Category: Costa Rica 06/07

Uz vice lidi mi vycetlo, ze jsem uz asi zapomnel psat, tak se to pokusim napravit. Jak by rekl Pavel Kacir, tohle je takovy “nouzovy prispevek”. Mam v zaloze jeste par temat, ale nejak nemuzu posbirat sily sepsat je. Uz proto, ze cely minuly tyden jsem marodil s nachlazenim a poranu mi vzdycky trvalo aspon pul hodiny nez jsem vydaval zvuky podobne reci tvora radu Homo sapiens sapiens.. A pritom bych mel vlastne spise oslavovat..

V patek to totiz byly 3 mesice, presneji 13 tydnu, ktere jsem stravil v daleke zemi. Mozna malo, mozna moc, pro me nic az tak noveho, uz se mi podarilo takhle dlouho nebyt doma i kdyz jsem byl v Praze a ta je relativne za rohem. Co me ale privedlo k melancholicke nalade bylo neco uplne jineho. V nedeli odjela Yvonne, holandska trainee, ktera tady byla (tusim) od cervence. To je vicemene bezna zalezitost. Ze ale behem dalsich 2 tydnu odjedou dalsi 4 lidi a pres Vanoce tu zustaneme dva, to uz nezni tak nadsene..

Takze se mi ani do nejakeho psani moc nechce a radeji se snazim shanet informace a premyslet o tom, jestli budu moct pres svatky zustat tady ve skole, kam nejlepe a nejlevneji do ciziny pro razitko do pasu, co vymyslet na Stedry vecer a hlavne co budu delat pak – az mi tady skonci staz a vratim se z cest. Pocitam nejdrive nekdy koncem unora. Poradite mi? 🙂

(poznamka pod carou: je to taky takovy maly test toho, kdo vsechno to moje povidani cte, tak se nestydte a prispejte do komentaru 🙂

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Some people accused me that I probably forgot how to write already, so I’ll try to make friends with them again. As Pavel Kacir would say this is an “emergency posting”. I’ve got some more topics to be shared but I just can’t get myself to doing anything. Maybe also because the whole last week I was a little sick and it always took me at least half an hour in the morning to be able to produce sounds that might have been similar to a language of Homo sapiens sapiens species.. Although I should have been celebrating..

On Friday it has been 3 months, 13 weeks to be exact, since I arrived in this far-away country. Maybe a lot, maybe just too little, nothing that weird for me, I’ve even spent more time away from home being in Prague only, and it’s relatively quite near. A reason for my melancholic mood was something completely different. Yvonne, a Dutch trainee who spent almost half a year here, left on Sunday. Quite usual. But the fact, that in the next 2 weeks 4 more people are going to leave Costa Rica and that only 2 of us decided to stay here during Christmas, that is quite weird..

Which hopefully is an excuse for my not writing so much recently. I rather spend my time on gathering information and thinking if I can stay here at school during holidays, where is the best and cheapest possibility to get a foreign stamp into my passport, what my plan for Christmas Eve will be and what my next steps after my traineeship and travels are going to be. Earliest at the end of February. Any advices? 🙂

(note: it’s also a small test who is reading my blog, so don’t be shy and express yourself in the comments 🙂

Vzdycky kdyz stravim vecer a noc v San Pedro, musim rano projit centrem hlavniho mesta, abych se dostal na svuj autobus. Cely stred hlavniho mesta je priblizne stejne velky a ma podobny tvar jako Vaclavske namesti. Presneji – je to 13 bloku.

Clovek po ceste potka spousty ruznych lidi, kteri se navzajem lisi barvou pleti, vzrustem, vekem a samozrejme taky duvodem, proc jsou zrovna ted v centru San Jose. Behem 15 minut muzete potkat uplne vsechny typy, na ktere si vzpomenete. Malou starsi domorodou zenu oblecenou v tradicnim odevu ze severu zeme, vysokeho statneho cernocha z jihovychodu, devce puvodem z Asie nebo turistu – belocha, pravdepodobne z USA. Uz proto potkate na kazdem rohu prodejce cehokoliv, od skakacich gumovych kulicek pres tamagoci (ano! 🙂 az po napriklad destnik, ktery vam nabizi chlapek hned jak vystoupite z autobusu za destiveho odpoledne. Podivoval jsem se nad legalnosti poulicniho prodeje a usmevne prchani pred zahlednutou policejni hlidkou me presvedcilo, ze jsem mel pravdu 🙂

Co me ale obzvlaste prekvapuje, je poklid, s jakym mistni ziji svuj zivot. Kostaricke heslo “Pura vida!” totiz najdete schovane ve vsem, na co narazite. Jak uz jsem nekolikrat zminoval, tyka se to obzvlaste nedochvilnosti (“sraz jsme napsali na 8.30, protoze tam mame byt kolem deviti”) pres bezne porusovani domluvenych dohod (“ahoj, cekam u McD, sraz je za 10 minut, jsi na ceste?” – “ahoj, neprijdu”) po neexistenci jizdnich radu (muj osobni rekord je 46 minut nez autobus prijel, behem odpoledni spicky, a 54 minut v patek vecer, nez jsem to zabalil a vratil se). Nemuzete si stezovat, kdyz neni na co. A priroda okolo vas jenom presvedcuje o tom, ze je tady vlastne krasne.

Kdyz uz jsem u te prirody, na okraji San Jose je obrovsky park La Sabana. Najdete tu dva sportovni stadiony, dve hriste na baseball, hromadu placku na basketball, nekolik jezirek a snad desitky kilometru bezeckych trati, asfaltovych nebo lesnich pesinek. O vikendu dopoledne musite docela davat pozor, abyste nahodou neprekazeli ostatnim sportujicim, je jich tu vazne plno. A navic jsem tady videl zdarma predcvicovat aerobik. Nemluve o cyklistech, ktere potkate i pres tyden, jak ve sportovnich uborech krizuji silnice, vyhybaji se vymolum a uhybaji pred kamiony. A to mi v Cesku rikali, ze jsem silenec, kdyz jsem prohlasil, ze jsem zvykly jezdit po cestach pri beznem provozu.

Tady proste nic neni problem, pokud se zivota tyka, a vsechno je problem, kdyz nahodou neco chcete 🙂 Ale to asi vsude na svete. Pri pohledu z okna na uzasne hory je uz pak cloveku jedno, ze ta sprcha je nechutne studena a ze jste se na teplou vodu nebo prestehovani ptali uz pred 2 mesici..

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Everytime I spend evening and night in San Pedro, I have to go through the center of the capital to get to my bus stop. The whole center of the city is more or less the same size and shape as ‘Vaclavske namesti’, one of the squares in Prague. To be exact – it’s 13 blocks.
During the way you can meet a lot of various types of people, that could be distinguished by skin color, height, age and also by a reason, why they are right now in the center of San Jose. In 15 minutes you can really meet any type you can think of. A small older indigenous woman dressed in a traditional clothes from north part of the country, a big muscular black guy from southeast, a girl with roots from Asia or a tourist, mostly white man from USA. Maybe also because of this factor at every corner there are sellers of basically anything – jumping gum balls, tamagochi (yes! 🙂 or even an umbrella that you are offered just after getting off a bus in a rainy afternoon. I was wondering about legality of street sellers but I was persuaded by a little bit funny running away from a police guards 🙂

The thing that really surprises me a lot is the patience of life of the locals. The Costa Rican slogan “Pura vida!” – Pure life – is hidden in everything you have the opportunity to experience. It’s mostly about unpunctuality (“we set the meeting time to 8.30 because we need to be there at 9”), not keeping agreements (“hi, the meeting is in 10 minutes, I’m waiting at McD, are you ont he way?” – “hi, I’m not coming.”) and no existence of timetables (my personal record is 46 minutes before the bus arrived and 54 minutes before I returned back). Well, you can’t really complain where there is nothing to complain about. And the nature around is only telling you that it’s just nice piece of the world.

Talking about nature – at the edge of San Jose there is a giant park called ‘La Sabana’. Here you can find two stadiums, two baseball pitches, a lot of basketball playfields, several small lakes and probably tens of kilometers of running tracks, asphalt as well as forest paths. During weekend morning you have to be quite cautious not to be a constraint to the people running around, there’s just so much of them. And – I even saw a free aerobic classes, not mentioning the bicycle riders that you can meet also during the weekdays cruising the streets in sporty clothes, avoiding road holes and trucks. And I was considered crazy when I said I was used to ride my bike on normal traffic roads back in CZ.

There’s just nothing problematic, concerning your life, and everything is a problem if you coincidentially want something 🙂 But this is probably everywhere around the world. Looking out from your window at the mountains you don’t really care that the shower is so damn cold and that you asked about hot water or moving place 2 months ago..

A abych poslednim dnum a tydnum ucinil zadost, napisu dneska jeste jeden prispevek. Programem minuleho vikendu byla navsteva Narodniho divadla, zabavniho parku a oslava narozenin. Ale poporade.

V sobotu jsme vyrazili do mesta prohlidnout si nejake pamatky. Vzhledem k tomu, ze jich tady je jeste mene nez v Ostrave (ktera je znama spise pro cenne statky pod zemi), nebylo tak slozite se rozhodnout. Narodni divadlo bylo postaveno podle francouzskych vzoru a otevreno v roce 1897. Je vzacne tim, ze nema orchestriste, ale zvuk je reprodukovan slozitym mechanismem pod podiem a casti hlediste. Nevim, jaka je toho vyhoda, ale kazdopadne je to vzacnost – podobne je na tom pry asi jen 5 divadel na svete. Pripadalo mi velmi male, ale mistni obyvatele (vcetne nadsene pruvodkyne, ktera prednasela skupince americanu) jsou na nej velmi hrdi. Taky rikaji, ze je to jedina hezka budova ve meste – ale nemaji pravdu. Videl jsem dva, mozna tri dalsi pekne domy..

Vecer jsme stravili v San Pedro na Calle de la Amargura (“Ulice horkosti”), ktera temer primo navazuje na kampus Universidad de Costa Rica a kam studenti chodi zapijet sve uspechy a neuspechy (proto ta horkost).

V nedeli jsme se vypravili do zabavniho parku. Me uz nejmene dva dny predtim suzovaly pomerne neprijemne bolesti zaludku a strev, takze jsem uvital, ze kdo nechce na atrakce, nemusi platit. I kdybych byl zdravy, tak bych na ne asi nesel 🙂 Dobre, maximalne na tu vodni skluzavku. A auticka 🙂 Kazdopadne vsichni se vyblbli jak male deti, ja udelal nekolik fotek a opetovne se na polednim slunicku pekne opalil.

No a odpoledne jsme na Martina prichystali darek k narozeninam, dort a krabici plnou sladkosti s logem jeho oblibeneho mistniho fotbaloveho klubu. Vypadal docela prekvapene a na druhy den prisel dekovny e-mail. Neni zac, rado se stalo. A vsechno nejlepsi 🙂

Tento vikend nejspise nikam nejedu, jinak bych asi nepsal tri prispevky behem sobotniho vecera..

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And for having the last days and weeks complete, I’m writing one more post. Last weekend saw us visiting National Theatre, diversion park and birthday celebration. Here it is..

On Saturday we decided to see some sights in the city. While there is even less number of preserved buildings than in Ostrava (that is know more for its beauty under the surface), it wasn’t so hard to decide. The National Theatre was built according to the French originals and opened in 1897. Its value is also in absence of orchestra pit that is replaced by a complicated sound system under actors’ and also viewers’ part of the theatre. I couldn’t see any advantage in it but anyway – it’s a rarity, there are only about 5 other theatres in the world similar to this one. It seemed really small to me, but the locals (including enthusiastic guide who was having a lecture to some Americans) are very proud of it. They also say it’s the only nice building in the city – but they’re wrong. I’ve already seen two, maybe three more nice houses..

We spent the evening in San Pedro in Calle de la Amargura (“Street of bitterness”) which is just outside the Universidad de Costa Rica campus and where all students go drinking to their successes and failures (that’s the reason of the bitterness).

On Sunday we went to a theme park. I was having stomach and guts problems several days already which meant I was quite surprised (positively) that I didn’t have to pay entrance fee since I didn’t want to go to any of those crazy places for having fun. I wouldn’t go there probably even if I were healthy 🙂 Well, maybe the water coaster. And tiny go-karts 🙂 Anyway – everyone was having fun, enjoying their time as little kids, I did several photos and got suntanned again.

And in the afternoon we prepared a little birthday gift for Martin, a cake and a box with his favorite local football team badge, full of candies and cookies. He looked quite surprised and the next day he sent us a very nice e-mail where he thanked us. You’re welcome. And happy birthday 🙂

I’m probably not going anywhere this weekend, otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here and writing three blogposts during Saturday evening..

Tema, ktere musi na predchozi prispevek logicky navazovat, je nadmiru jasne. Jakozto vyhlaseny gurman (nezalezi, co je dole, hlavne kdyz na tom bude kecup a chili) se nemohu nepodelit o zazitky s mistni kuchyni 🙂

Fazole everywhere – i tak by se dal parafrazovat znamy reklamni slogan. Ryzi, maso a lusteniny (souhrnne nazyvano “gallo pinto” nebo, pokud chcete porci i s oblohou, “casado”) totiz najdete i v te nejzapadlejsi visce na okraji pralesa (a beztak i v nem). Co ale cloveka zarazi je moznost dat si tohle jidlo v kteroukoli denni dobu, dokonce i na snidani. Neni to tak spatny napad. Obvykle k tomu dostanete tortilu nebo kousek osmazeneho ovoce podobneho bananu (“platano”), neosmazene platano je pry nejedle, takze pri nakupovani nezapomente, ze ten zeleny banan proste nezezloutne 🙂
Jinou moznosti jak zacit den, pokud nahodou vstanete az nekdy pred polednem, je “pollo frito” – smazene kure. V ulici bezne najdete nekolik obchudku (v Santa Ana jsou 3 na nejakych triceti metrech), kde vam kus osmazeneho kurete ukazou ve vitrince, vy si vyberete, ktere nejstavnatejsi kousky se stanou vasim obedem, a pak jenom nejakou dobu cekate, az prodavacka obslouzi mistni 🙂
“Chicharrones” jsou osmazene kousky veproveho, v podstate velmi podobna uprava jidla jako v predchozim odstavci. S jedinym rozdilem – ze jsem je jeste nevyzkousel..

Zato jsem mel tu cest navstivit nekolik obrovskych nakupnich center a jejich Food Courts. Ja neuveritelne, kolik fastfoodu dokazou nacpat na pomerne malou plochu tak, aby se jejich zakaznici dokazali namackat do pripravenych zidlicek pomerne rovnomerne, nevytvareli dopravni zacpy u nejznamejsich znacek a zaroven mohli pohodlne sledovat televizi.

Taky vam pripada, ze smazenych a tucnych jidel bylo dost? I pro vas existuje reseni v podobe ne zcela typickych restauraci, od pizzerii pres argentinske steaky az po japonske pochoutky – sushi apod.

Na zapiti je vyber vetsinou stejny – voda, “refrescos” (dzusy), cola, jine ochucene bublinkove napoje. Pivo najdete jenom v supermarketech a hospodach. A kdyz si v jednu hodinu odpoledne zajdete z plaze do nejblizsi hospy na jedno, budete mezi kamarady za alkoholika 🙂

Zaverem nekolik perlicek – 1) i kdyz mistni jedi ryzi trikrat denne, nepestuje se tady, ale je kompletne z importu. Z USA. 2) kdo ceka palive jidla, je na spatne adrese. Na stole najdete jenom solnicku, pepr (a nedejboze chili) je pouze na pozadani. Hlaska na mou osobu “Je z Evropy, ale nekdy je jak Mexican” budiz toho dukazem. 3) kdyz uz si chili vyzadate, dostanete je ve forme malilinkych listecku rostliny. Zadna omacka, zadne mlete koreni. 4) nazev “kecup” puvodne pochazi z cinstiny, presneji z kantonestiny. 5) jednotka palivosti je SHU (Scoville Heat Unit) a meri se mnozstvim kapsaicinu ve sloucenine. Tabasco z Habanero papricek ma asi 8000 SHU, nejpalivejsi vyslechtena odruda kolem 900 tisic SHU, peprove spreje okolo 3 milionu..

Taky premyslite, proc se cely posledni odstavec tyka ryze, kecupu a chili? 🙂

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The topic which has to follow immediately after the previous one, is quite obvious. As well-known cook (it doesn’t matter what is down there as long as there is ketchup and chili above) I have to do a little sharing about my experience with local cuisine 🙂

Beans everywhere – this could be an option for adjusting the famous advertisement. You can find rice, meat and lentils (also known as “gallo pinto” or if you want some extra vegetables, “casado”) even in the smallest village at the edge of a rain forest (and I bet even inside). A little strange fact is that you can order this any time of the day, even for breakfast. It’s not that bad idea. You usually get tortilla or a little piece of fried fruit similar to banana (“platano”), if you don’t fry it, you will feel no taste, so don’t forget that this green banana never gets yellow 🙂

Other possibility is to start a day, if you by accident get up soon before noon, is “pollo frito” – fried chicken. Usually you can find several small shops (there are 3 in some 30 meters in Santa Ana), where you can see a piece of chicken in a small shop window, you choose which of them are soon to become your lunch and then you wait for a while till the shop assistant deals with the locals first 🙂

“Chicharrones” are fried pieces of pork, actually quite similar preparation of food as the chicken. With only one difference – I haven’t tried it yet..

But I had the opportunity to visit several shopping malls and their Food Courts. It’s almost unbelievable, how many fastfoods can be squeezed into a quite small place so that their customers can still be able to find a table and a chair, not creating traffic jams at the most known brands and still being able to watch TV.

Do you also feel it was a lot about fried and greasy meals? We have a solution for you as well – with not very typical restaurants, starting with pizzerias, continuing with argentinian steakhouses and with sushi as the end..

As a drink you usually have the same possibility – water, “refrescos” (juices), coke, other bubbled drinks. Beer can be found only in supermarkets and pubs. And if you are at a beach and leave at 1pm to have a beer, you will be considered among your friends as alcoholic 🙂

Some interesting facts at the end – 1) although the locals eat rice three times a day, it’s not grown here, it comes only from import. From USA. 2) expecting hot and spicy meals, you’re at the wrong place. You can only find salt on the table, pepper (not even chili) is only at request. The quotation “He is from Europe, but sometimes he behaves as a Mexican” be the proof. 3) if you request chili, you get it as a small pieces of plant leaves. No sauce, no grilled spice. 4) the name “ketchup” comes from Chinese, to be exact from Cantonese. 5) the unit of “spiceness” is SHU (Scoville Heat Unit) and is measured as amount of kapsaicin in the solution. Tabasco from Habanero paprika has about 8000 SHU, the hottest paprika ever is about 900 thousand SHU, pepper sprays around 3 milion..

Are you also wondering, why is the last article completely about rice, ketchup and chili? 🙂

Pokud bych mel vyjadrit pocity z posledniho vikendu jednim slovem, nejspise bych neodpovedel. Pobrezi Ticheho oceanu a narodni park Manuel Antonio totiz proste jednim slovem popsat nelze.

Vstavat o pul pate uz mi necini takove potize (jo, ja vim, porad mi neverite..) a vidina par hodin v autobuse me uklidnovala, ze prece ten spanek dozenu. V sest deset uz jsem sedel na svem sedadle v pomerne pohodlnem buse smer zapadni pobrezi. Tedy pohodlnem do doby nez jsem zjistil, ze si nohy nenatahnu, protoze jednoduse neni kam. Nepripadam si prilis vysoky a stejne mam s mistnimi dopravnimi prostredky problemy. Takze ze spani nic nebylo.

Po necelych 4 hodinach jsme se ubytovali a vyrazili rovnou na plaz. Prvni velmi svetly moment vyletu. Docela hezke vlny (ne jako ten Karibsky rybnik), slunce prijemne hralo, sumeni palem na pobrezi a vsudypritomne musle a koraly. A dokonce i vychlazene pivo 🙂 Na tvari se mi objevil blazeny usmev cislo 1 🙂 Pres poledne jsem se natahl na slunicko, ale ze spanku zase nebylo nic. Kdybych usnul, tak se tam asi roztecu..

Vecer jsme snedli / vypili meloun s vodkou, stravili prijemny vecer a sli vyhlizet Yvonne, ktera prijela autobusem asi v pul jedenacte. Na nejake tancovani v mistnich (nebo neprilis vzdalenych) klubech uz ale krome ni a Chihiro nemel nikdo energii..

Druhy den jsme po snidani (takze kolem 11 🙂 vyrazili do narodniho parku, ktery zacinal hned za mesteckem a ktery mohl za muj blazeny usmev cislo 2. Za tri hodiny chozeni v lese plnem palem, lian a kdovijakych vsech stromu jsem stihnul potkat lenochoda, houf opicek, myvala, nekolik flegmatickych leguanu a hromady jesterek a pak jeste jednou skocit do oceanu se osvezit.. Dokonce i casove se nam podarilo stihnout vse nez zacalo prset z hrozive vypadajicich mraku a pak uz jenom vyzvednout veci a nastoupit do autobusu..

Mozna mi budete to horko zavidet, ale ja jsem byl docela rad, kdyz jsem se objevil v suchem a pomerne chladnem (okolo 24C) San Jose.. Teplo je fajn, ale ja radsi vetrny podzim a chladnou zimu. Priste asi pojedu nekam k polarnimu kruhu..

(trochu jsem zmenil fotogalerii, tak se neleknete.. je tam i moznost vyjadrit se ke kazde fotce..)

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If I had to express my feelings from the last weekend with only one word, I wouldn’t probably be able to answer. Pacific ocean coast and national park Manuel Antonio just can not be described by a single word.

I don’t feel that big difficulties to get up at 4.30 (I know, you still don’t believe me..) and the idea of having some more sleep on the bus was calming me down. At 6.10 I was already sitting on my seat in quite comfortable bus in direction west coast. Well, comfortable only until I found out I couldn’t stretch my legs because there just was no space. I don’t feel like being tall and I have problems with local means of transport anyway. So the sleep had to wait..

After almost 4 hours we got accomodated and set out to the beach. The first bright moment of the trip. Quite nice waves (not as the Carribean lake), the sun was giving pleasant warmth, palms whispering on the coast and shells and corals everywhere. And even a cold beer 🙂 My face created a cheerful smile number 1 🙂 Shortly after noon I lay on the sand but again, no sleep. If I fell asleep there, I would probably melt..

Later we ate / drank a watermelon with vodka, spent a pleasant evening and went to meet Yvonne, that arrived at half past ten. But nobody except her and Chihiro had enough energy to dance in local (and not so far) clubs..

The second day after breakfast (that means around 11am 🙂 we visited a national park that was created just behing the small town and that was a reason for my cheerful face number 2. During three hours of walks in the forest full of palmtrees, lianas and who knows what other trees I managed to see a sloth, a bunch of monkeys, a racoon, several flegmatic iguanas and lots of lizards and also jump in the ocean once again.. We were even able to return back before the rain started to fall from the scary looking clouds and then just to pick up our things and get on the bus..

Maybe you will be a little envious about the warmth here, but I was quite happy to appear again in dry and quite cold (around 24C) San Jose.. Hot weather is fine but I prefer windy autumn and really cold winter. Next time I’ll probably go to the polar circle..

(I changed the photogallery a little, don’t be scared.. you can also add comments to the photos separately..)

V sobotu byl statni svatek vzniku Ceskoslovenske republiky, ceska ambasada pri te prilezitosti poradala v patek malou recepci pro Cechy zijici v Kostarice a i ke mne se dostala pozvanka (byla pro dve osoby, tak jsme sli s Veronikou, ktera tady na “moji” skole studuje).
Byl to pro me velmi zajimavy zazitek, ktery ve mne asi na dlouhou dobu zanecha prijemny pocit z lidi, kterym nevadi, ze na sobe nemate oblek (nebo to aspon nedavali najevo :), kteri si radi popovidali o tom, co obnasi prace na velvyslanectvi, anebo proste jenom o tipech na vylet, abychom dobu v teto daleke zemi vyuzili k jejimu dokonalemu poznani.

A hlavne jsem zase slysel cestinu – a nedam na ni dopustit..

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On Saturday we had a national holiday, a day of Czechoslovak Republic establishment, Czech embassy organized a small reception and I also received one invitation (it was for 2 people so I took also Veronika, a Czech student at “my” school).

It was a very interesting experience and I will remember a very good feeling of people that don’t mind you not having a suit (or at least nobody noted :), that liked to talk about what an employment at an embassy looks like and demands, or just about some trip advices so that we can fully enjoy our stay in this far and beautiful country.

And I also heard Czech language – and I know I will never want to lose it..