It's All About the Little Things

just a casual daily stroll through old town square

It's funny how little things that you don't pay attention to in the moment become significant months later.

I was recently looking through old social media posts about how excited I was to study abroad in Prague.  I'd posted pictures I'd taken off Pinterest of Old Town Square back in April, captioned "is this real life?!" which is funny, since I was walking through Old Town Square this afternoon watching people get ready for the Christmas Markets opening this weekend.

I had no idea last semester what I was getting myself into when I applied to study abroad here.  It was an impulsive decision, and a rather uninformed one at that.  When people asked me why I decided to study abroad in Prague, I sort of just shrugged, pulled up Google images, and showed them.  "Because it looks amazing."

I didn't know at the time, but after everything was set in stone, my mom told me that my great-great grandparents were born in towns about an hour outside of Prague.  I don't know much about how they met, or where, but what mattered is that I was already connected to a city that previously was never on my radar.  So I guess in a weird, full circle way, I was coming back to my roots by hopping on a flight back in August.

There's a market across the street from our apartment that my roommates and I frequent two to three times a day, depending on how many Milka bars we feel like purchasing at any given time. We call it "Club Fivuza," because it's always playing some kind of deep house or EDM mix.  So what happens when you put six American girls inside a market that constantly plays techno remixes to Britney Spears at 4pm?  We dance.  We dance through the aisles.

the usual "club fivuza" haul

I'm pretty positive that none of the owners or workers there speak English, but I throw up a peace sign at them every time we walk in and every time we leave.  The language barrier between our friends at Fivuza market is pretty amusing to be honest.  It's gotten to the point that they will tap me on the shoulder as I'm waiting in line to check out and motion to me, as if to ask "Why aren't you dancing?"

I wouldn't say that I dance through grocery store aisles back home, but there's something about exchanges like the ones in Fivuza that have more substance here since they happen on a day-to-day basis living in Prague.  Interactions like this make me feel like I'm leaving my mark here, even if it's through small things like daily trips to the market to visit my friends that don't speak the same language as I do.

Like my great great grandparents, I've made a home here for myself, even if it's for only four short months, as opposed to a lifetime.

I guess I just didn't know what to expect.  I knew I'd make personal connections after living here, but I guess you could say that the ones that I've made so far have left me pleasantly surprised.  It's the little things that don't register at the time, but looking back will be the most reflective on my time spent in Prague.

it really is the little things, like the view of the prague castle on any given day.