The Final Hoorah

It is around my seventh hour spent in the Minneapolis airport and I have been up for about 22 hours so far. I also have only experienced sunlight for the last 22 hours. WE have around 3 more hours until our plane leaves the Midwest and then another 3 until we are back in Missoula. Sean and I played rummy with Minnesota "Loons of the World" cards, I have read a lot, played on the Mac, thought, slept on the dirty carpet, and watched some news. It isn't easy occupying yourself in an airport if you are broke and really tired. Part of me really wants to be in Missoula just so I can get out of this semi-prison, but most of me wishes I was back in my dorm room or at Old Towns Square walking around. I am content with my trip, and probably had the best experiences of my lifetime. I have traveled before, but for whatever reason, I gained so much more out of my 3 weeks in Prague then my month long backpacking trip in Costa Rica.

I found myself getting a little emotional while sitting and playing cards with Sean. Maybe it was because I was losing miserably, but I really think it is because I have a huge fear that all I have gained in Prague is going to go right out the window when I step foot on Missoula ground. I am going to try my best to maintain this beautiful confidence I left with. I have lived almost my entire 21 years in the small, mountain valley town. And as much as I love being from such a friendly, gorgeous place, it was this experience in Prague that made me want to leave so badly. I don't want to leave anything specific. I love my family, I adore my friends, I want to live in the mountains, but I think it is time for me to experience a new life. Start over. I want to go to a completely different place where I am uncomfortable and awkward and get the chance to start a new chapter where no one knows me and I don't know them.

The Saturday before our departure there was a minority music festival called the Refu Festival. (Refugee Festival) Minority groups from all over Eastern Europe were there. There was food, clothes, toys, pictures and lots of music. Something I have noticed is people do not dance in open, outside areas like parks or squares. During the festival, only 3 people danced, one old lady and two small children under 10 years old. Most of the audience was white. You can tell they like what they are hearing, but they don't let it flow and just break out of their shells. At the first festival I went to, the Khamaro Festival, people were all about dancing, but most of the people attending the concerts were Roma.

For the last couple of days in Prague I spent my time shopping, (I made my partner Ales take me to some "hot spot" shopping spots for a couple of hours when we had a break during the festival on Saturday. I told him I would do the same for him when he got to Missoula. Ha. I'm sure he appreciated it.), and saying good-bye to some people I may never see again. I spent all day Sunday with a friend whom I got really close to during the trip. WE spent much of the day in a park near our dorm hall. I had no idea it even existed. It was almost like a different world. You walk through these tall, white gates and there are 2 dirt, walking paths, one to the left and one to the right. In between them lies a giant rectangle of grass. Surrounding them is a forest full of walking paths and tall, narrow deciduous trees. At the of the giant rectangle there is a huge soccer field and a monastery. I know I would have gone there more to read and relax if I had known about it. I am glad it was my last day trip. It is very different from typical Prague.

At night, Zach, Sean , and I went to the 'hospudka' (little pub) to grab a few beers before we went to bed. The hospudka is the "dorm bar" i wrote about in one of my earlier blogs. WE spent so much of our time there it was only appropriate to spend our last night there. The waitresses did not speak a bit of English, and I think we all shared a very unique relationship with them. We never knew whether they wanted to kill us every time we made our way into the pub, or whether they actually liked us. I would like to think the latter, but I do know they would get frustrated at our large bills and lack of Czech language skills.

Our flight left at 7 in the morning on Monday. Mary decided to go to the airport at midnight and sleep there because after that the next bus to take us to the airport would only come at 5 a.m. She didn't want to be rushed. Israel, Zach, and I decided to take our chances. We were afraid we wouldn't have time to get checked in and go through security because it was a 40-minute bus ride. Sean was going to go with us but he took off at around 2 in the morning (why? I have no clue) on a different bus and experience his last adventure with the public transportation system. We had plenty of time to feed ourselves with $5 sandwiches and $5 twelve-ounce cans of Coke. No joke. It was a total rip off. The Czech airport was quite expensive, surprisingly, since the rest of the city was dirt cheap. I mean, the beer was cheaper then the water. And I am not kidding when I write that.

So, back to paragraph one. I am still sitting in the Minneapolis airport, but I have now been up for 23 hours, I have been here for 8 hours, I have 2 more before I will be seated on a plane, and I will be in Missoula in hopefully 5. The plan is the Union Club or the Rhino right when we get off the plane just so we can show how hardcore we can be. Going to a bar after being up for almost 30 hours sounds like a horrible idea, but I can never say no to a challenge so if anyone sees me on Monday it will be me with my face planted on a table after passing out from half of a $1.25 pint of PBR at the Rhino.

Prague was fun and life changing. Thanks for the comments and for reading this. I had a lot of fun with it. I think I am going to continue one, and I will send a link for my first one, but I won't send emails every time I write one, I promise. That was just for my special trip. :)

Take care and Cua,

Ashley

"Dobje Bobje"