Internetless and Apartmentfied

Dobry den! I wish I had been able to update more the last few days because so much has happened! In short, I took a beautiful walking tour around Prague, visited the communist museum, followed a realtor around looking at flats, found a flat, signed a lease on the flat, moved into the flat, and promptly broke the flat's internet. This update is only possible thanks to Starbucks Wi-Fi.

The official orientation with intensive czech lessons begins tomorrow morning and it has been nice to have some time to settle myself in the city, especially now that we have moved into Prague 1, only 5 minutes away from the old city square. I still have been making a lot of wrong turns and taking the "scenic route" wherever I go, but finding my way around seems to be getting slowly easier. I plan on being temporarily lost a lot in the next four months.

The apartment is beautiful! I have the biggest bedroom I have ever had and we have a full kitchen and living room. There are a few downsides and inconveniences (aka lukewarm water, no shower, and an unfriendly neighbor) but all in all I think it will be a nice place to be for four months. And the rent is ridiculously cheap.

So having been here for a few days now, I have made a couple observations about Prague and the Czech people...

- As an American, no matter where we go we are always the loudest people in the room. Czech people are notoriously reserved and almost always silent in public places. When I was out to dinner the other night with 4 or 5 other kids in the program, we were somehow three times as loud as a table of 20 locals sitting next to us.

- Everything is underground. And not just underground, but waaaay underground. The elevators down the metro gave me acrophobia. Also underground are pubs, bars, museums, and grocery stores. I feel like I'm in a cave a lot of the time.

- I haven't seen the sun once. It's not cold but its always foggy and overcast.

- The city is very clean and (unlike New York) rodent free! Its a nice change.

- The food is terrible. I made some pasta last night and it was the best thing I have eaten in 5 days.

I have a lot to tell everyone but I finished my cafe latte about an hour ago and getting strange looks from the barista...Email me! Please!