Czech: Home (Part 9)
21 hours ago I stepped off the plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor to be greeted by the forthcoming heatwave that is known as the Arizona summer. Never before has 100 degrees felt so homely. To wrap up the last weeks worth of events, it started with debriefing in Prague with the other summer interns located in the Czech Republic. It was such an awesome time to be able to talk with and share stories about the summer with the other interns. What was even better was being able to share with each other what we learned and how we grew through the summer. With one of the interns, the change was clearly evident in comparison to the beginning of the summer and such was encouraging to see. Debriefing in general went well with paperwork to fill out in regards to our thoughts and feelings toward the entire summer and each camp specifically. Getting on to more interesting stuff, my intern team had our last dinner together on Saturday during which we spend the time going over how we have seen each other grow this summer and just encourage one another one last time before saying our good byes (at least in regards to being a team together). I am sure that this was not the last time I would see any of them.
Sunday morning at 3:30 am, the interns who were not staying longer left for the airport. For me it was not a problem waking up to say goodbye to them as I never when to sleep. After returning to the Czech Inn Hostel around 1 am, I stayed up working on debriefing paperwork and team finances (fun stuff). After seeing them off, I went to bed for 4 hours and then woke up, said my goodbyes to my team and whoever was up and I left for the train station with the final destination being Ceske Budejovice. I spent a few days in CB with my friend Ondra and his family. I am so glad that I decided to stay the few extra days as it was so great to be able to have conversations with Ondra about different issues in our lives. This time was encouraging for me and I can only hope that it was just as or more encouraging for him. Also, it was great to meet up with some of the students from camp to play pool or bowl. As for staying at Ondra's place, it was awesome. His family was so hospitable and generous towards me that I hope to be as kind to others as they were to me. I thank God for them. At 9 pm my time in Ceske Budejovice came to end as the train pulled out of the station and I said my final goodbye (for now) to Ondra. Someday within the next 2 years I hope to return to the Czech Republic.
The train pulled into the Prague train station at midnight and from there I worked my way over to the airport with some difficulty. I could not find where a certain bus stop was and so I ended up walking to Namesti Republiky to catch the tram headed towards the airport. Finally at 1:45 am I reached the airport and proceeded to stay awake for the night as had an early flight out. So walking through the airport, it came at me by surprise when I found my self in front of a Starbucks. They are like body hair, they can be found just about everywhere. Well, putting my ill thoughts of the company aside, I stepped up to the counter to order a venti caffe latte as I needed caffeine. I quickly noticed that the price of the venti caffe latte when converted to dollars was roughly $7. Ouch! After a bit of rationalizing, I decided to bite the cost (besides I needed to get rid of the currency) and order it. Well I milked that cup for the next hour while I sat and waited in Starbucks for time to pass. While enjoying my $7 cup of coffee (you in the States have no room to complain), I spotted the Prague Starbucks coffee mugs and decided to get one for my brother. In doing so, Starbucks gave me another free coffee, anything I wanted, so another caffe latte later, I was wired with no chance of falling asleep. 3 flights later, I landed in Phoenix. It is good to be home from a great summer in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Sunday morning at 3:30 am, the interns who were not staying longer left for the airport. For me it was not a problem waking up to say goodbye to them as I never when to sleep. After returning to the Czech Inn Hostel around 1 am, I stayed up working on debriefing paperwork and team finances (fun stuff). After seeing them off, I went to bed for 4 hours and then woke up, said my goodbyes to my team and whoever was up and I left for the train station with the final destination being Ceske Budejovice. I spent a few days in CB with my friend Ondra and his family. I am so glad that I decided to stay the few extra days as it was so great to be able to have conversations with Ondra about different issues in our lives. This time was encouraging for me and I can only hope that it was just as or more encouraging for him. Also, it was great to meet up with some of the students from camp to play pool or bowl. As for staying at Ondra's place, it was awesome. His family was so hospitable and generous towards me that I hope to be as kind to others as they were to me. I thank God for them. At 9 pm my time in Ceske Budejovice came to end as the train pulled out of the station and I said my final goodbye (for now) to Ondra. Someday within the next 2 years I hope to return to the Czech Republic.
The train pulled into the Prague train station at midnight and from there I worked my way over to the airport with some difficulty. I could not find where a certain bus stop was and so I ended up walking to Namesti Republiky to catch the tram headed towards the airport. Finally at 1:45 am I reached the airport and proceeded to stay awake for the night as had an early flight out. So walking through the airport, it came at me by surprise when I found my self in front of a Starbucks. They are like body hair, they can be found just about everywhere. Well, putting my ill thoughts of the company aside, I stepped up to the counter to order a venti caffe latte as I needed caffeine. I quickly noticed that the price of the venti caffe latte when converted to dollars was roughly $7. Ouch! After a bit of rationalizing, I decided to bite the cost (besides I needed to get rid of the currency) and order it. Well I milked that cup for the next hour while I sat and waited in Starbucks for time to pass. While enjoying my $7 cup of coffee (you in the States have no room to complain), I spotted the Prague Starbucks coffee mugs and decided to get one for my brother. In doing so, Starbucks gave me another free coffee, anything I wanted, so another caffe latte later, I was wired with no chance of falling asleep. 3 flights later, I landed in Phoenix. It is good to be home from a great summer in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
1 remarks:
Hey Ben, I saw on facebook that you were updating your blog so I had to check it out. Anyway, I just wanted to say I feel your pain with the expensive starbucks... I decided to treat Bethany & Claire as a way of saying thank you our last night in vienna, and the three tall lattes cost NINETEEN USD! anyway, hope you're getting readjusted to life back home, KIT.
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