From Peanut Butter to Post Communism

(See photos below.)

by Catie Talarski ’03

I have been asked and continue to be asked hundreds of times, “Why Prague?” I believe now, that this can only be answered in hindsight. Sitting at my dorm desk in Worcester, MA (although a lovely place), I knew I needed a change, a break. I knew there was more for me in this world than Leitrim’s Pub and Assumption’s Student Government Association (both amazing organizations in their own right). So, I decided to study abroad for a semester.

But why Prague? It is beautiful, cheap, a central hub to many other amazing cities and countries, and most importantly, someplace different than I had ever experienced before. There are so many reasons for Prague, and there are so many reasons to study abroad.

The transition from living in a massive country where life is consumer driven and freedom is most often taken for granted, to living in a country in which emerged from Communism ten years ago was dramatic. Although I will never really know what it was like, I have gotten a feeling of how living under Communism has affected people. There is no better way to learn than to actually be here, to talk to the people, and experience the atmosphere. I can now see beyond the beautiful renaissance and baroque architectural facades into the realities of life for the people here. Things are different now, obviously more Western. McDonald’s, KFC, neon lights, graffiti, trends of tight pants, dreadlocks, and orange hair are prevalent. Across the generations, people are embracing their freedom, and it is wonderful to experience!

The classroom experience abroad is wonderful as well. The workload is not extremely heavy, giving me a chance to travel, yet get my work done as well. I am studying the Czech language (although I must admit, I am not that great), Czech Art and Architecture, Bohemian Studies (reading Kafka and walking the same streets that he did), Philosophy and Literature focusing on Neitzsche and the eternal return, and a film class which concentrates on European films of the 20th century.

Beyond my studies, I have had the opportunity to do extensive traveling around Europe. Every new place has a new culture and new people, and every time I leave a place I have become a different person than when I arrived. Experiencing the Coliseum in Rome, the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Auschwitz in Poland, and encountering the various angels that have helped me out in my travels, has made me look at the world and my life in different ways.

Studying abroad is not easy. It is a challenge to leave the comforts of home, of a small faith-based school and a sheltered world and leap into the chaos of a massive, secular, individualistic world with more freedom than ever before, and to create it into something for yourself. It forces you to look at who you are and what you do in new ways and to perhaps reevaluate what life is about. But it is worth it. With two weeks left in my program, I could not be more thankful that I took this leap into the unknown. My mind has been opened by this experience in more ways then it could by any book. There is a whole world out there to explore, so let your adventures begin!

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