It was so hard to start this...

So as many of you know, I'm living in the Czech Republic. It has been a rough start for me, and I've had little energy to do anything, least of all WRITE, because that seemed like too much work :) But now, I'm feeling like me again, so I'm gonna keep up-to-date on this thing.

My first day in the Czech Republic was...a bit rough. I got off the plane at Prague Airport, and realized i had to lug a heavy duffel bag, and two full sized suitcases around with me. I didn't sleep at all on the plane, so I was exhausted. I had many funny things happen to me on the way to the Czech Republic. When I was at the Detroit Airport I decided to go grab a bite at a restaurant during my layover. It was really awkward because I never eat alone, and I'm pretty sure I was miserable from lack of sleep/confusion. So I'm eating, and my waitress, Lafonda I think, comes over. "Are you Reese Witherspoon??" I nearly spit out my food. She was completely serious. She said all the waitresses were trying to figure it out. I laughed for various reasons. Then she told me Jessica Simpson ate there once, so then I didn't think it was AS weird.

When I got on my plane to Amsterdam, I had the delight of boarding the US Hockey Team, males 20 and under. I found myself sitting next to one of the coaches for the 8 hour flight. God is teaching me right now about first impressions. When I first sat down with him, I was very intimidated and thought he seemed kind of pretentious and jerky, not to mention handsome! :D So i was just miserable. But yes, he told me about his life and how he's been in 2 comas, and one was only five months ago. He pulled out his camera and showed me pics of his head wrapped up in bloody rags from a hockey puck hitting him in the wrong place. It was awful that the same injury happened to him twice. It was a miracle he's alive. He now goes around and does public speaking about his comas, and has started a Christian ministry in on the US Hockey Team. I was amazed because I thought he was a jerk, but he turned out to be a hero...

So i get off the plane in Amsterdam, and I'm really dying. I didn't sleep a wink on the plane, and it was the weirdest feeling being in a different continent by yourself. I was really embarrassed when we landed because the pilot played this cheesy 70s song when we were landing on the runway. I could NOT stop laughing. I think I was so giddy to be in Amsterdam plus the fact they were playing a weird song, that I just died. I loved the coach's reaction, because he just stared at me. Then he asked me a great question, "I don't mean this to come off strange but...do you always dress so grungy?" ( I was wearing sweatpants,the ONE pair i own!) I was shocked. I said, "Uh, no. Why?" And he said, "Oh because your unique, and you just seem like you go wherever the wind takes you. And i just was wondering if you just wake up, and pick up what's on the floor..." Ha, that was humbling, for sure.

I LOVE flying with European airlines. On my American airline, for breakfast, I got a soggy egg sandwich. On my european flight breakfast, i got hot tea with milk, and then the stewardess handed me a pack with 2 biscuits. I'm thinking, eww, biscuits. But to my surprise, they were the most delicious things i've ever had. One was figs with goat cheese (Don't knock it til you try it), it tasted like sweet cream cheese, and the other biscuit was rasberry chocolat (raspberry jam with dark chocolates in it) America, you need to learn from Europe with air food.

When I got into Prague, it was the worst moment of my trip. I was lugging around all that luggage and i was sweating, and I was looking for Student Agency to book a bus for Brno. Wow, that was the hardest thing ever. Every person I stopped and asked for help didn't know what Student Agency was. And I wasn't just stopping at random boothes, these were all boothes that said "Bus transport" or "Informace" or something helpful, but the Czech women would just stare at me and say "No anglictky!" I was so upset. I'm pretty sure that was the first (of many more times to come) that I screamed to God in my head, "WHY AM I HERE?!?!?" But yeah, I finally found it after being directed to 7 different areas. And I'm standing there, waiting to be helped, and the Student Agency girl (who's my age) was sitting there talking with her co-worker. They sat there and talked for five straight minutes. No joke. Finally, they're done laughing and the co-worker leaves, and she turns to me straight-faced and is like "What?" I was so mad. But yeah, I got my ticket, and then I had to FIND where the bus actually is. Again, the woman was no help. So I had to wander around aimlessly, and finally a kind young man told me to go under the bridge (whatever that means). But God was watching over me, and I found it.

Here's where my story turns miraculous. There was a old lady standing there, and she broke all the stereotypes I had previously just made of Czech women. She was really nice, and asked me if I knew when our bus was coming. I didn't, but we talked anyways. Her name was Milka, and she's from Brno. She married and has a family and is now living in South Africa. We sat by eachother on the bus and she gave me Swiss chocolate (what a saint). I was so jet lagged that I fell asleep in mid conversation. Then she was shaking me awake, and goes, "Ray-chell, you must get up! We are switching buses." WHAT?! I was so confused, I didn't know we had to switch buses. The next thing I knew, I'm running behind her, following her along cobblestone streets to another bus. I had no idea i had to switch buses. Thanks, Student Agency for being so clear! But she was my guardian angel, and she even got me onto a bus right away, otherwise I would've had to of waited in the snow for a half hour. God is good to me :)

When I got to Brno, my tutor, which is a student helper, Martina, picked me up. I was blown away by how different the Czech Republic was. It looked like the "old country" and many funny things happened right away. We got a locker in the Hlavní Prádlo (main train station) for my luggage, so we could go get some lunch. Well, the key got stuck and it wouldn't turn, and this is not America. There was no 1-800 helpline or something posted, so we were really stressed out. I don't even remember where this guy came from, but a maintenance man walked past and literally just punched the door of the locker and it popped open. Then he walked away! I was like, uhhh this country is crazy. Then we went out to lunch, and that was weird too! If you order a meal, they give you "extra things" with it, and I got spinach soup, which was bright green, and then a "mystery drink" which tasted like a flat dr. pepper. My ham pizza was amazing though. It was made in a fire pit. Yum!

When we left the restaurant, we walked back to the bus station. The Czech Republic is freezing right now. Nebraska is definitely milder. So, we're walking and this clown (yes, a clown, but i think he was a bum too) walks up to me and goes, "Hmmmmmm!" It was so scary. We walked quickly away. I had to keep reminding myself, this is MY homeland. Which, makes so much sense, if you know me. We got to my dorm after climbing the Hill from HELL. It was so steep. And I met my awesome roommate, Anna from Poland.

Then I went out that night and went to a club called Club Mandarin. I was severely jet lagged and wanted to go home the whole time. It was a crazy adventure and figuring out the night trams was an experience because the tram numbers change after 11pm. I got home and fell into my rock hard bed. Welcome to Brno.