wasn't so much about the thing. The table. It was about the people I'm saying goodbye to for a while.

Rather than wallowing in my sorrows in my emptier nest, I reached out to my friends who in an instant were there with understanding and support.

Friends quickly offered to move up our afternoon date. They arrived earlier. After lunch, manis and pedis and just some good talks and quality time with some of my girls; I'm no longer suffering from transition whiplash.

While I hope no more literal things come tumbling down around me, I do know that these collisions will be a part of the next few months ahead.

End note 1: In case you wondered, the French press was also a casualty. Shattered and not quite as shrug-off-able as the cabinet door.

End note 2: Yes we are riding in a rickshaw with a lampshade above our heads. All you need to know is that it made me feel better. 

A Prescription for Skies

A disease I've contracted from living in Mumbai blue sky-itis. It's main symptom is intense cravings for skies. For any shade of blue. Royal. Cobalt. Powder.

There are some days where I get my fix riding along in my commute home or occasionally from a walk along Arabian Sea. Most of the time though, I suffer without.

When I’m outside Mumbai I really notice the indigo. The azure. The midnight. 

Outside the city the blues are completely accessible. No partial view. No apartment high rises blocking them. Outside the city the blues are in their purest forms. No city lights interfering in their depth. 

When I escape the sky desert of Mumbai, I find ways to get a fix.

Lounging on the Koh Lanta's beaches and watching sky blues bleed into the sea.

Tilting my head back so far my neck starts to hurt in the salt flats of Gujarat.

 Filling up my memory card with photo after photo of the simple sky blues of Kashmir.

Admiring the brilliant sapphire skies that make the visible even in your photos in Istanbul.

I've become that girl, the annoying one, who notices the skies and interrupts conversations to share my noticing. I crave for the people I'm with to pause and marvel in their beauty. Most people oblige, nod in agreement and quickly the conversation continues. Some pause and support my silent appreciation. One even suggest a hashtag for my Instagram posts.

I linger longer in the blues and reap their curing powers.

Transitions Suck

Transitions suck.

They’re hard. I know what’s ahead. 

Packing. Saying goodbye.

Waiting. Sitting in between moments.

Being the new girl. Seeking possibilities.

I’ve done this before. I’ve watched family and friends navigate them.

New countries and cities. Jobs and marriages. Babies being born while loved ones grow older.

Sometimes we RSVP’d change and sometimes they’ve crashed our party.

I invited them. I invited change.

But right now it feels; I feel sad.  

Because I feel right here is right.

And that’s okay because it's just all part of this.

Ahoy! Language Lessons

Learning a foreign language has never come easy for me. I tried, with a bit of effort, to learn Spanish and Portuguese. When I actually put effort into studying them, my reading and writing abilities were average. My listening abilities were pretty mediocre too.

First Portuguese class at EAB. Moro no India.

A photo posted by Megan Looney (@meganlooney05) on Jun 22, 2012 at 9:24am PDT

Oh and my speaking proficiency? That fell into a completely different category. It was awful. Why? Easy answer. Mostly because I loathe speaking another language.

Whether in the past or in the present, my perfectionistic side speaks loudly and criticizes my abilities when I make an attempt to utter a word or phrase.

I'm transported back to my freshman year in college. My Spanish professor only spoke Spanish. Shocker I know; but from what I recall he refused to speak any English. I'd use the most strategic means I could think of to evade answering his questions. Avoid any and all eye contact with him. Shockingly, that strategy didn't work and he'd call on me. Even when I would ask in Spanish for help with a particular word or phrase, "¿Cómo se dice____?" He'd refuse. Now I'm not saying having high expectations aren't appropriate for students or that I disagree with the belief that "we learn best when we're outside our comfort zone" but I was in agony. I wanted to slide down off my navy blue college desk/chair combo onto the floor and cower under my desk until this moment in the spotlight vanished. Needless to say my frustration and anxiety caused me to drop that class and Spanish.

Moving to the Czech Republic, I know I need to learn Czech for a few reasons.

First the practical. I've read it's helpful. As in most countries, some people speak English and others don't. Also, as in most countries, people there appreciate it when someone puts forth an effort to try and speak the local language. Both of these are shocking statements I know. Please sense the sarcasm.

The second reason? It's personal. No more excuses. No more hiding behind sweaty palms and a frozen tongue. I'm determine to learn Czech.

Since I was bound and stupid determined, I began to research some options. I wanted to find something that would play to my strengths, by choosing a program that included visuals while at the same time providing me the needed listening and speaking practice I loathed needed.

So this week, as I rode in the car to and from school, I started studying.  This morning while out to breakfast with a friend, she asked me what phrases I knew. This impromptu quiz brought out those feelings of not being good enough or smart enough (insert Stuart Smalley mirror image here) but I told her the phrases I did remember. They were fewer than yesterday but still some stuck. And much more importantly, I said them aloud to someone other than my driver, who doesn't speak English, who hears me practicing all the time.

So "Ahoy" or "hello" to this new learning and starting to let go of the past.

My commute today has some new Czech stats: 2 lessons, 5 (maybe 6) confident phrases. Long way to go but I'm starting. #Czech #india #language #prague #megscode

A photo posted by Megan Looney (@meganlooney05) on Feb 12, 2015 at 3:34am PST