Hello from Prague!
After a long day of traveling, Farah and I finally arrived in Prague early Thursday morning. Our adventure started Wednesday afternoon, when we arrived at the airport. We immediately encountered a speedbump in the road when Farah's bags weighed a total of 23 lbs overweight. Realizing the overweight charge was upwards to $150, we rearranged her luggage to make it an acceptable weight...but the 23 pounds of extra clothes and shoes didn't just disappear. Together we lugged the extra weight through each airport in some spare carry-ons we found in our baggage. As we watched the clouds roll in, we both sighed with a sense of relief that our plane was to be taking off in the next few minutes. Next thing we knew, the pilot came on the intercome and announced that we are number 31 for takeoff. Not number 3 or number 7, but, number 31. I began to panic thinking that we would miss our connecting flight in Atlanta, our luggage would disappear, and our trip would never get going. Farah tried to calm me down, reassuring me that we have enough clothing with us on the plane in our carry-ons to last us a good month. Luckily, we got bumped up in line and took off soon after the previous announcement. Calm was restored and the rest of our trip over the ocean was smooth sailing.
We arrived early Thursday morning and got settled right away. Before even unpacking, we met about 8 of the 27 students in our class. Together we set out t
o explore the city. We took the metro, which is just a quick walk up the street, into the center of town. We walked past the famous castle and wandered the cobblestoned streets until we came across the Old Town Square. We found a cafe, ate lunch, drank beer, and got to know each other. At the top of every hour we could see massive crowds of tourists gather in front of the famous Astronomical Clock to wait for the show to begin. We continued to explore the city and get settled in our new homes for the next several days.
Our TEFL Worldwide class started yesterday. We had been warned that the class was fairly challenging and intense, and that was no lie. We were in class yesterday from 9:45 until 6 with an hour lunch break. Today we started teaching in front of a class of Czech students. We were assigned into group of 3 to teach intermediate level English speakers. It was a daunting task but we did fine. I'm sure every day we teach it will get easier and easier. The class as a whole seems like a challenging endeavor, but a rewarding one. Once we get certified, we will get jobs and start living like the locals.
That's it for now. Farah and I are going to make some dinner and hang out. Until next time. We miss and love you all!
Last night I went to a free concert in Old Town Square. The original plan was to see Medeski, Martin & Wood. We got out of class around 6 oclock and my friend Jake and I headed into town to see the show. We met up with another friend and got comfortable with a beer and a good view. We realized as the band was setting up that MMW would not be playing. Apparently, Medeski was sick and they switched the lineup last minute. Jake immediately started pouting as he is a huge MMW fan and has been looking forward to the show since he arrived in Prague. After sipping on a beer and hearing the first few beats of the new band, we immediately started enjoying ourselves once again. How can you not enjoy yourself when you are listening to live music in the center of such a beautiful city? Just looking at the buildings surrounding us was enough of a treat in itself. As the sun set and the monuments and castles around us starting twinkling in the night, we reveled in the fact that we were living in this beautiful city.
