The First Full Day

Today was the first full day of Prague-goodness. First we had an orientation presentation about life here. We sat in one of the lecture halls in Charles University, one of the oldest universities in Europe. Then they gave us great sandwiches for lunch, had some time to explore the northern part of Stare Mesto. Afterward RAs took us around, took us to where NYU in Prague buildings. We have two buildings and they are facing a square with a cafe/restaurant in the middle. It is beautiful. Our square is also around the corner from the Staromestke namesti (Old Town Square). After being let go from the tour, I got a cell phone number, and went with some friends for an afternoon beer. We basically went on a long adventure, just so that we could, as the tour book says it, embark on a "pub crawl along Borivojova." The first and only place we went to was U Houdku, which was a beer garden. Even though we were the one of the two parties there, the good thing was the waiter could speak English.

That's one of the new things that I'm experiencing this time traveling. I believe it is the first time that I've travelled/lived somewhere that I have absolutely not a clue about the language. This morning, I went to a nearby store (which is kind of like a 7 Eleven, but not as glamorous...) and I realized all that I could do was nod, smile, and point. Hopefully the intensive Czech classes that we have to attend during this week will help me change from a mute to a talker.

After the beer garden, I faced Prague public transportation on my own to get back to my apartment. I had to walk to a metro stop then hop on to a tram. Good thing is that there is no additional fee for transfer, or at least I don't think there is... the system runs on the honor code, so its up to the passenger to validate/retrieve their tickets.

And I finally got my luggage! they were waiting for me downstairs when I got back to my apartments.

I'm going to try to post more while I'm here. But pardon me for the lack of style in my posts. Hopefully once I get back into the groove of blogging, they will be more interesting to read!