Orienting

     Yesterday, Sunday, we had our first official scheduled activity. We met in the hotel lobby for a walking tour of the Prague city center (or centrum, if you're trying to learn Czech). It was the first time the whole group was together, and I, at least was excited to meet the other people I'd be spending the whole month with. Having gone out to dinner with a smaller group the night before, the multitude of names weren't as daunting as they could have been, but I'm still nowhere near an expert.
     We took the Metro (subway) to a stop near the Senate building, partway up the hill to the castle, then walked the rest of the way up. If you've ever been to Prague, you know the castle sits on top of a large, fairly steep hill. It's certainly bigger and steeper than anything I'm used to in Minnesota. Add in the fact that it was about 95 degrees and humid, and it was not a super pleasant walk. Getting to the top of the hill was beautiful though, in more ways than one. Not only were we basically done climbing the massive hill, the view out over Prague were spectacular. It is a city of red roofs, spires, and weirdly modern Soviet buildings that simply throw the rest of the architecture into greater relief. There were hordes of tourists milling around, which made me feel less awkward about being a member of a large group myself. Large groups are not something I do well, especially in that particular setting. I feel that in order to really see a place you have to go on your own, or better yet, with someone who thinks similarly to you, and just look, not listen to a running commentary of who built what and when and why. That's just not helpful. Perhaps later after having seen something already, such facts could be relevant, but going in to St Vitus' (the major cathedral in the castle grounds) and only thinking about how much it cost to build the thing does more harm than good. There's very little reverence in such an attitude. But maybe that's just me. The point of all of this was that I didn't take any pictures. There were too many people for them to be good pictures anyway, and I'm planning on going back to really drink it all in.
     After seeing the castle, and wandering down the hill and across the Charles Bridge to Old Town Square, all very hot and full of people, Jakub, our guide, led us to a pub/restaurant that he said would be able to accommodate our group. As it turns out, although they were physically able to do so, they were unwilling and turned us back out on the street. That would happen precisely nowhere in America. So we split into smaller groups to find dinner. Six of us ended up at a quiet little pizza restaurant, which was absolutely delicious. We each ate an entire pizza and stayed for over an hour. It was the first time I had really talked to anyone other than my two roommates, and it was lovely getting to know other people. While we were there it started pouring rain, which was most welcome as it cooled the air down considerably. At about the same moment, the three of us who live in the attic all realized that all of our windows in our apartments were open and all of our stuff was getting pelted with water. But there was nothing we could do about it, so we just laughed it off, hoping our electronics were safe. Afterwards, we walked through the rain back to the Metro station, bringing us back home. After the rain stopped the air was cool and blissful after the sweltering heat of the rest of the day. We watched the sun go down and the sky turn all kinds of colors. So gorgeous. I slept with a shirt on last night, and under the covers, neither of which had happened yet. Such a wonderful ending to a great day.
     Aside from getting acquainted with the city that will be our home for the next month if not longer, we were also getting acquainted with each other. Watching the entire group interact was hilarious. Throwing a bunch of young adults together provides opportunities for a wide variety of relationships, and even just hours into our knowing each other, it was clear who was going to gravitate to whom. Everyone here is really nice and very friendly, but obviously there is a wide range of personalities. Here's a rundown of the group, as I understand it. They must have added several people pretty recently, because there's about 28 of us, and there were only about 24 in the email we got about a month ago. The vast majority are Americans, but there's a couple Canadians and Brits, one Aussie, and one Czech. The range of experience is huge. Some people have been substitute teaching for several years, others are fresh out of high school. There's one guy who's been teaching art in the United Arab Emirates for a couple years. It's a wildly diverse group of people, and I'm so excited to get to know them. If yesterday was any indication, it's going to be a great month.
     We also had our first day of class today, but this is already too long, and I want to do it justice, so I'll try and get something up tomorrow, after teaching for the first time. You did read that correctly. We're teaching a lesson on our second day of class. More about that later. For now, let it suffice that today was great, and that after a grocery run I finally have some vegetables. At this point, that's all I really need. I haven't had proper veggies for what seems like ages. I'm ready for a great big salad. Back soon with an update about school, both as student and teacher!