Arriving in Prague

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Getting a taxi from the airport was easy the only problem was when I got to my apartment. The taxi dropped me off with all my bags and zoomed off. I had the right building number but did not have a key or know which apartment it was. I looked at the names on the 20 buzzers, none the name of my Czech buddy or of the program. I had not sleep much at all and I couldn't carry all my bags myself. I had a phone number but no phone and was in a country I had never been and didn’t know the language. I was calming my self down trying to figure out what to do and getting my mind off all the pickpocket stuff I had just read on the plane. There was a guy scraping the snow and ice from the side walk and another man walking by. The scraping and the mans foot steps slowed down in my head. The man walking went around one corner and the man scraping the snow turned around the other corner and I was alone on the street. Though that did not last long. I was contemplating trying all the buttons or trying to find someone whose cell phone I could use (I didn’t want to leave my luggage there and had no way of carrying it all myself down the street.) I tried to ask a couple going to their car if they spoke English with a scared, unfriendly look the woman shock her head and jumped in the car. I continued looking down the street and saw the rows of the black apartments. Hours seemed to pass though it was only a few minutes. I turned my head and saw a girls walking in my direction. I was going to ask if she spoke English and was praying she would say "yes." Before I could get a word out she said, “are you Tamara?” (It was my flat mate Emily) I was ecstatic I finally could enter into the flat that would become my home for the next few months and leave this unfamiliar and unwelcoming street. It was a GREAT introduction to Prague. Over time the street has become more welcoming and a sign of home approaching though the first impression of it still stays with me.

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Photos

Rejskova 10
My building