Ode to Tereza. Coming away from the photo documentary program, I will remember this smile the most. The smile that greeted me every morning, sometimes addressing the puffiness beneath my eyes. The smile wrapped in carefully chosen accessories to pair with a coordinating dress. The smile that scolded me the very first day of class after I returned late from break. The smile that enriched all 30 of my days in Prague. Many benefits that we, the students, will reap from this opportunity are greatly attributed to the good works and guidance of Tereza Vojtasikova.

A Resident Director at CET, Tereza is no stranger to the routines and behavioral patterns if college students. Throughout the month, she successfully wrangled 23 college students nearly day in and day out. This entailed getting us to and fro guided tours on time, helping us navigate public transportation and keeping our attentiveness in check all the while. Though tedious, her passion for facilitating educational opportunities for students shines in each action. During the more still moments of our adventures, she would crack jokes or answer questions with sometimes undetectable sarcasm. She’s really got a way with facial facades. And this is no surprise because she studied theatre throughout school. It’s evident in how suavely she commands a room.

Rosa is Tereza’s prize pup and unwavering companion. We were all fortunate enough to meet her at the Letna Beer Garden at the end of our first week. Speaking of, Tereza is quite fond of Pilsner. When we visited the Pilsner brewery, we were each traditionally drafted a beer from a barrel in the cellar. I couldn’t finish mine, so I offered it up. (I was a wimp three weeks ago; I assure you I can put a beer away after a month of intensive training.) Tereza claimed the beverage, sparing no hang time. I’ve been inspired ever since.

In our most formative years as photographers and journalists, I couldn’t have imagined a faculty more well-equipped to traverse this country at our side, sharing wisdom every step of the way.

June 25, 2019 | Around Here

As our days in Prague come to an end, I’m feeling an array of feelings — but mainly profuse gratitude.

During our first day in the city, I was greeted by a flood of bubbles coming from a street performer in Old Town Square. My excitement was congruent with that of the small children that surrounded him. Eager to learn and explore, I smiled in the reflection of the dish detergent sphere.

As I walked home from class this afternoon, bubbles lead the way. I turned the corner to see a couple of little girls blowing them outside of their classroom window. It was a sweet full-circle moment. I’m happy to end this program with as much wonder as I had coming into it.

June 24, 2019 | Small Wonder

Fever…of the baby kind. The family dynamic in the Czech Republic consists of being fervent and involved at all times. As soon as a child is old enough to breathe, it’s going to the beer garden strapped to their parent’s chest. And into adulthood, families tend to travel in packs. Familial congregation is a large part of the culture overall.

American hustle tends to force us to forego opportunities that facilitate bonding experiences for families. The 40 hour work week is common here as it is in the states, but off-time is better respected. Although, these hours remain to be some of the longest in Europe. In my household and those of my friends, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for a parent to go into work early or stay late. For us, my step-dad would go in at 6 am and stay until 10pm supervising and concluding projects during time periods when optimum productivity was required at his company. Because of this, he had to miss dinner, school events or family functions. It was the norm when I was living at home, and there were never any seriously forlorn feelings from me or my sister; we understood. However, it still put a damper on the way that our family functioned as a unit. There was a point in time where my mom had to go to work while she was ill against her wishes because she didn’t want to jeopardize her job. That’s the American way.

There is a general consensus here that family takes precedence over all. Our cultures share a similar pack mentality, but we’re unable to move at the same slow pace as the Czechs.

June 23, 2019 | Not from these Parts

I’m not sure if the crack I heard was the sound of my heart breaking or the fourth wall shattering.

As I sat outside of the Sedlec Ossuary, I took notice of a couple of precious tourists in fun hats admiring the area. Naturally, I got shutter happy. Still staring through my viewfinder, I saw a man approaching me. I played it cool, assuming my typical chameleon stance. I pointed my lens to the left to deter him from thinking I was photographing his group. But when I came back center, he was smack dab in the middle of my frame — photographing me. I knew exactly what was happening. A camera duel. I wasn’t discreet enough minutes earlier, thus I had to face the repercussions. We both laughed while firing away. It was a friendly and humbling exchange.

Though he was lighthearted and humorous, many of my encounters of this nature have not been so kind. During my first week here, I photographed a man through the window of a glass store. He bolted through the door and chased me down; then, he asked me to delete every photo of him that I had. Half of the time, mothers are almost immediately on guard as soon as they see you approach with a camera. While shooting during the morning, a woman covered the eyes of her dog as I bent down to photograph it. (What’d I tell ya about Czechs and their dogs?) Europeans are usually very protective of their identities and information, hence the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The first sentence of this blog was a bit dramatized, as I’m numb to these occurrences. In fact, I enjoy them. Gauging threats and casing a joint has become a sixth sense. It’s the thrill of photojournalism. I’d like to feel it forever.

June 22, 2019 | Not from these Parts

In Kutna Hora, The Church of Saint Barbara is revered as an artistic and architectural diamond. The construction dates back to the 14th century, and it’s named after Christian martyr, Virgin Barbara who was an advocate for miners. The town itself is home to the largest open silver line in Europe.

Kutna Hora is believed to be holy land because a member of the clergy travelled to Jerusalem and brought back soil from the area. Soon after, it was spread over the cemetery. The cemetery became a rather popular place to be buried. People were dying to get in.

Attracting tourists from far and wide, a group of women to my left caught my attention in the pews of the churches. Often, folks will pay their respects by quietly admiring the rare fresco paintings and making photographs of the famed Gothic style. The woman pictured was sketching the interior of the church. A few moments passed and I watched her in a split second of internal conflict. She took her eyes left, then right, then inhaled deeply. In a moment so noticeably vulnerable, I lowered my camera. Kneeling in the pew and closing her eyes, she began to pray a silent prayer.

June 21, 2019 | Morning Glories

Waking up at the crack of dawn is commonplace among the Praguers. The sun comes up at an ungodly hour, but they rise with it nonetheless. And they don’t sit idle while they wait for the morning coffee to settle into their veins. That’s unheard of.

Dogs, if you’ve got ’em, are a top priority at the start of the day. The majority of them do not wear leashes because they’re really well behaved. The cause of this may be that the Czech treat their dog like children. Sure, Americans love their canines, but this is a whole other level of companionship. Dogs will sit in wait untethered outside of markets while their owner shops for groceries. On morning walks, they wander about freely and play with other dogs. Since many of Prague’s citizens reside in flats, they have to go out of their way to take their pets outside to use the restroom often. But it’s a chore they don’t mind.

If you’re not walking a dog, you might be working out at the calisthenics park before work. As for children, they get up early to ride a ride and swing at a park. The only people who aren’t up before the birds are the baristas.

Being a morning person is neat.

June 20, 2019 | Location Notation

Prague is a city in love and unafraid to show it. Public displays of affection are quite prevalent. Scanning a crowd, you can usually spot a couple in a trance of endearment. If not, you can feel the romantic energy radiating from sources within your vicinity. No matter the age, PDA is alive and here to stay.

I felt funky about public affection until I got to college and lost my moral compass just like every elder told me I would. On the contrary, morality has nothing to with the subject — unless indecent exposure is at stake. (Come on, couldn’t that be subjective too?) Affection or lack-thereof is only a reflection of comfort. There remains a stigma around sensuality in general in Texas. Reluctance to embrace these notions of fondness is often shame based.

According to the state of Texas, public schools are not required to teach sexual education. When schools do choose to implement programs, abstinence must be at the forefront of the conversation. The sexual education I received from public school in my tiny town was not only minimal, but produced a great discomfort surrounding the conversation of affection. Because of this, and many a Southern Baptist church Sunday, the thought of putting my own sensuality on display for anyone and their mother to see made my skin crawl.

It’s brave to love someone and braver to love them shamelessly. This kind of guilt-free, heedless love paired with sensuality is universally empowering, especially for women. This is not to say that modesty is not equally as empowering, only to present that there is no harm in public displays of affection. It’s been warming to witness it here in Prague. No one scoffs or covers the eyes of their child when legs of lovers are intertwined on a picnic blanket in the park. Affection is wholly accepted.

My unwarranted opinion: our biological clocks are ticking. Smooch somebody. On a tram. In front of a priest. With tongue.

June 19, 2019 | A Thousand Words

“How could this happen?” Doris Grozdanovičová’s question echoed in my ears while I walked throughout the crematorium at the Jewish Cemetery. Between the years of 1942 and 1945, political prisoners were forced to cremate approximately 30,000 victims who had passed in the Terezíne concentration camp and prison. It was a fraction of the millions of innocent people whose lives were stolen. There is no way to make sense of the mass atrocity that was the Holocaust.

Terezíne was an in-between and show floor type of camp. Jewish people would be held there for an amount of time before being shipped off to other ghettos, or primarily, extermination camps. In the meantime, the civilians were allowed to wear the clothes they came in, gather together, see their families sometimes and perform for one another. Some refer to Terezíne as the country club of concentration camps. However, those being held were none the wiser of the tragedies within the fences of other concentration camps. The Germans used Terezíne for propoganda videos in attempts to convince them the living conditions were humane and the Jewish people were, in fact, enjoying their stay, despite being put away out of sheer hatred for their ethnicity.

Doris Grozdanovičová is a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor who was sent to the Terezíne ghetto when she was 15. While there, she was delegated as a sheep herder. Slowly, Terezíne became her home; the animals became her solace. Over the years, she has accumulated many items that represent them. “People just keep giving me sheep,” she said. “I have hundreds of them.” Grozdanovičová is more than booked and busy. When I asked her what her plans were after she spoke to us, she put down her apricot read off her schedule from her daily planner. She travels frequently to give lectures and visits Terezíne often with touring groups as well. (It was clear that she did not have the time to indulge in a gelato cone with me and my flatmates.) I would be committing a great injustice to speak to the strength she she has because I am unable comprehend what she endured. She spoke her truth, and with it, came an overwhelming sense of her resilience.

It’s easy to become so far removed from the reality of history. And it’s so dangerous because it is then that we become the sheep. In these moments of simple ignorance, unintentionally apathetic, we yield history’s repetition. For instance, immigrant families are being separated and detained in camps at the border where the living conditions are inhumane. Thoughts and prayers* have become the modern blind eye, and it feels all too familiar.

There is no way to make sense of the mass atrocity that was the Holocaust. There is a way to honor those affected; prevent human crises from happening.

*Faith without works is dead.

June 18, 2019 | A Thousand Words

I got real lost today. In the face of immeasurable opportunity, I felt myself approaching a photography burn out. How? What an acrid privilege it is to grow even the smallest bit weary of something the majority of people may not get to experience in their lifetime. After wallowing in my disdain for the thankless mentality, I put myself in creator time out. Refusing to subject my friends to my souring attitude, I bid them farewell for the afternoon. I took to the streets of the Letna District to realign my gratitude and purpose on this trip.

The first 30 minutes weren’t as fruitful as I had hoped, but I had a lot of walking time to bask in the daylight and think. I passed by a design shop called Charaktery, realized I made a mistake when I kept walking and backpedaled to the narrow entrance. I met Helena, the woman pictured above, and she explained that the shop featured the work of a variety of local Czech artists. The green bun atop her head is not her hair, rather it is a hat made from traditionally steamed rabbit hair by designer Sofya Samareva. Helena and I chuckled at the selection of eccentric hats as some looked like lemon juicers while others turned me from average Joe to Czech cartoon character.

For the better part of an hour, we talked about politics, contemporary design and the rapid development of the Letna District. This Sunday, Letna is expected to host the largest demonstration since the Velvet Revolution, and Helena will be in attendance. However, she abides by an open-mind philosophy to keep her peace. “I don’t become feverish when it comes to politics,” she said. “It is so important to have constant dialogue. When we stop talking, the people in power are the only ones who prosper.” Her words were timeless.

Helena sent me on my way with a map in hand of all of the contemporary design studios in Prague. I visited four of them, and though I couldn’t afford anything, I bought into new perspectives. Before returning to the academic center, I stopped into a secret garden of a café. Green things and sunlight pair well with joy. I sat across from my camera at lunch with a glass of Prosecco, beaming at the machine that takes me places, that brought me here. In the wake of all the wisdom that people shared with me today, I drew a simple conclusion.

The pressure that we place ourselves under hinders any and all creative productivity. The hesitation that accompanies the pressure prevents visions from coming to fruition. Most of all, it entraps us in a lie that we aren’t making, doing, being enough. We are. And once again, my flame is fanned.

June 17, 2019 | Morning Glories

Every night in Texas, I sleep with the fan on the highest setting wearing minimal clothing to guarantee that my slumber is as chilled and heavy as possible. Crashing at my parents’ house is even better. My step-dad is from Alaska, so the thermostat is always set to the lowest temperature possible without jeopardizing the effectiveness of our a/c unit. Any colder and our house could be a morgue. That being said, I was a bit worried to live in Prague where there is no air conditioning…anywhere.

Health is the primary reason the majority of Czech people disagree with the concept of air conditioning. Well, health and great obstinance. Research from the International Journal of Epidemiology in 2004 suggests that condensation from air conditioning systems harbor microorganisms that can trigger adverse health affects. Additionally, surfaces within spaces that are ventilated by a/c systems are conducive environments for growing harmful bacterias. Immediate changes in temperature are harmful for the body as well. I am a mild germaphobe with a puny immune system, and this changes everything. When the heat is sweltering, the typical thing to do is open a window, pull down the sun shade and have a beer.

Natural ventilation has grown on me. I wake up earlier because the sun rises around 4:30 am, and its heat resurrects me. Maybe I’ll have to make a lifestyle change in the future. West Campus will have to adapt because no a/c is the new a/c.