JELANI VS PRAGUE @jelanivsprague - Tumblr Blog

I’m baaaaack

Hi everyone!

It’s been about 4 years since I’ve written anything for this blog and that’s because I haven’t been in Prague- but guess what? I’m moving back!

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to revamp this blog and bring it back to life, but I think it’s the right thing to do. One day I want to export this entire thing and put it on a real website, but for now, Tumblr is going to. I don’t feel like I was able to keep up with it on a daily basis a few years ago, but a lot has changed since then. I want this to be a resource for people and something I can look back on in the future. This is a big step in my life and I want to document it- maybe not all of it, but at least some of it.

If you know me, you know one of the things I talk about is how some people are “real adults” and I feel like I’m finally turning into one. I’ll be teaching English for 10 months in Central Bohemia in a little town refer to as SČ. When I get there, I’ll mostly be teaching older children in grades 6-9. I’m not gonna lie- I’m a little scared. Not scared, but nervous. I’ve been in classrooms with kids up to 5 years old, 5th graders, and adults- but middle school? That’s a completely different realm for me.

Last year on my birthday. I said I wanted to start getting comfortable with the uncomfortable and that’s exactly what I’m doing. This experience is all about being independent, seeing if I want to be an educator, and trying new things along the way. It’s not going to be easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.

#pre

I was lucky enough to have an internship at Radio Prague, the international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic. I worked in the English department and every couple of weeks, I was able to write about an experience I had and professionally record my story in a sound booth with audio technicians. I was terrified because I have a fear of public speaking, but I would 10/10 do it again if I had the opportunity.

Check out my work by clicking the title of this post and choosing a story. They’re all under five minutes and I promise you won’t regret it.

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7 Day Countdown- Friday

Today was graduation and that was... long, to say the least. It started at like 9:30am and I went to bed pretty late and I feel like graduation should have been yesterday, lol. Anywhooo, today was a good one! Graduation was in three parts and I got my Charles University diploma as well as two letters that spoke about what I did (at the radio station and as a blogger) and a free t-shirt (because everyone loves free stuff) and then after we had a great lunch at this fancy-ish place. It was nice to just chill and get free food on the last day.

It's really hard to believe that I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon. I think I'm a llittle bit in shock, kind of like everyone else. It's one of those things that I've been waiting on and I wanted to come and now that it's here, I feel like it's not real, you know? I didn't get a whole lot of closure and get drinks/ say bye to people because I had hair things to deal with plus I had to pack and I did enjoy getting those last moments of silence before bed. I have to be out by like 9am tomorrow and all I'm really worried about is having enough time to get my plane from London to JFK and having my bags make it on the plane, haha. Let's see what happens and put good vibes into the air. Time for my last sleep in my Prague bed.

#dec

7 Day Countdown- Thursday

Thursday was crazy. A lot of things happened and I’m a little hungover as I write this.

For dinner, we ate at a place called The Kitchen in a touristy area of Prague and it was DELICIOUS. It’s Asian style food and I had my first, legit ramen bowl. I loved it and I can’t wait have another one. I feel like my next ramen bowl won't even be able to compare, haha.

Later on, we got drinks at U Sudu (which is a bar that’s underground and it has tunnels, it kind of reminds me of a cave or a mining tunnel. I got two mojitos and chatted with friends and it was just a nice ending to the semester with a small group. I have graduation in the morning and I can't believe it's over, man. It's crazy how time flies and I still have graduation tomorrow morning. Blah.

#dec

7 Days Countdown- Wednesday

Today felt good, a little long but that's to be expected. I'm still pretty sick so that was unfortunate, but it's okay. I had my FINAL for the oral portion of Czech language and it wasn't too bad! It was pretty early in the morning, but I hadn't studied for it like at allll. I felt like I was expecting the worst since there's 3 sections and you randomly choose your fate. Not gonna lie, I was scared. It was me and a partner, Joel, and he asked me a few questions and then I had to do my specific parts- I had to do a minute long monologue about a city and then I had to give eight words about time. I did pretty badly on the monologue because even though we could prepare beforehand, I couldn't look at my paper too much and I got nervous so it just sounded shitty. I definitely think I passed, it's sad to know that I won't be speaking Czech to anyone since nobody I know came to Prague with me. Erm, what else?! I decided to try and nap today but I had NO time. I had to deep clean the half bathroom and one of the full bathrooms-- I ended up scrubbing, vacuuming and mopping since we aren't getting a cleaning lady and our house has to be SPOTLESS. Later on, we had dinner at Jana (my teacher/ center director's house) with my Intercultural Communication and Leadership class. First we showed our Digital Storytelling Projects and drank wine and after we ate and did an activity where we had to reflect on a classmate (randomly). The person who had me is someone I didn't really like in the beginning of the semester, but what he said last night made me realize how much out relationship has changed and grown. It was a great dinner and closure to our class ending, especially because it was so relaxing and we bonded as a class a lot over the past few months.

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7 Days Countdown- Tuesday

Today felt super long. I had my last Journalism in the FB Era class with Milos and my last film class. Milos' class wasn't too bad, we just discussed different ideas for our finals and I sent him my link from my last Letter From Prague and he played the whole thing in front of the class and I was soo embarrassed! It wasn't because I thought it was bad, but it was more because it was strange for me to watch my classmates listen to my voice and then it made me feel awkward, haha.

Today I had to buy invested in some chewable Vitamin C tablets since I still feel like I'm getting sick and I have to be on my A-game at the airport, especially Heathrow because it's a huge place and I don't want to haul ass and run through it while I'm half sick. I looked it up and it says that it's supposed to take me like 90 minutes to get from the terminal my Prague flight drops me off in to the next one where my flight to NY leaves from... which is nerve-wracking to say the least.

Back to finals-- I have an essay due for film that I'm handing in tomorrow, but I don't have time to work on it tonight because I'm so nervous about my Czech oral tomorrow! I don't think it's fair that we have to have an oral exam in Czech because we're leaving and our proficiency of the language doesn't matter anymore.I totally understand the written final because they want to see how far we've come, but an oral? It's taking time away from things I could do like clean and do laundry and pack, ya know? The little things. Whatever, I'm not too worried, I think I'll get a B in Czech just because when it comes to oral, I'm not very good at thinking on my feet, especially because we have so much we need to memorize. Tbh, I just don't feel ready, at allll.

#dec

7 Day Countdown- Monday

This is the last week of actual things to do and it's only Monday but I hate it, haha. I have so much homework to do, but I also want to go out and party and get a beer or two since it's my last days of being legal here! In my ICL class, we talked about re-entry into society when we get back to America and some of the questions that were posed to us really made me think. Here's a few of them:

In what ways might your friends and family have changed?

How would you like your friends and family to treat you when you return home?

In what ways have you changed?

What are you looking forward to the most? The least?

It'll be interesting to see how my answers on paper play out in real life when I get home or even they even play out because they might be so different!

Anywho, this evening, I had a large Digital Storytelling Project and I was having technical difficulties when I was trying to finish it up before the deadline. It doesn't help that I'm getting sick and my nose is stuffy plus I have a headache. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day and I'm nowhere near ready, but it's okay cus I'll get through it and deal with it and everything will fall into place... or at least that's what I'm hoping!

#dec

7 Days Countdown- Sunday

I feel like I have a lot going on today. I have essays and homework and the constant urge to stop doing everything and just watch Grey's Anatomy. I think I need to manage my time better and it's finally hitting me that I'll be home sooner than a month from now. Today, I did one of my last loads of laundry as well as finally cleaned up my room. I've made a huge dent in blogging because I had so many unfinished drafts and I'm proud of that. Erm, what else? I have a lot to do and literally no motivation for anything, but, that's because I'm getting lazy since I see everyone from Susky is on Winter Break and it makes me want to do less work and talk to them because they have time for me now. I keep trying to to work and end up getting distracted once again. It doesn't help that I have a lot to do, it's just taking a lot for me to focus. BUT, I'm doing something right because I had a 15 page research paper and my academic advisor suggested I get a high grade so that's always a good thing.

Last but not least, I've been sharing my last "Letter From Prague feature" post on Facebook, so I'll share it with everyone here as well! Click here and listen/ read it- it was a great run having an internship at Radio Prague and I think I went out with a bang, especially with this. Hope you like it!

#dec

7 Days Countdown- Saturday

This is going to be a little series where I'm basically gonna write a little bit each day until I go home on December 20th!

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So, even though it's Saturday, I'm gonna start writing this post about Friday evening since that was when I actually feel like I accomplished things. Since it's the last legit week in Prague, Alex thought it would be cool if we went to eat at places we've never been to before and I completely agreed with that. We went to a place near Old Town Square and I got fried calamari with french fries and then shared a honey cake with Mara. After dinner, Mara and I went to Beer Geek which is near our house and has 30 beers on tap. She really wanted to show me the place and I liked it. It was super chill and we just sat, talked, and (obviously) drank a little beer. I got a dark beer in a (kinda) wine glass and that was fancy. One of the owners was American so it was nice to talk to him a little bit and see how he ended up in Prague.

Later on, we (as in me, Mara, and Brittany) got ready for the night. We pre-gamed a bit with Darbus and headed off to to Lucerna, which is a dancing club for those of you who don't know. It was the typical, Lucerna Friday which means that you can get in for 100 CK ($4.50) they play like 80's and 90's music all night and I had such a great time. In Prague, I don't really go out because I would much rather just relax and feel well rested/ adjusted so I went allll out on Friday, haha.

There were a lot of people from our program there and obviously the other CIEE kids from the larger program, but it was definitely majority Americans. Well, maybe it was just majority American from where I was standing, haha. Everyone always loves to be on stage and there were a few American girls who fell off. Not gonna lie, I did laugh a little bit but I'm glad I was content being NEAR the stage and not on it. I got home at like 4:30am which was absolutely crazy since it's finals week but it was fun.

Today I'm focusing on homework and then Cafe Savoy later on with Mara, Jake, and Alex... plus, I'll probably be staying in tonight since I need all of the strength I can get to finish everything I need to do! Wish me luck.

#dec

Intercultural Trip #2

I loved my second host family! I don’t know why more people don’t take advantage of the Cultural Immersion Program that happens over a weekend in a small village in the Czech Republic. You get to feel like you’re in a real home and you get to be treated like a guest, which is something everyone likes at some point (especially after living on your own after 4 months) plus you don’t have to pay for ANYTHING! My host family consisted of a mom, dad, Kristyna, Petra & Petra’s dog. I only lived with the first three people though, haha. The dad is a contractor and built the most beautiful houses as well as a pub in their town. The mom managed the restaurant and bar, she was also a hostess. Both children help by working in the pub (which is walking distance from the house) a few days a week. It was a great weekend, I spent a lot of it with the two sisters as opposed to spending time with others who went on the trip with me, like I did last time. I really liked it though because I was able to just have some more “me” time. It was a little bit harder to communicate this time than last time just because this family doesn’t speak as much English, but we did fine. There was a lot of slow speaking, “I don’t understands”, as well as smiling, head nods, and “yo yo’s” which means “yes, yes” in Czech.

When it came to what we did, the first night, after dinner with my program, there was a birthday party for the aunt in the family’s pub and that was SO fun. I made my host sister dance with me and then we started the party and everyone danced- the aunt even started a conga line! Haha, it was great and that was where I met her sister Petra. The next day I slept in because I was suuuuper tired from the day before and they took me to Cesky Krumlov which was cool because I had never been but I heard how pretty it was from a bunch of people and I was so glad I had the chance to actually go. It was pretty gross out (aka chilly and foggy), but it was really nice and relaxing. Later on, we went to the local bar and hung out which was nice because we went to bed early. It's the nicest feeling waking up and not feeling super stressed out about what's to come because you're not surrounded by any stressors. It was a perfect start to finals week!

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First snow in Prague on December 1st! Wiew from outside of my window ❄️⛄️

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Trams are life for me and when they stopped working one Tuesday, I felt a little piece of me die inside... well, not exactly. As you can see from this photo, all of the trams were backed up. They completely stopped working. They were a NO go because of ice on the tracks. Now, I take the tram almost everyday to get to whatever destination I need to by at because the tram stop is up the block from my house. The trams stopped working for an entire day and I felt like my whole schedule was thrown off. Now, I don't mind taking the metro, but it reminds me too much of New York with all of the people crowded on the subway. I like the trams, some people beg to differ, but they're cool to me... and convenient. Like they always say, you don't realize what you have until it's gone and for me, that was the trams.

(Photo credit: Shervin)

#dec

Vienna

Christmas Markets, Christmas Markets, and more Christmas Markets. I went to Vienna, Austria for a weekend with CIEE and it was really nice. I didn’t really know who was going on the trip beforehand because there’s only 16 people in my program and the night before I learned that 2 of them were going but I didn’t really end up spending time with them. We took a 4 hour bus trip there (with a 30 minute break in between) and it wasn't too bad.

As for the sights, we did a ton of walking. The first day we were there, we went on a walking tour. It was nice to see things, but it was freezing! I looked up the temps before I went and I wore layers, but I was still sooo cold. I ended up having to pay an obnoxious amount of money (in Euros) for a hat because it was that bad-- Mother Nature wouldn’t let Vienna’s temps hit at least 40, so it stayed between about 33-38 degrees alll weekend. The upside of it being that cold was an excuse for hot wine, which is actually the most amazing thing ever. I also had a really great kebab and chocolate cake to diiiiie for, omg.

For legit places, I saw Belvedere Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Schönbrunn Palace and went to Sigmund Freud’s house! I learned about Gustav Klimt’s work and I think he’s now one of my favorite artists, tbh. This was my last out of the country trip and I ended up being really happy with how it went. I definitely liked visiting Vienna, but I still love Prague.

All of my pictures can do a little bit more talking about my weekend than I can since it seems like I did so much in so little time and it's a little bit of a blur right now-- click on the links to more information about the places and enjoy the pictures under this post!

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Vienna, Austria

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It’s absolutely crazy to think that it’s December, my countdown to going home feels so much more real.

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Geneve, Switzerland!

#nov #pics

Switzerland

A few weeks ago, I took a trip to Geneve, Switzerland for a weekend. Before you get to thinking about it, no, I did not go skiing or snowboarding. I was in a city and the weather was pretty chilly! I was pretty surprised at that because I checked and it was supposed to be about 20 degrees warmer than it actually was, but whatever! I layered up with what I had and dealt, haha.

It was a relaxing weekend away from the flat and although it wasn't a jam-packed weekend of exploring, I got the rest I needed. I had cheese fondue for the first time and I REALLY liked it. It was the first night at it was at a local place where you had to walk over a pretty long and narrow bridge to get to it. They didn’t have a lot of options, but when looking at the menu, you could tell that fondue was a big deal there. When we got our pot of fondue and bread, we definitely had enough of that to last us for days. I absolutely loved it, for the most part.

Me and Darbus ended up spending a lot of time together on our trip and we basically hung out and did things to our own tempo, which was walk around and see what we see/ kind of follow the guide that the hostel had given us. I also saw the United Nations and the Red Cross Museum which was very interactive and informative. I really liked the audio guide and how there were sensors for each room and the guide automatically started talking depending on what room I was in as opposed to looking for a number to enter into the guide alll of the time. I'm gonna post a few pics once I post this :)

#nov

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