Quite A Grand Adventure: The Conclusion

I miss Prague every day.

I've been stateside for almost six weeks now. I've been to Raleigh. I've been to Hayesville. I've gone back to work at Stone Summit. I've done some sewing projects. I've played piano. I've caught up with friends. I've been to a wedding. I've gotten lead climb certified. I've had a birthday.

I love being in Atlanta. I really do. But I miss Prague every day.

My last three weeks of classes flew by. After spring break, everything went into hyperspeed. One weekend we had a photo shoot for the costume and photography studios. The next weekend we went to Berlin. And the weekend after that we did the touristy things of Prague that we hadn't gotten around to yet (i.e. the castle, paddle-boating, parks, etc.). The next weekend our program ended, and suddenly people were America-bound.

My brother Michael came to visit for about two weeks. He spent four days in eastern Czech with a friend of his while I finished up exams and said goodbye to everyone. Then we flew to the Netherlands for three nights - two in Delft and one in Amsterdam, with a stop at Keukenhof Gardens (wow!). Our last days were spent with our friends Anna and Tereza in beautiful Praha. We even had sunny skies majority of the weekend.

Our final weekend there was Easter weekend. Tereza went with Michael and I to mass at the church of Our Lady of Victory, which houses the Infant Jesus of Prague. We went out to lunch afterwards and Tereza gave us both presents, including traditional Easter lamb cakes which her mom had made for us! Once we said bye to her, it was off to pick up our luggage and then head to the hotel at the airport.

The trip home was disorienting. I began traveling around four Monday morning, spent 25 hours in airports and on planes, and got picked up around eleven Monday night. By my third connection in Dallas, I had no idea what time zone I was in, I just knew I was early for my last flight.

Since then, things have been low-key. Transitioning back wasn't particularly difficult, just strange. Anna took me to breakfast that Tuesday morning and I felt like I could hear every conversation in the restaurant. It took me a week to turn on the radio, and I still find myself turning it off half the time, preferring to let my car be quiet. My watch is still set to Prague time, and I'm thankful that I'm six hours behind here because anything other than that would be too difficult to calculate every time I check it.

All in all, things are good here. It's nice to be home and I'm happy to be back. But I miss Prague every day.