SATA Prague Fall 1999

Student Reflections

"If someone asked my advice on where to go to study abroad in Europe, I'd ask them if they had any interest in sitting right in the heart of Europe in one of the most beautiful cities this continent has. Prague is a dream. Many people refer to it as the Magic City, and indeed it is. It is truly the most beautiful city I've ever seen. Anyone who enjoys beauty, history, or art would love Prague. It is one of the only cities in Europe where you can see 900 years of diverse architectural elements in a mélange of churches, restaurants and apartments, untouched by the bombs of WWII. Almost a millennium of history is contained in the very walls of Prague. And the more recent history is in the faces of the people." Sarah Ferguson '01

"I really miss Prague and the whole experience of traveling. It was phenomenal to see all those places and meet people." Eric Levai '01

"Professor Eckert, you're the one to be blamed for letting us take a glimpse into that amazing world of Prague and then forcing us to come back to the old Connecticut." Evangelia Sinouris '01

The following generally expresses my feelings toward my Prague SATA experience: It was absolutely fabulous!!!" Serge Rudnyak, '02

KOSTJA's story

Why did I choose Prague for Study Away? My first intention in regards to studying abroad my junior year was to spend the entire year in Russia, however it seemed a bit daunting to spend a whole year in one place. The opportunity to study for a semester in another part of Eastern Europe was one that I could not ignore, especially since I would be able to go with Professor Eckert, whom I respect and who knows more about the Prague than anyone I had met before.  What I had heard and read about Prague was amazing. My previous study was focused mainly on Russia; Czechs like Russians, are Slavs, yet very different from Russians.  I wanted to expand my knowledge of Eastern Europe and I excited about learning another Slavic language.

Once in Prague, I was bombarded by its history which was all around me.  We lived on the cusp of the Old Town and the New Town surrounded by great events of the past.  As an American whose nation is so young in comparison, I learned what it was like to be part of such an old place.  I was awestruck by things that I was able to see on daily or even hourly basis. Although I lived with Americans, I tried to immerse myself in the Czech lifestyle as much as possible.  I used Czech, however grammatically incorrect, whenever possible.  I tried to blend in. I listened to people, looked around at signs, places and people, and took in as much as I could.  I took pleasure in the path to my destinations. Even if it was the same every day, like my walk from the dorm to school, it was, in fact, always different.  I was forever noticing new things, looking in new directions, seeing new people and hearing new words. Everything was exciting, even going to buy bread or taking a tram to church on Sunday morning.

Velvet Revolution

I remember where I was on November 17th, 1999.  Czechs had told me that there would be little commemoration of the event because, in general, Czechs are not big on state holidays and commemoration. It reminds them too much of Communism. All of that pomp of May Day parades and such was not at all missed by most of the population.  So on that night, I went to a pub near the outskirts of town with a few people from our program, a pub where student bands came to play jazz and rock to celebrate the day and the life of Martin Smid, a mathematics student caught up in a peculiar plot ten years earlier.  In fact, most of the people on the National Street on November 17th 1989 were university students, just like us. Could I imagine myself as one of those people? At the pub concert, I was one of very few Americans amongst young Czechs. I felt separated by language and culture and common experience. Yet I also felt connected to them in celebration of good's triumph over evil and in the relief of human suffering. It was an evening I will not soon forget...

On the Saturday following the 17th, there was a tongue-in-cheek re-creation of certain aspects of Communism on Wenceslas Square. Amidst one of the most capitalistic areas of Prague, people were reliving Communism.  Some actors were hired and the rest just played along. It was a lighthearted criticism of Communism, I would say, but a biting one, nonetheless. The visible contradictions were humorous at the least.  The fact that it was held on Wenceslas Square with advertisements all around was one. Then I saw a uniformed Communist soldier (actor, of course) drinking Dunkin' Donuts coffee.  Even I was caught up in the play, escorted into the charade by a Czech acquaintance.  No, I had not lived through it, but here I was taking part in a recreation of it - strange to say the least.  I was persuaded to pose as the head of the American Communist Party and became a player in the show as I was escorted into the party office, offered gifts and engaged in a conversation with someone playing the party chief.  I tried to fit into the role as much as possible. We parted with fraternal embraces and "Long live Communism!"  It was odd for me to be saying this, indeed.  The Czechs got a kick out of it.  I wonder if all felt the same way.

The day at Terezín

One of the first sounds I remember being bombarded with was the clanging of two bells near each other at the same time.  The two tones were discordant and, to my companions and me, sounded like the beckoning of death.  As we walked around town, we could sense the terror and complete sadness and loss of hope that was so much a part of this town sixty years ago.  The central parts of the town were almost completely empty of people.  We visited a couple of museums, which demonstrated thousands of pictures, documents and artifacts linked with Terezín's infamous history. Terezín was split up into what are called the large fortress and the small fortress.  The large fortress was, during the war, a Jewish ghetto.  The people who lived there previously were kicked out and the Jews were moved in.  The small fortress was for political prisoners as it had been years earlier.  The majority of the Jews that were in Terezín met their death in other concentration camps. Now, people live in this town again. Most moved there because of low rent.  The sadness still lingers there.

My solitary afternoon

Prague is full of so many treasures.  Many are in tourist guides, and still many more are not.  The treasures are in alleys behind streets where tourists usually walk.  Their stories are known only to natives and those who have inquired and listened intently to natives speak of these places. Or they have read widely on Czech history.

Even those that are listed in tour guides can lead to many different experiences when visited. On one of my last days in Prague, I thought I should visit some places I had been meaning to get to for a while. I took Tram #22 from Narodni Trida, near our dormitory and set out for the other side of the river, for Pohorelec, Strahov and Brevnov.  I walked around one of my favorite areas of Prague, called Pohorelec or the "Burned Place" as it had experienced a couple disastrous fires in its past.  I was alone and able to look around more readily and concentrate on the things I was seeing.

Even though it was December, I found quite a few tourists in the more "popular" and advertised areas of Brevnov and some in Strahov as well, both monasteries and museums. It was beginning to get dark. I read that Brevnov monastery, my final destination for the day was "closing" soon and that there were no tours today.  I wanted to go see it all the same, even if I could not get a tour.  I walked from the tram stops through the gate and saw St. Margaret's Church.  I walked in. No one was there except a few monks preparing to say their afternoon prayers.  I knelt down and prayed while I listened to the beautiful chanting in this old, majestic and beautiful church.  Several minutes later, I walked up to the hill to where the bishop and the king met in the 11th century upon their decision to build a monastery on the spot. Some of the walls of the original building still exist.  Nevertheless, even this historic place had not been spared graffiti writing.  The skies were taking on a beautiful pink color as I walked around alone contemplating my day and my entire time in Prague. Dusk was falling.  It was inexplicably beautiful.

As important as it was for me to experience events with others, I definitely found it vital to spend some time alone to fit pieces together. Being in a new place forces one to be bombarded by unfamiliar sights, sounds and experiences.  Often it takes years for such things to become commonplace and be fit into an order for the mind and soul.  It need not take as long, but one prerequisite for appreciating an experience such as study abroad is to revisit the ideas and sensations related to it and to rethink them throughout one's life. It is fitting, however, that things do not always fit into place as we may like.  Even in chaos there is some order. At least chaos can be considered a constant.  It is always present, in some places more evidently than others.  I enjoyed what seemed to be a chaotic place.  I truly liked the idiosyncrasies of Prague and Czechs.  I reveled in the differences.  I laughed at the irony.   And yet the similarities between life there and what I had experienced previously were still comforting. It was also a very special thing to be able to discuss my experience with others that had similar encounters with Prague.  It was great to hear their reactions and thoughts that may have never crossed my mind.  I do not doubt that all of us had different experiences in Prague.