It’s been about a week and a half since I arrived in Prague and…wow! It’s a beautiful city with so much history and stunning architecture. I’m finding myself wanting to take pictures of nearly every single building I pass. Our group of ten is staying in an apartment building a bit far from the city center, but the tram system here has made navigating the city incredibly convenient. The building where classes are held is closer to the main part of the city, so my classmates and I take the tram there each morning. So far, the public transportation is one of my favorite parts of Prague—the trams are reliable and come often, so it has been very easy to get around!
On the other hand, I have quickly learned the difficulties of learning the Czech language. There is one letter in particular, ř, that is very challenging to pronounce. We even heard a story about a Czech local whose name contains that letter, and he is unable to properly pronounce his own name! That said, it has been feasible to get by without knowing any Czech. In fact, “dobý den” (good morning) and “prosím” (please) are the only two words I’ve picked up so far.
I am sharing a flat with three of my classmates, which is a lot of fun! Meeting new people from Pitt was one of the things I was most looking forward to about this program, and the ten of us have already gotten to know each other well. We’re learning everything together: getting around, finding the grocery stores and restaurants, trying local foods, discovering hidden gems around the city, and so on. We’re all studying different subjects at Pitt, so I feel really lucky to have been able to meet so many wonderful people I probably wouldn’t have otherwise met around campus. We are already discussing meeting up as a group when we get back to Pittsburgh!
This program, “Monsters, Madmen, and the Modern City,” covers two courses: The Gothic Imagination and Banned Books. These are the perfect classes to take in Prague because of both the striking Gothic elements throughout the city, as well as the history of Nazi and later Soviet occupation, which led to immense repression, including the banning of books. I really appreciate the integration of various elements of the city with the course content: my professor has been highlighting the Gothic features of Prague and relating them to the texts we’re reading. This is one of the biggest differences between my learning experience here and at Pitt: much of the learning here happens outside of the classroom.
Moreover, as an accounting major, I am finding that these literature courses are requiring me to change the way I typically think. Rather than learning about objective ways to solve a problem, for example, this kind of material is more subjective and requires nuanced analysis. Instead of taking the texts at face value, there is more subtlety and interpretation needed to fully understand the meanings. I am having to search for subtle symbolism, and am learning how to read between the lines. It feels useful to exercise a part of my brain I haven’t had to use much since the last literature courses I took in high school.
It’s hard to believe more than a week has passed since the start of the program, and less than three weeks remain. When I check back in next week, I am hoping to report that I have learned another Czech word or two!