Back to My Roots

Early in this trip abroad, I was in contact with a relative who had visited the Czech Republic several years ago. My great aunt Janice visited a small village called Opatov where my ancestors were born and lived there until they eventually moved to the United States. After hearing about how she got to explore the place where my family began, I wanted to do the same so she directed me towards a more distant relative who had done the same thing two years ago. When she and her husband were there, she stayed with a woman who did research on families who had moved to America from the small towns in the Czech Republic. Because she knew about my family line, she agreed to let me stay with her for a weekend and show me around the town. Jaroslava Palusova is a middle schoool teacher and does research about history in her free time. She has wrote many books about the small villages in her area and the people who come from those villages. On my last weekend in the Czech Republic I was able to stay with her to learn more about my family history.

On Saturday morning, I took a bus to Jihlava where Jaroslava and her grandson Michael picked me up to take me to their home. The first night I found out I would be staying with Jaroslava's daughter and her family in Ducheov. Her oldest son was visiting the US at the time, so they had an open room for me to stay in. When I arrived to their house, they had lunch waiting for me. After lunch we went into the town of Opatov which was  nearby. In Opatov, there was a celebration for the local fire department which had been established 150 years ago. there, they had food, beer, music and a contest for the different branches of the fire departments. There were about 6 teams of man and 6 teams of women and they raced to see who could put out a fire the fastest. The whole town and surrounding villages were present at this day long event. I met many people at this celebration, but only a few spoke English. When Jaroslava would introduce me, she would tell them my family line and explain that I was a student in Olomouc and that I had been there for 3 months studying and traveling around Europe.

After the celebration, we walked to the Evangelical church where my great, great, great, grandparents Frantisek and Anna Duba got married. They lived in Opatov house #27 where they had children, and then moved into house #9 until they emigrated to America with their 3 children. Jaroslava showed me both of these houses and the cemetery of the Evangelical church. I met the family that currently lives in #27. The house isn't in my family anymore, so I wasn't related to them, but they were very nice and they let me come in and take pictures. We also went to an old mill on the outskirts of Opatov. From the top of the hill, you could see the whole village.

When we got back to the house, Jaroslava took me to the neighbors house where he was outisde cutting wood. I found out that he is a distant relative  of mine and his name is also Frantisek Homolka. He has tow granddaughters around my age who study in Prague. He asked me all about my family and where I come from in the US. He didn't speak any English so Jaroslava had to translate for me. That night, Michael and his girlfriend Kristina went on a walk around Dusheov with their dog, Moxie and then we sat in the garden for a glass (or two) of wine. They fed me a small dinner and then we went off to bed. The next morning, I woke up to a nice breakfast and got ready for church. We went to the Evangelical church service in Opatov. It was a very short service with only a few people. the sermon was in Czech so it was translated to me later, but the pastor talked about a man who came to Jesus and asked him how he could make his life better so Jesus told him to follow Him and he would show him. After church, i took a picture with the whole congregation. They told Jaroslava that they were very glad to have me there and that they wished me safe travels for the rest of the trip.

After church, we visited the town of Novy Richnov where Frantisek Homolka grew up with his family in house #101. When we arrived into town, we saw the Catholic church and Jaroslava gave me a small tour of the town. To get to #101, we went out of the town about 5 miles where there was a farm with 3 houses. This whole farm used to belong to the Homolka family. The first house we came upon, there was a family cutting wood and their kids were playing in the yard. Jaroslava explained why we were there and asked if we could take a look around. They kindly said yes because they knew that it used to belong to my family. Walking further into the farm, Jaroslava told me that #101 had been destroyed but she showed me the remains of the house which is now a garden. The family from the first house invited us to their patio for mushroom soup and beer. They asked about my family and about my studies in the Czech Republic. They also showed me a photo album of them renovating their house which they bought from a Homolka family who moved to the US. This family was very welcoming and loved that I came to visit. Shortly after, we went to another cemetery where one of my relatives was buried.

Next, we came across a carnival where there were rides similar to what we would see at a County fiar in Nebraska. I rode on some rides with Kristina and we got shaved ice and then went to a castle nearby where there was another celebration. We toured the church and the outside of the castle and the Michael, Kristina and I climbed to the top of a lookout tower. I think it said there were about 200 steps to the top. At the top, we could see all of the small villages in the distance and the beautiful countryside of Bohemia. The climb tot he top was very tiring and made my legs sore, but it was worth it.

After the long couple of days we had, we went back to Jaroslava's house where she lives with her son and his family. There are 3 separate houses on this property and they raise chickens, rabbits and have a large garden and even some kittens. Jaroslava fixed us some tea and we reflected on everything from the weekend. She showed me the books she had written and picked out the part about my family line and translated it in English for me and she also printed me out a copy so I could take it home to show my family. She also included some pictures and maps of the towns. To further her research, she asked me to gibe her the names of my family tree and wanted to know more about my life back in Nebraska. After a small dinner, I went to bed on her couch so I could get up at 7 AM to catch my bus to Prague where I would spend my last days abroad.

I am very grateful that Jaroslava and her family took me into their homes and fed me (lots of food) for my last weekend. They were very welcoming and patient with me since I didn't speak any Czech. After being in the small villages where my family came from, I feel more connected with my past and my Czech heritage. Coming into this program, this was something that I had been dreaming of doing. It wasn't quite like I expected but it is something that I will hold near and dear to my heart for a lifetime. I am hoping to stay in touch with Jaroslava for years to come. I even plan to send her some Loper gear and some pictures of my family.

Barcelona, Spain

I know I'm about a month late, but I wanted to write this blog about my Easter weekend experience in Barcelona! We didn't plan the trip until about a weekend before Easter break- which probably wasn't very smart because we ended up paying $300 for plane tickets to get there and back. On top of that, we paid $150 to stay in a hostel for the 3 nights. As we were looking for places to go for the weekend, we noticed that everything was way more expensive than usual because Easter is a holiday where people travel to see their families. Barcelona was our best bet because it was probably the warmest place we were going to be able to go and it also had a beach so there was really no question.

The travel to Barcelona was smooth sailing, until it came time to find Abby and Bailee at the airport (they arrived a couple hours before we did). It took us about 30 minutes and 10 phone calls back and forth until we found them sitting in front of the bus stop with all of their bags. We purchased a bus ticket that would drop us off closest to our hostel which took about another 30 minutes. As soon as we got off the bus, we found a McDonald's to eat at because I remember we were STARVING. From there, we took an uber to our hostel.

With our tour guide, Macu

In the morning, we met at the front of the hostel where we would go on a free walking tour. There was a diverse group of people in our group from all over the place. A lot of them spoke English and most of them were around our age. I started talking to a girl named Natalie who was from Canada. She was studying business in France just right outside of Paris. We shortly became friends and made plans with her to get dinner that night at a place with paella right along the beach. Before we reached the rest of the tour group, we were taught how to use the metro and how to buy tickets. We got one ticket with 10 uses so we could use it as a group. The rest of the group consisted of many people who spoke many different languages. We split off into the English speaking group and started the tour. Our tour guides's name was Macu and he was very knowledgeable. We were all about the same age as him so he told us that he would make the tour as interesting and fun as possible and he delivered. We toured the old city of Catalonia and saw many different artworks and sculptures along the way.

After the tour, we caved in and went shopping. We found our favorite store, Pull & Bear and many other stores that we don't have here in Olomouc. I didn't buy much because I wanted to save my money, but we were there for what seemed like 5 hours. Makayla and I ended up getting split up from everyone else and had to search the square for Jess. We finally found her when we got to Zara and stopped at a coffee shop for some wifi so we could call an uber to get back to the hostel. We took a short nap before we went out to meet Natalie for dinner.

The restaurant we went to was right next to the beach with a beautiful view of the water. We got a few glasses of sangria and seafood paella. I'd never had paella before, but I heard it's a must-have in Spain. The paella we got came out in a huge skillet which was meant to be shared between 4 people. Makayla, Jess, Natalie and I ended up splitting it. It had muscles, squid and shrimp (with the shell and head and everything still on it). It was a great experience to eat at this restaurant with a new friend, but my bill ended up being about $35 so I definitely felt uneasy leaving the restaurant. After dinner, Makayla, Jess and I met up with two guys we met during our tour who were from Houston, Texas. We met them at a salsa bar to get some margaritas and piña coladas and then asked around for fun places to go. We didn't find any other bars that were worth staying at, so we called it a night and headed back to the hostel. 

When we arrived back at the hostel, the bar on the main floor was just closing but Jess managed to talk the hostel manager into letting us in for some shots. After a few, he let us go up to the roof top with him to show us the city at night. His name was Jose and he ended up telling us about his life and how he ended up where he did. He talked about Gaudi who was a Spanish architect. He told us about his story and then pointed out the cathedral that he built which was very visible from where we were standing. In the end, Jose told us something that will stick with me forever. He said, "It's not about what you have, how much money you have in your pockets. All that matters is how you treat people and what you do with your life to benefit the world we live in and the people in it." This was very special to me because just minutes before he took us up to the roof, I was devastated about how much money I had just spent on dinner, and the flight to Barcelona but then I realized that it doesn't matter. From there on, I wanted to work on myself and how I treat others. I realized that I don't need money to be a genuinely nice person. I went to sleep that night, knowing everything was going to turn out alright.

On Easter morning, I wanted to sleep in and just kind of be alone because up until then, I hadn't had much alone time. I let everyone go to Easter service and Jess and I ended up sleeping in and going to the beach to walk on the board walk. We got dressed up and took the metro to the beach. It was even more beautiful in the daytime. We found many street artists and people selling souvenirs on the board walk. We got a bowl of fruit and spent the day enjoying the live music and beautiful views. Towards the end of the day, we got supper and then I face timed my family while they were all together for Easter back home. We got back to the hostel and packed up all our things because we were leaving first thing in the morning to go back to Olomouc.

Although I couldn't be with my family this Easter, I'm glad I could spend it in beautiful Barcelona with good friends and good company. Despite all the money I spent on the trip, it was well worth it. I hope I can go back to Spain the next time I visit Europe, which I hope is very soon.

Poland

This weeks blog will be a little difficult to write about for me, because I saw a lot of things in a short amount of time this weekend. We spent 3 days in Poland where we visited the salt mines of Krakow, Shindler's Factory, and the Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration camps. I knew this would be a lot to soak in for one weekend, but I knew it was something I'd been wanting to see my whole life and I think it is something that I will remember forever.

Saturday morning, we left for Krakow, Poland to visit the Salt mines there. When we arrived to the salt mine and went down 54 flights of stairs which was like over 80 meters below the surface, but still above sea level. It took about 15 minutes to get down the stairs. The tour of the mine consisted of our tour guide telling us how the miners harvested and transported the salt, how the salt preserved wood, and how they navigated through the mines. It was very cool to experience the mines- it was like nothing I'd ever seen before.  Once we got to places where there was water, our tour guide let us taste how salty it was, and even encouraged us to taste the walls because they were made out of salt. Something really cool that I learned, is that they had horses down in the mines that would work and help the miners transport the salt. When the horse was old enough they would take them down and train them. The life expectancy of the horses actually increased while they were down in the mines because of the salt that was in the air. When the horse had reached an old enough age, they would be brought back up to surface to live out the rest of their lives peacefully. By the end of the tour, we were at about 129 meters below the surface (still above sea level). We rode the elevator up to the surface and loaded the bus back up to go to our hostel. The rest of the day was spent exploring the town of Krakow and getting some food before the long day we had ahead of us.

Sunday morning, we walked for only about 15 minutes to get to Schindler's factory. A little background about Oskar Schindler... Oskar was a German living in Krakow at the time of WWII. He took over his father's shut-down factory which produced pots, pans, door hinges, knobs, and lots of other metal products. At the time of the war when the Nazi police were evacuating and demolishing the Jewish Ghetto's, Schindler was losing workers. He and his accountant who was also a Jew decided that he would make sure to get more and more workers so he could make money within his factory. Once he realized that he was saving many lives by employing these Jews he decided to make a list of names of every Jew he knew so they wouldn't get sent to the concentration camps. By the end of the war, he saved 12,000 Jews from meeting their horrible fate in the concentration camps. Schindler was a hero to all. His factory was preserved and made into a museum to show just how much of an impact he made.

As we walked through the museum, it started from the beginning. It was kind of a timeline of the war. It started out with how the war started, and ended with the liberation and included almost everything in between. There was a part about the ghettos and how they were all destroyed. There were letters on the walls from the Jews that lived there about what they were feeling and experiencing. This was a hard part for me because it showed real emotion from those people. As we got toward the end of the factory, there was a room with quotes from some of the people Schindler saved. The one that stood out to me the most read, "He employed me at his factory, although he knew I would be useless for him." This stood out to me, because in the movie 'Schindler's List' there was a man with no arm who he hired to work for him and when the Nazi police tried to kill him, Schindler stopped him and explained the importance he had in his factory. He did this for many people, especially the elderly and the children. A lot of people tried to save the Jews. Some succeeded, and some did not but Oscar Schindler used his strong business mentality to save 12,000 PEOPLE and he made a huge impact on WWII.


Monday morning, we left for the Auschwitz concentration camp at 6:00 AM. It was about an hour and a half bus ride to get to the camp. I somewhat knew what to expect walking into the camp because of the knowledge I have acquired over my years in high school history, and what we have learned here in the Czech Republic. What didn't expect, were the emotions that flooded through me when I entered the concentration camp that morning. I made sure to stay very close to the tour guide so I could learn as much as possible as we went through our tour. After the first camp, we went to Auschwitz-Birkenau which was a death camp. The Jews that were sent there would get off the train and be picked off by who was the strongest. The weakest would be sent to the gas chambers and killed immediately. The stronger ones would work until they died of starvation.

What I have learned and seen in movies will never compare to what I saw, and what I learned about the concentration camps. Being there, walking where they walked, walking where over millions of PEOPLE died for no reason at all will forever haunt me. It will also help me understand only a little bit of what they went through during the Holocaust. I can't even imagine that happening today in our world, which is crazy, because it happened not too long ago. Humans are capable of horrible horrible things, and I genuinely hope that history doesn't repeat itself. I hope we learn from the inhumane things that happened and never let them happen again.

I'm sorry that I couldn't write more about my experience, but it is a very hard thing to write about. Everyone should get a chance to see these concentration camps at least once in their lives and experience it for themselves.

Vienna & Venice

A couple weeks ago, our class took a week long trip to Vienna, Austria and Venice, Italy. These were two places that I was most excited about visiting when I was accepted into this program. Each city has their own uniqueness which is what I enjoyed the most about this trip.

Our first day in Vienna was spent just learning the ins and outs of the city. We walked for what seemed like an hour from our hostel to the main square. The square had various stores and restaurants, including my new favorite clothing store, Pull & Bear. Once we found the place where we would be meeting, we split up for lunch. A few of us went to Brothers Pizza where we ran into Doug and Jan and his son Damien! Shortly after we regrouped, we walked around the city as a class and Jan told us about the history of the city, and then we toured St. Stephen's Cathedral. We split up once more so we could do our own thing and get some dinner. We decided to meet again early in the morning for a long day filled with activities.

After taking the long trip to walk into the city square, we started our day at the Hapsburg Imperial Treasury where there were many ancient jewels and crowns and other heirlooms over the last 500 years from the Hapsburg Imperial rule. After spending about an hour and a half in awe, we split up into two groups to see either the Natural Science Museum or an Art Museum. Since I chose the art museum when we were in Dresden, I decided to do the Natural Science Museum this time and I wasn't disappointed.

There were 3 different levels in the museum and each had something different. First, we went to the animals. It felt kind of like a zoo, but with stuffed animals. There was a whole entire room dedicated to just birds. They had every animal that you could imagine. They also had dinosaurs, dodo birds and woolly mammoths. The next level we went on was dedicated to different rocks and crystals that belonged to areas all over the world. I think we spend over 3 hours in this museum, but I didn't mind at all because it was something that I had never experienced before.

After getting some much needed lunch, we rested at our hostel for a while and then headed toward the nearest metro to go to the Palace. If we wanted to go inside, we had to pay so we decided to just walk around outside. We first arrived in the front court yard, which was the size of a football field. On the front of the palace, there were two sets of stairs that led up to the front doors. We walked around the building to the backyard where the garden was. Since this was early April, the flowers and trees hadn't quite bloomed yet, so the garden wasn't very green but I used my imagination. All of the trees and hedges were trimmed in the shapes of arches and the outsides almost looked like walls on the side of a building. It seemed like this garden went on for miles and miles. We ventured a little while longer and saw a huge hill that reached a building which seemed like it would have a great view of the city. It took us a while, but we finally got to the top and we were right. The city was beautiful from the top of the hill-we could even see St. Steven's Cathedral.

The next morning, we had to pack up and say goodbye to our cozy hostel to head to Venice. We had a little bit of a delay when Bre fell down the stairs and sprained her ankle and had to be taken to the ER. We loaded the bus and waited for her in the hospital parking lot and arrived many hours later in Venice.

When we got to Venice, we had to get a train to go further into the islands. Since the city is made up of 118 islands, its hard to get around. The smaller islands are connected by bridges and the bigger islands are only accessible by water taxi, water bus, or train. Once we got onto the group of islands with our hostel, we took a water taxi with all of our luggage to get to the hostel. It was late at night, so we got settled in and got dinner and then headed off to bed.


The next day was spent exploring the islands and visiting different churches. After breaking apart from the group, we got lunch, and then went back to the hostel to change and relax for a little while.  A couple of us met up so we could go on a gondola ride around the islands. This was something that I had been looking forward to doing this whole trip. We searched for the cheapest possible ride for the 6 of us, and it ended up being about $15 each for a 30 minute ride. Our gondola driver gave us a mini tour and told us a little bit about the history of the city and he also sang a song for us. After our ride, we got gelato and some souvenirs and then some dinner and called it a night. The next morning, we hopped on a train for Rome.


I could have spent so much more time in both places, but I'm grateful for the short amount of time that I had. I wish I could have spent more time exploring Austria. It was such a beautiful country and I think I could have found some hidden gems if I looked a little further. If I ever get the privilege to come back to Europe, I will be coming back to explore a little bit more.

Not Your Typical Spring Break

When I thought about what I wanted to do for spring break this year, It wasn't a very tough choice for me. I knew I wanted to cross some things off of my bucket list, eat some amazing food, and go somewhere where the weather was warm and where the water was wet. So that's exactly what I did.

The week before spring break, our class when to Vienna, Austria and Venice, Italy. I could talk forever about those places so I will save them for another blog. At the end of our time in Venice, our class went our separate ways and I headed off to Rome, Italy.

By now, I'm pretty used to waking up early in the morning to travel to a new place, so we packed up our bags and walked for about 30 minutes over the many bridges of Venice to get to the train station headed to Rome. By the time we got to Rome and got all settled in at our hostel, we decided to grab a bite to eat from somewhere close. The manager at the hostel recommended a restaurant/bar with a an unusual selection of food. It mostly consisted of different appetizers and had some really good sushi too. Once we filled up on about 4 plates each, we went back to the hostel and decided to rest for the big day we had planned ahead of us.

Pope Francis speaks at the Vatican City every Sunday morning, so that's where we started our day. We hopped on the metro which took us a couple blocks away from the Vatican. Once we got closer and closer, I could hear the commotion from the hundreds of people walking to listen to the Pope speak. When we arrived, I couldn't believe the amount of people I saw. After pushing our way through the crowds, trying not to lose one another, we made it to security with about 5 minutes to spare. We barely made it passed the metal detector when the crowd started cheering for Pope Francis who was standing on the balcony. Now I don't speak Italian, so I had no idea what he was saying, but I assumed it was very moving because halfway through, everyone started to cheer again. After about 20 minutes, he went back inside so we went into St. Peter's Basilica. Again, there were crowds of people, but it was free to go inside so we got in line and went through another security gate. We saw signs that showed that everyone should be in appropriate dress. It had an X through any shirts that showed shoulders and dresses that showed knees. I wish we would have known, because most of us didn't make it through the gate. Paige was nice enough to lend me her jacket to hide my shoulders so I could go in.



After we spent a couple of hours in the Vatican, we decided it was time for lunch. A man came up to us on the street and handed me a flyer from a family Italian restaurant that he was promoting. It was only a block away from the exit of the Vatican, we found the rest of our group and sat at a table outside. In Venice, I didn't have very good luck with finding a pasta that reached my standards so I figured that I would try again in Rome. I'll just say that I stuck to pizza for the rest of my time in Italy...

After lunch, I was still hungry but we hopped on the metro again and got off at the stop called Colosseum. As soon as we stepped outside, BOOM there it was. The Colosseum was so beautiful that I didn't even mind the large amount of tourists around me. We came upon a man that was trying to sell us tickets to tour the Colosseum and the Forum for like $40 and we didn't want to spend that much, so we searched for something cheaper. We ended up getting into both places with a 24 hour pass for only $15. Since we were near the Forum, that's where we went first. I didn't have much prior knowledge about the Roman Forum so it would have been helpful to have a tour guide, but luckily we had Nick who is a history major and lives for talking about the Roman Empire. He showed us around the forum and read his notes that he prepared and gave us a more interesting and cheaper tour.

Next, we walked back to the Colosseum and Nick gave us the same kind of tour. I was lucky enough to be a little more prepared for this landmark, thanks to the amazing social studies and history teachers from my elementary school and high school. I was always interested in the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece so this was something that I have been wanting to see for a long time. In the Colosseum, a lot of the original structure had been missing, leaving no seating, no floor in the arena, and 4 levels instead of 5. Since there was no floor in the arena, we could see the tunnels where the gladiators would be kept before their fights which was under the arena floor. There was no seating left, but the whole arena was so huge so it put into perspective of how many people came to watch these fights. We climbed up what seemed like 10 flights of stairs to get a better view of the whole thing. It kind of felt like I was at Memorial Stadium on Husker game day because most sports arenas are based off of this structure. After walking around for a few hours, the Colosseum was closing soon, so some of us went back to the hostel to nap, but I wanted to go see the Trevi Fountain. When we got off the stop for the fountain, we realized that it was a couple blocks away from where the metro ended. We started walking and stumbled upon a lot of tourists again but we were at the wrong fountain. We decided to take it all in, and then go back to the hostel with the rest of the group and see the fountain the next day.


After the long day we had, I decided to go to bed early because we were going to get on a bus to head to Pompeii. This was another place that I've learned about in social studies so I figured I'd cross it off my bucket list as well. For those that don't know about Pompeii, it was a Roman city near Naples which was ruined by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD, killing everyone in it's path. This city was discovered sometime in the 7th century and is now preserved for people to see and explore. When we got to the ruins, we decided not to pay for a tour guide again and to just wander around the city by ourselves. It sounds morbid, but something that I remember learning about, is the casts of bodies that were preserved and put on display. A specific statue I remember seeing was of a boy who was covering his face from the ashes that were falling down on him. When we exited the ruins, these bodies were on display in glass containers. After touring the ruins of Pompeii and the new city of Pompei, we got back on our bus and headed back to Rome.

When we got back, we went to see the Trevi Fountain so I could live out my Lizzie McGuire dream for about 15 minutes. I tossed a coin into the fountain and made a wish just like in the movie. I was hoping someone would mistake me as a European singer and I'd get to live out that dream for a little longer, but unfortunately that didn't happen. After taking the metro back to the hostel, we were getting sick of eating pizza for every meal, so we found a Honduran restaurant and I had a huge chicken burrito.

The next morning, I was sad to say goodbye to Rome and all it had to offer, but I was ready to relax on a beach for the rest of the trip. We packed up our things, and jumped on a plane to Split, Croatia. When we got there, we didn't have to wait long for our luggage and we had a ride set up for us to get to our Air bnb. When we walked outside, it started to pour.. so much for going to the beach. We packed into the car and made it to the apartment. When the rain stopped, we decided to save some money and buy groceries at the local store to make meals in our fully stocked kitchen. I got some supplies to make pasta, chicken nuggets, sandwiches and grilled cheese. I'm glad we decided to do this because I was running out of money and couldn't take spending any more on eating out every day. We got back to the apartment and made food and then instantly fell asleep after another long day of traveling.

It was now Wednesday, and the weather was still a little crappy so Jess, Kody and I decided to get an early morning massage. I've gotten massages before, but I've never experienced  one that hurt that much.. maybe I was so tensed up from all of the traveling, but once she got to my shoulders, my whole body tensed up. Later, I realized that it was a sports massage which is usually meant for athletes so that's probably why it was so rough. After our massages we decided to relax for the rest of the day because we still had 4 more days in Split. Later that night, we met up with two more girls from our class that were staying in a different area of the city for dinner and drinks. They told us all about their day exploring different islands and swimming with jelly fish, despite the freezing cold water. Our group decided we wanted to go on an adventure as well, so we planned on going to a national park on Friday.

The next day was spent at the beach.. it was about time. We made some lunch and put on our swim suits. It was only about a 15 minute walk to the nearest beach so we got some beer on the way. When we reached the beach there weren't as many people as I thought there would be, so we put our towels out and started tanning. After I could feel myself getting burnt, I walked into the water which was freezing cold but it felt nice because the sun was beaming down on us. We only stayed for a couple more hours until we were all sunburnt, so we walked home and decided to go to bed early because we had to meet for the national park the next morning at 8:30.

Krka National Park is a park that consists of huge waterfalls. We got on a bus for about an hour and then got on a boat for 30 minutes to reach the park. We saw online that there was a swimming area in the park under the waterfalls, so we wore our swim suits. After an hour with our tour guide, we split up and walked around the rest of the park by ourselves, discovering an abundance of beautiful waterfalls coming from all different sources and nature along the way. At the end of the trail, we found the swimming area, but we were a little distraught because our tour guide told us that the water was too high for swimming and that it usually didn't start up until May. We saw people swimming anyway, so we decided to jump in. The water was freezing cold, but it was an experience I'll never forget.



When it came time to leave on Sunday, we had to check our of our Air bnb at 10:00 AM. Our bus from Split back to Olomouc didn't leave until 9:00 that night. We had a whole entire day to kill, but we had all of our luggage and nowhere to go. We decided to get some brunch and head to the beach. We sat in the shade just appreciating the view of the ocean, writing in our journals, reading books, and a little bit of napping. We didn't want to have to carry our luggage around all day so this was a perfect place to relax. As the sun started to set and our shady spot wasn't as shady anymore, so we went to get an early dinner which was closer to the bus stop. I had a few beers and a burger with mac and cheese to top off the relaxing day we had.


Once I got on the bus back to Olomouc, I fell asleep right away. When I woke up, it was about 4 AM and everyone was getting off the bus. I had no idea what was going on, and our bus driver didn't speak English but I could tell he was trying to tell me I needed to follow the rest of the passengers off the bus. I saw Jess and Kody with their passports, and when I realized what was happening I realized that we were crossing the border into Slovenia and needed to show our identification. I had left it on the bus so I had to get back on and the driver didn't seem too pleased. We had to do this 4 times throughout the whole 12 hour bus ride. When we got to Vienna, we had a 3 hour layover, so we sat at the bus station and waited for our bus to Olomouc. Finally, after 7 more hours, we arrived at our home away from home and had to miss class because of our set-backs along the way. I was so happy to be back in my dorm room and get some sleep.

My time abroad is coming to an end, and I have already experienced much more than I thought I would. We have about a month left here and I can't believe it's gone by this fast. I'm glad that we are holding of on the traveling for a while, because I'm a little burnt out from the last 2 weeks. We will be taking a weekend trip soon to Krakow, Poland to see Schindler's factory and the Auschwitz concentration camp so I've decided to stay in Olomouc this weekend to prepare myself.

Next week I'll be writing about Vienna and Venice so stay tuned!

To the People of Europe,

Since I've been in Europe for a little over a month now, I have already met so many people that will impact my life forever. Along with these people, there are even some who I've only spent a couple minutes with that have taught me something about myself or about life.

To start off, when I first arrived in Prague, I encountered a lot of people who were so nice to me and the group that I arrived with. The woman who rented out her apartment to us left us a list of all the places near us to eat, to shop, and the places we should visit for the weekend. She even had a driver pick us up from the airport and take us back. This made my first weekend in Prague feel so welcoming and homey. As I have already mentioned in my first blog, we had to take an Uber almost everywhere since our Air bnb apartment was very far away from the city square. I encountered so many different Uber drivers. Most of them didn't speak English so there were a lot of silent rides, but there were some drivers that went on and on about their lives in the short 15 minutes I spent with them. Most of them talked about their reason for moving to the Czech Republic and how happy they were to be there. A few talked about their education and how they had the privilege go to college and get their degree. This really stood out to me because not a lot of people here have the opportunity to have a higher education. They work so hard to get where they are and I really appreciate that. It makes me want to work harder towards my goals in life, and it also made me cherish the privileges that I have in my life.. especially the opportunity for me to be in Europe for three months.

Having dinner after our beer tour. Tereza is on the bottom left!

Next, I want to talk about Tereza. Tereza is one of or directors here in Olomouc. She has been helping me, and the rest of the group ever since we got accepted into this program. We met her back in the States last semester when we got together at Old Chicago, and ever since then I knew she would be our "Mother Tereza." She's done so much for us since we've been here like copying our passports for safer travels, booking local weekend trips when we have nowhere to travel for the weekend, teaching us how to use the tram system, showing us around our new college home, and being there for us when we need someone to talk to or to take us to the doctor when we are sick. She really does it all and I think I speak for everyone else in our group when I say I am so thankful for her. Last weekend she organized a beer tasting and a wine tasting for the weekend. I only went on the beer tour (because it was cheaper) and was almost late for the bus-but what's new. I quickly messaged her on Facebook and told her I was behind schedule, but she was so understanding and helpful on telling me how to get to the bus on my own. Thankfully, I made it on time and didn't have to miss out on the beer tour!

When we arrived at our dorms (Nederin) in the beginning of March, it was late and we were all so tired from our day of traveling from Prague. We were given our bedding and WiFi router (which didn't work by the way) and sent off to building 2D floor 4. Emily and I each had huge suitcases and tired arms... and then we had to carry our belongings all. the. way. up. to. 4th. floor. Luckily, there was a nice girl that lived across the hall who asked us where we were going. She took our key and led us to the right room and unlocked all of the doors for us on the way. Just today actually she offered to let me try her authentic Chinese food that she cooks for her and her roommate almost every night. I've run into so many nice and helpful people within our dorm. The guy that lives next to Emily and I helped us with our WiFi situation and he also warned us when the University was doing electrical checks. Since our WiFi router from the University didn't work, we were forced to buy one at the store, which we apparently weren't supposed to have. He saved our butts from getting fined.
Jess also has an amazing flatmate, Hash, who is from the UK. He has helped her and Hannah so much in their dorm as well. Whenever Jess and I are trying to book a train or a flight for a weekend trip, he helps us and sometimes knows how to get us discounts. He's even helped us order TelePizza when Jess and I had no food in our rooms. I'm so glad I met Hash because he's so understanding, helpful and patient with us in all situations. He really is a blessing!

Adela, me, Jess, and Tereza

Speaking of new friends, Jess met two girls while she was lost and trying to get back to the dorms one night, and they helped her find her way back. To thank them Jess and I met up with them for drinks last week. Tereza and Adela are sooo nice and they were very interested in the differences of the US and the Czech Republic and what we had to say about it. Tereza grew up here in Olomouc and Adela is from a small town in Slovakia and they are both studying here at the University to become Dentists. We spent the whole night talking about all of our different views on the world and quickly became friends. When we get back from our trip to Vienna, Venice, and Croatia in the next couple of weeks, we have already planned to meet up again.

On this trip, I have already learned more about myself than I ever thought I would. I've learned to be more patient- especially when I'm always late for things and getting on the wrong trams and getting off at the wrong stops. A long time ago, I realized that I was very relaxed and carefree when it came to stressful situations. Usually when the slightest thing goes wrong, there is always someone who becomes stressed about the situation.. which isn't a bad thing. Sometimes its good to have someone in the group who worries about missing flights and accidentally getting off at the wrong train station, because if no one worried then we would never get things done.

Laughing after we got off at yet
another wrong stop

I've learned to sort through what is worth stressing out about, and what isn't. For me, being late and missing a tram is NOTHING compared to other problems going on in this world. There could always be something worse that could happen to me. On this trip I have definitely realized that I have it pretty good here.. so the little things that go wrong don't quite matter.

Because I'm a little bit more relaxed, I find myself not booking flights, trains, bus rides, and places to stay when we travel until about a week in advance, because I kind of worry about things as they come along. Thankfully there are people who are more organized than I am in our group. But I am learning from the more responsible people in our group to be more organized and on top of things. This is definitely something I have struggled with all my life.. I guess you could call it procrastination (as I'm writing this blog an hour before it's due haha.) But by the time I am ready to travel back to the states, I'm hoping I can be way more on top of deadlines than I was before I arrived. Maybe I will start being on time to things too ;)

That's all for this blog, but I'll be back soon with all of my adventures in Vienna, Venice and my Spring Break travels.

A Little Bit of Homesickness, a Little Bit of Culture Shock

My beautiful family :)

Recently, I have become homesick which is something that doesn’t happen often. Perhaps I can blame it on the Easter holiday that I missed with my family. Maybe it’s the fact that my little brother was recognized for honorable-mention all-state in the Lincoln Journal Star for basketball and I wasn’t home to congratulate him. Although I will be returning home in a little less than 2 months, it is very hard for me get through the days without my family and friends back home.

I have been trying to focus on the positives of being here which is very easy to do because I am surrounded by amazing people and places, but lately I have been focusing on the negatives. I find myself thinking about all of the things that I’m missing out on at home-especially the food. Almost every day, I crave Raising Canes, Runza, or simply making chicken and rice in the comfort of my own kitchen. I also miss my queen sized bed, my feather pillow and soft blankets. These are things that I knew I would miss while I was away, but I know that they will all be waiting for me when I get home.

Along with the little things I have taken for granted, I want to touch a little bit on the culture shock that I have experienced in the last month.

Pilsner Urquell and Kody

The pivo here is CHEAP and much tastier than Busch Light lol. The average mug at a bar costs about 30 CZK which is about $1.50. Back in the US, I can find the same thing for $6 which is usually fatal to my bank account. I also don’t get asked to see my ID when I order a drink at a restaurant or a bar, which is nice because the drinking age here is 18 years old unlike back home. While I’m talking about the beer, I might as well talk about the water. I think I took advantage on the access to water back home because it’s sometimes hard to find here. Water is also more expensive than beer when ordering drinks at a restaurant. It took me a while, but I’ve learned that nesycená means “flat water” and has a blue cap, but the green caps are sparkling water which doesn’t agree with my taste buds. After about a week, we finally found bottles of water that were only 6 CZK and have 1.5 liters of water! It doesn’t taste as good as the water from home, but water is water.

Something I miss doing back home that I also took for granted is driving my car. Here in Olomouc, we have public transportation in the form of a tram that takes us straight to class and the train station and then makes a few more stops along the way. There are also busses, trains, subways and very cheap flights that allow you to travel within the country and to other countries as well. A train to Prague only costs $10 and we purchased our tram pass before we got to Olomouc which will last us the whole semester so most transportation is fairly cheap. I have noticed that a lot of the locals take public transportation over driving a car. All of the cars here are manual and are seen as a luxury instead of a necessity. In America, I don’t use a lot of public transportation. I had never taken the subway up until I arrived in Barcelona this past weekend. It was such a new concept to me because I had only ever driven a car and used a bus a couple times to get to a Husker football game. Using the tram and the metro seems like a quicker way to get around a big city, but can be complicated until it becomes an everyday thing. I still find myself getting off at the wrong tram stop from time to time, but I’ll get hang of it someday!

Being a server at a restaurant, I have noticed some differences between restaurant etiquette in the US and in the Czech Republic. Here in the Czech the servers usually come to the table within the first 5 minutes like in the US, but they ask us what we want to drink right away and don’t allow a lot of time for us to think about what we want- usually I just order a pivo, so this is pretty easy for me. After the drinks are served, they ask us what we want to eat which is what happens in the US as well. When the food is served, they usually don’t come back to the table until the plates or glasses are empty. Even after they clear the table, they allow us to visit and drink as much as we’d like until we are ready to pay. I like this way of serving a lot because we can just get up and pay whenever we are ready- weather it’s as soon as we are done eating, or if it’s an hour later, they don’t really mind. Lunch time in the Czech is when everyone eats their main meal. If we are eating at a restaurant during lunch hour, the servers like to get us out of the way as soon as possible, just so they can keep their restaurant full and busy throughout lunch time which is totally understandable. I like to think that I have grown accustomed to the restaurant etiquette here so the next step is learning how to order my meals in the Czech language.. I’m still working on it. 

After a month in the Czech Republic, I have adapted to the differences but I still find myself missing home. This makes me appreciate what I have back in the US a lot more! By the end of my journey here in Europe, it will be hard to leave but I think I will be ready to go home to my friends and family and my comfy bed! I've also decided that the first meal I'm going to eat when I get home will be Raising Canes. :)